Sean Milmo , European Correspondent01.15.16
A growing proportion of coatings sales in Europe are being customized often to levels where the coatings are effectively bespoke products formulated to meet one-off or short lasting requirements.
In most cases these needs are technological, such as coatings which have to protect machinery or equipment against specific physical conditions.
In the wood coatings sector the performance requirements are becoming so varied that coatings producers have to operate versatile R&D units able respond quickly to the individual demands of customers.
One of the most challenging areas of customization is that which combines the necessity for technological versatility with creative design, especially in the use of colours.
In the high-end of the automobile market, for example, wealthy drivers are wanting colors or special effects which are exclusive to themselves.
In the expanding but small market for classic cars, owners are wanting colours and textures which match those on the vehicles when they were new, even though this might be a few decades ago.
For many coatings producers, particularly SMEs, customized/bespoke coatings are a means of extending their expertise in manufacturing into services and even consultancy work.
However, for larger companies these activities in customization, particularly when they involve design know-how, can be a source of new creative ideas which can be adapted for wider applications.
The coatings multinationals and some of the leading pigment producers also have the resources to employ design teams whose members track color trends across the world. This gives an extra dimension to their expertise in colors which can help gain contracts for bespoke work.
AkzoNobel has, for example, been forging close ties with the UK-based McLaren Technology Group which is famous for its Formula 1 racing car team and which five years ago diversified into the development and manufacture of high tech sports cars.
Last year (2015) both McLaren Automotive, the sports car business, and McLaren Racing, extended their partnerships in coatings with Akzo Nobel.
In addition to the freedom to choose their own colors and special effects, buyers of McLaren cars are offered a wide range of personalization options including special aerodynamics, lightweight components, interior upgrades and changes to materials and even bodywork.
The greater the degree of personalization the higher the potential value of the vehicle in the resale market, in which the prices of some McLaren cars have reached over £1 million ($1.5 million). The cost of the bespoke coatings work can exceed £60,000, depending on its complexity.
“We are at present working on a request from a diamond mines owner for a special effects coatings comprising particles of diamonds,” James Banks, McLaren’s head of bespoke cars said during a press tour, organized by AkzoNobel, of the car company’s technology and production center at Woking, near London.
All the McLaren Automotive cars, whose production rate is due to be raised this year from 14 to 20 per day, are hand painted without the use of robots. On average one car takes 32 minutes to paint whereas in a large-scale OEM robot-operated paint shop the average could be as low as 43 seconds. “Our cars are built by craftsmen not robots,” said Alan Foster, McLaren Automotive’s operations manager.
AkzoNobel believes that its big competitive advantage with contracts like that with McLaren is its expertise in transportation coatings and its know-how in color matching technology, This enables it to produce over one million different shades of the 250,000 different car colors in existence.
“This range enables us to meet the exacting needs of companies like McLaren — and the precise color requirements of their customers,” said Matt Pullen, AkzoNobel’s UK country director.
Around 30 miles south of Woking at Goodwood, Rolls-Royce cars are manufactured with BASF Coatings, also with a large global refinishing business, supplying the coatings and dealing with the many requests for bespoke colors and special effects. One of the exclusive paints developed by BASF for the renowned luxury carmaker, owned by BMW Group of Germany since 1998, has been a coating containing real gold dust.
BASF’s Glasurit refinishing operation is also an international leader in supplies of coatings for the fast-growing market for classic cars. These are usually categorized as vehicles made after World War II but sometimes also including those manufactured in the 1920s and 1930s.
The company does not recreate the original paints on the cars, because due to recent safety rules on chemical ingredients their supply would be illegal.
Instead it uses a large database on car coatings covering many decades to match the colors and their shades exactly. Some colors with the same name can vary in appearance between cars of different manufacturers or models.
“Our objectives for classic cars are not only to provide consultancy and support services but also to show our color competency,” said a spokesman for BASF Coatings at its headquarters in Muenster, Germany. “We are able to find the exact color shade of the classic car which may have been exposed to the sun for many years. While old paints may fade after so many years, we have to match the current state of the shade. With our huge database of classic car colors, we can also find out the original color the model was once painted with.”
Unlike BASF, AkzoNobel is not involved in coatings for the OEM mass market, instead concentrating on coatings for premium cars and the refinishing sector.
However it is able to benefit from synergies between the high-end car market, particularly the bespoke segment, and its activities in other performance coatings sectors, like consumer electronics, smart phones, IT and aerospace.
Some of these markets have a thirst for a constant stream of design ideas, particularly in consumer electronics where new colors and special effects can go out of fashion within a matter of months.
“To keep up with these fast-moving sectors we look to areas like bespoke coatings for premium cars for ideas,” explained Stephie Sijssens, AkzoNobel’s performance coatings design manager. “We might, for example, be able to change the appearance of the diamonds special effect requested for the McLaren car into a design which looks like diamonds without containing them.”
Bespoke coatings can offer opportunities for developing skills in the balancing of creativity with technological expertise, which can be broadened out into much bigger markets.
In most cases these needs are technological, such as coatings which have to protect machinery or equipment against specific physical conditions.
In the wood coatings sector the performance requirements are becoming so varied that coatings producers have to operate versatile R&D units able respond quickly to the individual demands of customers.
One of the most challenging areas of customization is that which combines the necessity for technological versatility with creative design, especially in the use of colours.
In the high-end of the automobile market, for example, wealthy drivers are wanting colors or special effects which are exclusive to themselves.
In the expanding but small market for classic cars, owners are wanting colours and textures which match those on the vehicles when they were new, even though this might be a few decades ago.
For many coatings producers, particularly SMEs, customized/bespoke coatings are a means of extending their expertise in manufacturing into services and even consultancy work.
However, for larger companies these activities in customization, particularly when they involve design know-how, can be a source of new creative ideas which can be adapted for wider applications.
The coatings multinationals and some of the leading pigment producers also have the resources to employ design teams whose members track color trends across the world. This gives an extra dimension to their expertise in colors which can help gain contracts for bespoke work.
AkzoNobel has, for example, been forging close ties with the UK-based McLaren Technology Group which is famous for its Formula 1 racing car team and which five years ago diversified into the development and manufacture of high tech sports cars.
Last year (2015) both McLaren Automotive, the sports car business, and McLaren Racing, extended their partnerships in coatings with Akzo Nobel.
In addition to the freedom to choose their own colors and special effects, buyers of McLaren cars are offered a wide range of personalization options including special aerodynamics, lightweight components, interior upgrades and changes to materials and even bodywork.
The greater the degree of personalization the higher the potential value of the vehicle in the resale market, in which the prices of some McLaren cars have reached over £1 million ($1.5 million). The cost of the bespoke coatings work can exceed £60,000, depending on its complexity.
“We are at present working on a request from a diamond mines owner for a special effects coatings comprising particles of diamonds,” James Banks, McLaren’s head of bespoke cars said during a press tour, organized by AkzoNobel, of the car company’s technology and production center at Woking, near London.
All the McLaren Automotive cars, whose production rate is due to be raised this year from 14 to 20 per day, are hand painted without the use of robots. On average one car takes 32 minutes to paint whereas in a large-scale OEM robot-operated paint shop the average could be as low as 43 seconds. “Our cars are built by craftsmen not robots,” said Alan Foster, McLaren Automotive’s operations manager.
AkzoNobel believes that its big competitive advantage with contracts like that with McLaren is its expertise in transportation coatings and its know-how in color matching technology, This enables it to produce over one million different shades of the 250,000 different car colors in existence.
“This range enables us to meet the exacting needs of companies like McLaren — and the precise color requirements of their customers,” said Matt Pullen, AkzoNobel’s UK country director.
Around 30 miles south of Woking at Goodwood, Rolls-Royce cars are manufactured with BASF Coatings, also with a large global refinishing business, supplying the coatings and dealing with the many requests for bespoke colors and special effects. One of the exclusive paints developed by BASF for the renowned luxury carmaker, owned by BMW Group of Germany since 1998, has been a coating containing real gold dust.
BASF’s Glasurit refinishing operation is also an international leader in supplies of coatings for the fast-growing market for classic cars. These are usually categorized as vehicles made after World War II but sometimes also including those manufactured in the 1920s and 1930s.
The company does not recreate the original paints on the cars, because due to recent safety rules on chemical ingredients their supply would be illegal.
Instead it uses a large database on car coatings covering many decades to match the colors and their shades exactly. Some colors with the same name can vary in appearance between cars of different manufacturers or models.
“Our objectives for classic cars are not only to provide consultancy and support services but also to show our color competency,” said a spokesman for BASF Coatings at its headquarters in Muenster, Germany. “We are able to find the exact color shade of the classic car which may have been exposed to the sun for many years. While old paints may fade after so many years, we have to match the current state of the shade. With our huge database of classic car colors, we can also find out the original color the model was once painted with.”
Unlike BASF, AkzoNobel is not involved in coatings for the OEM mass market, instead concentrating on coatings for premium cars and the refinishing sector.
However it is able to benefit from synergies between the high-end car market, particularly the bespoke segment, and its activities in other performance coatings sectors, like consumer electronics, smart phones, IT and aerospace.
Some of these markets have a thirst for a constant stream of design ideas, particularly in consumer electronics where new colors and special effects can go out of fashion within a matter of months.
“To keep up with these fast-moving sectors we look to areas like bespoke coatings for premium cars for ideas,” explained Stephie Sijssens, AkzoNobel’s performance coatings design manager. “We might, for example, be able to change the appearance of the diamonds special effect requested for the McLaren car into a design which looks like diamonds without containing them.”
Bespoke coatings can offer opportunities for developing skills in the balancing of creativity with technological expertise, which can be broadened out into much bigger markets.
