Valspar Corporation expanded production capacity of its automotive refinish coatings products and completed technology and equipment upgrades at its manufacturing facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania.

Expansions at the Garland and Pittsburgh sites represent a $10 million project, the largest of its kind by Valspar Automotive to date. Upgrades have significantly increased manufacturing volumes, and filling and storage capacity for select brands within the Valspar Automotive portfolio.

"Not only are we producing the necessary volume to serve customers and the growing market, but we're improving ergonomics and overall safety protocols for our employees," said Dave Brunori, Business Director, Valspar Automotive, North America.

According to company officials added production capacity will result in a 200 percent increase in output of automotive refinish brands.

"The stage is set for our commercial organization to deliver products on time and at the required level of quality to grow our business over the next five years," added Brunori.

As a result of both east and west expansion projects, Valspar Automotive has not only increased production in North America, but also storage space by approximately 300 percent.

"With automated, in-line equipment there's little-to-no manual intervention in the production process, improving consistency in filling and packaging cans," said Sue Byrne, Global Director of Supply Chain at Valspar Automotive. The Garland facility alone went from filling 450,000 cans to 1.3 million annually, with the capability to grow to more than 3 million.

In Pittsburgh, activator and hardener production has nearly doubled. "We're filling more cans and we're doing it more efficiently," said Byrne.

Valspar has consolidated all of its automotive coatings research and development, manufacturing and distribution at three "Centers of Excellence", Garland, Pittsburgh and Massillon, Ohio.

The three facilities develop and produce refinish products for some of the most popular brands in the industry, including DeBeer Refinish, Valspar Refinish, Matrix Automotive Finishes, U.S. Chemical & Plastics and Prospray Finishes as well as several private label brands.