Successful cases of "oil to water" in wood lacquer

Oil-based wood coatings are gradually being phased out of the market, with water-based wood coatings becoming the mainstream industry standard. This transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for enterprises, while the industry collectively drives green development. Let's explore successful cases of transitioning from oil-based to water-based wood coatings...

Guangdong A Door Industry Company, a major domestic door manufacturer with monthly paint consumption exceeding 1 million yuan, has partnered with Jiangmen Paint since 2024 to develop water-based textured solid surface paints, which have gained widespread consumer acclaim.

1. Transformation drivers

◆ Strict environmental protection policies and regulations at home and abroad, such as China's "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" on the restriction of VOC emissions in the coating industry, and the continuous upgrading of the EU's environmental standards for coatings, have forced enterprises to shift from oil-based to water-based.

◆ With the improvement of consumers' environmental awareness and health concept, the demand for home and decoration materials is increasing, and the demand for water-based wood paint is increasing.

◆ In November 2024, as domestic furniture demand declined, production faced constraints and competitive pressure surged. A Door Industry urgently needed to find a breakthrough. To align with national policies and meet consumers' demand for eco-friendly, ready-to-move-in solutions, the company decided to fully implement the "oil-to-water" upgrade, aiming to enhance quality and achieve a leap in production capacity.

2. The dilemma of oil-based wood paint and the germination of water-based wood paint

◆ Oil-based wood paint has high VOC emissions, is flammable and explosive, and is harmful to human health. In some areas, it is restricted due to environmental protection requirements.

◆ With shrinking orders, A Door Industry now operates only one factory for paint spraying, specializing in LED base, PU base, and PU surface coating.

◆ Water-based wood paint began to enter the market in the early stage driven by the concept of environmental protection. Although there were shortcomings in the performance at the beginning, it gradually gained attention due to its advantages in environmental protection.

◆ Amidst the economic downturn, A Door Industry expanded production against the trend and ventured into the custom home furnishings sector, fully embracing Pengjiang Water Paint.

3. Renovation Plan

① Select high quality water-based coatings, optimize the existing process, improve the quality, maintain the cost advantage.

②Pengjiang Furniture Paint optimizes existing water-based products for A Door Industry, expanding spray adaptability to align with workers' habits while maintaining the efficiency of current oil-based spraying.

③ Modify and clean the existing spray room, add temperature and humidity control equipment, and modify the spraying equipment;

④ Conduct discussions with all management levels of A Door Industry to re-plan production processes, refine quality inspection standards, and mentally prepare for potential challenges during the oil-to-water conversion process.

⑤ It is expected that the overall renovation will be completed within one month and the production will be successful.

⑥ During the comprehensive rectification period, various difficulties such as workers' strikes, goods accumulation, high rework rate, and declining output rate were encountered. Through the cooperation and optimization of both parties, each problem was solved one by one. It took 23 days in total to complete the hardware facilities of A Door Industry, and all optimized products for A Door Industry were completed and put into use.

4. After the "oil to water" is completed

◆ Water-based process: LED primer (mechanized coating) + water-based topcoat (manual coating), eliminating all manual primer spraying and reducing grinding, transfer, and plate separation processes.

◆ The topcoat uses Pengjiang Furniture Paint's high-quality water-based skin texture series, resulting in a fine and smooth surface that feels like baby skin, greatly improving product quality.

◆ Achieve a breakthrough in water-based wet spray and wet coating technology to meet the current painting habits and efficiency requirements of A Door Industry's workforce.

◆ The awareness and detail control of water-based coating by workers and management have been comprehensively improved, and the rework rate has been reduced from 20% at the beginning of the transformation to less than 5%.

◆ The coating cost of all water paint wood door is controlled, and it can be sold at the price of crude oil wood door. With improved quality, green and environmental protection, and ready-to-install and ready-to-move-in, the monthly sales doubled, and it won the unanimous praise of dealers, sales personnel and customers.

◆ After six months of continuous operation of oil-to-water conversion, A Door Industry has expanded to two new plants with six spray booths, while also initiating water-based paint coating.

The successful 'oil-to-water' conversion project between A Door Industry and Jiangmen Paint Co., Ltd. has been rigorously tested through prolonged construction, quality assurance, customer usage evaluations, and sales performance assessments. Identified shortcomings will be systematically addressed and refined, establishing a robust foundation for implementing similar conversions for more clients.