What are some of the demands paint formulators are making on
their resins suppliers?
• McDivitt, Celanese: Our coatings customers are making a variety of requests. In North America, they are asking for alternatives to their current resin technologies with a high interest to
shift to vinyl-based technologies. With VAE emulsions such as
our EcoVAE line, they are able to keep the performance their
customers’ demand, while opening up possibilities for formulating low odor and low VOC interior paints. In Eastern Europe,
customers are seeing the cost advantages of waterborne technologies versus solvent-based paints. In China and India, our customers are aiming for the high-quality interior markets which
are preferred by consumers.
• Gibbons, Reichhold: Customers are always looking for new
ways to improve the state of their business either through lower
costs or superior performance. At Reichhold, we try and stay
ahead of the curve by keeping up to date on new regulations,
government programs and consumer activity as these drivers directly affect the supply chain and influence our research and development of new products. By streamlining our business
strategy and only focusing on those product areas that play to
our strengths, we are able to deliver quality products at a competitive price to meet the necessary needs of our customers.
Robert E. Ball, director, technical sales and services, protein polymer group, American Casein Company: Technical service is essential in keeping customers satisfied regardless of rising costs.
Source: Orr & Boss, Inc. estimates
Maintaining product quality assurance and availability for technical issues allows for the companies to be more comfortable in
the relationship during difficult times.
• Coduto, Specialty Polymers: Customers are expressing a strong
desire for customized solutions, and a supplier that will respond
quickly to their needs. Price and performance have always been
important, and continue to be important. But it takes more; customers are looking for close working relationships with their
suppliers, and someone they can partner with to develop new
products.
• Jim Horgan, vice president, technology, Sartomer: Customers
expect their suppliers to innovate and provide resins for current
and evolving technologies. In addition to improving conventional
coating properties, many customers are asking for resins to provide advanced performance in terms of electrical, barrier, weathering, printing and formability.
• Gonzales, Dow: These days, customers are focused on security
of supply and cost stability. Customers seem to be looking for
the right balance of cost control and price management to ensure they stay profitable while also meeting their growth objectives. This is a difficult challenge in a world where raw material
price volatility is the new norm.
• Rusty Johnson, field marketing manager for architectural coatings, Dow Chemical: From a performance standpoint, customers
have been asking primarily for surface hardness of the dried films,
improved block resistance in colors, improved stain resistance and
removal properties. While cost is always an issue, we can manage
customer demands by providing products that bring added value
and exhibit the highest performance properties to meet their
needs. By providing our customers high-quality products they are
able to ask for a premium for the paint products they sell.”
How do you balance customer demands with the rising costs as-
sociated with manufacturing resins?
• McDivitt, Celanese: No one is immune to rising costs associated
with higher feedstocks. Celanese prides itself on keeping our internal costs low through optimized manufacturing processes and lean
business practices. Even with these internal controls, we have had
to manage rising raw material costs, just like our customers. Coatings manufacturers have become much savvier in understanding
Source: Orr & Boss, Inc. estimates
Source: Orr & Boss, Inc. estimates
www.coatingsworld.com
April 2011
