Abstract
Numerous laboratory tests are used to determine the appropriateness of new formulations in the development process in the paint and coatings industry. New formulations are most often functionally inadequate, unacceptable for environmental or health reasons, or too expensive. Formulators are obliged to repeat laboratory tests until one of the formulations fulfills the minimum requirements. This is cumbersome, slow, and expensive, and can cause ecological problems, wasting materials on tests that do not produce the desired results. The purpose of this research was to find out if there might be a better way forward to increase efficiency and free up formulators to focus on new products. In this experiment, a new paints and coatings development process was redesigned based on the potential benefits of formulation digitalization. Instead of laboratory testing, a digital platform was used that has been developed and stocked with relevant, up-to-date, and complete, usable data. This study found that, by going digital, developers could vastly reduce non-value-added activities in the development process (by as much as 70%) and significantly shorten the entire process throughput time (by up to 48%). Using digital tools to facilitate the development process appears to be a possible way forward for the paint and coatings industry, saving time, materials, and money and protecting the environment.
Highlights
By analyzing the relevant scientific and technical literature, the most important challenges in the process of developing paints and coatings were identified
The deconstruction of time was simplified with regard to the structure of activity time, which is stated by Ljubič [24]: processing time, Coatings 2019, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW
The entire development process throughput time was reduced by 47.61% (1835 out of 3853 h) as is shown in Figure 7, the activity throughput time on which the cloud-based information and communication technologies (ICT) has impact was reduced by 69.88%
Summary
By analyzing the relevant scientific and technical literature, the most important challenges in the process of developing paints and coatings were identified. Increasing requirements for effective surface protection, on the one hand, and continuous tightening of environmental regulations, on the other, can be observed [1,2]. An additional focus is achieving new product development and specifications in the shortest possible time. Because of these requirements, rapid development of technology offers more and more opportunities for the design of quality products; the development of new products becomes increasingly complex [3,4,5,6]. Evolving demands for greater capability, efficiency, and functionality of coatings; increasing regulatory complexity; and growing competition in this area account for the need for accelerated development of coatings’ raw materials, formulated products, and rapid problem-solving [7]
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