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Protecting the World and Making it More Sustainable: The Coatings Industry is Ready to Start Again with New Drivers

Monica Fumagalli ipcm®

The interviews in this column, which has been published in the first few pages of our magazine for two years now, have been aimed at offering to our readers an authoritative insight into the international markets at the turn of the century and after the pandemic crisis, in order to understand how companies in the sector and their representatives, such as associations and institutions, are reacting. This time, we want to draw some conclusions from our investigation activity. First of all, while the pandemic is still unfortunately having a major impact on the industry and the manufacturing sector, a consistently positive approach has always emerged from the answers to our questions. This includes the voices of a market, that of wall painting, which we do not usually cover in our articles specialising in industrial coatings, but which has actually played an important role in dragging the coating market out of the doldrums it had found itself in. Most of the associations we contacted have in fact two cores, managing relationships with members from both the wall and industrial fields, although with very different needs and targets. Secondly, from the United States to South Africa, from Mexico to Italy, there is a clear awareness of the importance of our sector within the production chain. Victor Leal, the president of the Mexican Paint and Printing Ink Manufacturers Association (ANAFAPYT), states: “Virtually every man-made product has a coating that not only allows it to retain its value, but also gives it colour, protection, and durability.” André Vieira de Castro, former Chairman of the Board of CEPE, the European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink, and Artists’ Colours Industry, who ended his mandate in October this year, confirms that “paints are inherently environmentally friendly products. In addition to their aesthetic appeal, they act as a protective barrier against weathering and microbiological degradation of all types of substrates, thus increasing the service life length, safety, and performance of products and structures. Therefore, paints contribute to the overall objective of greater sustainability, thanks to the longer service life they guarantee.” In fact, three themes recur in almost all of our interviews: sustainability, relationships with regulatory bodies, and digitalisation. For these associations, listening to their members and the sectors they represent means acting as spokespersons for their needs in these three areas. Above all, sustainability is an issue that has come up frequently in recent years and has been receiving increased attention on the occasion of events such as the recent COP26. Raising awareness and guiding companies towards reducing emissions, of which our sector is among the most responsible, seem to have become priorities for all the organisations interviewed. The Green Deal, the set of initiatives promoted by the European Commission to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, has become a major focus for the European ones. On the other hand, relationships with the institutions that establish the dangers and, therefore, the legal limits of the substances used in the formulation of paints represent one of the most complex tasks for the associations to manage. In many cases, this is made more

complicated by the regulatory misalignment between different countries and continents. Last, but certainly not least, the digitalisation issue has been booming with the fourth industrial revolution, also called Industry 4.0, which is involving the entire industrial sector without exception, from SMEs to multinational groups. The tools used by the associations are different, but all based on a common element: clear communication, reinforced through different channels, such as social media and websites, and through meetings, fairs, or training courses organised by the associations themselves. Even during government-imposed lockdowns, these were promptly replaced by online meetings or, immediately at the onset of recovery, by hybrid meetings that occurred partly in presence and partly remotely, while recently, finally returning to face-to-face events.

It is not always easy to understand and represent the needs of a sector, to interact with companies of different sizes and therefore with different needs, and to collect their requests, ideas, and even complaints. It is a balancing act, in which many factors have to be weighed up. This is why there is the need to thoroughly know the sector and how to approach it as clearly and transparently as possible. At the same time, it is necessary to interact with authorities and reference bodies, conveying the needs of companies, and then educating these back on new regulations, making it easy for them to understand the new rules and helping them find compliant solutions. In the same way, it is important support the industry in finding solutions for more environmentally friendly and digital processes and products. These few lines explain why we gave the stage to associations in the midst of the pandemic. We were looking for a firm point of reference with impartial, positive opinions, able to convince companies that, if things could not go back to the way they were before, they would go back to being even better. This is also the reason why we will continue to interview associations in future issues of ipcm® as well, to provide a different view of the industry and a lucid analysis of market needs in the various countries.