Under the name Coatino , the Essen-based chemical group Evonik is planning to offer a voice-controlled assistant from next year, which is designed to help experts in developing new paint with its extensive expertise. The smart assistant knows all the specialist terminology, is able to respond to complicated questions and should therefore deliver faster implementation of customer requirements for specific paint compositions. At the same time, it takes account of statutory and regulatory specifications.

Until now, the day-to-day reality in the manufacturers’ laboratories was such that the employees had to scour through catalogs and lists for possible combinations and check mixtures in complex practical tests to give a paint the properties required with the right additives. Coatino, on the other hand, draws on a comprehensive, continuously updated database in the cloud, machine learning and big data science technology, and should provide the correct additives on request – at least, if they are in Evonik’s product range. The chemical company is therefore following one of the latest trends: in Industry 4.0, Alexa, Cortana and so on have been talking to machines for some time now .