Supplier Perspective on Key Trends in the Paint and Coatings Industry

By Cynthia Challener

At the end of each year, it is import­ant to reflect on key developments that occurred during the previ­ous 12 months, while anticipating and planning for the coming year ahead. For the coatings industry in 2019, topics of interest ranged from overarching trends such as sustainability, durabil­ity, and digitalization to issues related to specific segments of the market, such as titanium dioxide supply and pricing. In addition to covering these important themes throughout the year, CoatingsTech highlighted advances
in such areas as traffic paint, exterior wood, food contact metal packaging coatings, industrial maintenance, and transportation coatings. Additional technical innovations that captured the attention of the industry included new silicone chemistry that is impacting both resin and additive technologies, novel metal-free catalysts, and recent developments in powder coatings.

Throughout the past year, it was evident that one of the fundamental aspects of the paint and coatings indus­try affecting all sectors and enabling the achievement of improvements developed in response to key trends continues to be the push for innovation. Innovation not only drives advances
in technology that lead to improved sustainability and durability of coating products, but also enables suppliers and formulators to leverage automation and novel digital tools to create better prod­ucts and services for their customers and consumers. Many of these interrelated concepts were emphasized at important industry conferences and trade shows in 2019, such as the European Coatings Show, held in Nuremberg, Germany, in March.

Technical presentations and booth displays focused heavily on sustainabil­ity, demonstrating how this important theme impacts all aspects of the paint and coatings industry from raw material selection and sourcing to manufactur­ing and application processes and the performance of applied coating prod­ucts. Also emphasized were possible solutions for increased ease of use, productivity, and functionality, as well as the growing importance and impact of digitalization, which is connected
to improving efficiency and achieving greater sustainability.