Over the past 10 years, the annual output of the paint industry in China has increased more than three times, and the annual output value has grown more than five times. However, judging from the changes in the growth rate of output value in recent years, the current traditional development mode has lagged behind the development requirements of the new normal economy. Liu Dengliang, director of the expert committee of China National Coatings Industry Association, said recently that the state's industrial restructuring policy will promote the upgrading of the paint industry. In the next 10 years, China's paint industry will gradually mature, and the DPRK will have international influence, competitiveness and innovation. 10 years. The transformation of the industry should start from the three aspects of business philosophy, business model and product innovation.

Liu Dengliang said that over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the paint industry has long been diversified into ownership as a fully open competition industry, showing that there are few state-owned enterprises, private enterprises have taken the lead, and foreign companies account for more than 1/3 of the market. Since 2009, China has become the world's largest paint producing and consuming country. In 2013, production accounted for one-third of the world's total output, but the growth rate of output and the growth rate of output value all decreased, highlighting the impact of the current macroeconomic transformation in China on the coating industry.

Business philosophy: Manufacturing shifts to production services

Liu Dengliang pointed out that the paint industry should establish the concept of processing services and upgrade services for other industries. The adjustment of the national industrial structure will determine the upgrade direction of the paint industry. High-energy-consuming and over-capacity industrial structure speed regulation, including steel, cement, non-ferrous metals, flat glass and shipbuilding, etc., will be strictly controlled, and the accompanying development of coating products will also be limited. At the same time, the seven strategic emerging industries that have been encouraged – energy conservation and environmental protection, new generation of information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials and new energy vehicles, etc. will accelerate development, with highly relevant coating products. Will usher in development opportunities. Therefore, paint companies should establish a business philosophy that is advancing with the times, and must find a direction when expanding their businesses and implementing major strategic investments.

At the same time, companies should also establish the concept of integration of paint and coating industry, from coating products, supporting systems to coating technology and on-site technical services, and provide protection, decoration, and functional coating systems that meet the needs of users. The solution is to change the original thinking mode of the manufacturing industry.

“In the future, paint companies will have a dumbbell-type structure, that is, R&D innovation and market service investment will account for a large proportion, with a small proportion of production inputs and labor productivity. Because coatings themselves are service industries, they are only useful if they become coatings. To help users solve problems in a comprehensive manner." Liu Dengliang explained.

With the development trend of chemical industry going into the city, paint companies have also turned to the intensive development of chemical parks and paint industrial parks around the city. Wengyuan Huacai Paint Park, Zhuhai Chemical Park, Chengdu Handan Paint Park, and Jiaozuo Zhongzhan Paint Industrial Park are all representative paint enterprise clusters. Liu Dengliang suggested that companies should pay attention to leaving R&D, services, and management in the central city in order to better serve downstream customers.

Product Innovation: Not Blind, Pay Attention to Functional Environmental Protection

With the progress of the industry, companies pay more and more attention to independent innovation and product research and development, and increase investment in the construction of R&D centers, the purchase of R&D equipment, and the introduction of technical talents. However, it is understood that the proportion of high-tech and high-value-added products in the Chinese paint industry is not high, and the added value has been hovering at a low profit margin of 5% to 10%. Therefore, high-quality product innovation is crucial for the future transformation of the paint industry. Functionalization and environmental protection are the key innovations in coating products.

At present, the homogenization of products in the paint industry is relatively serious. It is often the case that as long as one company introduces a new functional paint product, many companies will follow suit. In this regard, Liu Dengliang said, do not just imitate and follow. Taking the exterior and interior paints of buildings as an example, compared with the selling of N products in the market and other products such as formaldehyde, companies should focus their product innovations on the different needs of market segments, such as public rental housing and practical commodity housing. The needs of high-end commercial housing, commercial properties, etc. have their own emphasis; building insulation and energy conservation should also focus on supporting systems and product standardization applicable in different regions and use environments. In addition, renewable resources should also receive attention in coating innovations, such as bio-based coating film-forming materials – vegetable oils, epoxidized soybean oils, starches, and cellulose-based polyols.

Liu Dengliang also suggested that paint companies should attach great importance to and nurture the construction of technical service teams. Because service is not only the basic guarantee for improving the added value and quality of products, but also the source of information for product innovation.

Business Model: Get Out of Price Wars

Judging from the latest sales rankings of global paint companies, only a handful of Chinese companies have entered the top 50. Compared with foreign advanced paint companies, domestic companies still have a considerable gap. If we want to "leap the Great Leap Forward" in the next 10 years, we must keep up with the current trend of global industry development, learn from the advanced experience of multinational corporations, and change the past simply by building sales channels, winning the market business model through price wars, and actively End users form a community of interests.

Liu Dengliang suggested that paint companies should be closely integrated with the end market and users to form strategic partners. For example, floor coatings are designed as a leader, automotive and construction machinery coatings are used as painting lines, and architectural coatings are allied with developers. Only by achieving a full range of market services, that is, providing differentiated integrated solutions for different regions, different downstream areas, and different values ​​and needs, can we get away from pure channels and price wars.

In addition, with the rapid development of information technology and networks, e-commerce, big data, internet of things, and cloud computing will completely change the industry's development landmarks. The industry will move from traditional online advertising and marketing to a full range of information integration marketing. The enterprise management model will also be comprehensively upgraded. The management of customer services, production logistics, product development, and human resources will all undergo tremendous changes.