It is desirable for a coating material not to crack or lose adhesion if the substrate is subjected to some kind of forming procedure. Such faults would destroy the two main functions of the coating, namely to protect and to decorate.

The forming of the substrate may be the result of an intended and desired forming process and may be manual or by a machine, or it may be caused by expansion or contraction due to temperature.

Ideally, in all these cases adequate elastic (as well as adhesive) properties of coating material must be provided to maintain adequate adhesion.