Automotive Refinish Market
October 2015 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 47
OEMs each year and the variances that can occur from the
prime intended color to the actual color coming out of the factory, it’s critical that refinish technicians and color mixers have
easy access to the most up-to-date color information.
“To help ensure that the technician gets the color right
the first time, PPG employs a variety of color matching ini-
tiatives and tools,” said Mary Kimbro, PPG Refinish Global
Color director. “First, our color experts around the world
have direct contact with OE manufacturers to capture yearly
vehicle program information. This early involvement in the
design phase facilitates PPG’s ability to have accurate formula
matches ready when new colors hit the streets. When subtle
differences in color are unavoidable at the factory level, our
team of color experts proactively audit vehicles at ports of
entry and identify any variations. Our state-of-the-art color
matching laboratories then create special field variant match-
es which are made readily available to our customers through
our COLORMOBILE application, which is updated daily
and provides access from anywhere to our database of over
two million formulations. PPG also provides color chips of
variant formulas in its comprehensive color decks that are ar-
ranged chromatically. Sprayed with actual refinish paint, each
chip provides “what you see is what you get” accuracy to the
mixed formula.”
To accommodate the diverse color match methodologies of
refinish professionals, PPG offers both an instrumental and as
well as a visual approach to selecting the best color for the ve-
hicle repair – early on before it reaches the booth. “Utilizing
the RAPIDMATCH X- 5 spectrophotometer to make the color
selection up front is profoundly changing the repair process
workflow,” Kimbro said. “Search returns from our proprietary
algorithms provide the technician with simple and easy vi-
sual indicators that quickly identify the best blendable match.
Included with the search returns are chip locations to connect
the returned formula to an actual sprayed chip. This focused,
synchronized approach to pull all color tools together seamless-
ly and efficiently is paving the way to the future of fast, accurate
color-matching.”
With the CAFE standards (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)
targets being lowered considerably between now and 2025, auto
manufacturers are investigating a variety of methods to achieve
these goals. Outside of alternative fuels, one of the main meth-
ods being used to achieve these targets is the light weighting of
vehicles using various new substrates.
“We are now seeing carbon fiber composites, new aluminum
alloys, such as those used on the Ford F-150, titanium, glass
fiber composites and advanced high strength steel, to name
just a few,” said Whittleston. “The challenge for the collision
industry is to have procedures to repair these new substrates -
especially when more than one is used on a vehicle. However,
because of the scale and diversity of BASF, we are working
with our sister divisions and other research groups, such as the
Oak Ridge National Laboratories, to ensure these challenges
are met. An example is the 3D printed Cobra, shown at the
2015 Detroit Auto Show, which was made entirely of carbon
fiber composite, and coated with BASF refinish products. New
substrates will continue to appear in the marketplace, which
are even lighter and stronger than today, and we at BASF are
well positioned to ensure that we have solutions for the “invis-
ible repair” today and tomorrow.”
PPG’s third generation acrylic latex, anti-settle waterborne
basecoat technology continues to be its latest technology for
matching today’s OEM finishes. “It is the same basic basecoat
technology that is used on the majority of today’s new car
colors, so its film build and metallic orientation closely mirrors the appearance of the OEM finish, especially those highly
chromatic, more translucent colors,” said Gareth Hughes, director Americas Technology, PPG Automotive Refinish. “Key
to this technology’s excellent color matching capabilities is a
supportive spectral gray primer system that mimics the OEM
process of allowing the primer color to contribute to the overall final color appearance.”
New Products
Helping collision repair centers achieve high efficiency is of
the utmost importance. One of BASF’s product solutions to
achieve this is the Onyx HD system. “This is a really cool and
unique system that allows collision repair centers to spray ei-
ther water or solvent depending upon their requirements for a
specific job,” said Whittleston.” Think of those times where you
have said to yourself, I love the coverage and metallic color
performance of my waterborne paint but this week I just need
to crunch through some work and get the higher hiding and
speed that can come from solventborne paint. With Onyx HD
you can do just that. This product is flying off our shelves right
now with customers giving very positive feedback on its per-
formance, especially for color matching.”
A second new product launch from BASF is Glasurit and
R-M PowerFill Plus range of primers. “These have just hit our
distributor’s shelves,” said Whittleston. I”f you need a direct
to metal primer that meets national rule standards with great
sanding capability, here is a product you need to try. Ask your
distributor about a demo and see how this product line can help
improve throughput in your paint shop.”
PPG continues to make new primer and clearcoat technol-
ogy options available to customers. “Most recently we’ve in-
troduced EC550 En-V Ultra Gloss and P190-6950 Extended
Performance clearcoats, the second wave of products incorpo-
rating our latest resin technology,” said Hughes. “Developed
for multi-panel or overall finish applications, these new pre-
mium compliant clears offer an exceptional level of gloss
and appearance. Our new SUA1080 UV Primer incorporates
the latest aerosol coating technology to provide a high build
product that cures by UV lamp and is ready to sand in two
minutes. It is especially ideal for enhancing cycle time per-
formance on spot repairs. PPG has also recently launched
several specialty products in our VIBRANCE COLLECTION
line designed especially for the custom market. They include
VC5700 DITZLER Custom Clear and VC5250 DITZLER
Satin Clear.” CW
