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As consumer markets become more fragmented and personalized, the paint industry is undergoing a fundamental shift from “mass standardization” to “multiple varieties, small batches.” Automotive color options have grown from the traditional 6-8 to over 50. Annual new color schemes for home appliances have increased from 3-5 per category to more than 20. The demand for customized corporate identity colors in construction machinery now covers 30% of orders.
At the same time, environmental regulations are becoming stricter. The new VOC national standards coming into effect in June 2026 are forcing companies to complete product testing and formula adjustments within the transition period. Raw material prices fluctuate frequently, and cost pressure continues to mount. All of this forces paint companies to rethink: How can we respond to more complex order structures with more flexible methods?
And the dosing stage is the most critical and challenging battlefield in this transformation.
In traditional dosing models, every product switch is a major operation. Take solvent-based coatings as an example. A complete color change cleaning consumes 200-500kg of paint, takes 2-4 hours, and costs thousands of yuan. If you need to switch 3-5 varieties a day, effective production time gets severely compressed.
What is even more frustrating is pipe cleaning. Traditional fixed pipeline systems require thorough cleaning every time you change colors. Otherwise, residual colorant causes cross-contamination and affects the quality of the next batch. This cleaning process not only consumes large amounts of solvent but also generates additional waste liquid disposal costs.
Small batch production means the absolute amount of material dosed each time becomes smaller, but the allowable error range does not shrink proportionally. Traditional manual dosing, relying on experience estimates and manual records, typically has weighing errors of ±3%-5%. For large-scale production of several tons, this error percentage might be acceptable. But for small batch orders of just tens of kilograms, the same absolute error can completely throw off the formula target.
A paint production manager once lamented: “If you’re making a ton of paint, being off by dozens of kilograms might still be adjustable. If you’re making a hundred kilograms of paint, being off by a few kilograms scraps it.”
More seriously, the “black box” of production data makes problem tracing difficult. Relying on paper records means data is discontinuous and inaccurate. When color deviation or adhesion problems occur, tracing the cause is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Multiple product production means you need to stock a wider variety of raw materials. For small batch orders, planners often estimate usage based on experience, which is disconnected from actual workshop consumption data. This leads to mismatched purchasing and production schedules. A certain color might only be used a few times a year, but each production run requires purchasing a whole bucket of colorant. The unused portion sits in storage long-term, eventually becoming dead stock.
Data shows that before digital transformation, one auto parts coating company had dead stock paint accounting for over 15% of total inventory. These “sleeping assets” lying in the warehouse represent silent profit loss.
Facing these challenges, industry-leading companies have begun to take action. A new consensus is emerging: Shift the dosing stage from “fixed large systems” to “mobile modular units.”
It is against this backdrop that Sightec launched the DC-1 Dosing Module – a mobile automatic dosing device designed specifically for small batch, multiple product production scenarios.
Key Specifications at a Glance:
Dosing Accuracy: Up to ±1g (over 30kg range)
Number of Channels: Up to 64, modularly expandable
Application: Water-based/Solvent-based systems
Product Viscosity: < 6000 CPS
Performance: 1-2 minutes per 20L
Valve Type: Two-stage multi-flow valve, no cleaning required
System Integration: Can connect to ERP/MES for automatic data collection
Behind these specifications lies the DC-1’s systematic response to the pain points of small batch production.
One of the DC-1’s core breakthroughs is its no-cleaning valve design.
Traditional dosing systems must clean the entire pipeline when changing materials. The DC-1 uses a two-stage multi-flow valve structure combined with modular channel design, achieving “switch and use.” When you need to change materials, you simply switch channels. No valve cleaning is required. This design compresses product changeover time from several hours in traditional systems to less than 3 minutes.
Comparison with Traditional Solutions:
Traditional Large Production Line Dosing: Color change cleaning takes 2-4 hours, consumes 200kg+ of solvent
DC-1 Mobile Dosing: Channel switching takes 3 minutes, zero solvent consumption for cleaning
This means a workshop needing to switch 5 varieties daily saves over 10 hours of changeover time alone. Equipment utilization increases from under 40% to over 80%.
Accuracy is the lifeline of dosing equipment. The DC-1 achieves ±1g dosing accuracy over a 30kg range, equivalent to a relative error of 3/10,000.
How is this accuracy achieved?
High-Precision Load Cells: Monitor material weight changes in real-time, eliminating interference from bubbles and density fluctuations
Two-Stage Valve Control: A graded strategy of coarse plus fine adjustment. First, quickly add material close to the target value. Then, precisely fine-tune to the set value, completely eliminating overshoot
Dynamic Error Compensation: The system automatically learns the lead characteristics of each dosing operation, continuously optimizing control parameters
What does this accuracy mean for small batch production? For a 20kg formula, ±1g error means formula accuracy reaches 99.995%. Color difference between batches can be controlled within ΔE 0.3. This is the technical foundation for achieving a high “first-pass yield.”
The DC-1 is not just a dosing device. It is also a data entry point for your company’s digital transformation.
It supports direct connection to your company’s ERP and MES systems, achieving three core functions:
Automatic Material Consumption Tracking: Actual usage for each dosing operation is automatically recorded and compared in real-time with theoretical formula values
Production Orders Linked to Raw Material Batches: The raw material source for each finished batch is traceable. If quality problems occur, you can quickly locate the cause
Digital Formula Management: Supports storage of over 10,000 formulas, one-click switching, and graded authority control
Practice at one auto parts coating company shows that after introducing a digital dosing system, customer complaints due to color problems dropped by 90%. Comprehensive coating material consumption decreased by 8% year-on-year. Dead stock paint amount in inventory was reduced by 35%.
The DC-1’s mobile design completely breaks the location limitations of dosing equipment.
Traditional dosing systems are often fixed installations. Raw materials must be moved from the warehouse to the workshop, then pumped through pipes to the dosing point – a lengthy process. The DC-1 can be wheeled directly next to the raw material drum. Direct dispensing from 200L drums eliminates intermediate transfer.
The design accommodates a minimum container opening of 280mm, fitting most standard raw material drums. This means:
Reduced manual handling, lowering labor intensity
Shorter material conveyance distances, avoiding waste from pipe residues
One device can serve multiple production lines, improving asset utilization
For any equipment investment, the ultimate question is: How long until we see a return?
Let’s do a simple calculation for a medium-sized paint workshop:
Current Situation Assumptions:
Average daily production: 15 batches, of which 10 are small batch orders (50-200kg each)
Each changeover cleaning takes 2 hours, solvent cost 500 RMB per time
Manual dosing errors cause approximately 3% raw material loss
Monthly rework/scrap costs due to batch quality issues: approximately 30,000 RMB
Improvements After Introducing DC-1:
| Item | Improvement Magnitude | Estimated Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|
| Changeover Time | Reduced by 90% | Labor savings: ~150,000 RMB |
| Cleaning Solvent | Reduced by 100% | Solvent cost: ~120,000 RMB |
| Raw Material Loss | From 3% to 0.3% | Material savings: ~80,000 RMB |
| Quality Rework | Reduced by 70% | Quality cost: ~250,000 RMB |
| Total | ~600,000 RMB |
The initial investment for a DC-1 is typically recovered within 8-12 months. This does not even include the hidden benefits of digital management, such as reduced inventory and improved customer satisfaction.
Based on the above analysis, the following three types of companies will benefit most from the DC-1:
Industrial paints are characterized by many varieties, small batch sizes, and complex formulas. They often involve solvent-based systems and demand high accuracy. The DC-1’s solvent-resistant design, ±1g accuracy, and modular channels perfectly match these needs.
Companies providing custom color services handle large quantities of different color line orders daily. The DC-1’s no-cleaning switching and expandable up to 64 channels make multi-color production easy and efficient.
R&D and pilot production require frequent formula adjustments and small trial batches. Traditional large equipment cannot adapt. The DC-1’s mobile flexibility and high accuracy allow seamless connection between development and production.
The future of the paint industry belongs to companies that can respond quickly to market changes. And flexible production capacity is the foundation of that response speed.
Among the many links in flexible transformation, dosing is the most fundamental and critical breakthrough point. Why? Because the quality of all paint products starts with the precise proportioning of raw materials. If the accuracy and efficiency of the dosing stage cannot be guaranteed, no matter how advanced the subsequent mixing, grinding, and filling processes are, they cannot save the loss of batch quality.
The DC-1 Mobile Dosing Station is designed precisely for this breakthrough point. With its extreme ±1g accuracy, minute-level changeover speed, innovative no-cleaning design, and digital management capabilities, it provides a practical and effective solution for small batch, multiple product paint production challenges.
It is not a universal cure-all. For ultra-large-scale, continuous production scenarios, large automated production lines still have their place. But for those orders that are “small quantity, high variety, demanding quality,” the DC-1 is becoming the “optimal solution” for more and more paint companies.
When every small batch order can be produced as efficiently, as accurately, and as traceably as large batches, flexible manufacturing ceases to be just a slogan. It becomes a tangible competitive advantage.
HENAN SIGHTEC INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Contact Us:
Phone/Whatsapp: +86 18137197160
Email: info@sightec.net
Address: D8-3, No.1 Bitao Road, Hi-tech Zone, Zhengzhou City, China
