Dowill Paints' research and development center on eco-friendly coating materials and robotic technologies for the shipbuilding and offshore engineering industries was inaugurated in Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong, on June 26.

Dowill Paints unveils its R&D center on eco-friendly coating materials and robotic technologies for the shipbuilding and offshore engineering industries in Qidong on June 26. [Photo/WeChat account: qidongfabu]

The center's core approach combines artificial intelligence empowerment, mature robotic painting technology, and eco-friendly marine coatings.

Computer-aided design models for ships are fed directly to painting robots, enabling them to coat curved surfaces precisely. AI agents' central processing units coordinate multiple painting robots and coating inspection robots to work together. AI vision inspection robots monitor coating quality in real time, especially at overlapping and boundary areas.

Dowill Paints, founded in 2004, has become one of China's leading manufacturers of high-performance industrial coatings, with annual sales exceeding 3 billion yuan ($442.12 million). Since 2017, the company has been the world's largest supplier of container coatings. In 2024, it ranked second among Chinese industrial coating brands in terms of sales.

Since beginning operations in Qidong, Dowill Paints has specialized in ship coatings, industrial anti-corrosion products and eco-friendly new materials. Through continuous innovation, the company has been one of the county's leading enterprises in the new materials sector.