The latest refinish products that could be bumping up your revenues

June 1, 2018
So what’s new in your paint department these days? If the answer is “not much,” you really should consider giving your distributor a call.

So what’s new in your paint department these days? If the answer is “not much,” you really should consider giving your distributor a call. Paint companies go to considerable effort both updating their current line of offerings and brining new products to market, all in an effort to make your shop more profitable. One could argue their entire business model is built squarely on making you more successful. The more vehicles you repair, the more products they sell.  

(Photo courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes) Paint company research and development departments invest substantially in new and improved products that are easier and less costly to use.

If you aren’t working closely with your vendor, odds are you’re missing out on quite a bit. Here are just a few of the products you might want to consider for your operation, if you aren’t using them already.  

Axalta 

Still working with solvent-based finishes because you haven’t found an easy path moving to waterbornes? Axalta says Cromax EZ, a new waterborne basecoat for North America Refinish, is designed for shops wanting a seamless transition from to water-based ones coatings. 

Axalta says the smooth transition comes in large part thanks to the product’s familiar and simple application process. “Cromax EZ provides the familiar wet-on-dry application that most painters have already mastered, so no special application and blending training is required,” says Harry Christman, Axalta’s Cromax Brand Manager. 

Adding to the ease, Christman says Cromax EZ toners don’t require agitation, eliminating the need for a conventional mixing machine. Cromax EZ also features a single reducer and same mix ratio across all color formula types (solid, effect and tri-coat) and environmental conditions, so mixing mistakes can be a thing of the past. 

(Photo courtesy of Axalta) Axalta’s Cromax EX promises shops a smooth transition to waterborne finishes with a familiar application process, blending that requires no additional training, and easy-to-use color matching features.

Color matching is similarly designed to be simple and easy. Cromax EZ utilizes an intuitive fan deck with more than 5,500-piece chip sets sorted chromatically for at-a-glance color verification. Easy-to-use tinting charts help deliver speedy access to information so painters can adjust colors with confidence. 

Cromax EZ also integrates with the Acquire Quantum EFX Spectrophotometer, Axalta’s digital color-matching system and its Web-based color retrieval and on-screen matching system, ColorNet, to find the right color formula. 

Once the right formula is produced, Christman says Cromax EZ provides more benefits: superior coverage and no added wait time before applying clear coat, leading to “lower paint consumption and outstanding cycle times, which is always helpful to a shop’s bottom line.” 

AkzoNobel 

Ease and speed also mark new products from AkzoNobel’s expanded Sikkens and Lesonal portfolios.  Erica Clayton, Product Manager for Automotive & Specialty Coatings, calls special attention to three: Sikkens Autoclear Mix&Matt, Lesonal Multi Matt Clearcoat and Sikkens Autosurfacer UV with supporting TeslaCure UVA LED Lamp.  

Each is engineered to boost profitability and reflect current industry trends. 

Clayton says Sikkens Autoclear Mix&Matt and Lesonal Multi Matt Clearcoat is a response to ongoing customer requests for matt finishes. By mixing low gloss and semi-gloss components, she says both products can provide “any desired gloss level.” They’re also designed to be easy to prepare and spray at all temperature ranges (and repair sizes), while providing an even, cloudiness-free appearance and a smooth, hard finish, without gloss increase over time. 

Want to perform small repairs fast? Sikkens Autosurfacer UV is a one-component, isocyanate free UV curable filler that promises to do just that. Curing by UV light takes five minutes, giving customers the opportunity to drastically reduce their prep times. A medium spot repair cures in 60 seconds and can be sanded immediately after.  

Clayton says time isn’t the only savings. Autosurfacer UV is a 1K product, making it easy-to-use so there’s fewer mixing errors and less waste. It also doesn’t require a wash primer on steel surfaces, can be applied directly to metal and is suitable for critical substrates since it doesn’t have shrinking issues and isn’t sensitive to contour-mapping. 

Additionally, Clayton notes that Autosurfacer UV reduces paint usage per repair up to 50 percent when compared to conventional primers, further cutting material costs. 

BASF 

BASF offers its own version of a UV primer, the new Glasurit 151-170 UV. It’s also a one component primer so there’s no mixing or pot life limit and can be cured either in the sun or by UV lights. Gordon Erdelean, Product Manager for BASF Coatings Solutions North America, says standard UV lights cut cure times to 3-5 minutes. With a company approved FTDI light, which can be purchased through BASF, the primer will cure instantaneously. 

Erdelean says the investment in the specialized light quickly pays for itself considering the dramatic savings in energy and other resources vs. a regular urethane primer. He says studies show reductions in energy costs up to 75 percent, labor up to 60 percent and materials to 65 percent.  

Joining the primer are direct-to-plastic sealers that include adhesion promoters. Glasurit 934-71 and 934-72 offer repairers black and white (respectively) sealer solutions that Erdelean says can be mixed together to produce the correct L shade for an accurate color match. With no additional adhesion promoter needed, the sealers can save time, materials and labor. Erdelean also praises product versatility, since both sealers can be applied over properly sanded e-coats and says the sealer/adhesion promoter combination is unique in the industry.   

Rounding out BASF’s latest solutions is RMC2000, a clearcoat designed to provide a high-gloss finish quickly. “Usually you don’t get speed and good looks in one product,” says Erdelean who notes that RMC2000 dries in “just 45 minutes” and is ideal for “production-oriented shops.”  

PPG 

Launched in Fall 2017, PPG’s EC520 En-V is the new “speed” clear for its ENVIROBASE High Performance basecoat system. Engineered for “cycle-time minded collision centers,” EC520 features a bake time of 15 minutes at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, or 20 minutes at an energy-saving temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 

PPG says EC520 joins two other clearcoats in the En-V series, EC530 En-V Performance Clearcoat and EC550 En-V Ultra Gloss Clearcoat, to give shops choices for every type of refinish job—from spot repairs to overalls, in cool, warm or hot, humid conditions. 

(Photo courtesy of PPG) PPG’s EC520 En-V is a new “speed” clear coat, featuring a bake time of 15 minutes at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, or 20 minutes at an energy-saving temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit

Launched in February 2018, the company’s Vibrance Collection Murano Pearls are a line of pigments designed to create unique color-shifting effects that ranging from subtle to brilliant, depending on what the painter desires. Available in four colors, the pigments can be added directly to basecoat, ground coat or mid-coat. 

The Murano Pearls draw inspiration from the original Murano pigments introduced in Europe in the early 1960s.  They can be intermixed with any PPG refinish basecoat including Deltron, Global Refinish System, Envirobase High Performance and Aquabase Plus.  They also can be used with all other Vibrance Collection custom finishes to give shops as many custom paint options as possible. 

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes 

Sherwin-Williams has been expanding its coast-to-coast compliant system for the Matrix Automotive Finishes brand. Last fall it introduced the Matrix C2C Coast 2 Coast Intermix Color System, which features three basecoats and 61 toners including dry pearls and custom colors.  Senior Marketing Communications Manager Kim Wilson says all of these items meet VOC standards in both the U.S. and Canada.  

“Shops are compliant no matter the market,” she says. “The solvent-based, the Matrix C2C Coast 2 Coast Intermix Color System is compact too, to keep the initial buy-in low and inventory tight, helping shops keep costs down and in-check.” 

(Photo courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes) Introduced last fall, Sherwin-Williams Matrix C2C Coast 2 Coast Intermix Color System is engineered as a low-VOC, solvent-based product that can be used anywhere in US and Canadian markets.

Wilson notes Matrix coast-to-coast compliant single stage toners will be rolled out at SEMA 2018, so stay tuned. 

Sherwin-Williams also recently launched CC200 Dynamic Clearcoat, which Global Product Manager Damir Banusic says created a new category of clearcoats—the speed, glamour finish. 

“Clearcoats are categorized in the market as either “speed” or “glamour” products. Speed clearcoats dry very quickly and are optimized for smaller repairs,” says Banusic. “Glamour clearcoats, in contrast, have outstanding appearance but require longer time and/or high temperature bake slowing down production and increasing energy usage.” 

CC200 combines the two features, in part, by offering “significantly” shorter bake times at lower temperatures. Reduced dry times reduce energy usage and can help increase daily throughput with no compromises on appearance (so shops can do more work at less cost). Banusic says the clearcoat is ideal for the majority of collision repair work, “across a wide range of environments, repair sizes and skill sets.” Further, thanks to its glamour finish, Dynamic Clearcoat reduces final detail times, cutting shop overhead and labor since buffing isn’t necessary. 

Get in the game now 

Sound too good to be true? Maybe you don’t believe you have the time to examine new products and integrate them into your operations. 

Change is never easy, even when you’re working within the product offerings of a trusted vendor. But your vendors know this as well. As you consider the new products mentioned here, note how many are engineered to require little or no extra training and demanding only a small investment, if any. Your operation really isn’t gambling much by diving in, especially considering the benefits you and your customers could be realizing in terms of speed, efficiency, quality and innovation (along with boosted revenues for you).  

Think of it as banking on your future--with folks you do business with everyday who are counting on your doors being open tomorrow and well beyond.

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