PPG to invest in automated dispense cell manufacturing for auto parts, accessories

Pittsburgh-headquartered paints, coatings, and specialty materials supplier PPG is increasing its investment in automated dispense cell manufacturing of paint and related coatings for the automotive parts and accessories decorative (APAD) space. Financial details are not being disclosed.

Dispense cell technology enables PPG to dramatically accelerate production and approval of paint batches for vehicle OEMs and component suppliers. The technology allows coatings components to be automatically drawn from storage vats in the correct proportions and mixed directly in their shipping containers, vastly simplifying and increasing the efficiency of the coatings manufacturing process.

PPG recently launched an APAD dispense cell operation at its San Juan del Rio, Mexico, coatings facility and will begin production on an additional cell in 2019 in Sriperumbudur, India. These cells are in addition to PPG’s recent APAD investments in Germany and Russia and the dispense cells already online at the Company’s APAD facilities in Valladolid, Spain; Oak Creek, Wisconsin; and Tianjin, China.

“PPG’s automated dispense cell technology has greatly improved paint and coatings production for our customers around the world,” said Rodger Lee Pelo, PPG Global General Manager, APAD. “Our expansion of this unique capability reinforces PPG’s commitment to the APAD space and enables us to react much faster to customer needs while increasing product consistency and color accuracy.”

Dispense cell technology is considered critical in the automotive parts and accessories category due to the ever-expanding range of colours offered by OEMs and their components suppliers, as well as the increased use of plastics and other substrates. Automated production dramatically reduces product variability, leading to increased batch consistency in colour, appearance and application as well as significantly reduced lead times for customers.

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