MicroBlend Technologies: A Whole New Way to Paint

For nearly 100 years the process of manufacturing and marketing architectural paint has essentially remained the same. Dry and liquid raw materials are dispersed and mixed to create various paint bases, in five or six sheens. This paint is then piped into a fill line where it is volumetrically filled on high speed lines into cans of differing sizes - labeled, boxed, palletized, wrapped, and later pulled for shipping to a distant warehouse or retail outlet.

Once the truck arrives at its destination, the paint is unboxed (in the case of smaller sized containers) and rotated with older stock. Finally, at the time of consumer purchase, the paint base required by the color and quality selected is pulled from stock by a “paint knowledgeable” clerk, the lid removed, the base tinted, lid replaced, shaken, and then sold for use.

Old assumptions are yesterday

The industry’s legacy manufacturers created assumptions about paint quality and color as well as the attendant costs and management associated with the business of painting. The traditional methods fostered developments that now pose serious challenges to the industry - such as shifting technologies, intermittent raw material shortages, wide cost swings (such as transportation), increased imports of finished goods, and changing consumer patterns.

The assumptions about how things have to be done are now yesterday.

MicroBlend’s Automated Paint Machine™ system successfully achieves a complete shift in the paint industry’s historic cost model and methodologies. This shift is achieved in logistical management and many other advantages resulting from the technology, and from the on-demand creation of finished goods at the point-of-sale or use.

Our innovation revolutionizes the financial metrics of painting and paint marketing for a spectrum of businesses - mass market retailers, contractors, homebuilders, and users such as hospitality, resort and entertainment companies, institutional facilities, residential developers, government complexes and industrial facilities.

Early vision for a patented process

MicroBlend Technologies was founded in 1998 by the late inventor Danny McClain, Randall Hughes, and Daniel Trevino. It was McClain who discovered the magic - the material breakthrough in technology that spawned the company’s innovation. Danny McClain was MicroBlend’s chief visionary who, following his work with our predecessor technology development company, Coatings Management Systems, led the early development of the patented process that is the backbone of our technological breakthrough today. McClain served as MicroBlend’s Chief Technology Officer until his untimely death in December 2004.

Instead of the old manufacturing model that requires setting up new production lines for one of more than a thousand different SKUs of paint products, MicroBlend’s patented process utilizes the numerous chemicals and raw materials of conventional manufacturing and separates them into unique combinations of chemical components.

These components, when blended together using the APM™ system, dispense paint at the point-of-sale or use. A touch screen operated command center selects the proper mix of components necessary to create the desired paint (interior, exterior, sheen level, quality, tint base, volume, etc.). The APM™ integrates the color tinting process when the paint is dispensed.

The liquid components are made at a highly efficient manufacturing plant and filled/shipped in large, recyclable totes holding as much as 330 gallons of component material. These are then transferred into larger permanent tanks that supply the dispenser.

Poised for significant growth

Headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona, just outside Phoenix, MicroBlend has implemented its APM™ system in various venues across the continental U.S. Our Retail program has resulted in a top national retailer successfully installing the system in test stores while three other leading national chains are preparing to introduce the technology to their customers. Last year the company was awarded three additional patents for its chemistry, equipment, and business method.

In 2007, MicroBlend Technologies is poised for significant growth and maturity. Our innovation advances under continuous quality improvement initiatives, augmented by best-of-breed technologies from our Strategic Partners. The new APM™ system Generation 4.5 leverages our legacy achievements to reach new benchmarks in paint consistency, dependability, and painting business tools.We will continue to revolutionize the paint industry with the introduction of other significant paint and coatings related technologies in the future. Our organization is dedicated to dramatically improving convenience, performance, and service for the paint consumer.

MicroBlend Technologies: We’re all about defining paint your way®.