“China's consumption custom is different from that of foreign countries. In America and Europe, furniture belongs to short-term consumer goods. However, for Chinese, furniture belongs to low-frequency large consumer goods and Chinese even pay attention to furniture continuity.” said Mr. CHA Guolong.

Akzo Nobel is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands and has about 45,000 employees around the world with business spreading over 80 countries/regions. As a world-leading oil paint and coating enterprise, Akzo Nobel has enjoyed a widespread reputation around the world with top-ranking carpentry coating and high-quality technical service for over more than 200 years.

During the period of The 23th China International Furniture Expo, JJGLE.COM has an exclusive interview with Mr. CHA Guolong, the general superintendent for carpentry coating business department of Akzo Nobel in North Asia.

JJGLE: Akzo Nobel is a famous coating enterprise in the industry whose business scope is very wide. Can you please briefly introduce the history, sustainable development and advantages of carpentry coating business department.

Manager CHA: Carpentry coating business department of Akzo Nobel inheriting carpentry coating process of more than 200 years has a long history. Our Sikkens varnish formula can even be tracked back to 1800 at the earliest. Based on the tradition of Akzo Nobel daring to blaze new trails, our innovative products and sustainable technology are aimed at meeting continuously growing demands of global market rapidly changing. Akzo Nobel has enjoyed a widespread reputation around the world with top-ranking carpentry coating and high-quality technical service for over more than 200 years.

In the ranking of DJSI in 2017 just announced in Sept., Akzo Nobel ranks the first anew in the field of chemical engineering. Over the years, we have been insisting on close cooperation with customers and developing sustainable solutions to exert a more positive effect on the whole value chain.

As pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable development, we are always at the forefront of industry development and continuously push out environmentally friendly and high-quality carpentry coating products. In addition, our world-renowned color design service develops the coating process leading the fashion trend for customers and caters contemporary consumers' taste and we help people to improve quality of life and create a safe and colorful world by means of our action.

Carpentry coating business department of Akzo Nobel is headquartered at High Point which is the R&D center for our product and color design. It's well known that color and modelling are a very important link in the furniture industry. In China, we also have a profession color development team in charge of providing the service from front end design to end product. We have been adhering to the idea-emphasizing design and service and cooperating with customers to get the mutual benefit and win-win result, as a result, Akzo Nobel isn't a traditional carpentry coating producer, but an innovative enterprise relying on high-quality environmental solution.

We fulfill the environmental protection concept with special advantage (low emission of VOC) of water-borne carpentry coating product and hammer at producing relieved, reassured and unworried products.

JJGLE: what are tyhe advantages of Akzo Nobel's color design?

Manager CHA: Traditional oil paint mainly helps customers to match colors and copy the color palette. We don't only realize the above goal, but also develop colors with customers. We design the most suitable color in accordance with material and style of customer's furniture in order to meet customer's personalized demand.

For a set of furniture of superior quality, color's charm should not be overlooked. Our color designers have an acute fashion smell. Based on their penetrating judgment, we design coatings and products at the forefront of fashion and annually publish the fashion trend of carpentry coating color, making furniture designers and manufacturers enable to push out products which customers love at first sight. Our coating color is always at the forefront of the global coating industry.

JJGLE: In terms of color trend, how does Akzo Nobel interact with China's customers?

Manager CHA: We just mentioned that the core of our service was color. As for color trend, firstly, we annually hold a color conference at High Point and introduce some popular color trends of the same year and even next season. All mid-to-high end furniture products and brand designers from all over the world attend; The information from the above color conference will be immediately shared to our customers in China.

Secondly, new technologies and colors will be displayed annually by participating in the most influential house show in China, such as FMC where we participated in this year. For us, the booth at FMC this year shows plenty of fashion colors with variegated styles.

Thirdly, we also have offline exhibition halls and color studios and our professional technical service personnel develops colors with customers at ordinary times. As mentioned above, our value is embodied by not only helping customers to match colors, but also offering professional suggestions on matching colors by us pursuant to customer's demand regarding furniture color scheme, style, etc.

What's more, we annually launch the latest color manual and share it with customers to stimulate inspiration and drive trend.

JJGLE: Environmental protection becomes more and more popular in 2017, especially in China. We know that Aquasilk water-based carpentry coating of Akzo Nobel well complies with such market requirement, can you give an introduction?

Manager CHA: Environmental protection is needed by current market. The government gives its best to control environmental protection problem in the coating industry this year. Aquasilk® is a water-based carpentry coating specially developed by us for domestic markets, which has passed the gold level certification of GREENGUARD with patent applied for the brand.

Aquasilk® is one kind of low VOC coating product and free from formaldehyde, dissociative TDI and NEP/NMP and can completely conform to the most demanding European safety standard. It's in possession of excellent environmental protection property and its permeability and hardness is better than that of general water-based paint products.

Aquasilk® adopts PUMA resin produced by Akzo Nobel as well as innovative coating formula, and we completely control the whole process from R&D to production and can well realize application stability of products. With close support from our color experts, distinguished wooden furniture coating effect is ensured.

Aquasilk® has three advantages which are the most outstanding:

Outstanding paint film property. Facilitating construction and coloring match as well as optimal display of wood texture; Improved hardness of paint film as well as excellent scratch resistance and chemical resistance and providing lasting protection for furniture.

Excellent construction performance. Optimized formula design can provide wider construction windows to copy with different seasonal climates; Multiple disparate baking systems can accelerate drying and solidification of the coating and shorten the coating process.

Flexible coating system. We can provide both the solution for overall water-based process and different solutions for mixed system of oil bottom water surface, flexibly matching to traditional UV/NC/MPU products.

JJGLE: Can you introduce successful customer cases regarding "oil paint is changing to water paint" of Akzo Nobel's carpentry coating?

Manager CHA: One of our customers is a well-known high-end furniture manufacturing retailer and export merchant in China, has multiple shops nationwide and is a domestic high-end furniture brand leading the fashion. Actually, we cooperated with the above customer three years ago to carry out oil paint to water paint, instead of strongly promoting replacement of oil paint with water paint this year when environmental protection policy is implemented. Now water-based coating used by most of furniture in all stores of the above customer is developed, designed and produced by both Akzo Nobel and the customer.

JJGLE: In your opinion, what are development tendencies of the furniture industry? Withal, how shall Akzo Nobel copy with the competition in the future?

Manager CHA: In terms of style, now whole house customization and solid wood gradually dominate. The requirement of whole house customization is more colors matching to real-time service. As for products, it's necessary to pay attention to coating and technology. Now the government pays high attention to environmental protection and customers' environmental awareness becomes stronger and stronger, so we can know that UV coating and water-based UV are mostly used which gradually replace some existing traditional solvent based coatings. Coating process of custom-made furniture is more complicated and can get the expected perfect effect after several working procedures.

At the time of looking forward to the future, we are very confident about China's furniture market.

Firstly, Akzo Nobel will continuously devote itself to continuing decreasing of VOC content in coating products, which is the core of our product research and development.

Secondly, we will continue to optimize current product systems and develop new products conforming to domestic market on the basis of our superior resources and rich experience. Coating is crucial to the furniture and can provide furniture with sufficient protection and outstanding decoration, which can be deemed as soul and soul of the furniture. People need to dress up with beautiful clothes and Buddha statue needs to be decorated with gold, and furniture needs coating to become more attractive.

Akzo Nobel's environmental color customization. Akzo Nobel: Environmental protection pioneer in the coating industry and provider of color customized service

In addition, it's necessary to insist on providing good services and take color service as the core. China's consumption custom is different from that of foreign countries. In America and Europe, furniture belongs to short-term consumer goods. However, for Chinese, furniture belongs to low-frequency large consumer goods and Chinese even pay attention to furniture continuity. Therefore, Chinese consumers make higher requests against furniture performance and beauty. Under such market demand, it becomes more important to embody spirit and life of furniture with good color and coating. Service is our powerful backing. Helping customers to increase the value of the furniture depends on the most basic service support.

(source:jiagle.com)