this technology is meeting or surpassing customer
expectations for performance and quality.”
PPG’s comprehensive Convert Confidence pro-
gram is contributing to its customers’ conversion
from solvent to waterborne systems. “Taking a pro-
active approach, this initiative provides the body
shop with all the support required for the proper
planning, technician training and equipment re-
quired to make a smooth, seamless transition to a
waterborne system,” said Outcalt.
Another key issue affecting the auto refinish market is a lack of skilled technicians. “It is estimated
that more than 180,000 repair-related positions will
need to be filled in the next few years and this need
will be an ever-increasing concern as baby boomers
retire from the work force. In response, PPG and other industry suppliers have been increasing their support of vocational
programs across the country, both at the secondary and college
level,” said Randy Cremeans, PPG director of training U.S. &
Canada and director global brand marketing.
As an example, PPG’s Partners in Education program is a
collaborative initiative between PPG and technical schools to
develop skilled entry-level technicians for employment with PPG
customers. “Recently, PPG Automotive Refinish helped launch
a groundbreaking associate degree program in collision repair
and refinishing technology at North Carolina’s Fayetteville
Technical Community College, said Cremeans. “The new colli-
sion center and educational program brings the repair industry
in line with the innovative processes, advanced materials and
sophisticated computer engineering that automotive manufac-
turers are using.”
Leading collision repair centers are striving to deliver a qual-
ity repair at minimal cost. “Cost and quality are not polar op-
posites,” Whittleston added. “To achieve both requires repair
facilities reach the highest efficiency and effectiveness possible. At
BASF we support our customers through our account represen-
tatives and business development managers delivering advanced
business solutions. This can be as simple as helping our customer
with inventory management or as complex as creating and/or
rebuilding a new culture for their business. The beauty of our
Advanced Business Solutions is that it provides a tool box for our
BASF experts to select the appropriate programs that help our
customers improve their performance and profitability.”
Insurers focus on cycle time and customer satisfaction perfor-
mance and auto refinish manufacturers must meet these needs.
The “direct repair facility” (DRP) programs of insurance companies are increasingly the major source of work for collision
shops. As a result, cycle time throughput and customer satisfaction (CSI) ratings have become key differentiators for determining
which shops gain the business. “Given the competitive climate,
continuous improvement in these measurements is essential,” said
Jim Berkey, director, MVP Business Solutions, PPG Automotive
Refinish. “It’s good reason why PPG is seeing increased participation in our MVP Business Solutions programs on the part of
owners and managers of collision centers, both large and small.
The MVP curriculum addresses every area that can impact
on cycle time performance and customer satisfaction, with
courses ranging from the beginner level to the most advanced.
To address the need for continuous improvement, our Green
Belt, White Belt and Rapid Improvement training courses are
designed to educate the shop on the practical application of
Lean Six Sigma principles to collision repair. Supporting this
advanced training is a comprehensive range of courses, cover-
ing such critical areas as estimating, production, leadership,
strategic planning and marketing. In total, more than 9,000
shops have taken advantage of these improvement programs
and the fact that our peer-to-peer business solutions confer-
ences are regularly sold out is indication that shop owners and
managers are indeed facing up to the challenge of continuous
improvement in performance.”
There is an increased need for refinish training.
Sophisticated new OEM finishes along with emerging new
refinish products, tools and methodologies require that even
the most skilled technicians keep abreast by taking advantage
of training courses available from manufacturers. “Each year
at PPG Automotive Refinish we introduce a minimum of four
to five new products for each of our collision brands,” said
Cremeans. “Some are specially designed to enhance through-
put and reduce cycle time, while others can add to the qual-
ity of refinish work or improve ease of use. It’s especially
beneficial that paint technicians get hands-on experience and
instruction on these products in support of their shop’s ef-
fort towards continuous improvement. PPG’s commitment to
provide refinish training is supported by our extensive net-
work of training centers across North America and Europe. A
key component of the curriculum is our Painter Certification
training, offered as part of the PPG Lifetime Limited Paint
Performance Guarantee program. To qualify for the guaran-
tee, the shop’s painter must attend a certification class in the
proper use of the refinish system and be recertified every two
years in order to maintain the collision center’s certification.
This assures that the shop is making best use of the available
refinish technologies.”
Fast access to the latest OEM color formulas and variants
is another key trend. Given the hundreds of colors offered by
