Turning to the much smaller, but extremely fast-growing market for coatings for mobile communications equipment, Anders pointed out that, while Asia in general, and China in particular, is the major area for production, styling and sales often take place elsewhere. Applicators require accurate colors in 24 hours, while ramp-ups and ramp-downs of production add great uncertainty. Helping applicators to achieve maximum yield from their coatings is a key to efficiency. New technologies will be important in plastic coatings, too: UV curing is already used, and cure times for conventional coatings are being sped up. Environmental pressures are encouraging very high solid and water-borne coatings. Their introduction in China has been slower than in some other regions, although there are now pressures for uniform “best practice” from some international companies. All industrial coatings markets in China are facing rising raw material prices in very competitive markets.
Success in China will require more focus on logistics, to make and deliver the right quantity of paint on time. Logistics will also help competitiveness, by taking both cost and time out of the chain. More use of returnable bulk containers, and of bulk tanker deliveries, is required. Anders concluded, “Coatings manufacturers must add value to the chain by providing coatings with useful new properties, such as thermal control, dirt shedding and bacterial control. They must also reduce the environmental costs of their coatings and coating processes.”
