Our General Industrial Coatings division partnered with Toyota Industry (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. and successfully launched a coating product line for high-solidity, low-viscosity and reduced-VOC coatings. This makes Sherwin-Williams the first non-Japanese qualified coating supplier of Toyota Forklift in Asia-Pacific.

“We are very honored to work with one of the top three players in the heavy equipment segment. Following our partnership in the North America market, our General Industrial Coatings team has collaborated with Toyota Forklift in Asia-Pacific, indicating that we have become one of the global partners of their company,” said Julie Zhu, General Manager of Sherwin-Williams General Industrial Coatings Asia-Pacific. “As always, we will work with our customers on innovation and bring more value for our customers through differentiated and customized solutions.”

Toyota Forklift expanded its business footprint to multiple countries, including the U.S., China, Japan and European countries, and has maintained its global leadership position in sales for many years. Toyota Forklift is particular when it comes to selecting coatings suppliers. Last year, after learning that Toyota Forklift wanted to upgrade its painting product line, Zhu set up a special cross-functional team to address their needs.

This team consisted of representatives from research and development (R&D), product marketing, business development and technical service to closely track test results and on-site response – and to provide multiple product and technological solutions to help the customer achieve its goal. Creating the team was a success; Sherwin-Williams won the recognition of Toyota Forklift, which placed an official production order with the Company midyear.

The team chose Duraspar® high-solid-content coatings to use on Toyota Forklift products. Our solutions can be used in the wet-on-wet operation, which, together with the reduced volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, can effectively meet environmental requirements while reducing power consumption at the site. Moreover, its outstanding leveling and appearance performance can significantly reduce coating porosity, and the product’s excellent protective performance can also prevent external damage to its appealing appearance.

While developing solutions, the team also tried to minimize the resources needed by the customer for this upgrade. Duraspar can be used in the existing product line without major transformation, further reducing the customer’s costs. The product’s high solidity and low viscosity make it easy for in-process repair, which, together with the excellent corrosion resistance, weatherability and adhesion, prolong the product’s service life.

“Responsibility is the tenet of the Sherwin-Williams project team for Toyota Forklift,” said Zhu. “We all know breakthroughs only come from constant changes, innovation and hard work. Continuous efforts, reliable products, high-quality expertise and strong collaborations will bring outstanding performance and breakthroughs and take us to the next level,” she concluded.

This story is featured in the Sherwin-Williams 2022 Sustainability Report.