Inspired by a bag of wine in a box, the PPG PLUG & SPRAY™ system reduces the time painters spend plastering by up to 50% as well as related plastic waste by 85% compared to traditional methods. We introduced the innovative solution in Denmark in 2024.
PPG PLUG & SPRAY system for plastering has labor, waste savings in the box
Inspiration Converges with Innovation
While visiting our customers at project sites, Morten Karlsen, regional sales and business development manager for our Architectural Coatings business in Denmark, observed how time- and labor-intensive plastering on a large scale is for painters. These projects typically involve one worker manually filling and carrying numerous containers holding up to 20 kilograms of plaster while another applies it to the wall.
Handling all those containers, which often are at the weight limit of what you can legally lift at work in Denmark, is physically hard and time-consuming. We began looking at how to overcome this challenge while also delivering sustainable benefits. – Morten Karlsen
The solution required both inspiration and innovation. Knud Schioldan, service technician and Morten’s colleague, saw a three-liter bag of wine in a box and immediately thought “Why can’t we fill a bag with plaster, place it in a box and use a sprayer to apply the plaster to the walls?”
It was possible, as the previously introduced bag-in-a-box concept for our DYRUP™ paint brand showed. The challenge was scaling up the solution to handle 500 liters of plaster, which has a much thicker viscosity than paint or wine.
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Efficient and Sustainable
Although it looks simple, the easy-to-use Plug & Spray system involves a number of high-tech components.
A specially designed tear-shaped bag is packed in a reinforced cardboard box, which is secured to a standard EU pallet that can be moved with a pallet lifter. The system connects to most professional spraying systems through an included adapter.
The Plug & Spray system requires only one box and one painter for a single job. In addition to halving labor requirements, it:
- Reduces the time spent on plastering up to 50%;
- Minimizes the risk of spills and foreign objects getting into the plaster, improving the work process and reducing downtime and costly repairs;
- Delivers improved ergonomics by eliminating the manual lifting of heavy bags; and
- Reduces plastic waste by 85% by going from 40 bags made of nearly 25 square meters of plastic to one bag made of only 4 square meters of plastic. The Plug & Spray system’s cardboard box also can be recycled.
Debut Excites Industry
The system debuted at the Nyborg Fair, Denmark’s biggest industry event for painters, in January 2024. It quickly generated significant interest and excitement among attendees.
I’ve been part of the Nyborg Fair for more than 15 years, and this has been our biggest success yet. EVERYONE welcomed the Plug & Spray system. Our customers could see its obvious benefits. – Morten Karlsen
Morten, Knud and their colleagues are already looking to take the Plug & Spray system across Denmark’s borders to make plastering work easier, efficient and more sustainable around the world.
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