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2 POWDER COATING, November 2018 ready visible on Nouryon's digital channels, while packaging and signage will be changed gradually over the course of the coming year. University of Dayton signs million-dollar Air Force contract DAYTON, Ohio—The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) has entered into a 6-year, $72 million ceil- ing contract with the US Air Force. UDRI will work on research and devel- opment in the Air Force Research Lab- oratory's (AFRL's) Quick-Reaction Evaluation of Materials and Processes program as part of the contract, which includes an initial award of $11.7 mil- lion for corrosion-related work. UDRI researchers will investigate ma- terials and process-related issues in structural and electronic materials, en- vironmentally friendly and energy-effi- cient technologies, and protective coat- ings in advanced aerospace systems as well as legacy systems. The school will continue to provide component failure analysis and corrosion assessments for the Air Force. The AFRL is headquartered at Day- ton's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the UDRI research work will take place both at the university itself and at Wright-Patterson. Last year, UDRI won a $43 million ceiling contract with the Air Force to perform research and development related to adhesives, seal- ants, elastomers, textiles, composites, and other nonmetallic materials. PPG announces leadership changes PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Global coat- ings firm PPG has announced two leadership changes: Diane Kappas was appointed as the vice president, Ameri- cas, automotive original equipment manufacturer coatings; and Juanjo Ardid was appointed vice president, PMC, US and Canada. Kappas has been with the company since 1986 and replaced Matt Marek, who retired after more than 25 years at PPG. Ardid joined the company in 1992 and most recently served as general manager, global adhesives and sealants. The findings suggest several takeaways in the form of both challenges and op- portunities for manufacturers. This is particularly the case for businesses sen- sitive to the national policy changes highlighted by the survey. For instance, businesses should make their sourcing decisions based on total cost of owner- ship rather than price alone. Total cost should account not only for cash-re- lated factors, such as excess inventory, travel cost, and reduced innovation, but also for risk factors, such as stock- ing out, political stability, quality dif- ferences, and more. Companies should think strategically about what can or should be sourced domestically or from foreign sources. For some items, there is a strong busi- ness case for continuing to offshore. AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals relaunches as Nouryon AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands— The former AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals is being relaunched as Nouryon. The move follows the recent acquisition of the business by The Car- lyle Group and marks the company's transition to becoming an indepen- dent, global specialty chemicals leader. "Launching our new company is a sig- nificant milestone to add to our proud history and we are all looking forward to this exciting new chapter," said new CEO Charles W. Shaver. "We are ready to leverage our experience, global presence, and strong company culture to unleash our full potential as an inde- pendent company." Nouryon has a history that stretches back nearly 400 years and its new name and brand identity reflect that heritage. Noury & Van der Lande was one of the first companies to realize the important role chemistry could play in everyday life. Today, Nouryon is a world leader in essential chemistries used to manu- facture everyday products. Nouryon will be working closely with customers and other partners to inno- vate, make strategic investments, and develop essential, sustainable solutions that meet customer needs and fuel shared growth. The new branding is al- Reshoring study examines elimination of trade deficit without tariffs CHICAGO, Ill.—Tax and regulatory policy shifts, currency volatility, and new tariffs are prompting manufactur- ers to reexamine their sourcing deci- sion. The Plante Moran/Reshoring Initiative US Manufacturing Reshor- ing Study offers insights to help navi- gate this changing landscape, including what's driving sourcing decisions, po- tential impacts of specific policy changes, and strategies for manufactur- ers to meet the challenges and opportu- nities of reshoring. The survey was conducted between July 2017 and February 2018. To better understand businesses sourcing decisions, this recent study explored why US companies source products offshore, the extent and criti- cal importance of pricing differences, and changes that would motivate a shift to domestic sources. The results revealed tremendous potential impact: a mix of lower corporate tax rates and regulatory burden by government and smarter sourcing and skilled workforce development by corporations could balance the trade deficit without added tariffs or other measures. The overwhelming motivation for off- shoring and reshoring is price. Price di- rectly drove more than 50 percent of offshored direct material expenditures. Other price-driven considerations, such as the product not being available domestically, and corporate and cus- tomer mandate drove an additional 20 percent of offshored direct material ex- penditures. Maintaining a foreign market presence drove only about 2 percent of offshor- ing expenditures, suggesting that com- panies may be inclined to rethink their sourcing decisions with changes in US price competitiveness. The first choice for driving reshoring was a 20 percent decrease in the value of US currency. This was about 2.5 times as effective as alternative policies. UPDATE: Industry