Coatings World - September 2015

190 people, plans to hire employees to manage the increased capacity.

The additional capacity will enable PPG to meet increasing demand for its waterborne coatings by automotive manufacturers and industrial customers in the region. Waterborne coatings use water as a base instead of the chemical solvents used in traditional coatings. In addition to a heightened focus throughout Europe on using sustainable products and practices, waterborne-coatings demand is being driven by adoption of compact-paint-process technologies by automotive manufacturers in Europe. Compact paint processes reduce the number of steps needed to paint a vehicle, enabling manufacturers to reduce energy used during the process and downsize the space required for the paint process in a manufacturing facility.

“Waterborne coatings offer manufacturers a more sustainable alternative to typical solvent-based coatings by reducing volatile organic compounds,” said Jean-Marie Greindl, vice president, automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and president, PPG EMEA. “PPG has been at the forefront of this technology throughout its evolution and holds a leading position in this segment in Europe.”

Axalta Commissions New Waterborne
Facility at Wuppertal, Germany,
Operations Center

Axalta Coating Systems commissioned its new waterborne manufacturing facility in Wuppertal, Germany, nine months after ground was broken on the project. The facility further expands Axalta’s substantial operations in Wuppertal and reflects Axalta’s commitment to produce environmentally responsible waterborne coating technology, for which there is a growing demand.

“Wuppertal has now become the center of waterborne pro-
duction for Axalta’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Wuppertal is already home to the largest Axalta manufacturing
facility in the world,” said Axalta’s chairman and CEO, Charlie
Shaver, at the opening ceremony. “The region, and in particular
Germany, has become synonymous with some of the finest auto-
motive engineering in the world and is home to some of our key
customers. With our strong legacy in the market, we are proud
to say that you can find at least one Axalta coating on every
other car in the region, and increasingly a lot of these coatings
are waterborne.”
The new Wuppertal facility will manufacture coatings for
most light vehicle original equipment and commercial vehicle
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the region, as
well as for Axalta’s three global refinish brands – Cromax, Spies
Hecker and Standox.

Dr. Norbert Weckes, plant manager at the Wuppertal facil-
ity, explained the advanced processes utilized by the factory,
which have been designed to lessen the environmental impact of
Axalta’s operations. He said, “This is a next generation facility.
It will reduce our waste from operations, deliver coating systems
that can enable Axalta customers to reduce their environmental
footprint and provide them with the high-quality products they
expect from us.”
”The expansion project also provided an opportunity to
enhance productivity elsewhere at the Wuppertal facility,” ex-
plained Shaver. “We installed new equipment in the existing
waterborne production lines. We also reorganized the way we
produce, transport and fill our products and gained synergies by
combining production resources used to manufacture coatings
for OEM and refinish customers alike.”
Peter Jung, the Lord Mayor of the city of Wuppertal, said,
“An investment on this scale is also of great significance to
Wuppertal as a location. With it, Axalta secures the jobs of its
employees and positions itself for the future with sustainable,
advanced production facilities. We are delighted with the dy-
namic development of Wuppertal as a business location in many
areas. Axalta is an important part of this development. I would
like to say thanks on behalf of the entire city.”

Sherwin-Williams Unveils ColorMix

Sherwin-Williams unveiled its colormix 2016 collection. Sherwin-Williams’ color experts anticipate the optimistic spirit of 2015 will continue to drive trends in the world of color. The annual Sherwin-Williams color forecast collection cultivates this