The Coatings Business Unit is the largest of the four PPG Business Units. The products are widely applied in the automotive, industrial, electronic, domestic, architecture and agriculture/construction equipment industries. With the explosive development of Chinese automotive / industrial coatings market, PPG expanded coatings business in China. Several technical and training centers have been set up in different areas of China such as Tianjin, Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen.
PPG Tianjin OEM Lab
The Tianjin OEM Lab was the first one established in PPG China with more than 10 years of developments. It’s function has shifted from simple testing on imported paint to independent research and development of new products that meet  Chinese market and customers’ specifications. Our customers have expanded from Beijing Jeep to high profile auto manufacturers on a global scale, including: Shanghai GM, SGM Dongyue, SGM Shenyang, DPCA, Nanjing FIAT, Nanjing Iveco, Hainan Mazda, Xiamen Kinglong, SAIC Chery and more. Our talented work force includes chemists and senior chemists, many with MS degree, fulfilling strong R&D function. We deliver to customers high value added products and services including new color launching and local supply chain support to customers with special needs.
With abundant investment on test equipment, our lab is equipped to do regular paint test measurements, and also has capability for waterborne developments. In 2004, we installed three axis robotic simulator spray system which corresponds to real time auto production to test product workability for new customer or new product launching. We are capable of mimicking the whole process of Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler (BBDC) paint shop production. Today, PPG is chosen as the supplier of the new BBDC plant, and has been providing high quality waterborne primer and top coat to the first automotive manufacturer in China that is using such environmental friendly products.
PPG Automotive Parts and Accessories Coating Lab (APA lab):
The APA lab was founded in 2001.The products are mainly applied to wheels, automotive interiors and accessories.
Hardware and software of this lab have been constantly improved. There are many types of equipment for wet paint and cured film testing. Also, there is a high effect color analysis system which can analyze color values of coatings and multiple angle spectrum reflection for metallic and mica colors. This equipment can help chemists to match color accurately and meet customers’ various requirements. We have a large number of experienced chemists providing prompt action and service to customers.
The lab is divided into three groups: color development group, interior coating development group and performance testing group based on various properties of products and customers. The performance testing group was founded in 2005, whose major responsibility is to run performance test for coatings which have been applied to different substrates according to customers’ specification. Those performance tests include chip resistance, weather resistance, water immersion, adhesion, salt-spraying resistance, and each type of durability test. This lab has received GP-10 INTERIM ACCREDITATION upon audit by GM and prepared to pass ISO/IEC17025 Chinese National Laboratory Accreditation (CNLA) in this year.
Since the establishment of the lab, the sales of APA increased by more than 30% every year, and customers expanded from JJMC to Volkswagen, GM, PSA, Citroen, Chery, MAZDA, Xiali. Now, PPG APA coating technology is widely used by well-known automobile manufacturers in the world.
Suzhou Color center
The main function of the Suzhou Color center is to support color matching for consumer products worldwide. According to customers’ requirements and market trends, the Suzhou color center develops new colors and forecasts colors and effects to drive the styling in the industry.
Our customers are global. To better serve our customers and meet their requirements, our color professionals always communicate with designers from Dell, Gateway，Nokia，Motorola，Sony-Ericsson，Alcatel，ZTE， Logitech and etc to fully understand their expectations.
The Color center has color matching and testing equipment, application equipment ,and some small –scale simulated application lines which can simulate the environment of customers’ paint shop. So we are capable of developing products that meet the requirements of different customer’s lines. To reduce trial times and cost for customers, we can obtain optimal application parameter in the lab first.
Once problems occur on line, chemists can find the root cause in the lab in time using this simulated application line and provide solutions to the problems quickly.
PPG Consumer Product Lab  Since 1999 when PPG provided the first drop of Galaxy gray and Radar blue paint and technical services for Motorola V998 mobile phone, the Consumer Product Lab has become a significant R&D, technical service and experimental center for customer product business in the PPG Asia Pacific region. The end user includes computer/laptop, mobile phones, audio-visual equipment, footwear and household / commercial appliance products. Major customers include Dell, Acer, HP, Gateway, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nike, PONY, etc. With the continuing growth of consumer electronic products, the environmental protection regulation is becoming more demanding, for instance, RoHS & Green Partner for electronic equipment. With continuous improvement, our coatings can completely meet RoHS regulation and Green Partner Quality System Requirements. The coatings systems developed from this lab have already been widely used in domestic and international markets. Those systems include:
- Excellent chemical resistance and wear resistance of the low-temperature cured coating for various plastic substrates
- Excellent hardness performance of low and high temperature cured two-component polyurethane coating for metal substrates
- UV curable coatings for different cell phones and computer/ laptop applications
- Flexible coatings for footwear
The consumer product lab also has different kinds of performance testing equipment and provides full performance testing to all customers. Some specific equipment is available for customers’ special requirements. This equipment includes: a wear resistance machine, laser-etch machine,coating film defects analysis equipment.
Besides the Tianjin lab, there are two other labs located in Shenzhen and Suzhou, whose responsibilities are to provide color matching, production and technical service supports.
PPG Analytical Lab:
 To better support PPG R&D capacity in China, in 2004, PPG set up an Analytical Lab in Tianjin. The Analytical Lab has capacity to conduct the following tests: Chemical Qualitative Analysis, Quantitative Analysis, Performance Evaluation of Coatings, Defect Analysis, and RoHS compliant materials testing. The samples include different kinds of coatings, raw materials and cured coatings films. Thirty percent of the lab chemists have a master’s degree in science, and all the other members have bachelor’s degree of science. We also have a consultant with more than 20 years coating technical experience to support our analytical activities. There are 65 pieces of equipment available in the lab, including GC ,GC/MS, AAS, and FTIR. PPG Analytical lab has a plan to pass ISO/IEC17025 Chinese National Laboratory Accreditation (CNLA) before the end of 2007.
PPG Wood Coatings (China) Lab The Wood Coatings(China) Lab was set up in 2004, it’s a part of PPG’s Global Wood Coating Strategy Business Unit. The lab adopts the same standard of R&D and test equipment as that of PPG U.S. and France. PPG Wood Coatings Lab owns a full scale of UV coatings production line and test equipment that can provide fast and high quality services to technical sales/service representatives and customers. The lab continuously develops high quality products through technology exchange with the US and France for the wood floor and furniture market of Asia Pacific Area.
PPG COEX Lab:
There are three Technical Labs in China for COEX business. The lab located in Tianjin mainly serves customers in the Northern areas, with focus on product performance test and product development. The other two labs in Shenzhen and Shanghai serves customers in the southern areas and central China by providing prompt services in color matching and production.
The COEX coatings is applied to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Hong Kong International Financial Center, PICC Beijing Building, International Trade Square Shanghai, Shanghai Grand Theater and some other important projects in China. The technical lab also helps customers with durability performance tests such as QUV, humidity resistance, salt-spraying resistance.
The complete technical service system provides technical supports in order to help our customer use our products in the most cost effective way.
Automotive Refinish Lab:
In 2001 this lab was founded with its primary function to serve as a local product supply chain. With increasing the localization in China, PPG set up the Automotive Refinish China Technical Center (located in Suzhou) to support our domestic customers color matching requirements.
The main part of the color lab is also the largest color center for Refinish in China, which can accommodate 3000-4000 color matching requires per year. Our lab has facilities with substantial color matching equipment to cover PPG global refinish platform needs. Also the color lab uses the GRID system to manage the color registration and formulation while simultaneously supports long-distance cooperation to achieve the in-path work with PPG global refinish labs as well.
PPG Powder Coatings Suzhou Lab:
 The need of Powder coatings application increased in recent years due to environmental protection considerations. Currently, the PPG Powder Coatings lab supplies our customers with polyester and epoxy based coatings in addition to other types which are applied to pipe, hardware, consumer, construction, bath and automotive accessories. These products provide excellent performance such as : very low temperature cure, excellent weather resistance, good mar/scratch resistance, high temperature resistance, extreme chemical resistance, etc.
PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Lab:This lab has been set up for 13 years. PPG is one of the world’s leading producers of packaging coatings. With increasing businesses in China, the technical team in this lab expanded from two to more than twenty with all associates have a BS / MS degree. The package coatings products applications include 3-piece beverage or food can, 2-piece beer/ beverage or food can, closure can, crown cap, general line, 3-piece aerosol can, mono-block, latex paint pail / drum, tube, ink, and resin.
The modern package not only requires attractive appearance and functionality , but also needs to meet environmental and health requirements. This requires PPG to develop new product continuously. For example: coatings for exterior closure cans, adhesive coating for interior crown caps, interior of luncheon meat cans, and interior of beverage can. Most products have been approved and are currently used by customers.
PPG provides coatings to such well-known international and domestic companies like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull , Lulu , Coconut juice, Wang wang, YinLu etc.
PPG Architectural Finishes Technical Center:This technical center is located in Shanghai. PPG Architectural Finishes offers a complete line of quality, professional paints for the household consumers. Customers can rely on the performance characteristics of the paint in achieving a smooth and uniform appearance with rich, premium colors. Obtaining a beautiful, long-lasting finish with colors that stay bright and wash easily. Our unique formula provides excellent resistance to bacterium growing. Also the coatings are low VOC, non- toxic, lead and chromium free and in addition, free of other heavy metals.
PPG is the pioneer in receiving advanced American GREEN SEAL environmental CERTIFICATION and CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL LABELLING. Therefore, PPG architectural coatings is a true Green product certain to be favored by Chinese customers. The technical center is equipped with various test and auto color matching equipment. Today, the center maintains a close relationship with Chinese Test Institutes, Coatings Research Institutes and works in conjunction with them in order to provide high performance products. The major responsibilities of this center are to maintain existing products and to develop new products. These activities include:
- Exterior waterborne silicone acrylic metallic coatings
- Exterior waterborne fluorocarbon metallic coatings
- Exterior dust-resistance elastic coatings
- Exterior and interior primer based on new Chinese Architectural Standard
- Exterior and interior emulsion coatings
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