By CRM Staff
Toronto — November 7, 2018 — Collision Repair Magazine caught up with Phil Matisak, Global Colour marketing director for Sherwin Williams, to talk about colour match technologies and what is being offered by the global paint giant.
Collision Repair: What is the future of colour matching technology?
Phil Matisak: Electric technologies are the future, specifically electronic colour retrieval systems. This technology allows painters to identify the exact paint formula required to complete a vehicle repair.
Colison Repair: How does this technology work?
Phil Matisak: A lot of bodyshops now are using a very sophisticated spectrophotometer, which is really a colour measuring device. The device measures wave lengths off your vehicle, which when used with a colour retrieval system can actually allow you to create a formula specific to that vehicle.
Collison Repair: How difficult is it to match paint and how has this technology progressed?
Phil Matisak: There is a great variation in the marketplace when it comes to OEM paint finishes. When you need an exact finish to a vehicle it’s actually quite difficult. Some of the sophisticated technology that is being offered today allows you to create that match, one that meets the variation of that vehicle. In the old days, you had a standard and you would have maybe one to three variation formulas. Now with the spectrophotometer and the sophisticated software out there, you can basically create unlimited combinations of colour to flawlessly match.
Collision Repair Magazine: What is Sherwin Willaims offering and how will it impact bodyshops?
Phil Matisak: A lot of time bodyshops have to paint just a panel. The options previously given by insurers for doing either the tinting of the finish or blending of the finish are starting to go away. So that exact match technology is very important and you get that with a really sophisticated spectrophotometer and really sophisticated software, and that’s what we’re offering.
