How a €122M+ Coatings Manufacturer Centralized SDS Compliance Across 50+ Countries

TL;DR:
A €122M+ wood and glass coatings manufacturer with 600 employees and 15,000+ products across 50+ countries faced a critical decision: fragment their compliance by country or centralize everything on one platform. They centralized on Trace One SDS. The result: 500,000 data items extracted in 20–25 minutes, strategic market access previously impossible, system consolidation from multiple solutions to one, and a partnership they describe as “the perfect match.” Their story illustrates what enterprise-scale SDS compliance looks like when manual processes are replaced by cloud automation — and why companies managing thousands of products across dozens of jurisdictions cannot afford to stay fragmented.

What Challenge Did the Coatings Manufacturer Face with Their Previous SDS System?

When this €122M+ wood and glass coatings manufacturer first selected their regulatory module, they partnered with a smaller vendor. Being that vendor’s largest client initially meant a responsive relationship. But as the manufacturer continued to expand — selling in more than 50 countries around the world — their needs outpaced the vendor’s capabilities.

The problems compounded. Their solution struggled to stay current with SDS information when raw materials changed. Updates to new ATPs from CLP and GHS regulation were slow. Two different solutions handled regulatory tasks, making updates complex and time-consuming. When they tried shifting to a new database provider, data extraction became impossible — limiting how the company could utilize data across departments or regions.

The manufacturer faced a fundamental decision: fragment their operations by dividing offices by country, or find a platform that could centralize everything. Fragmentation was undesirable but seemed necessary because their regulatory module could not support the scale and complexity of a centralized system.

Why Did They Choose to Centralize Instead of Fragment?

Instead of splitting offices to resolve shortcomings in their previous solution, the manufacturer decided to find a partner that promoted connectivity and communication. They switched to Trace One SDS and centralized their entire compliance operation on a single platform.

The decision was driven by three factors. First, they needed one complete system instead of relying on several solutions for different regulatory tasks. Second, they needed current data — raw material and regulatory calculations that were always up to date, not manually maintained. Third, they needed the ability to extract data, generate reports, share information across the company, and validate calculations.

The result was transformative. Now 600 employees across Europe, China, India, the US, and Canada work from a single source of truth. The manufacturer consolidated from multiple software systems to one. And they gained capabilities their previous systems could never deliver.

What Does 500,000 Data Items in 25 Minutes Actually Mean?

The headline metric — 500,000 data items extracted in 20–25 minutes — sounds abstract until you understand what it replaced. The manufacturer’s previous system could not perform any data extraction at all. The ability to pull half a million data items in under half an hour transformed how the company operates.

Data extraction at this scale means the compliance team can generate regulatory reports across the entire product portfolio, validate calculations against source data, share insights across departments and regions, and respond to regulatory inquiries with auditable data rather than manual lookups. The company gained what they describe as “control” — visibility into what data goes into every calculation, with everything in one place.

This level of data throughput is what separates cloud SDS platforms from legacy systems. When a regulation changes — such as the CLP new hazard classes requiring reclassification by November 2026 — the platform can cascade the update across 15,000+ products automatically. Manual processes cannot match this speed at any scale, let alone across 50+ countries.

How Did Centralization Unlock Access to New Markets?

Before switching to the cloud platform, the manufacturer could not implement GHS regulation for certain strategic markets. Their previous system’s limitations made it impossible to expand into jurisdictions that required specific GHS implementations.

After centralization, the manufacturer can generate compliant SDSs and labels for any of the 20+ GHS jurisdictions supported by the platform, translate documents automatically across 47 languages, print accurate raw material labels for internal and external use (including labels in Chinese), and service other departments beyond the core compliance team with regulatory data outputs.

The outputs from the platform are being used to break down silos and improve efficiencies across the organization. The manufacturer compares it to moving from an apartment with many small rooms to an open-space apartment — where communication flows and different tasks happen simultaneously.

What Does This Story Mean for Companies Managing Multi-Country SDS Compliance?

The coatings manufacturer’s experience illustrates a pattern that applies to any chemical company managing products across multiple jurisdictions. The decision between fragmentation and centralization is not theoretical — it is operational. Companies that fragment by country create parallel compliance processes, duplicate effort, and lose visibility into their overall regulatory posture.

Companies that centralize gain what this manufacturer gained: one system, one source of truth, enterprise-scale data extraction, and the ability to respond to regulatory changes across their entire portfolio from a single platform. This is particularly critical given the regulatory deadlines ahead: CLP reclassification by November 2026, PFAS restrictions covering 10,000+ substances, and REACH enforcement intensification.

The coatings manufacturer is not alone in this approach. A global building materials company made their SDS platform the central hub for enterprise data exchange with SAP and Oracle. A textile chemicals company with 35+ years of operations and a 25-year platform partnership upgraded from on-premise to cloud for the same reason. Across the platform, 600+ companies manage 1M+ safety data sheets across 20+ GHS jurisdictions and 47 languages.

How Does the Coatings Manufacturer’s Experience Compare to Other Industries?

The pattern of outgrowing a legacy vendor and centralizing on a cloud platform repeats across industries:

Chemical import & distribution: A family-owned chemical importer operating across Europe, Latin America, and Asia replaced their legacy vendor after a year because it was “not simple to use, not intuitive or logical.” After switching: 25%+ faster SDS creation, zero manual data entry, full operational readiness in under a week.

Textile chemicals: A company with 35+ years of operations and a 25-year Trace One partnership upgraded from on-premise to cloud because cloud-based enablement was essential for meeting worldwide regulatory needs. They didn’t switch vendors — they upgraded.

Fragrance & cosmetics: A startup founded in 2019 went from zero SDS capability to fully operational in 2.5 business days, including IFRA compliance module. They launched three new fragrances in the months following implementation.

Building materials: A global manufacturer made their SDS platform the central hub for data exchange with SAP and Oracle. When a regulation changes, every downstream document is generated from verified, current data.

What Should Companies Considering SDS Centralization Do Next?

Assess your current fragmentation. How many systems manage your SDS compliance? How many countries require separate processes? How much time does your team spend on manual data entry, translation, and distribution? The coatings manufacturer had two separate solutions handling regulatory tasks. Most companies discovering fragmentation have more than they think.

Quantify the data extraction gap. Can your current system extract data at the scale you need? The coatings manufacturer went from zero extraction capability to 500,000 items in 25 minutes. If your team cannot generate portfolio-wide regulatory reports in minutes, your system is a constraint on your compliance posture.

Map your market expansion needs. Which jurisdictions can your current system support? Which ones can’t it? The coatings manufacturer could not implement GHS regulation for strategic markets on their old system. If your growth plans include new GHS jurisdictions, your SDS platform must be able to follow.

Evaluate implementation timeline. Standard cloud SDS implementation takes 5 business days. The fastest on record is 2.5 days. With CLP reclassification deadlines in November 2026 and PFAS restrictions expected in 2027, implementing in Q1–Q2 2026 gives companies operational time before the regulatory cascade hits.

Related Resources

• Trace One SDS Product Page

• What Is GHS Compliance?

• Meet the Deadline for OSHA’s Updated HazCom Standard

• Where US Employers Fail to Warn Workers

• CLP Updated by Regulation (EU) 2024/2865

• EU PFAS Restriction in Firefighting Foams

• EU Draft Regulations Updating REACH Annex XVII

• REACH Restriction 78: Microplastics Regulation

• The Rise of Technical Data Sheets

Frequently Asked Questions About SDS Centralization

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About Trace One

With more than 30 years of industry expertise, Trace One partners with over 9,000 brands across food and beverage, cosmetics, and chemicals to accelerate product development and turn regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage. Our AI-powered PLM platform, with regulatory intelligence spanning 170+ countries, supports the entire product manufacturing lifecycle — helping brands bring market-leading products to shelf faster and thrive in new markets. Learn more at traceone.com