THE BUSINESS OF VISCOSITY BLOG

Automotive finishing is set for incredible growth.  According to a report from Research and Markets, from $8.82 billion in 2015, the global industry is projected to hit $12.54 billion by 2022!

This growth is being driven by expanding markets overseas — especially in China — as well as strict environmental regulations at home and in Europe that are expected to increase the demand for waterborne, UV cure, and powder coatings.

What does this mean for automotive finishers?

What does this mean for you as an automotive finisher?   In a word: “opportunity.”  But only if you can keep up with the higher quality standards that will invariably accompany the increase in demand.

As a market grows, customers expect more from their suppliers, so automotive painters will have to find ways to ensure that their finishes are free of blemishes, defects, and imperfections.

That’s certainly a tall order, especially considering that, even today, some of the top automotive manufacturers struggle to control issues such as orange peel (as shown in this video).

But, fortunately, it’s not impossible.

How can automotive finishers keep up with rising quality demands?

One solution can be found in paint temperature control. Saint Clair Systems has demonstrated that there is a direct and measurable correlation between paint temperature and surface finish quality.  In fact, paint temperature can be used as a tool to avoid surface imperfections on a finished part.

These conclusions were confirmed in a series of lab experiments performed in partnership with Carlisle Fluid Technologies, a global leader in surface finishing equipment with hundreds of years of experience in the industry across its brands (which include Binks and DeVilbiss, two companies started by the acknowledged inventors of paint spraying technology), and BYK-Gardner, a global leader in finish quality measurement, whose “Wavescan” is the  “Gold Standard” for measurement of orange peel.  In this Design-of-experiments, panels were sprayed at different temperatures across a range of finishing variables.

So what’s the point?

Put simply, one way to keep up with the rising demand the finishing industry will see over the next roughly four years is maintaining rigorous process control.  And this study shows the importance of paint temperature as one of those critical variables.  Automotive finishers need to identify the ideal application temperature for each of their paints, and then they need to maintain that temperature as part of their process.

This is where a comprehensive paint temperature control system is important.  You can do everything possible to control your process variables, including robotic applicators and controlled booths, but unless you’re controlling your paint temperature, you’re still going to see intermittent finish quality issues.  It’s a science all its own.  Well-designed paint temperature control systems use a variety of technologies to manage temperature at the most critical point in your process – the point of application.

This is a key way to ensure you get your slice of that $12.54-billion-dollar pie!

If you’d like more information on custom paint temperature control systems designed specifically for your application, contact Saint Clair Systems.

Exciting things are coming in the near future in the field of automotive paint.  Over the next few years, automotive paint finishers will be able to offer truly stunning new paint technologies that will greatly improve both the appearance and the function of their vehicles.

What do consumers have to look forward to?

Super-reflective paint

At the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2015, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab made painting history.  They presented a new glass-based paint (made of silica and potassium silicate) which, rather than absorbing the sun’s rays like most paints do, reflects them.  This environmentally-friendly paint will keep cars cool, even in blistering summer heat.  And, it’s available now on select models.

Self-cleaning paint

How would you like to never have to wash your car again?  In 2016, Nissan announced that it had developed a super-hydrophobic self-cleaning car paint, the result of prototype experiments conducted in 2014.  Similar to Rustoleum’s “Never Wet” product, nanoscopic peaks in the surface of this paint make it difficult for water, dirt, oil, and other materials to adhere, so they simply slide off instead. As a result, the car gets less dirty than a vehicle without the paint, as demonstrated in this video.

Self-healing paint

Never having to wash your car again is one thing, but what if you didn’t have to worry about scratches?  Nissan has also experimented with a self-healing paint that repairs scratches in its surface – much as your skin does – only faster!  It’s formulated using a material called chitosan, derived from the chitin in the shells of crabs and lobsters.  When the surface gets scratched, the chitosan in the paint, activated by the sun, stitches together the damage via synthetic chains created in conjunction with other compounds in the paint, healing itself in less than an hour!  This technology is still being perfected, so you’ll have to stay on the lookout for run-away shopping carts in the parking lot for a while longer.

Heat-sensitive color-changing paint

Heat-sensitive color-changing paint, or thermochromic paint, changes color as a function of temperature. Below the threshold temperature, the paint appears as one solid color, but when it surpasses that temperature, it turns transparent, showing whatever colors or images have been painted underneath. This can result in some very interesting effects, as demonstrated in this video.  Like self-healing and self-cleaning technologies, thermochromic paints are not yet available on the mass market.

How will these new paints affect automotive finishers?

While exciting, these new technologies will further complicate the automotive finishing process.  This will make process control even more critical than it is today to ensure the desired results.

Saint Clair Systems has tested the relationship between paint temperature and finish quality in the field, and in the lab, and the resulting data shows that paint temperature is a significant factor when it comes to consistent and repeatable surface finish quality.  So if you’re a finisher contemplating one of these new technologies, or just looking to improve your results with your current technology, contact us to discuss how adding paint temperature to your list of controlled variables can create better outcomes.

If you’re not sure where to begin when it comes to paint temperature control, or you’d like advice regarding your particular application, contact Saint Clair Systems directly.