We participated in the GDCh Coatings Conference – with a presentation and an information booth on the use of AI in automated Design of Experiments (DoE) for coatings development. In addition, a research project on “Sustainable Coatings Industry through Digital Technologies for Climate and Environmental Protection” was presented.

Our talk highlighted how Artificial Intelligence opens new pathways in coatings development. With raw material variability, stricter environmental regulations, and the urgent need for sustainable processes, innovative approaches are essential.

AI-based methodology for adaptive experimental planning:

• Unlike classical, predefined experimental design, our approach enables dynamic, data-driven steering of experiments.

• Parameters from raw materials, application, and processes are integrated into probabilistic AI models (STOCHOS).

• The AI proposes targeted, optimal experiment combinations, reduces the number of trials, and avoids inefficient or incompatible setups.

The benefits:
Significantly lower resource consumption and time investment
Facilitated transition to sustainable raw materials
Prototype validation on high-throughput and industrial-scale equipment
Presentation of our software solution for AI-driven experimental planning

A special thank you to our project partners: AOM-Systems GmbH, Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co., Füll Lab Automation GmbH, HS Niederrhein, and Fraunhofer IFAM.

Three days of insightful discussions, curious minds, and visionary perspectives – our presence at the European Coatings Show 2025 was an inspiring experience. This year, our focus was clear: bringing the power of AI into the world of paints and coatings.

Particular interest centered around our solutions for automated Design of Experimentation (DoE) and intelligent control of high-throughput experimentation workflows. In both areas, our AI is already redefining what’s possible – accelerating formulation, reducing trial-and-error, and enabling smarter decisions from day one.

While AI adoption in the coatings sector is still gaining traction, the feedback was unmistakable: the industry is ready – and so are we.

Our takeaway: The future of coatings development is not just smart – and we’re ready to lead it forward.

As a member of the Smart Paint Factory Alliance, PI Probaligence GmbH participated on the 2nd Workference, this time at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen. For 2 days we discussed various topics regarding data usage in production and development, AI and ML applications and their deployment in existing workflows and QA with some major companies like Akzo Nobel, BASF, Evonik or Mankiewicz participating. PI is happy to contribute to this development, our recent developments fully automatic, ML-guided DoE in color development with parallel inclusion of production parameters are perceived as a real game changer in this market.

Results after 4 adaptations with partner Adler Lacke

Within the Smart Paint Factory Alliance (smartpaintfactory.com) together with ADLER-Werk Lackfabrik (www.adler-lacke.com), we used our own developed ML algorithms and methods for adaptive experimental design for color matching. We are proud that only after only 4 adaptations we came already very close and partly even better than the results of commercial color matching software using standard formulas. But our big advantage is that not only the color can be optimized, but also other measured variables, such as opacity, gloss, viscosity, abrasion resistance and, of course, manufacturing costs. Everything that can be measured can also be used in the optimization. Ideally, this is also done with the simultaneous optimization of the process parameters. In one of our other research projects Na, Logisch! ( https://lnkd.in/e2t99kn9) we put all our effort on this topic and are working to improve our methods even further.