PPG said it made a $1.7 million (RMB12 million) investment in a new dispense cell at its Kunshan, China, coatings manufacturing facility.
 
The new cell, expected to be fully operational in January 2019, will increase production flexibility and productivity at the site, while also delivering significant cost savings, shortened delivery cycles and reduced emissions.
 
“Our Kunshan facility is tasked with locally supplying our protective and marine coatings customers in China. This investment will deliver rapid response supply tailored to our protective customers’ needs in China,” said Mike Horton, VP, protective and marine coatings, Asia Pacific. “The dispense cell will produce the required quantity and quality of protective coatings product in a matter of minutes in an enclosed process that maximizes environmental performance.”
 
The Kunshan plant produces protective and marine coatings and houses the PPG Asia R&D Center, the company’s regional hub for R&D. The Kunshan plant holds ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 certifications. In addition, the Kunshan passive fire protection coatings lab was previously awarded the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) and certificate of participation in the Underwriter Laboratories (UL) Witness Test Data Program in the U.S.