I. Just how stringent are the new national standards?

Many companies are paying close attention to the new national standards not because of the standards themselves, but because they directly impact the future development trends of these enterprises.

Put simply, the new standards are primarily reflected in the following aspects.

1. Further Tightening of VOC Controls

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) have always been a top priority in environmental regulation of coatings.

The new national standards have further lowered the VOC limit requirements and introduced more detailed management measures for different types of coatings.

Taking interior wall finishes and primers as an example, the VOC limit has been reduced from 80 g/L under the previous standard to 50 g/L. For companies, simply adjusting formulations is no longer sufficient to resolve the issue; they must also modify production processes and adopt other measures to reduce VOC content.

In addition, companies need to address raw material wastage, human operational errors, and evaporation losses during the production process.

2. SVOCs Included in Mandatory Regulatory Scope for the First Time

In addition to VOCs, the new national standards also include SVOCs (semi-volatile organic compounds) within their scope of control for the first time.

Compared with VOCs, SVOCs evaporate more slowly, persist in the environment for longer, and have a more lasting impact on indoor air quality.

In the past, many companies focused more on VOC indicators, whilst their control of SVOCs was relatively limited or even neglected.

Following the implementation of the new national standards, enterprises must not only pay attention to the final test results of their products but also reassess their selection of raw materials, formulation design, and production processes.

3. Scope of Regulation Further Expanded

Previously, national standards primarily regulated the final coating products. This time, in addition to the final coating products, auxiliary materials such as putty, hardeners, thinners, and color pastes have also been included within the scope of regulation.

In the past, most enterprises focused primarily on the specification requirements of their main products, paying no further attention to auxiliary materials as long as their quality met the requirements. However, this reform ensures that auxiliary materials not only meet quality requirements but also pose an increasingly lower risk to the environment.

Whilst the new national standard appears to broaden the scope of regulation, it is in fact driving the entire industry towards greater standardisation.

4. Non-compliant Enterprises Face Greater Risks

Following the upgrade of environmental protection standards, products that fail to meet the requirements will be barred from the market.

For paint manufacturers, this affects not only product sales but also their ability to bid for construction projects, their brand reputation and their long-term development. For small enterprises, it may even be a matter of survival.

Consequently, the impact of the new national standards extends far beyond a mere upgrade in testing procedures; it represents a fundamental realignment of production systems.

II. The Coatings Industry is Entering a New Phase of Competition

Following the implementation of the new standards, a clear divergence within the industry has gradually emerged.

Large enterprises, possessing strong R&D capabilities and financial resources, are typically able to plan ahead, undertaking technological upgrades and formulation adjustments in advance.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, however, this is a matter of survival. The right choices will ensure continued growth; the wrong ones will lead to bankruptcy.

In the past, some enterprises competed in the market by relying on low-cost production models, which involved a high proportion of manual mixing during production and limited raw material utilisation.

However, as environmental requirements have become stricter, the problems with this model have gradually come to light:

• Increased waste of raw materials;
• Insufficient batch consistency;
• Difficulty in controlling human error;
• Challenges in managing fugitive VOC emissions;
• Mounting pressure from the costs of environmental compliance upgrades.

Now, companies need to consider not merely “how to meet national standards”, but how to transform their production models.

Judging by industry trends, future competition in the coatings sector will not be solely about price, but will increasingly centre on production efficiency, environmental performance and smart manufacturing capabilities.

III. How Do Automated Paint Dispensing Systems Help Businesses Reduce Their Environmental Impact?

Faced with the requirements of the new national standards, many businesses’ first instinct is to change their pigment formulations.

However, in reality, the production process also affects environmental performance.

The Sightec automated paint dispensing systems address this by focusing on the production stage; through precise control, waste reduction and process optimisation, it helps businesses enhance their environmental management capabilities.

1. Precise Dispensing to Reduce Raw Material Waste and VOC Emissions

Under traditional manual batching methods, every step—from opening raw material containers to transferring and mixing them—results in some degree of volatilisation. Particularly in solvent-based coatings production environments, such fugitive emissions have long been a major challenge in environmental management.

However, the automated paint dispensing systems utilise a sealed piped conveying system. From raw material storage and conveyance through to the batching process, it minimises direct contact between personnel and materials, thereby reducing exposure time to the air.

For companies, this not only improves the production environment but also aligns more closely with future environmental regulatory trends.

3. Optimised Material Management to Reduce Waste Generation

In addition to precise control during the production process, automated paint dispensing systems help companies minimise waste caused by dosing errors.

Furthermore, the equipment supports recirculating pipeline cleaning, which improves cleaning efficiency and reduces material consumption during the cleaning process.

Whilst these functions may seem straightforward, over the long term they have a direct impact on a company’s production costs and environmental compliance pressures.

IV. Upgrading environmental protection does not mean increasing the burden.

When many enterprises face automation equipment, the biggest concern is: “The input cost is too high; how long will it take to see the benefits?” What if there is no income? ” This is a very realistic problem.

For paint enterprises, equipment upgrading should not only look at environmental protection indicators, but also consider the actual production income.

Sightec automated paint dispensing systems can be configured according to different enterprise scales.

Small factories can choose compact equipment, such as DF-M, which occupies less space and has more flexible investment.

Large and medium-sized production enterprises can configure the DM-Series flexible dosing system according to the capacity demand to realize a higher degree of automatic production.

After equipment investment, enterprises can not only realize environmental protection ability, but also reduce:

• Loss of raw materials;
• Labor cost;
• Color matching error;
• Waste disposal costs;
• Hidden waste in the production process.

For most enterprises, automation transformation is not simply to increase costs, but to improve production efficiency.

V. In the future coating industry, the competition is intelligent manufacturing capabilities.

The implementation of the new national standards is actually promoting the upgrading of the whole industry. In the future, the competitive environment faced by coating enterprises will become more and more difficult; Environmental protection requirements will continue to increase; Customers’ requirements for product stability will continue to increase; The market demand for small batch, multi-color, and fast delivery will become more and more common.

Relying on traditional manual color matching, it is difficult to meet these changes for a long time.

Therefore, automatic deployment, digital management, and intelligent production will gradually become the basic capabilities of industry development.

For enterprises, completing the upgrade of production mode ahead of time is not only to cope with the change of standards, but also to lay out in advance for future market competition.