PPG has inaugurated an innovative centre of excellence facility at its Quattordio site in Italy.
As well as being a key production site and innovation hub for PPG’s Automotive Coatings in Europe, the company’s Quattordio facility also includes a styling centre which is used to support the study and development of new automotive colours.
Thanks to a 2.3 million euros (AUD $3.85 million) investment, the site now incorporates a new centre of excellence which combines colour development and application in a single process. Benefits include reducing the lead time to bring new colours to market, optimising costs and maximising colour performance. In addition, the facility is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) tools that will be used in the colour development and quality control processes. These include a statistical and machine learning tool that can reduce the number of colour adjustment steps, reducing costs and overall cycle-time during the development of basecoats and coloured products. It’s set to be a game-changer, according to Isabella Ercole, PPG Operations Director EMEA, Industrial Coatings segment.
“This project reflects PPG’s ambition to be the first-choice partner to meet customers’ evolving needs for innovative paints and coatings and provide industry-leading solutions that provide productivity and sustainability benefits. This new centre of excellence, an end-to-end combination of the development and application of colours, is also an investment in our employees, who will benefit from an innovative workspace and will be able to improve their skills working together as a One PPG Team.”