coilcoating
Shelley Verdun, business manager for powder coatings within PPG’s Industrial Coatings division, is a chemist and a 32-year veteran of the 137-year-old Pittsburgh-based company. The division handles various market segments such as electrical equipment and appliances, automotive underbody components, and office furnishings.
One of the first advantages of powder that PPG discusses with potential customers, including coil coaters, is that such coatings offer a low cost of entry to the market, compared with liquid coatings.
Liquid paint, she says, “takes a lot of labor to clean up after, maintain and then, in terms of energy efficiency, to burn off exhaust. All that is expensive.” Coaters must also follow state and federal rules “to handle that on their applicator lines.”
“It’s very user friendly, less variable. There is less training involved to teach its use. There are no solvents, no stickiness. Cleanup is easy, which means less labor,” Verdun says.
In terms of thermal treatment (curing), heating costs are lower because users don’t have to burn off solvents. Because of how it’s applied, the coating line is shorter, and coaters can place parts closer together.
Verdun stresses the benefits of powder over liquid. “When you think of a gallon of paint that an applicator would use, of the entire gallon we sell to a customer, only 60 percent ends up on parts. The paint goes onto the booth, on the floor, into the filter. That’s just the nature of liquid coatings. And there is no way to reclaim the lost paint.
When a new powder line goes up, “compliance is faster, easier and lower cost” than lines that coat with liquid paint, she says.
“Regardless, the technologies are deemed good, better and best,” says Verdun. “At PPG, in terms of functional performance, one of the earliest and best technologies has been electrocoating. Back in the day, you would see cars rusting out. That doesn’t happen now due to electrocoating. However, it doesn’t stand alone. We have done quite a bit of testing in electrocoating and powder. In house, our high-end powder coat technology is the benchmark for corrosion resistance.”
![](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/black-quote-left.png)
![](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/black-quote-right.png)
PPG asked customers, “What would be the holy grail product?” Verdun says. “They said they want either growth or savings, and both would be great. Envirocron offers one-coat exceptional corrosion performance.”
As manufacturing capabilities and laser cutting improves, material edges provide challenging surfaces for coating to stick to, Verdun explains. “You cannot always see it but an uncoated edge can appear on a finished part, and that is the entry point for corrosion.” With Envirocron, PPG found a way to get the powder to the edge of the part and getting the powder to stick. As the part goes into use in the field, there is no entry point for the corrosion.
“Laser cutting is all the rage,” she says, “but some customers and equipment suppliers are looking to edge rounding equipment so part edges are less sharp and coating would stick. They are thinking about adding that step in house, so the paint is better on the edges.”
PPG has seen improvements with edge rounding work well and the user does not need to spend millions of dollars on equipment, training and labor, and time. “Our product stays on the edge and protects the edge,” she says.
![Racking systems Racking systems that are resistant to bumps and scrapes](https://digital.modernmetals.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/protect-perfect-img003.jpg)
The other goal is to develop solutions that help customers improve their own quality and brand image, such as how a coating improves appearance.
“If you would ask anyone what’s the biggest negative, they say it’s in the metallics area, in terms of aesthetics,” says Verdun. “That is what we are working on to improve. We want to innovate and provide value to our customers” while growing powder’s market share and improving its function.