Brazil, Indiana: To meet the evolving customer needs, PPG Industries on April 26th, 2023, in a ribbon cutting event at Brazil, Indiana plant announced completing the brown field expansion of the plant. The plant has expanded by 20,000 square feet and will now accommodate two state-of-the-art lines for bonded metallic powder and automated packaging capabilities. The automated packaging lines are expected to be installed and become operational by August 2023. Additionally, the company would be adding 12 employees to its existing workforce of 90 workers at the plant. The entire cost of this expansion stood at USD15 million. This expansion has increased the production capacity of the plant to about 4 million pounds per year. It took almost two years for the expansion to get completed. 

According to the Vice President of Global Industrial Coatings, PPG, “an expansion of this scale requires a significant amount of time, dedication, and effort from employees, leaders, and the community. He thanked the great PPG team and the Brazil community for the facility's successful expansion. The plant provides consumers from the appliance and general industrial manufacturing industries. These developments will improve the ability of PPG to provide powder consumers with better product and process quality control whilst reducing lead times for colour matching and production.”

According to TechSci Research, Plant expansions whether greenfield or brownfield provide several benefits to chemical companies. Plant expansions allow chemical companies to increase their production capacity, which can lead to higher output and sales volume. This enables them to meet growing market demand and take advantage of new business opportunities. By expanding their facilities, chemical companies can produce more products and potentially capture a larger market share. Plant expansions often involve incorporating newer technologies and more efficient equipment, which can help improve operational efficiency and reduce production costs. With larger and more modern facilities, chemical companies can achieve economies of scale, optimize their production processes, and lower per-unit costs. This can enhance their competitiveness and profitability in the market.

PPG has been adopting this strategy of plant expansions for years in order to stay competitive and have an edge over other players operating in the industry. Ever since 2019, PPG is focusing on growing its powder coatings capacity and capabilities. To achieve this, the company has made four strategic acquisitions and expanding production and service elements at seven powder plants across the globe. The company has also planned of making further capacity expansions apart from this, across the United States and Latin America in 2023.