the first water-based acrylic paint in. 1951, sparking a wholesale conversion from
solvent-based paint. Today, we work especially hard to remain the premiere ...
China’s Growing Acceptance of Waterbased Acrylic Coatings Results from Rohm and Haas Innovation and Technical Support Much has been written about the rapid adoption of western technologies by industry throughout China. As this massive nation embraces global standards of quality, safety and sustainability, companies that have committed resources to support industry in China are poised for tremendous success. In recent years, specialty materials company Rohm and Haas has been instrumental in bringing cutting-edge, environmentally advanced acrylic technology to the coatings industry in China. Recently, a group of the company’s Paint and Coatings business managers in China gathered to discuss Rohm and Haas’s technology and innovation and how they are meeting customer needs in this dynamic region. We invite you to read what they had to say in this article reprint.
Speaking on behalf of Rohm and Haas
Mr. Bruce Hoechner Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Paint and Coatings Materials, Asia Pacific
Mr. David G. Speece Technical Director, Paint and Coatings Materials, Asia Pacific
Mrs. Helen Zhang General Manager, Paint and Coatings Materials, Great China
Bruce Hoechner,
Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Paint and Coatings Materials, Asia Pacific During the last several years, the Chinese government has instituted increasingly strict regulations to better protect health and the environment. Even beyond regulation, many companies rank environmental considerations as very important to their business success, and the move toward green products has become a major trend throughout China. Rohm and Haas is very committed to sustainability as well. In 2007, we earmarked half of our US$300 million research budget to sustainability efforts including new product development, energy efficiency and process improvements. Since our earliest days, we have consistently introduced safer, more environmentally advanced technology to replace traditional, less environmentally aware choices.
David Speece,
Technical Director Rohm and Haas’s high-performance waterborne acrylic coating technologies are an ideal option to help companies meet these environmental objectives and regulations. They have many advantages: low VOCs, low odor, low flammability, no solvents, easier handling, water cleanup, air quality protection and safer working conditions. Yet customers still produce products as good as - and in more and more cases, better than - those made with solvent-based materials.
Bruce Hoechner,
Dr. Simon Mawson Marketing Manager, Paint and Coatings Materials, Asia Pacific
page 2
Corporate Vice President and General Manager We’ve been the world’s leader in acrylic technology since we invented the very first acrylic emulsion in the early 1940s. Our company introduced the first water-based acrylic paint in 1951, sparking a wholesale conversion from solvent-based paint. Today, we work especially hard to remain the premiere source for architectural and industrial waterborne acrylic coatings innovation around the world.
Simon Mawson,
Marketing Manager The market here demands this innovation since there are many companies jockeying for position in this rapidly growing market. Growth in China is projected to remain above 10 percent per year for water-based coatings through 2010. This is being driven by several factors: economic growth that enables construction and wider home ownership, government support for becoming a homeowner and the perception that real estate is a sound investment and the conversion of select solventborne to waterborne markets in the industrial area. At the same time, there is a continuing demand for higher-performance coatings. The keys for us have been investment in R&D, strengthening our customer relationships and expanding our production in anticipation of future growth. We are able to provide both the innovation and the volume of coatings that our customers in China demand.
Helen Zhang,
General Manager I believe that we’re particularly suited to provide this environmentally smart technology to the coatings industry here. Our company has more experience in this region than any other specialty materials company, being the first multinational player to enter this industry in China 20 years ago. Our presence grew along with the industry as China became the second largest coating market in the world after North America.
Bruce Hoechner,
Corporate Vice President and General Manager Our coating business in China is extremely important to our company. Since 1988, we’ve spent nearly US$400 million to develop facilities in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Sanshui and a distribution center in Chengdu. We also recently invested US$30 million of a planned $60 million in our state-of-the-art China Research and Development Center
in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Our substantial investment and commitment enable us to bring mature, tested, dependable coating technology to China.
Simon Mawson,
Marketing Manager Through our knowledge and specialized workforce, customers receive what they need very quickly, whether they require us to develop a new product or provide them with custom formulations.
Helen Zhang,
General Manager Currently, we employ more than 1,000 people in China, many of them local talent who have been with us for many years. We’ve trained and developed a highly skilled group that serves Rohm and Haas in many diverse capacities: science, technical, sales, marketing, operations, finance, human resources. As a team, they are very familiar with the dynamic market and unique customer needs in this region, enabling us to function like a local player yet have the resources of a multinational company. We are very close to customers, and this includes quick service and rapid delivery. We strategically located our network of facilities to serve our customer base. Our new distribution center in Chengdu – one of four in the country – reduces lead time for customers in southwest China from ten to five days, for example. No matter where a product comes from, however, our exacting production ensures that a single product acquired anywhere in China is identical to previous lots or lots produced elsewhere.
David Speece,
Technical Director We provide technical support of all types very rapidly, too – from selecting appropriate products and identifying suitable equipment to training operators and troubleshooting. This is particularly important in this market, where many customers
have new operators, new applications, new equipment, or all three. We’re proud of our reputation as the company that provides the world’s best technical support, and we do whatever it takes to ensure customer success.
Helen Zhang,
General Manager Further, we’re serving customers by managing our costs tightly and trimming expenses in order to provide the best value. We’re very aware that raw material, transportation and customer costs are rising, and we’re taking steps accordingly. Over the last three years alone, we’ve reduced energy consumption, water use and waste production about eight percent. This not only saves money for us, but helps control our customers’ expenses as well.
David Speece,
Technical Director I’d like to address the perception that waterborne chemistry can’t equal solventborne performance and isn’t appropriate for higherperformance applications. That’s just not the case anymore. Our environmentally advanced acrylic waterborne chemistry doesn’t compromise on performance. Today, it handles many of the same applications that used to be solvent-based strongholds. We have rapidly closed the performance gap between water-based and solvent-based technologies, but in some cases the performance of our products exceeds that of solvent-based choices. For example, when you compare our Avanse™ polymer with conventional polymers in paint, Avanse™ interacts with other materials in the formulation to deliver higher durability, superior hiding, better scrub resistance, excellent stain resistance and improved adhesion. Yet Avanse™ has very low VOCs, low odor, no solvents and water as a raw material. It’s an advanced formulation in every way.
Simon Mawson,
Marketing Manager We are very excited about our Avanse™ technology. With Avanse™, low VOC, environmentally friendly coatings can be formulated for even the most demanding industrial applications, where previously only solvent-borne coatings were suitable. Avanse™ technology was developed specifically for coating structural steel and concrete surfaces and is ideal for primers, topcoats and direct-to-metal finishes.
David Speece,
Technical Director This technology also helps customers reduce the amount of energy-intensive TiO2 in paint formulation, and it improves working conditions for professionals applying the paint. We’re very proud that Avanse™ technology earned the Prix Pierre Potier Innovation in the Environment Award in 2006 from the French Minister Delegate for Industry.
Simon Mawson,
Marketing Manager Dirtshield™ 08 is another new, environmentally friendly technology from Rohm and Haas that has been developed for exterior applications where dirt pickup resistance is important. Dirtshield™ 08 is 100 percent acrylic and is unique in that it allows customers to cut production costs by significantly reducing the amount of film-forming coalescent – the most expensive solvent component in paint formulations. And yet it offers very desirable performance attributes, such as excellent resistance to dirt pick-up through a proprietary surface cross-linking technology. Dirtshield™ 08 epitomizes our approach to green technology – we offer green solutions that also deliver high performance through acrylic chemistry.
page 3
David Speece,
Technical Director Tianba™ 2000 is an example of a product developed specifically for the China building and construction market that evolved directly from customer communication. It’s a new generation flexible acrylic co-polymer for cement-based and non-cementbased waterproof coatings. Our extensive research shows that it has better waterproofing, flexibility and alkali resistance than other products. It’s an environmentally advanced technology, low in odor and low in VOCs that nonetheless exhibits excellent performance.
Simon Mawson,
Marketing Manager We have other green coating technologies that we look forward to introducing to the China market. Our waterbased Fastrack™ traffic paint binders, for example, exhibit superior toughness combined with
flexibility, fast drying and exceptional adhesion in a solvent-free environmentally advanced formulation – key characteristics for marking busy highways. Further, this product helps protect the health of workers applying the paint. Within one short decade, our Fastrack™ products helped convert a purely solvent-borne application in North America and the Australia and New Zealand markets in Asia Pacific, to one that now utilizes water-based products 85 percent of the time. We’re committed to promoting this product in China’s road industry as an alternative to conventional solvent-based choices. It’s a timely technology here, as China embarks on a strategic transportation plan that will build 42,000 miles of new road in just 20 years.
Bruce Hoechner,
Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Paint and Coatings Materials, Asia Pacific
We take very seriously our position as innovation and technology leader for waterborne coatings in the Chinese coating industry. We foresee a great future for our customers in this arena, and we’re committed to serving their success in every way.
For information about Rohm and Haas products and services contact:
Sue Zhu Manager of Communications Packaging and Building Materials and Paint and Coatings Materials Telephone: +86 21 3682 8690 Email:
[email protected]
Located in Pudong, Shanghai, the Rohm and Haas China R&D Center is the second largest R&D institution of the company across the world. The center will improve the company’s quick response time to Chinese market demands, and actively cultivate and aid the development of highly-skilled local talent. More than 600 employees, including 200 research and development scientists, engineers and technicians, are devoted to interests of the company and its customers throughout China. Rohm and Haas will continue its strategic, long-term investments in China to meet the needs of local markets. With a total investment target of US$60 million, Rohm and Haas has spent US$30 million in the first phase of this operation.
page 4
©2008 Rohm and Haas. For more information, visit www.rohmhaas.com V63330
