Color is not only for products

When people think of color in coating, they often think of product appearance.

Make the product attractive.
Match the brand color.
Match the customer’s specified color.
Prevent uneven color and gloss.

These are certainly important aspects of coating quality.

However, color has other roles too.

Color also plays a major role inside a factory.

Color warns operators of hazards.
Color distinguishes aisles from work areas.
Color separates accepted, rejected, and held products.
Color identifies pipe contents and chemicals.
Color makes fixtures, carts, tools, and process cards easier to understand.

In other words, for people working on the shop floor, color is information that supports decisions.

Coating workplaces involve many points requiring attention, including paint, thinner, surface preparation chemicals, compressed air, exhaust equipment, drying ovens, combustible materials, and heat sources.
This makes it important to use color appropriately and create a workplace that anyone can understand.

This directly relates to CoatureVietnam’s guiding principle, “Coating the Future with Science and Care”.

Science means defining the meaning of colors and creating rules that can be reproduced on the shop floor.
Care means creating an environment where operators can work safely and confidently without uncertainty.

Color coding is a common language on the shop floor

Factory color coding does more than organize appearances.

Color coding is a common shop-floor language.

For example, when a hazardous location is marked in red, operators can recognize the need for caution intuitively.
Clear color-coded aisles make pedestrian and cart routes easier to understand.
A designated color for held-product storage makes it easier to prevent incorrect shipments and product mix-ups.

This information is conveyed faster than a verbal explanation.

Factories in Vietnam may operate in a multilingual environment.
When Japanese managers, Vietnamese operators, customers in Japan, and overseas suppliers are involved, text-only signs may not communicate effectively.

In these situations, identification by color is very effective.

However, color must not be relied on alone.
It needs to be combined with text, pictograms, training, and SOPs.

Correct use of color helps people understand the shop floor more quickly.
Color coding is an important system for reducing the burden of decision-making on operators.

Problems likely to occur with inadequate color coding

The following problems become more likely when color coding is inadequate.

• Unclear boundaries between aisles and work areas
• Difficulty recognizing hazardous areas
• Mixing of accepted, rejected, and held products
• Unclear locations for chemicals and thinners
• Difficulty identifying pipe contents
• Risk of incorrect valve operation
• Disorganized cart and fixture storage
• Unclear separation of waste liquids and waste paint
• Difficulty for new employees learning shop-floor rules
• Different judgments by different managers

All of these may seem minor.
However, small uncertainties in a coating workplace can lead to accidents and quality problems.

For example, mixing held and accepted products can lead to incorrect shipments.
Unclear separation of chemicals and thinners can lead to incorrect use.
Inadequate pipe and valve identification can lead to equipment problems and safety incidents.

Color coding is a shop-floor improvement that reduces these risks.

Simply adding more colors is not the answer

Care is needed when introducing color coding as a shop-floor improvement.

Avoid using too many colors.

Using many colors, such as red, yellow, blue, green, white, black, orange, and purple, may appear to make things clearer.
However, adding colors without organizing their meanings can make things more confusing.

Examples include the following.

• Red used for hazard signs, rejected-product storage, and tool storage
• Yellow used for caution signs, aisle markings, and held-product storage
• Colors with different meanings in different departments
• Old and new signs mixed together
• Operators who do not understand color meanings
• So many signs that important ones do not stand out

In this state, color coding does not improve the shop floor.

What matters in color coding is not the number of colors.
It is that each color has a clear meaning and everyone understands it in the same way.

Main uses of color in a factory

A coating factory offers many opportunities to use color.

The main examples are outlined below.

1. Hazard signs

Coating workplaces contain hazardous locations.

• Flammable solvent storage
• Thinner storage
• Surface preparation chemical storage
• Around drying ovens
• High-temperature sections
• Rotating parts
• Electrical equipment
• Work-at-height areas
• Restricted-entry areas
• Around exhaust equipment
• Around firefighting equipment

These locations need clear color markings and signs so that operators can recognize the need for caution immediately.

Hazard signs should combine color with text, symbols, and pictograms.

Signs that anyone can understand are particularly important where new employees and external contractors enter the workplace.

2. Aisle markings

Aisle markings affect safety and logistics efficiency.

In a coating factory, operators, carts, forklifts, product racks, and paint transport may share the same area.
Unclear aisles make collisions and operational confusion more likely.

The following distinctions are useful for aisle markings.

• Pedestrian aisles
• Cart routes
• Forklift routes
• Areas where temporary product storage is prohibited
• Routes to emergency exits
• Emergency evacuation routes

Clear color-coded aisles make movement easier.
They also help sustain 5S.

3. Separating accepted, rejected, and held products

Accepted, rejected, held, reinspection, and rework products can easily become mixed in a coating workplace.

Unclear separation increases the risk of incorrect shipments and product mix-ups.

Color-coded separation can, for example, cover the following categories.

• Accepted-product storage
• Rejected-product storage
• Held-product storage
• Rework-product storage
• Storage for products awaiting inspection
• Storage for products awaiting customer approval

The key is to combine color with area names and operating rules.

Even if storage colors are defined, they will not work if operators do not understand the rules.
Continued storage outside the marked area also defeats the purpose of color coding.

4. Storage categories for paint, thinner, and chemicals

Coating workplaces handle many chemicals, including paint, hardener, thinner, surface preparation chemicals, cleaning liquids, and waste liquids.

Unclear separation leads to incorrect use, mixing errors, and inadequate hazardous-material management.

Color coding can be used for the following categories.

• Paint storage area
• Hardener storage area
• Thinner storage area
• Cleaning-solvent area
• Surface preparation chemical area
• Waste-liquid storage
• Waste-paint storage
• Empty-container storage
• Storage for materials in use

For two-component paints in particular, confusing the base component and hardener can cause serious problems.
Clear management using colors and labels is important.

5. Pipe identification

Various pipes and hoses are used in coating factories.

• Compressed air
• Water supply
• Drainage
• Surface preparation solutions
• Steam
• Gas
• Exhaust air
• Paint supply
• Thinner supply
• Waste liquids
• Cooling water

Unidentified pipe contents are dangerous.

In workplaces requiring valve operation, inadequate pipe identification creates a risk of incorrect operation.
Immediate identification of pipe contents is also important for equipment maintenance and troubleshooting.

Effective pipe identification combines color with the fluid name, flow direction, valve number, and caution signs.

6. Identification of fixtures, carts, and tools

Fixtures, carts, and tools can also be color coded.

A coating workplace may have dedicated fixtures for each product.
Using the wrong fixture can lead to coating defects and delays.

Color coding makes the following categories easier to manage.

• Product-specific fixtures
• Process-specific carts
• Customer-specific racks
• Cleaned fixtures
• Uncleaned fixtures
• Fixtures not permitted for use
• Fixtures awaiting repair
• Designated tool locations

Identification by color also reduces time spent searching.
This reduces the burden on operators.

7. Process status and work instructions

Color can also indicate process status.

For example, colored work cards and labels can make process status clear.

• Surface preparation complete
• Awaiting coating
• Drying in progress
• Awaiting inspection
• Awaiting rework
• Awaiting shipment
• Awaiting customer confirmation

However, too many process-status colors also cause confusion.
Color, text, numbers, and barcodes need to be combined in a form that is practical to use on the shop floor.

Four requirements for effective color-coded signs

Color-coded signs do not work simply because they have been created.

The following four requirements are needed for a usable shop-floor system.

1. Define meanings

First, define the meaning of each color.

Clarify the role of each color, such as danger, caution, safety, hold, rejection, aisles, or storage.

Unify meanings across the factory so that departments do not use the same color differently.

2. Define sign locations

Next, decide where signs will be placed.

Signs need to be located where operators naturally look.

• Floors
• Walls
• Shelves
• Pipes
• Valves
• Tanks
• Storage areas
• Carts
• Fixtures
• Workbenches
• Entrances
• Hazardous locations

Poorly positioned signs make color coding ineffective.

3. Provide training

Operators need training in color-coding rules.

New employees in particular should have the rules explained before entering the shop floor.

Training should include the following.

• Color meanings
• Storage rules
• Meaning of hazard signs
• How to read pipe identification
• Who to report abnormalities to
• What to do when signs peel off
• What to do when a rule violation is found

Color coding works only when everyone understands it.

4. Maintain the system

Signs become dirty over time.
They peel off.
They fade.
Paint mist, powder, thinner, oil, and dust may also make them difficult to see.

Regular inspection and repair are therefore required.

Check the following items.

• Are floor lines peeling?
• Are signs dirty?
• Are labels readable?
• Are pipe markings still present?
• Have colors faded?
• Is new equipment also marked?
• Are old and new signs mixed together?

Color-coded signs are not finished when installed.
Only continued maintenance makes them an effective shop-floor improvement.

Color-coding improvement through 4M + Management

CoatureVietnam also organizes color-coding improvement through 4M + Management.

Material: Sign materials, paints, and labels

Materials used for color coding must suit shop-floor conditions.

Check the following items.

• Floor paints
• Marking paints
• Marking tape
• Label materials
• Pipe-identification stickers
• Solvent resistance
• Chemical resistance
• Abrasion resistance
• Water resistance
• Weather resistance
• Ease of cleaning

Thinner, paint mist, powder, and chemicals can affect signs in a coating workplace.
Material selection is therefore important too.

Method: Rules and operating methods

Color coding will not work without clear methods.

Check the following items.

• Meaning of each color
• Sign locations
• Label wording
• Storage rules
• Pipe-identification rules
• Inspection frequency
• Repair methods
• Training methods
• Update rules when changes occur

Color coding needs to be designed together with shop-floor working methods.

Machine: Equipment, piping, and shop-floor layout

Equipment and layout are also important.

Check the following items.

• Pipes
• Valves
• Tanks
• Booths
• Drying ovens
• Surface preparation equipment
• Exhaust equipment
• Compressors
• Chemical storage cabinets
• Paint storage cabinets
• Workbenches
• Cart routes
• Forklift routes
• Lighting

Color-coded signs hidden behind equipment cannot be used effectively.
Poor lighting also reduces the ability to distinguish colors.

Man: Operators, managers, and visitors

Color coding has meaning only when people understand it.

Check the following items.

• Do operators understand the color meanings?
• Are color-coding rules included in new-employee training?
• Do managers check compliance with the rules?
• Can external contractors understand the signs?
• Do Japanese managers and Vietnamese operators share the same understanding?
• Are multilingual signs needed?
• Have differences in color vision been considered?

Excessive reliance on color can be problematic because people may perceive it differently.
Combining colors with text and symbols as needed is important.

Management: Standards, training, and inspection

Color-coding improvement requires a management system.

Check the following items.

• Factory-wide color-coding standards
• Sign register
• Training records
• Inspection checklists
• Repair history
• Rule-change history
• Safety audits
• 5S audits
• Abnormality reporting rules
• Improvement activities

Color coding does more than improve appearance.
It is a management activity that supports safety, quality, and productivity.

Points requiring particular attention at factories in Vietnam

The following points require particular attention when improving color coding at factories in Vietnam.

1. Unify color meanings

Different meanings in different departments create confusion.
Rules need to be unified across the factory.

2. Consider multilingual signs

Where Japanese, Vietnamese, and English are used together, text signs also need careful planning.
Combining colors, symbols, Vietnamese, and English makes communication easier.

3. Plan for sign maintenance

Coating workplaces become dirty easily.
Inspections and repairs should be planned on the assumption that signs will inevitably deteriorate.

4. Combine introduction with operator training

Even if color coding is introduced, it will not be used if operators do not know its meaning.
Training must be provided when the system is introduced.

5. Make important signs stand out

If everything is brightly colored, important signs become lost.
Separate hazard signs, caution signs, and ordinary signs, and establish priorities.

Color creates an operator-friendly workplace

The purpose of color-coding improvement is not only to make the workplace look tidy.

The real purpose is to help operators work safely without uncertainty or mistakes.

In a confusing workplace, operators constantly have to make decisions.

Where should this be placed?
What is this pipe?
Is this product accepted or on hold?
May I enter this area?
May I use this chemical?

Frequent uncertainty increases the burden on operators.
Mistakes also become more likely.

Organizing the workplace with color makes decisions faster.
It makes the workplace easier for new employees to understand.
Hazards become easier to recognize.
Storage areas are less likely to become disorganized.

This is an improvement that considers operators.

CoatureVietnam’s coating improvement aims for more than higher productivity.
Creating a workplace where operators can work confidently is also an important value.

How CoatureVietnam can help

CoatureVietnam can support color-coding improvement as a way to improve shop-floor safety, quality, and ease of work.

Support can include the following.

• Organizing factory color-coding rules
• Improving hazard signs
• Improving aisle markings
• Separating accepted, rejected, and held-product storage
• Improving signs for paint, thinner, and chemical storage areas
• Developing pipe-identification rules
• Improving cart, fixture, and tool identification
• Organizing 5S signs
• Drafting multilingual signs
• Creating sign inspection checklists
• Creating operator training materials
• Creating color-coding improvement SOPs
• Proposing improvements through coating workplace assessments

Color coding may seem a small improvement.
However, it has a major effect on shop-floor clarity, safety, and quality control.

Summary

Color does more than make products attractive.

Inside a factory, color provides information that warns of hazards, identifies pipes, separates storage areas, and supports operator decisions.

The following four requirements are needed for color coding to work properly.

• Define color meanings
• Define sign locations
• Train operators
• Manage dirt, peeling, and fading through maintenance

Adding more colors does not by itself make the shop floor easier to understand.
The key is to clarify each color’s meaning and enable everyone to understand the same rules.

A coating workplace requires attention to paint, thinner, chemicals, heat, exhaust, and equipment.
This is why using color to create a safe, clear environment is valuable.

The following perspective matters.

Color is information that protects operators.
Properly designing, teaching, and maintaining color coding makes a coating workplace safer, easier to understand, and easier to work in.