What is Paint Formulation and how an ERP can help simplify it?
Formulas are often considered to be the life-blood of the paint industry, with operations such as managing the key elements of pigments, solvents, additives and a variety of other ingredients from multiple suppliers, their different units of measure, etc., all revolving around them. Paint industry, however, encounters unusual challenges associated with formulas, be it wall paints, enamel, primer or finishes. Right from complying with environmental regulations for specific ingredients to standing up for constant innovation as per customer’s expectations, it all becomes daunting for any paint manufacturer.
Enterprise Resource Planning software, or an ERP solution, not only relates with, but also understands the critical scenario paint industry faces and undergoes. Due to the plethora of interconnected operations specific to this industry, it demands an efficient built-in formula management tool that allows formula scalability along with managing quality control, regulatory materials, and the R&D history directly from the common ERP database. Read on to know more as this blog throws light on the importance of formulation for paint industry and how ERP is instrumental in easing the complexities involved.
1. Managing unlimited formulations made easy: Manufacturing in the paint industry involves creation of hundreds, or maybe thousands, of formulas. Moreover, these formulas have infinite versions, which need to be recorded, maintained, retrieved or archived in a common database for future reference. ERPs are known to have an intensive and a proactive formula management module, for easy formula comparison, version control, rollback, formula security, formula sizing, material substitution, and managing multi-level formulas along with common data storage space for seamless information exchange.
2. Rigorous R&D helps meet customer needs: Simply selecting a color from the catalogue is a thing of the past. Today’s customer demands “something different”, “something new”, and poor manufacturers have no choice but to innovate continuously in a never ending loop. They are expected to come up with a variety of custom-mixed shades in different bases and finishes and all this is next to impossible without the assistance of an ERP. Paint formulation needs attention to details like pH, viscosity, fineness of grind, rate of drying and texture for a better quality paint. ERP’s robust R&D module plays a crucial part in the process of experimentation and thus accelerates innovation.
3. Use of eco-friendly ingredients helps stay compliant: ERP’s ability to perform in-depth physical property analysis helps manufacturers to stay compliant to industrial regulations too. Because of the harmful effects of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) on the environment, any paint manufacturer needs to perform a continuous recalculation to meet emission of lowest possible VOC in the finished product. This calculation is not simple and needs extreme precision, which is not a manual job, but can be performed very easily with the help of an ERP solution.
4. Boost efficiency and credibility with unmatched traceability: In case of audits and recall of faulty materials, the traceability feature comes in handy. This ability not only boosts confidence of preparedness for any unexpected event, but also saves a lot of time and efforts during such audits and recalls.
5. Unparalleled support for multiple packaging: Paints are required to be packaged in a variety of options such as large containers and small cans as per the requirements. Rather than beginning from scratch each time a new packing order comes for the same product, it is better to associate multiple BOMs with a single formula. Only ERP facilitates this; thereby supporting multiple packaging of a common finished good.
6. Safety of users & end customers: Paint manufacturing involves hazardous materials that need to be stored, managed, handled and used with care. Moreover, the final product being shipped to the customer must be properly labelled and should accompany handling instructions as per GHS. An ERP can help you associate WHMIS and HMIS values with the formulas, helping workers follow safety instructions while working. ERP allows generation of SDS essential for the safety of end users.
Undoubtedly, formulas are complex, but extremely important for a paint & coatings manufacturer. Also, they have an impact on all the phases of production like inventory, manufacturing, R&D, compliance and packaging etc. Therefore, you need a comprehensive ERP solution to get control over every aspect of your manufacturing operations. One such apt ERP suite is ‘BatchMaster ERP for Paints & Coatings’ that is built dedicatedly for the manufacturers of paints and coatings.
BatchMaster is a vendor of end-to- end ERP solutions for process manufacturing industries such as Food, Beverage, Chemicals, Cosmetics, Foundry, Pharmaceutical and Nutraceuticals.