PPG has broken ground on a more than $280 million expansion of its automotive coatings manufacturing site in Delaware, Ohio, adding 100,000 square feet of production space, approximately 100 jobs and new process capabilities, according to company and industry sources.

The expansion will add production of waterborne basecoats and primers as well as clearcoats. The facility also will incorporate automated material movement, real-time quality evaluation and digital manufacturing technologies. PPG expects operations in the expanded facility to begin in 2028.

The project will expand a site that currently employs about 450 people and encompasses approximately 400,000 square feet. PPG previously evaluated greenfield locations before deciding to expand the existing Delaware operation based on changing automotive coating requirements and the site's existing infrastructure.

The new production area is designed to improve resource efficiency through measures including water reuse and recovery, solvent recovery and emissions-control systems. PPG also said the facility will incorporate technologies intended to reduce waste and energy consumption.

The investment follows broader changes in automotive coatings manufacturing, including increased demand for waterborne coatings and coatings with lower energy requirements. In a recent interview with IndustryWeek, PPG Automotive & Packaging Coatings President Alisha Bellezza said the company is working to reduce energy consumption in automotive paint shops, including through coatings that can cure at lower temperatures.

Bellezza also said electric vehicles are creating new requirements for coating functionality and that automakers increasingly are involving coatings suppliers earlier in vehicle development. PPG is developing digital tools to help optimize coating selection and paint-shop application.

The Delaware facility dates to 1965 and has undergone incremental upgrades over the years. The new expansion will provide an opportunity to add newer manufacturing and digital technologies to the established site as PPG increases domestic automotive coatings capacity.