Coating factories handle many chemicals, including coating materials, thinners, hardeners, and cleaning agents.

These are essential materials for creating coating quality.
They also involve fire risks, health risks, odors, VOCs, and waste management.

The locations of the coating warehouse and mixing room are therefore more than a storage-location issue.

A distant warehouse increases operators’ travel.
An inconvenient mixing room increases makeshift mixing on the shop floor.
Excessive storage of materials or thinner near the booth increases fire-prevention risks.
Unclear temporary hazardous-material storage undermines shop-floor management.
A distant waste-thinner area makes used solvent more likely to remain on the shop floor.

The warehouse and mixing room are important functions determining factory safety, quality, and work efficiency.

1. A coating warehouse is more than an inventory storage area

The warehouse is more than a place to keep coating materials.

It has roles in quality control, safety management, inventory management, and hazardous-material management.

Temperature, humidity, storage duration, and container condition may affect material quality.
Hardeners may require care regarding contact with moisture or air.
Thinners and cleaning agents must be kept appropriately separated from ignition sources and hot equipment.

The warehouse requires management of the following items.

• Coating product codes
• Color numbers
• Batch numbers
• Expiry dates
• Distinction between opened and unopened containers
• Leftover-material management
• Hazardous-material classifications
• Stored quantities
• Temperature and humidity
• Ventilation
• Leak prevention and response
• Ignition-source control
• Receipt and issue records

Poor organization of these items causes incorrect use, expired materials, quality defects, excess inventory, and increased material waste.

The warehouse is the starting point for protecting coating quality.

2. An excessively distant warehouse increases temporary shop-floor storage

Warehouses are sometimes located away from coating operations for safety.
This is a necessary consideration.

However, excessive distance creates other problems.

Operators travel farther to collect materials.
Thinner transport trips increase.
Heavy cans are carried long distances.
Each color change adds travel time.
Materials needed for urgent work are stored temporarily near the work area.
Leftover materials remain around the booth instead of being returned promptly.

These conditions reduce efficiency and increase uncontrolled materials or thinner on the shop floor.

More temporary storage increases the following risks.

• Unclear hazardous-material quantities
• Proximity to ignition sources or hot equipment
• Incorrect use
• Mixed leftover materials
• Insufficient management of opened containers
• More risks of containers falling or leaking
• Breakdown of 5S

Besides separation for safety, consider a distance and operating practices that are convenient for the shop floor.

3. The mixing room is a place where quality is created

Material mixing directly affects coating quality.

Mix the base and hardener.
Dilute with thinner.
Adjust viscosity.
Check color.
Measure the required quantity.
Stir.
Filter.
Manage usable time.

Unstable performance of these tasks produces unstable quality.

Without a mixing room, or with an inconvenient one, operators may mix materials informally on the shop floor.
However, shop-floor mixing involves risks.

Measurement becomes inaccurate.
Dilution ratios vary by operator.
Stirring is insufficient.
Foreign matter enters.
Color or viscosity checks are inadequate.
Hardener mixing errors occur.
Materials become scattered around the booth.
Ventilation is insufficient.

A mixing room is more than a workspace.
It is a process for stabilizing quality.

4. Mixing-room location requires a balance between proximity and safety

A mixing room near the booth makes work easier.

Color changes are faster.
Material replenishment is easier.
Operator travel is reduced.
It is easier to mix only the required quantity.
Leftover materials are easier to check.

However, excessive proximity requires attention to fire prevention.

Materials and thinner are opened in the mixing room.
Solvent vapor may be generated.
Hardeners and cleaning agents are handled.
Spills or leaks may occur.

Check the following items when considering its location.

• Distance from the booth
• Distance from drying or baking ovens
• Distance from ignition sources or hot equipment
• Ventilation
• Local exhaust ventilation
• Fire compartmentation
• Fire-extinguishing equipment
• Temporary storage quantities
• Entrances and exits
• Evacuation routes
• Floor spill containment
• Relationship to waste-thinner storage

Proximity alone does not make a location suitable.
Distance alone does not make it safe either.

Locate the room safely close to operations, where management and work are easy.

5. Examine material and thinner transport routes

Transport routes are important when considering warehouses and mixing rooms.

Coating materials and thinner are heavy.
Moving cans or drums burdens operators.
There are also risks of tipping, leakage, or collisions during transport.

Check the following points.

• Distance from warehouse to mixing room
• Distance from mixing room to booth
• Whether carts or pallet trucks can pass
• Whether forklifts and operators cross paths
• Steps or slopes
• Slippery floors
• Passage near hot equipment during transport
• Workpieces or fixtures placed in aisles
• Whether transport routes obstruct emergency evacuation

Poor routes tempt operators to take shortcuts or store materials temporarily.
Safety management then becomes easier to undermine.

Treat material transport routes as safety design as well as work efficiency.

6. Define rules for temporary shop-floor storage

Materials in use need temporary storage on the shop floor.

Returning every material to the warehouse each time may be impractical.
Providing temporary storage is therefore not necessarily inappropriate.

The problem is storage without rules.

Permitted locations are unknown.
Permitted quantities are undefined.
Opened and unopened containers are mixed.
Leftover materials and materials in use are mixed.
Materials awaiting disposal are placed there.
Labels are not visible.
Storage is near ovens or ignition sources.
Aisles are blocked.

Such storage creates quality and safety risks.

Temporary shop-floor storage needs the following rules.

• Permitted locations
• Permitted quantities
• Permitted storage duration
• Identification of opened containers
• Separation of materials in use, leftovers, and materials awaiting disposal
• Distance from ignition sources and heat sources
• Leak response
• Return procedures after use
• Responsible person

Eliminating temporary storage is not the objective.
The important step is making it controlled storage.

7. Distant waste-thinner storage leaves waste liquid on the shop floor

Cleaning work generates waste thinner in coating operations.

Color changes.
Gun cleaning.
Cup cleaning.
Pipe cleaning.
Cleaning around the booth.
Fixture cleaning.

Where the waste thinner goes after these tasks is important.

Distant waste storage tempts operators to keep waste liquid temporarily on the shop floor.
Used solvent may then remain around booths or near the mixing room.

This is unfavorable for both safety and quality.

Waste thinner involves odors, fire risks, VOCs, and leakage risks.
Mixing clean and waste thinner in the same area also creates a risk of incorrect use.

Check the following items.

• Waste-thinner container location
• Separation from unused thinner
• Segregation of waste thinner by type
• Container sealing
• Labeling
• Temporary storage quantities
• Transport routes
• Leak prevention and response
• Ventilation
• Collection frequency

Consider waste-thinner routes together with the mixing room, booth, and hazardous-material storage.

8. Warehouses and mixing rooms also affect inventory reduction

Poor management makes inventory more likely to increase.

Shop-floor stock is unknown.
Warehouse stock is unknown.
Leftover materials cannot be found.
Similar colors are purchased twice.
Materials expire.
Materials used only in small quantities remain.
Opened containers increase.
Material waste increases.

These are cost issues as well as storage issues.

Organizing the warehouse and mixing room supports the following improvements.

• Visible inventory quantities
• Fewer expired materials
• Appropriate use of leftovers
• Prevention of incorrect orders
• Reduced material waste
• Appropriate hazardous-material quantities
• Appropriate mixing quantities

A warehouse is not a place for holding large amounts of material.
It allows the required materials to be used in the required quantities, safely and with quality preserved.

9. Excessive mixing quantities increase material waste

Calculate the required quantity accurately in the mixing room.

Mixing more than necessary leaves surplus material.
Two-component materials have a usable time after the base and hardener are mixed.
After that time, they can no longer be used and become waste.

Excessive mixing quantities cause the following problems.

• More leftover material
• Higher waste-material treatment costs
• More containers
• More mixing work
• Higher risk of incorrect use
• A workplace that becomes dirty more readily

Insufficient mixing quantities, conversely, cause shortages during application and require another mix.
Color or viscosity may also change slightly.

Define mixing quantities based on product quantity, coated area, film thickness, transfer efficiency, and loss rate.

Use standards rather than intuition to determine quantities in the mixing room.

10. Examine the mixing room from a quality-assurance perspective

The mixing room is an important quality-assurance point.

Material quality is not determined only at manufacturer shipment.
It also changes through shop-floor storage, measurement, stirring, dilution, filtration, and usable-time management.

Check the following items from a quality-assurance perspective.

• Are measuring instruments accurate?
• Is stirring sufficient?
• Are dilution ratios recorded?
• Is viscosity checked?
• Is filtration performed where necessary?
• Are color-number and material-code checks clear?
• Is the hardener mixing ratio followed?
• Is pot life managed?
• Are opened containers managed?
• Does the environment prevent foreign-matter contamination?

With a poor mixing-room environment, coating defects may originate in mixing rather than in the booth.

When defects occur, check the mixing room as well as application work.

11. CoatureVietnam’s warehouse and mixing-room checkpoints

CoatureVietnam checks warehouses and mixing rooms from the following perspectives.

Safety

We check distance from ignition sources and hot equipment, ventilation, fire prevention, fire-extinguishing equipment, hazardous-material quantities, temporary storage, and waste-thinner storage.

Quality

We check material codes, color numbers, batches, expiry dates, opened containers, leftovers, measurement, stirring, dilution, filtration, and pot life.

Work efficiency

We check distances from warehouse to mixing room and mixing room to booth, transport routes, cart use, and operator workload.

Inventory

We check use frequency, leftovers, expired materials, excess inventory, small-batch colors, and waste-material quantities.

Waste

We check where waste material, waste thinner, empty cans, used cloths, and filters are generated and their collection routes.

Warehouses and mixing rooms determine safety, quality, and costs throughout the factory, as well as material management.

Conclusion

Their locations have a major effect on factory safety and work efficiency.

A distant warehouse increases operator travel and temporary shop-floor storage.
An inconvenient mixing room increases informal mixing and risks of quality variation or foreign-matter contamination.
Excessive storage of materials or thinner near the booth increases fire-prevention risks.
Distant waste-thinner storage makes used solvent more likely to remain on the shop floor.

The important consideration is the balance between proximity and safety.

Operators can use the areas easily.
Hazardous materials can be managed safely.
Material quality is protected.
Incorrect use is prevented.
Waste can be collected appropriately.
Inventory and leftovers are visible.

Warehouses and mixing rooms with these characteristics support stable quality.

CoatureVietnam looks beyond material sales to where materials are stored, where they are mixed, how they reach the shop floor, and what remains after use.

Coating the Future with Science and Care
Organizing the warehouse and mixing room is fundamental to protecting quality, reducing operator workload, and creating safe coating operations.