Robotic painting lines are a standout example of productivity improvement. Adding intelligence to atomizers and monitoring data about key operational parameters are the next giant step in painting automation.

Digital transformation is poised to make its mark on the paint and coatings industry. It's good to see early adopters in our industry embracing cloud technology to accelerate their innovation and service.

To enhance safety and environmental protection, the EPA's Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Final Rule, which became effective federally last year, requires identification including the words "Hazardous Waste," a description of the container's hazards, and the date the accumulation started on each container.

Called Advanced Thermal Optics (ATO), the sensing means behind the system enables for highly accurate film thickness to be measured with a non-contact means on cured or uncured organic powder and powder enamel in a way that is extremely adaptable to the production environment.

Why do we continue to have temperature-based process fluctuations when we have a very tightly controlled ambient environment? It turns out that there is not just one single answer. To understand it, we must start by understanding the hierarchy of the various temperatures involved in the painting process.

Recent studies demonstrate that there is a new way to keep the industry just as effective, if not more so, while streamlining the R&D process, while saving both money and materials and better using one's staff. The key is digitizing research and development.

The Smart Paintshop is a complete, 360-degree linked production system, an auto body painting system that provides high-performance efficiency, safety, quality, cost savings and environmental friendliness from start to finish.

Before coating, more and more plastic parts are being cleaned with CO2 snow jet technology. Besides the significant cost, space and resource savings, as well as the ease with which the cleaning system can be integrated into painting lines, coating properties also benefit from the dry cleaning solution.

In addition to the advantages of controlling repair costs, avoiding warranty costs for failure recovery, reducing unplanned downtime and eliminating the causes of failure, predictive maintenance employs non-intrusive testing techniques to evaluate and compute asset performance trends.

While many applications will continue to require the greater material volumes available in drums, cartridge-based packaging improves efficiency in niche markets in the aerospace industry, marine touch up coating and repair, pipeline, and manhole applications. In many cases, it complements traditional methods, reducing labor, material and disposal costs.