20 | Coatings World www.coatingsworld.com August 2016
and humidity settings. New
sanding, drying and oven rooms
afford the full range of applica-
tion processing from preparation
to drying in controlled environments.
According to Peter Wind, PPG technical
manager, the aerospace industry is seeing
increased demand for custom color as
well as an accelerating pace for commer-
cializing new coatings technologies, and
the new capabilities at the Shildon facility
strengthen PPG’s responsiveness to these
trends. “With color being used more in
airline liveries and on business aircraft,
PPG customers will be able to see more
precisely how we can make their vision
a reality,” Wind said. “PPG aerospace
and military coatings are designed for
global application and service,” he added.
“These new capabilities enable us to sim-
ulate different environmental conditions
that could be encountered by our custom-
ers anywhere in the world – from Dubai,
where summers are hot and dry, to hu-
mid Singapore and even Russia, where a
maintenance and repair operation might
apply our products in damp, cold condi-
tions. As we develop coatings that have
new characteristics, we will be able to
streamline their launch.”
The two paint spray booths and a
viewing gallery are located in a two-story,
3,400-square-foot addition, while the
testing laboratory and related rooms oc-
cupy the former spray booth space. The
Shildon facility, which has been in opera-
tion since 1967, also produces aerospace
sealants and operates an application
support center. It has nearly 200 em-
ployees. PPG’s global aerospace business
offers coatings, sealants, transparencies,
packaging and application systems, and
transparent armor, as well as chemical
management and other services.
PPG Opens Liquid Coatings
Application Development
Center at Oak Creek Plant
PPG opened a $3 million state-of-the-art liquid coatings application development center at its Oak Creek, Wisconsin,
plant. The new center includes advanced
equipment that helps simulate industrial
coatings customers’ manufacturing environments to ensure PPG coatings will be
properly and consistently applied during
their production processes.
The new coatings application development center houses multiple curing ovens, robotic paint applicators and spray
booths with temperature and humidity
controls to mimic a wide range of liquid
coatings application conditions. These
capabilities will further enhance the
product launch process and application
validation capabilities of PPG’s industrial
coatings business.
“It’s important to our customers to
have liquid coatings products that work
well in specific climates and environments,” explained Steve Wirtz, PPG liquid
application manager, industrial coatings.
“If they’re applying liquid coatings in
the searing heat of summer with high hu-
midity, or in cold-weather environments,
we can simulate those conditions in our
climate-controlled coating rooms to en-
sure that PPG products will perform as
desired. The abilities to mimic actual pro-
duction conditions and to test coatings
applications on large and complex shapes
and parts will enable our technical ex-
perts to work more closely with custom-
ers during development, offering new
opportunities for identifying and address-
ing potential problems and for coatings
application training.”
Kevin Braun, PPG vice president, in-
dustrial coatings, Americas, said, “At
PPG, we understand the challenges and
demands our customers face every day,
and we collaborate to help solve them.
Investing in this new facility shows PPG’s
commitment to developing innovative
coatings along with our customers and
enhances our ability to work with them
on next-generation liquid coatings for-
mulations. We strive to help our custom-
ers reduce manufacturing complexities
and make coated products that protect
and beautify their products.”
LINE-X Supplies Coatings
for Diamond C Trailers
LINE-X has announced a new manufacturing partnership with Diamond C Trailers.
Based in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, Diamond C
now offers customers the option to have
a LINE-X protective coating applied to
nearly all of their utility, car-hauler, equipment, tilt-bed and dump trailers.
LINE-X may also be applied to specific trailer components such as tool boxes
and fenders.
LINE-X coatings, which are being offered with or in lieu of a painted
finish, offer protection against the elements, abrasions, impacts and corrosion.
LINE-X spray-on coatings are designed
to create an impenetrable barrier between
