Automotive Insights: Refinish

In the 5th episode of AkzoNobel's Automotive Insights: Refinish podcast,  Graham is joined by North American industry icon Michael Giarrizzo, President and CEO of DCR Systems to talk about the state of the industry and that greater innovation and closer partnerships between manufacturers, vehicle refinishers and the supply chain are critical, but so too are people.  “People sometimes fear change, and fear doing things differently,” Michael says, “and, they become almost paralyzed. The vast majority of vehicle body repair shops operate in a very similar way, and it may have served the decades of the past well, but it's not going to serve today or the future well, at all.”  With demand for advanced driver-assisted and electric vehicles (EVs) increasing, and repairs becoming increasingly complex, collision body repair shops are having to re-tool with capital-intensive equipment to compete. A similar challenge is talent, and the need to rapidly upskill the existing workforce while coping with labor shortages fuelled by the recent pandemic and the imminent retirement from the industry of more than 100,000 baby boomers. People will be key to future success.

Digitalization is omnipresent in today’s world. There aren’t many things we do today that aren’t digital, and the same goes for the color process in vehicle refinishes. What started with the micro-film in the 60s and color data punch cards in the 70s has become a fully digital color process featuring cloud-based color retrieval applications and digital color measurement tools to drive repair efficiency, decrease process times and reduce paint waste. In this fourth episode of our Automotive Insights: Refinish podcast, our host Graham Threlfall, Global Key Account Manager, AkzoNobel is joined by Martijn Steggink, Global Color Tools Manager, AkzoNobel to dive into the ever-changing world of color matching. To keep up with the pace of new colors being introduced to the market by OEMs, bodyshops need to find an efficient way to repair vehicles back to showroom condition in the shortest time possible. Digitalization helps by providing real time color information through the cloud, to body shops. Looking back at how coatings manufacturers supplied color information to bodyshops in the past, Martijn states that “the amount of formulas were limited to what you can physically print into a book,” so with technological innovations that allowed storage of more data, more color formulas could be provided to bodyshops. He continues by saying “now we are in the era of cloud computing so we don’t have to worry about data capacity any longer”. If you would like to understand how digitalization impacts the color process and how bodyshops can benefit from digital color tools, you don’t want to miss this episode. Listen to the podcast now!

In the vehicle refinish market the increase of small and medium repairs requires bodyshop owners to rethink their workflows and processes: a Rapid Repair concept can help by separating workstreams to reduce cycle times, increase operational efficiency and help drive revenues. In this third episode of our Automotive Insights: Refinish podcast, our host Graham Threlfall, Global Key Account Manager, AkzoNobel is joined by Robbie Murphy, Product Manager Services EMEA, AkzoNobel to dive into the Rapid Repair concept. With changing market conditions due the rise of lease and hire cars, cosmetic repairs are rapidly increasing requiring bodyshops to rethink how they operate. Robbie explains how you can reduce key-2-key times with a customized Rapid Repair concept based on your bodyshop’s parameters. If you want to understand what a Rapid Repair concept is, how this approach can help you dealing with the increase in small and medium repairs effectively and what solutions are available then you don’t want to miss this episode. Listen to the podcast now!

In the vehicle refinish industry people skills are hot topic across the globe – while the challenge to attract new people remains high, new technologies offer great opportunities to attract and keep talent. In this second episode of our Automotive Insights: Refinish podcast, our host Graham Threlfall, Global Key Account Manager, AkzoNobel is joined by special guests Dean Lander, Head of Repair Sector Services at Thatcham Research and Stephen Read, Global Technical Services Manager, AkzoNobel to discuss all things Skills within the Automotive and Vehicle Refinish industry. If you’re interested in what future skills will be needed in order to keep up with advancing technology, how to attract and keep the best talent in your bodyshop, along with finding out more about what training will look like in the future and the digital world you don’t want to miss this episode. Listen to the episode now!

Are you interested in the automotive and vehicle refinish industry? Listen to the first episode of our Automotive Insights: Refinish podcast. Graham Threlfall, Global Key Account Manager, AkzoNobel talks to Anna-Marie Baisden from the research and insights company Fitch Solutions about the current state of the automotive industry its implications for the vehicle refinish market, digitalization and the supply chain. Listen to it now!