Industrial Coatings Market
June 2017 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 41
SuperDurable quality with the latest in our FX bonding techniques. A third, critical emerging market for industrial coatings
includes coatings that can be applied to plastic substrates. At
the cutting edge of highly-durable technology in applications to
plastic composites, Axalta launched our FlexBase product line
earlier this year.”
Meeting customer demands
Keeping industrial coatings customers satisfied is a challenging
job. These types of coatings need to withstand punishing elements such as wind, salt, water and UV exposure.
“Our customers continue to expect a lot from their coating
suppliers, not only to deliver product performance in the field,
but to simplify their operations and strengthen their brand,”
said Bausch. “Ultimately, they want coatings to help differentiate their products with end consumers.
Color and surface design play an important role in the prod-
uct experience. We spend a lot of time with customers develop-
ing the right color, texture, gloss and other attributes for their
application. Corrosion protection and durability remain a top
priority for field performance. Customers across multiple seg-
ments are extending warranty periods as a point of differentia-
tion with their products.”
“In several markets, for a variety of reasons, customers con-
tinue to shift toward new and complex substrates,” Bausch said.
“Coating solutions across mixed-metal alloys, carbon fiber, plas-
tics, and other substrates are becoming increasingly important
and can enable weight reduction and performance improvement
targets. In addition to performance needs, customers often tell
us they want help simplifying their operations. They want ro-
bust application windows across a wide range of ambient con-
ditions. They want to match color and performance across a
complex, global supply chain. They want to make things cheap-
er and faster through more efficient processes.”
“Almost all markets, from agriculture, construction and
earth-moving (ACE) to electronics to general finishing, are
looking for process efficiency,” said Calabra. “Customers want
reduced process time while maintaining or improving associ-
ated performance.”
With new standards coming into the market, such as the new
ISO 12944 standard, which will add an extra corrosion cat-
egory with enhanced durability requirements, industrial coat-
ings manufacturers need to develop high performing products.
“There is a trend for longer durability as well as a trend for
sustainability of products, de Vries said. “A study conducted by
CEPE regarding” Sustainable steel bridge maintenance: the role
of paint in an LCA” is showing increasing interest in the market
for sustainability and the role coatings can play.”
Sustainability is at the heart of everything AkzoNobel does,
de Vries added. “We are committed to making all our products,
services and partnerships as sustainable as possible. AkzoNobel
will be carbon neutral and use 100 percent renewable energy in
its own operations by 2050. Sustainability is critical for the fu-
ture success of our company, our society and our planet. Planet
Possible is how we explain our sustainability strategy on an
economic, environmental and social level. It is our commitment
to doing more with less: creating more value from fewer re-
sources. It is about developing a more sustainable business and
increasing our resource efficiency across the whole value chain.”
Cash noted that Axalta’s customers gravitate towards the lat-
est technologies to introduce to their end-users. This includes
increased sustainability, higher quality, and better product con-
sistency. “The latest trend in technology development for liq-
uid coatings involves designing products to ensure the longer
life of substrates, such as building and equipment,” he added.
“Customers seek technologies that provide excellent corro-
sion resistance and withstand high-temperature environments.
Powder coatings are an environmentally sustainable alterna-
tive that will continue to grow faster than GDP as we see more
liquid applications converting to powder coatings. In addition
to a low environmental footprint, powder coatings are moving
towards lower cure technologies, enabling their usability on a
greater variety of substrates like plastics and wood composites.
We have been fortunate to gain more than 2,000 customers
over the past four years who were looking for a global paint
company with a commitment to innovation, a genuine interest
in helping customers succeed and meet environmental goals, as
well as a reliable technical support team to bring results to life
in our customers’ locations.”
“Asset owners and operators are interested in long lasting
protection that reduces cost of ownership and operations,” said
Moeller. “End users do not wish to have any unexpected surprises
that may lead to increased maintenance costs and interruptions to
their operations which can be very costly. This means that asset
owners look for trusted high performance coating solutions that
last as long as possible with a minimal environmental impact.”
“Protective coatings applicators also look for coatings with
a limited environmental impact but prefer coatings that are easy
to apply, as this increases productivity and saves time and labor
costs,” he added. “Finally engineering companies are continually
looking for new ways to simplify their projects, be that via re-
ducing specification complexity or minimizing the time and cost
impact on project schedules arising from painting activities.” CW
Sherwin-Williams
