Repaint stays afloat

While the global crisis hit companies with great tradition in the automotive market, such as the AMERICAN giants General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, and many others in Europe and Asia, the refinish segment for vehicles still does not feel the tail of crisis as it might be believed.

NULL

This market, on the other hand, feels partly benefited and sees in the world conjuncture an opportune moment to excel, strengthen commercial ties with its customers and why not, increase its presence.

NULL

Ignacio Sanguineti, commercial manager of Car Refinishes in the company Akzo Nobel Argentina, and Arturo Patiño, marketing manager in the company Sherwin Williams Automotive Mexico, two great connoisseurs of the automotive repainting market, were the guests to outline the current state of this segment and, incidentally, elucidate the most relevant novelties in terms of obtaining a good repainting process.

NULL

"The paint segment in general has had a very strong impact, it has fallen a lot in the first quarter, but this has not only happened in terms of automotive repainting, perhaps in the refinish in general we have had a fall of 40%, in the automotive we have noticed that the falls have not been so strong, in fact, what we call the movement at the counter, that is, at the point of sale is rare, has not fallen on average, but it has not grown either. Of course, some distributors have adjusted stocks which for the factories has had an impact on a fall in the volume of sales, but there has not been a sharp fall in demand, "said Ignacio Sanguineti.

NULL

This representative of the Argentine industry also assured that "cars continue to be repaired and the automotive fleet in Argentina is increasing, therefore, accidents occur every day more frequently and according to statistics that will continue like this. In addition there is a good system regarding insurance companies that can be said to work perfectly, with a good response system so our workshops, so far, have not decreased and keep their reserves occupied for at least two more months, and that is a sign that sales in general have not fallen much. "

NULL

For his part, our guest for Mexico, Arturo Patiño, pointed out that automotive repainting, unlike the original equipment market, is not having a contraction or an affectation as important as the assembly companies suffer. "Definitely, the world crisis is also having effects on Mexico; However, we consider that this is a time of opportunity, because people instead of acquiring a new car, precisely because of the economic circumstances that are lived, keep their current vehicles in the best conditions. This implies that people resort to repainting and, in the process, it helps us to have more and more business opportunities."

Strategies to grow

Undoubtedly, Sherwin Williams and Akzo Nobel are leaders in this segment of paintings, hence the importance of their corporate strategies to remain current in the Latin American market.

NULL

"We are leaders in innovation, in Europe we were the first to develop low VOC and obviously water-based systems, we are the only one in the Argentine market that has a water-based system that includes primer and varnish, we are also launching this year an ultra-fast drying first, which dries in just 40 minutes, against the two or three hours in which a first one normally dries. We also have a system on the Internet with which we seek to create a community where experiences, indicators are shared and, at the same time, have a way to measure the performance of the workshops, "said the Commercial Manager of Car Refinishes in Akzo Nobel.

NULL

Sanguineti also added that as part of the company's loyalty strategy "we keep our staff of technicians on the streets providing solutions to customers, but above all, we maintain a very rational management of resources fulfilling our promises of sale and quality."

NULL

The Marketing Manager of Sherwin Williams Automotive in Mexico, meanwhile, said that "people are looking through insurers for systems that allow greater productivity in repair methods and, on the other hand, they are also looking for economic systems with adequate quality. The strength of Sherwin Williams Automotive Mexico is that we have a very robust portfolio at both ends of the pyramid, we have a presence in the high productivity segment, as well as a strong line in the economic segment which allows us to offer our customers more accessible products, but always with the support and quality of our brand", Emphasized.

NULL

Meanwhile, Patiño spoke in this same sense of some of the star products of the company he represents, as is the case of high productivity systems "that help that in a very short period you can have repairs from primary to finish in forty minutes, without baking time in some cases. What this does is that the workshops can be more productive having a greater rotation of the vehicles they are repairing and can, at the same time, have significant energy savings by not using the baking booth for drying."

NULL

Another of the advances that Patiño recognized in his company is the development of a water-based system for automotive repainting, which although in Europe has been operating for a long time and in the United States is already by law in many states. Its objective is to collaborate in the reduction of fossil fuel consumption.

NULL

A good repainting process

To achieve a good automotive repainting, as suggested by Ignacio Sanguineti, "there has to be behind all a good job and a great system, which obviously includes good quality products and an excellent work methodology. So, from the detail of what kind of sandpaper to use, to the final polishing, in short, all the processes have to be respected, because no matter how many good products we use, if a good process is not done, you will not be able to have good results. "

NULL

Arturo Patiño, for his part, said that "several aspects must be considered, one of them is whether the repainting is going to be general or partial, it must also be taken into account the type of product that is going to be used and, specifically, if it is going to be applied on the existing paint or on the same nude. Already in the part of repainting as such, one of the most important parts is the preparation of the surface to achieve a good finish, also the correct application of color, in addition to a good technique and a good selection of the product according to the needs of the client".

The lack of care in the application or the omission of any of the procedures for the repainting can generate defects in the film. Among the most recurrent errors, there is the orange peel finish that occurs when the recommended pressure was not applied or an incorrect mixing ratio was used. To correct this problem, as our guest from Sherwin Williams Automotive clarified, "it is necessary to sand and then polish until the orange peel texture is reduced and then re-paint the repainting process with the correct pressure and the mixture of paint and solvent recommended by the manufacturer in the technical sheet".

NULL

"Another common problem is what is known as fisheye, this refers to small circular craters that appear at the time of application or shortly after applying the film and are due to the application of the color base on surfaces that were contaminated by wax, silicone or oil," This was recognized by Arturo Patiño, who also added that "one of the important points when it comes to a repainting process is an adequate preparation of the surface, if it is not done, this type of inconvenience can occur. To correct it, you have to sand the area where the fish eye appeared and reapply by previously cleaning the area with a degreaser."

NULL

To complement the failures that occur most at the time of repainting, this Mexican expert pointed out that "another of the errors that is frequently seen is the veining, this is an appearance of staining or scratching similar to the veins that the wood has and it occurs because an excess of reducer was used or there was a bad application in the thin layer to make the application and the accommodation of the metal particles in the application. To correct this it is necessary to allow an adequate oreo between hand and hand, and then apply a thin layer in the finish and this helps us to a good accommodation of the metal particles".

NULL NULL

Cesvi contributes to the repainting segment

The production processes of the automotive refinishing sector in many of the Latin American countries have made great strides in terms of research, development and execution time, thanks to the work carried out by the Center for Experimentation and Road Safety (Cesvi), an entity that is responsible, with the endorsement of the bulk of the insurance sector of each country, to analyze and study all those technological alternatives that increase productivity and efficiency in the sector, having as great references, in terms of automotive repainting, the main paint brands in the market.

NULL

Likewise, Cesvi, in the case of its subsidiaries in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, is responsible for making the process of certification and homologation of the workshops to which vehicle owners can resort to make their different repairs under high quality standards.

NULL

In terms of certification, it is clear that each of the workshops that intends to be part of the network endorsed by Cesvi must meet evaluation requirements in six fundamental criteria: painting equipment, coloring laboratory, safety and hygiene in the area of painting, painting process, planning and jobs, thus allowing to identify in a clear and simple way the strengths and opportunities for improvement in physical structure, equipment and processes of each of the workshops.

NULL

Regarding the number of workshops approved by Cesvi, in Colombia there are 485 workshops, in Argentina about 100 and in Mexico we can speak of a figure close to 1,200 workshops, but at least 200 more are waiting for the homologation for this year, which speaks of the growing demand for this market segment.