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How Waterborne Technology Can Improve Cycle Time Performance

The number of color coats required to make a refinish repair is one primary consideration for evaluating the throughput performance of a refinish paint system. Yet, as most know, the most accurate way to vet a system’s productivity is to evaluate the entire refinish process – from color identification, right on through to the final clearcoat. As example, PPG’s waterborne refinish system incorporates a host of features designed to speed cycle time performance. it can significantly reduce sprayouts. Comprised of thousands of variant and prime color chips, each chip is sprayed with actual waterborne paint. “The color deck is ‘dead-on’,” says Jeff Smith of Pro Collision, Grand Rapids, Michigan. “If the color is in the deck, there’s no need to do a sprayout, like we always had to perform with our previous system.”

Blending Performance

Given that refinishing most often calls for blending, how efficient a system can perform an accurate repair and eliminate chances for re-dos is especially critical to achieving maximum cycle time performance. PPG’s waterborne system employs an easy, one-gun process designed to achieve a fast, tight blend and accurate match the first time out. In fact, in a 2-3 coat application, it’s possible to perform a spot repair in less than an hour.

This fast blend process is aided by a very thin film build, enabling the basecoat to dry fast. Only 2-3 minutes flash time is needed between coats and the clearcoat can be applied in 1015 minutes. The system’s EN-V® Series clearcoat line offers fast bake times as short as 10 minutes.

To ensure color accuracy, the basecoat’s latex particles orient metallic flakes smoothly to accurately match the color travel from face to flop. Painters won’t find any evidence of mottling or halos around the repair, which can appear using conventional basecoats. Any dirt or specks can be easily de-nibbed, further facilitating a

Color ID and Matching Efficiency

The throughput of a refinish system must include its color-matching ability. Afterall, if the color doesn’t match, how fast the repair was achieved won’t matter. In this regard, PPG has heavily invested in ensuring the ENVIROBASE® High Performance waterborne basecoat system delivers color-matching excellence. Its color variance program is one example of this commitment.

Since color variants to OEM prime colors are an everyday challenge for identifying a correct formula, those identified by PPG’s color variance team are quickly incorporated into PPG’s comprehensive color formula database. Formulas are updated daily through PPG’s PAINTMANAGER® XI color software. In the long run, the daily update of the database saves the technician valuable time searching for the right color formula.

Another real time saver is the Chromatic Variant Deck since fast blend repair.

To summarize, when evaluating throughput performance— from color identification to final clearcoat—the Envirobase High Performance system covers all the bases to achieve the cycle time performance demanded by today’s high-production collision centers.