The Smart Paint Factory Alliance e.V. was able to present itself successfully at the European Coatings Show 2023! Thanks to the support of the company ORONTEC, the Fraunhofer IFAM, the European Center for Dispersion Technology, and the Association of Paint and Varnish Engineers (VILF), the SPFA was able to present itself at a total of four booths and attract numerous interested parties to join the Alliance. New members were recruited, current topics discussed and ideas for projects developed.
It all started with a presentation at the “Paint and Coatings Industry 4.0” conference held by Vincentz Verlag in Kassel in April 2018. Ralph Jan Wörheide presented his idea of the “intelligent paint factory” here for the first time. This was followed in 2019 by a technical article in the magazine “Farbe und Lack”, in which he presented the details to the readership in more detail. Through the paint regulars’ tables initiated by the VCW and UIf Stalmach, the idea was further disseminated in the community and during the Corona period, some comrades-in-arms were found, which then led to the founding of the “Smart Paint Factory Alliance”.