Compared with traditional manual color matching, paint dispensing system offers numerous advantages, including environmental friendliness, cost savings, reliable quality and rapid service. This technology has been developing in China for many years and is now essentially mature. However, from an industry perspective, the adoption of paint dispensing system is not encouraging: some paint manufacturers have not adopted paint dispensing system due to various concerns, whilst others, having initially adopted them, have ceased using them due to difficulties encountered during operation, ultimately leaving the dispenser as little more than a display piece.
This paper summarises the advantages of paint dispensing system to provide the paint industry with a more accurate and in‑depth understanding of paint dispensing system, thereby boosting confidence in this technology. Furthermore, paint dispensing system comprises multiple components, including raw materials, spectrophotometers, paint dispensing system and color‑matching equipment (dispensers and mixers), each of which can be configured in various ways. This article also summarises the various configuration options for each component of paint dispensing system and highlights their respective advantages and disadvantages, enabling paint manufacturers to select the most suitable system configuration based on factors such as their company size, investment budget and specific objectives when adopting such systems.
The North American paint industry began using paint dispensing system as early as the 1960s. After more than half a century of application and development, this technology has been largely refined and has now become a widely adopted production method across many enterprises. Since 2000, European and American color paste manufacturers have vigorously promoted integrated paint dispensing system in China to support the sale of their color pastes. Over the past two decades, thanks to the joint efforts of paint manufacturers, color paste suppliers, color‑matching equipment providers, and suppliers of color‑matching software and hardware, as well as the technological advancements of the paint dispensing system themselves, the domestic paint industry has gained a more comprehensive understanding of this technology. Many large and medium‑sized domestic paint manufacturers have introduced integrated color‑matching systems comprising spectrophotometers, paint dispensing system,dispenser and mixer. However, the overall results have not been entirely satisfactory, and few companies have genuinely succeeded in implementing the technology and maintaining its use over the long term. The vast majority of enterprises start out full of confidence and high expectations, investing substantial human and material resources; yet, for various reasons, they abandon the systems after a trial period, ultimately leaving the equipment idle as mere ornaments or storing it away in warehouses, resulting in production disruptions and a waste of funds. Even though many domestic brands of color‑matching equipment and software have now emerged, the level of practical application of paint dispensing system in China remains very low; the vast majority of paint manufacturers still rely on traditional, outdated methods of color matching within paint mixing kettles (or mixing vats).
At present, most enterprises still rely on traditional, crude and outdated manual color‑matching methods for the production of colored paints. In this process, color technicians—without the support of color‑matching instruments or software—rely solely on years of experience and intuition to add color paste to the base coat, stir it thoroughly, assess the color difference between the finished paint and the standard color by eye, and then make repeated adjustments until the desired shade is achieved. This method generally only ensures color accuracy, whilst paying little attention to many other important characteristics such as color hiding power, cost, weather resistance, and metamerism. It may even result in poor color accuracy and reproducibility, slow color‑matching speeds, and pollution caused by colored wastewater and waste paint generated during equipment cleaning.
A paint dispensing system comprises hardware and software, including a spectrophotometer, paint dispensing system (including color management software), color pastes, base coats, and color‑matching equipment (such as dispenser and mixers). Color matching is generally carried out according to the following process: first, a spectrophotometer is used to read the color data from the color chart; the paint dispensing system then calculates the color formula (which may require one or two formula adjustments); the dispenser draws the appropriate materials from the raw material drums into the receiving material drums according to the pigment formula; and the materials are then thoroughly mixed in the mixer.
Paint dispensing system fundamentally overcomes the numerous shortcomings of traditional manual color matching and represent the future direction of the coatings industry, offering many advantages that traditional manual methods cannot match.
The paint dispensing system operates within the paint raw material drums. The dispenser doses color pastes into the receiving drums one by one according to the formula, after which a mixer thoroughly blends the color pastes within each drum. The entire color‑matching process requires no equipment such as paint mixing vats, and the paint in the drums does not come into contact with external vessels; consequently, no difficult‑to‑treat colored wastewater is generated for cleaning equipment. Even the water used for cleaning can be recycled. Provided production is organised appropriately, the entire production process can be carried out without any wastewater discharge; therefore, the paint dispensing system is a highly environmentally friendly method of color matching.
Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent environmental laws and regulations, particularly following the publication of new national standards, the adoption of paint dispensing system is an inevitable trend for all paint manufacturers in order to reduce pollution and protect the environment. For small and medium‑sized paint manufacturers, it is highly likely that they lack wastewater treatment facilities altogether; the colored wastewater generated by traditional manual color‑matching cannot be treated, and its indiscriminate discharge would result in substantial fines. Many paint manufacturers face the risk of being forced out of business for failing to meet clean production and energy‑saving and emission‑reduction standards; in such circumstances, adopting a paint dispensing system can reduce wastewater discharge, ensure safe production, and prevent the company from being shut down by the authorities.
As for medium and large‑scale paint manufacturers, most are likely already equipped with wastewater treatment facilities, but the costs of treating wastewater are very high. It is understood that for many enterprises, the cost of treating one metric tonne of wastewater exceeds 1,000 yuan; adopting a paint dispensing system can significantly reduce wastewater volume, lower treatment costs and improve water utilisation rates.
With environmental protection requirements becoming increasingly stringent, many traditional paint manufacturers are unfamiliar with wastewater treatment processes and face investment constraints; therefore, introducing a paint dispensing system is the best and quickest solution.
With traditional manual color‑matching, the actual production volume often exceeds the order quantity. To ensure the order is fulfilled, production is typically increased by at least 5–10%. Manual color‑matching frequently requires repeated adjustments, leading to situations where three buckets of paint are produced when only one is required; in some cases, the leftover ink may exceed 50 per cent or even double the order quantity. The unused portion becomes what is commonly referred to as “leftover ink”. Over time, this accumulates into a large stockpile of leftover paint, increasing raw material inventory. Water‑based paints are also highly susceptible to spoilage and deterioration due to microbial contamination introduced during color matching or the degradation of preservatives during prolonged storage. When such paint is reused after being remixed, it can cause microbial contamination in larger batches of paint or even across the entire production line, resulting in incalculable losses. In many paint factories, the workshops are filled with all manner of material drums, all of which are used to store leftover paint. As leftover paint is difficult to dispose of, over the years the bins have piled up to form mountains of leftover paint.
With a paint dispensing system, however, only the base coat needs to be prepared, whilst colored paint is produced strictly in accordance with order quantities. The factory produces exactly what the customer orders, ensuring there is no leftover colored paint and guaranteeing zero waste. Even if leftover ink does arise, our system features a leftover ink management system, which helps to minimise the storage of such leftover paint. Furthermore, as the paint dispensing system operates rapidly and does not require pre‑stocking without orders, it enables zero inventory of colored paint, thereby reducing capital costs associated with raw materials.
With traditional manual color‑matching, once a color‑matching order is received, the process involves issuing production tasks, purchasing raw materials, manufacturing the paint, color‑matching and canning; at the same time, color‑matching relies on the experience of the color‑matching technician, and repeated adjustments take a considerable amount of time; Consequently, the production cycle for traditional colored paints is lengthy, delivery times are slow, production efficiency is low, and on occasion, orders cannot be delivered on time; in severe cases, this delays project progress and reduces customer satisfaction.
By adopting a paint dispensing system we can pre‑produce various base coats for stock. Upon receiving a color‑matching order, there is no need to produce the paint from scratch, saving production time, whilst pre‑filling or in‑line filling saves packaging time; At the same time, the paint dispensing system’s database stores a vast number of color formulations, and combined with the powerful color‑matching functions of the software, it can rapidly calculate the required color formula. At this stage, one simply needs to add color paste to the base paint according to the formula and mix thoroughly to complete the color‑matching order quickly and accurately. This eliminates most of the paint production processes and associated time, whilst also significantly reducing the time spent on the color‑matching stage, thereby greatly shortening the entire production cycle for colored paint, enabling a swift response to customer needs and timely delivery. The paint dispensing system offers particular advantages for the growing number of small, customised color‑matching orders, or for situations where large orders are split into multiple smaller batches due to site constraints or the need for different construction teams to source supplies separately. Currently, most domestic paint manufacturers using paint dispensing system can complete the color‑matching for the majority of small and medium‑sized orders on the same day, whilst a small number of large orders can be completed the following day.
To be continued
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