DOW™ Paint Vision ushers in the future of digital paint formulation

Paint and coatings formulators face growing demands every day, from customer expectations to environmental regulations to the need to innovate at speed. But the formulation process looks a lot like it did 30 years ago.

Digital transformation has changed the way we shop, learn, and interact with others. Coating formulators desire the same level of digitalization in their labs and experimental technology that they have experienced in other areas of their lives.

What if formulators could discover the right binder, dispersant, or rheology modifier for their projects, compare options, then order a sample and try it out — all from a single digital platform?

That platform is here. DOW™ Paint Vision is an online hub that combines scientific insight and expertise with next-generation technology in a holistic, user-friendly collection of tools and resources. It connects top-level R&D with thousands of data points collected from Dow labs and merges them with the latest trends in sustainability and end-user needs.

Need to formulate for water sensitivity? UV resistance? Higher sustainability standards? Rather than manually gathering this information through trial and error in the physical lab, DOW™ Paint Vision delivers AI-powered solutions tailored to performance and cost requirements.

When paints and coatings are built on this solid foundation of data, the results are more likely to perform in the real world — and at a fraction of the time required by traditional laboratory methods. According to researchers at the University of Maribor, a digitalized lab cuts almost 48 percent of the time required to create a new formulation, compared to the analog method. Those time savings support formulators to fail faster, innovate more widely and achieve a faster time to market.

Built and backed by Dow scientists, DOW™ Paint Vision is a digital service platform that supports users at every step along the way, with rapid access to the latest research, product samples, training resources and more, including:

Within the DOW™ Paint Vision platform, the Formulation Xpert tool empowers formulators to match ingredients and attributes to specific applications, backed by Dow’s decades of technical knowledge. Formulation Xpert empowers formulators to design high-performance paints that comply with various formulation performance targets, leveraging Dow's technical knowledge and expertise.

DOW™ Paint Vision’s state-of-the-art Product Selector enables ingredients comparison, offers a one-stop-shop for technical data, and allows customers to order a sample with only a few clicks. The Product Selector allows products to be selected by regional availability for global supply chain planning.

This online, curated collection of more than 100 self-paced education videos helps new hires get up to speed in the lab. It also expands the technical knowledge of more tenured scientists. Covering everything from resins and additives to architectural and industrial coatings, it’s the go-to resource for scientists to learn directly from industry experts.

We are committed to building a more sustainable future through reducing our carbon footprint, advancing a circular economy and developing safer materials that meet performance requirements. DOW™ Paint Vision uses data and decades of scientific expertise to help our customers develop the next generation of sustainable coatings solutions.

Within the platform, the OpTiO2nizer™ tool allows formulators to take the guesswork out of creating safe, long-lasting, high-performance formulations that also reduce environmental impact. The OpTiO2nizer™ tool offers an instant way to decrease the amount of titanium dioxide in any formulation — driving down both carbon emissions and costs.

Since the initial launch of the platform at the 2022 American Coatings Show in North America, DOW™ Paint Vision has expanded into a global platform that has been recognized with several awards recognizing the innovation behind our technology.

In January, DOW™ Paint Vision won a 2023 ICIS Innovation Award in the Best Digital Innovation category, which honors solutions and projects that are particularly effective in promoting digital transformation and bringing about sustainable change across the chemicals industry.

DOW™ Paint Vision has also received a 2023 BIG Innovation Award in the Product Technology category. The annual awards are presented by the Business Intelligence Group (BIG) and recognize those organizations and people who bring new ideas to life.

There’s no need to face the digital future alone. By combining powerful data and decades of knowledge, DOW™ Paint Vision is a valuable partner in the move to digital, breaking down barriers so that formulators can spend more time innovating.

Dan Wu, Associate R&D/TS&D Director