Albi Opens Its Doors

In the south western region of France, our Architectural Coatings plant in Albi recently opened its doors to over 130 special visitors for its first ever open day!

18 on-site PPG volunteers started early, welcoming guests, friends, family and even retired PPG staff returning to the site.

Volunteers guided visitors on tours, managing groups of 15 people both young and old, leaving every 30 minutes. Each group was also accompanied by a photographer to catch the best moments from the tour.

Visitors were given the exclusive insight into how PPG operate behind closed doors when they were given the opportunity to see how PPG production line works in action. Visitors were given white coats and protective eye-wear allowing them to see first-hand how the processes worked.

Visitors were shown how the 6 litres XYLOPHENE paint cans are filled and how pallet building robots can balance cans with exact, mathematical precision.

Inside the R&D lab visitors could see how paint formulas and colours were made by mixing raw materials. The paint mixing method was likened to a chef's recipe which made the process immersive, at least for the foodies in the room!

Guests were dazzled by the extensive testing process where products are put through extreme conditions to test their chemical and colour stability.

The site tour also included a visit to the on-site climatic rooms where temperatures are set to tropical conditions at 28°C. The rooms are home to insects, fungi and larvae used to test the efficiency of wood treatment mixes. Visitors both young and old were fascinated with the various bug-life that lives on site, even the thousands of termites and huge white larvae caused a lot of excitement!

The day ended with exciting activities for the young people and children of the PPG staff. Including a treasure hunt for Xyli, the official XYLOPHENE mascot, hand printing with PPG paints and even meeting and performing some exercises with the on-site firemen.