INDUSTRY · AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH
Material supply for automotive refinish businesses
A refinish business does not lose money on the price per litre. It loses money on the job that has to be redone because the colour did not match, and on the vehicle occupying a booth while material is awaited. Both are supply problems before they are technical problems.
Three problems we are asked to solve
These are the enquiries refinish operations actually send us, in rough order of frequency.
01 · COLOUR NO LONGER SUPPLIED
A discontinued or low-volume shade
An older vehicle, a limited-run colour, or a shade the local distributor has dropped. We investigate whether the material, an equivalent formulation, or a matched batch can be obtained — and say clearly when it cannot.
02 · EFFECT FINISH BEYOND STANDARD RANGE
Candy, colour-shift or liquid-metal work
Custom and show work needs effect materials that standard refinish ranges do not carry, and needs enough of the same batch to finish the vehicle. Under-ordering an effect basecoat is an expensive mistake.
03 · CONSOLIDATED VOLUME PURCHASING
Multi-site or repeat-colour supply
Shops running the same colours repeatedly — fleet, franchise, bodywork contracts — buy better in pails and drums than in tins. We quote against the actual pattern of use.
Colour identification, in order of reliability
Manufacturer paint code from the vehicle plate, with build year and plant where available.
Spectrophotometer reading of a clean, undamaged, unrepaired panel.
Physical sample — a fuel-filler flap or a sprayed test panel travels well and reads honestly.
Written description of the effect plus the vehicle identity.
A photograph. Useful for confirming an effect type, unreliable for the colour itself.
Effect finishes are the hardest to communicate: flake size, orientation and the number of base passes change appearance as much as the tint does. Where a finish is critical, agree a spray-out panel before the production order.