On Oct. 22-23, PCI’s Shanghai office launched the 2014 Industrial Coatings Innovative Technology Conference at the Shanghai Marriott Hotel Parkview. Publisher Donna Campbell and Editor-in-Chief Kristin Johansson attended the event, which welcomed nearly 400 attendees. The conference included a main track for a portion of each day, as well as four break-out tracks, a brainstorming session, and a small-scale exhibition.

Johansson delivered the opening speech on the first day of the event. Citing a report from consulting firm Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney, she noted that water-based technology led in global coating volume in 2013 with a 52% share of the pounds and was second in value with 40% of the dollars. Solvent-based paints were 41% of the worldwide volume and 48% of the value. Industrial applications were 68% of the solvent-based coatings pounds and 80% of the dollars. Powder, radcure and other 100%-solid coatings are found in industrial applications and combined for 7% of the pounds and 12% of the value. Global regulations, consumer demands and emphasis on environmental protection are key factors that contribute to the growth of industrial coatings, including water-based, powder, UV and high-solids coatings. Based on this understanding, this year’s conference was centered around the innovation and development of industrial coatings, with highlights on these four major green categories.

Main Track

The main track on the morning of Day 1 was chaired by Wilson Wang, Business Director of CCA Asia Pacific. The Day 2 afternoon main track was chaired by Richard Cui, founder of www.coatings-college.org.

In the presentation, “Green Coating - The Motivation and Sources for Industrial Coatings Innovation,” Liu Dengliang, Director of Expert Committee, China Coating Industrial Association, shared his views on how to achieve an environmentally friendly coatings industry through the control of raw materials, production processes and coating applications.

Robert Duan, Global Technical Director, The Valspar Corp. Ltd., highlighted innovative achievements in his presentation titled “2014 Global Coating Industry – Green, Environmentally Friendly and Energy-Saving,” which covered aqueous SPVDC polymer-based container coatings, Valspar Aquaguard™ Solutions, Valde^® EFC low-temperature-curing powder, silica aerogel-based cool roof insulation coatings, super-hydrophobic cable coatings that simulate the lotus leaf effect, green wood coatings, and construction coatings.

Xiu Guangli, Vice Principal from the School of Resource and Environment, East China University of Science and Technology, elaborated on “National Regulations and Standard Progress on VOC Control and Challenges for the Coatings and Ink Industry.” Holly Ling, Application Manager, Paint, at Datacolor Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., analyzed the benefits that Datacolor Match Pigment 3.0 and 45G CT could provide for the industry, and Liu Fuchun, Senior Researcher, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced “Research Progress and Application of Nano-Composite Coatings.” Wang Huawen, GM of Jiangsu Dowill Coating Co. Ltd., shared his understanding of “Quality Management: New China Reading about ISO9001 International Quality Management System.”

Break-Out Tracks

Water-Based Coatings

Sponsored by Beijing YGHD Environmental Protection Technology Co. Ltd., the Water-Based Coatings Track was the most popular with attendees. In “Technology Innovations and Applications of Waterborne Resins,” Qin Wen, Technical Director, Beijing YGHD Environmental Protection Technology Co., presented key features of its broad product portfolio of waterborne industrial coating resins.

In “The Development Bottleneck of Waterborne Coatings,” Senior Expert Wu Xiaotian explained that in the transforming process to water-based technology, industrial coatings will inevitably be constrained by traditional solvent coatings processes. He further pointed out that water-based industrial coatings need to find a balance between all of the ingredients – resins, additives, reactive materials, etc.

In the same session, Chen Zhonghua, Director of Special Coating Research Center of Guangdong/PHD, and Supervisor, South China University of Technology, discussed “The Development and Application of Water-Based Metal Anti-Corrosion Coatings.” Frank Zhang, Sr. Application Manager, X-Rite Asia Pacific Limited; Eric Qin, Sales Manager, East China, Alberdingk Resins; Wang Quanyi, Additive Technical Manager, Troy Asia Pacific; and Zhang Zhenfei, Yantai Wanhua, discussed innovative water-based industrial coating solutions in their presentations.

Powder Coatings

Julie Wang, Asia Pacific Technical Director, Powder Coatings, AkzoNobel, shared her understanding on “Technology Status and Difficulties With Analysis of Powder Coatings,” in which she noted that sustainable development and improving performance are two critical drivers of powder coatings technologies. These are challenges that powder coatings technologies are facing today and will have in the future. She also cited some cases including how to totally eliminate the agglomerate in powder preparation with low-temperature-curing technology.

Wang was followed by Dr. Liu Jiping, Technical Director, Tiger Powder Coating Manufacture (Taicang) Co. Ltd.; Hu Ningxian, Technical Director, Ningbo South Sea Chemical Co. Ltd.; and Ryan Peng, Senior Technical Service and Development Specialist for Epoxy, Asia Pacific, Dow Chemical, who discussed powder coating application in MDF, application principles and innovations of powder coating additives, and new specialty resins and hardeners for high-performance fusion-bonded epoxy coatings, respectively.

High-Solid Coatings

In his presentation, “Application and Technology Innovations of High-Solid Coatings in Passenger Vehicles and Heavy-Duty Trucks,” Dr. Fucheng Yan, Production Technical Director, Axalta Coating Systems, outlined the application advantages of high-solid coatings in the automotive industry, based on case studies of energy-saving and environment-friendly technologies.

Cain Chen, Technical Manager, Wacker Chemicals (China) Co. Ltd.; Gui Taijiang, Chief Engineer, Marine Chemical Research Institute; Alex Miao, Senior Technical Manager, Sherwin-Williams (Shanghai) Ltd.; and Zhou Binthe, Chief Designer from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., helped explain the landscape of the high-solids coatings industry with their presentations.

UV Coatings

In this track, Liu Zhigang, General Manager of the Technical Management Center, Zhanchen Coating Group, explained the structure, curing mechanism, application area, process and production line of waterborne UV wood coatings in “Water-Based UV Coatings Application Cases in Woodware and Furniture.” He was followed by Donglin Li, UV Director of Huizhou Changrunfa Paint Co. Ltd.; Yaochuan Wang, Professor, Sichuan University; and Diego Kuo, Design Director, PEGA Design & Engineering.

Anniversary Gala

On the night of Oct. 22, PCI hosted its Grand 100^th Anniversary Celebration Dinner to classic Chinese music. The dinner was sponsored by Titanos Group. PCI Publisher Donna Campbell reviewed PCI’s long history and future outlook for the magazine’s global commitment to providing a first-class multi-media technical platform for the industry to communicate, interact and cooperate. Yang Tao, President, Titanos Group, industry member Wang Daozhang, and reader representative Zheng Gongshao of BATF Industry Ltd., delivered speeches from different angles.

Brainstorming

A brainstorming session sparked innovative ideas for future R&D. Yang Xianghong, Vice President, SCI International; Cici Nie, Regional Procurement Manager – APAC Functional Chemical/Procurement Department of AkzoNobel Chemical; and Yang Tao, President, Titanos Group, discussed the procurement bottlenecks facing the coatings industry today. This includes factors that impact costs, difficulties in outsourcing and ways to expand distributor channels with the coverage of e-commerce players. They commented that every part in the procurement chain demands innovation, and that real innovation will contribute to the industry’s future development.

Overall, the networking and discussions between suppliers and manufacturers was productive and fruitful. All agreed that developing industrial coatings with an eye to the environment is key. Qin Yisheng, President of Tianyin, said, “Green industrial coatings represent the future of the industry. We believe that green solvents will shed light on industrial coatings, as we still cannot eliminate solvent from coatings totally.” 

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