By Mike Davey
Hamilton, Ontario — March 28, 2017 — Matching colours can be the bane of a painter’s existence, but tools, both high-tech and low, exist to help them achieve a match that’s as accurate as possible. Our latest survey asked readers to let us know which tools are in use in their shop.
Spectrophotometers and other electronic colour scanning tools have been available for some time, but how common are they? It turns out they’re fairly common, at least among the repairers who responded to our survey. Approximately 63 percent of respondents indicated that these tools are being used in their facilities. The remaining 37 percent are presumably relying on spray-out cards and variant decks.
Respondents who indicated they used a spectrophotometer in their facilities were then asked to fill us in on why. You can see their answers in the chart below. Please note that respondents could choose more than one answer, so the percentages given add up to more than 100. Most of the questions in these surveys allow respondents to leave comments, and they’re often more illuminating than the raw numbers. As usual, comments are presented anonymously and with only minimal editing from us.
– “Sooooo many weird colours now.”
– “Colour match is the number 2 question we get asked about. These tools help to make sure jobs get done right the first time & our customer are happy.”
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Those who indicated they didn’t use a spectrophotometer for colour matching were asked what had prevented them from purchasing one. In general, it’s not price that’s keeping repairers from making this purchase. Only 8 percent indicated that price had been a factor.
A further 23 percent indicated that production volumes at their facility didn’t require it. The most common answer was that swatches work just as well (42 percent). However, the next most common answer from repairers was that their paint supplier had one they could borrow if needed. One comment left on this question also called the technology’s accuracy into question:
“Spectrophotometer is not accurate enough. Sometimes it works well but most of the time it gives you a starting point or a match that needs tinting for something you don’t have a paint code for.”
The survey also asked if they planned to purchase a spectrophotometer in the next year. 68 percent of respondents indicated they did not plan to make this purchase, while the remaining 32 percent indicated they were unsure.
Finally, the survey asked if respodents thought the use of spectrophotometers and other electronic colour scanning tools would increase, decrease or stay the same. The majority (57 percent) believe it will increase, while 39 percent believe it will stay the same. Only 4 percent of respondents believe the use of spectrophotometers will decrease.
The comments left on this question are some of the most interesting. As usual, these are presented anonymously, with minimal editing.
“Depends on technology. If technology improves, yes. If it stays the same, no. Without improvement the camera is only good for things you don’t have a code for. Or something your stuck on. But in most cases it still requires tinting and doing spray out cards.”
“Techs will use anything to make their job easier,so they don’t have to go through the efforts.”
“Our paint company is terrible at getting us new paint deck updates. We often rely on this tool to help with alternates for new colours.”
Watch for a new survey coming soon from Collision Repair magazine!
