Color competence for automotive success: the automotive OEM coating process brings together a wide range of challenges, technologies, strategies and mechanisms.Color and finish play a significant role in a vehicle's overall visual impression. Thousands of variants in countless shades determine visual appeal, individuality, safety and class image while also acting as both a decorative feature and protection for the bodywork bodywork /body·work/ (-wurk?) a general term for therapeutic methods that center on the body for the promotion of physical health and emotional and spiritual well-being, including massage, various systems of touch and manipulation, . Yet why is color such an important phenomenon? How are international color trends, fashion and the zeitgeist converted into paint finishes? Who or what determines what car buyers around the globe will like? And how can the quality, productivity, environmental compatibility, cost-effectiveness and exact reproducibility of a color be ensured? Overall, automotive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and coatings bring together a wide range of challenges, technologies, strategies, active mechanisms and opportunities for success--as well as opportunities for failure. This article will cover some fundamental aspects of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color and current trends in this area. WHAT IS COLOR? Colorants can be traced back over thousands of years. Natural iron oxides The material used to coat the surfaces of magnetic tapes and lower-capacity disks. , soot and organic natural materials such as proteins and tree resins form the basis of the materials used in the cave paintings at Lascaux and Altamira, which are more than 40,000 years old. The subsequent centuries were given over to chemical synthesis In chemistry, chemical synthesis is purposeful execution of chemical reactions in order to get a product, or several products. This happens by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions. of nature's color originals. It was only in the mid-19th century that the basis for synthetic colorants was laid. Since that time, chemists have never ceased to develop attractive new colorants and combine them with fascinating optical effects. Chroma Short for "chrominance." The attributes of a color, which include its hue (frequency) and saturation (amount of black). See hue and saturation. is produced by selective absorption or interference. Scientists realized that, despite the brain's highly-developed color-discriminating capability, people have no color memory and no color storage facility. We can only compare and evaluate a color visually if we can make a direct comparison. But how is the color of a car body achieved? Pigments have the ability to be the medium for chroma and hiding power simultaneously. They are fine colorants that are insoluble insoluble /in·sol·u·ble/ (in-sol´u-b'l) not susceptible of being dissolved. in·sol·u·ble adj. Not soluble. in the film-forming agents' matrices and are superior to soluble dyes, particularly where lightfastness is concerned. Apart from their role in creating color, special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. and hiding power, color pigments must also take on protective functions such as stabilizing coatings against the effect of UV light. In addition, they must allow thorough wetting by the film-forming solvent agent, permit reliable coating with stabilizing resin molecules and enable rheological rhe·ol·o·gy n. The study of the deformation and flow of matter. rhe  o·log properties that are compatible
with the processing method. Further demands that pigments have to meet
include insolubility in the surrounding matrix, good lightfastness,
long-term resistance to outdoor exposure and heat, lack of sensitivity
to the effects of chemicals and physiological safety.
Because of their small particle size Particle size, also called grain size, refers to the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. , pigments cannot be measured using optical methods. The techniques commonly used instead include electron microscope electron microscope: see microscope. imaging, measuring accelerated sedimentation sedimentation In geology, the process of deposition of a solid material from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (usually air or water). Broadly defined it also includes deposits from glacial ice and materials collected under the effect of gravity alone, as in talus with disc centrifuges, determining particle size with the Coulter counter Coulter counter an instrument that counts particles in a fluid medium by electronic means. Can be calibrated to count cells in milk or a blood sample. and evaluating the diffraction or diffusion of laser light. The resulting particle-size distribution curves define the coloristic and paint-specific properties as a function of the location of the maximum and the distribution width. In addition, the specific surface area, the volume-related mass and the density of the pigment charge are variables of technical and economic relevance. Because of their small particle size and the resulting attraction forces, pigments combine to form agglomerates or aggregates. The paint manufacturer then has to restore these to primary particles to optimize tinting tint n. 1. A shade of a color, especially a pale or delicate variation. 2. A gradation of a color made by adding white to it to lessen its saturation. 3. A slight coloration; a tinge. 4. strength and hiding power. In the case of agglomerates this is done by coating with appropriate resin solutions. Aggregates, on the other hand, cannot be separated and are regarded as quality shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
n a biologically acceptable, usually porous nonmetal applied over the surface of a metallic implant with the expectation that tissue ingrowth will occur in the pores. Often a carbon polymer or ceramic substance. are subject to extended storage periods. High technology, chemistry and physics alone, however, are not enough to turn automotive color concepts into a phenomenon, a perception or a sensory impression born of the interaction of light and pigments. FROM OPTICAL TO EMOTIONAL APPEAL Michaela Finkenzeller, color designer at BASF BASF Bar Association of San Francisco (since 1872; San Francisco, California) BASF Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (German chemical products company) BASF Builders Association of South Florida Coatings in Munster, her colleagues in the U.S. and Japan, and other designers throughout the global automotive industry The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. are continually studying fashion, trends and color-related emotions. These are transformed into innovative colors and then, in cooperation with BASF chemists such as Peter Hoffmann, formulated in the color lab. The process is basically a merger of different specialist disciplines. Technological understanding on the part of the designer and design understanding on the part of the technician together form the basis for successful--that is trendy--colors and coatings. "Issues of cost, the technical feasibility of new effects and pigments, their availability and storage stability have to be settled at the outset of all developments," said Hoffmann. The automotive industry wishes to manufacture "marketable image products" that will spur different purchaser groups to buy them, represent added value Added value in financial analysis of shares is to be distinguished from value added. Used as a measure of shareholder value, calculated using the formula:
"Carmakers, therefore, issue specifications and demands with regard to greater color variety in order to meet the requirements of a large number of car buyers in different countries and from different cultures when it comes to fashion and personal taste," added Finkenzeller. A further goal, however, is to optimize costs of both materials and processes while maintaining or enhancing quality levels. To this may be added calls for optimum processing performance and process reliability in terms of environmental compatibility and cost-effectiveness, including stringent quality control and quality assurance measures. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between standard and "fun" or premium variants, and to address color-matching requirements to ensure identical colors for metal bodies and plastic hang-on parts. Vehicle styling also has a significant impact on color spectrums that depend on the angle of view, and this represents a further challenge to the BASF specialists, who also maintain an ongoing dialogue with automotive designers for this reason. Once a year BASF presents the new color trends to various carmakers in a spectacular color show. The emphasis is on shades that will be "in" in future, together with related technological, environmental and economic highlights. However, the ultimate effect of the paintwork paintwork Noun the covering of paint on parts of a vehicle, building, etc.: someone had damaged the Porsche by scraping a key along its paintwork paintwork n → on a newly developed car, and its perception by the customer, depend not only on the color styling and the composition of the original product but also on the different processing parameters. COLOR QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY To counteract physical, production-related problems, BASF Coatings developed and is now using a system-based concept which can ensure the color harmony of a vehicle even if its individual modules are painted offline and at different locations. Based on the global agreement on certain color-measuring standards, the BASF system ensures individually "matching" color values irrespective of irrespective of prep. Without consideration of; regardless of. irrespective of preposition despite pigment configuration and production, batch production Batch production is a manufacturing process used to produce or process any product in batches, as opposed to a continuous production process, or a one-off production. The primary characeristic of batch production is that all components are completed at a workstation before they date, production site, processing method, plant and line--provided that the manufacturer and user communicate with each other. The BASF system has various interfaces and consists of the ColorCare Toolbox See toolkit and toolbar. , ColorCare concept and TotalCare. Overall, the system represents a major element of the BASF ColorManagement scheme. (ColorCare=color controlled accuracy and reliability.) SOFTWARE-BASED ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS The toolbox is a software program--the operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. which, among other things, calculates the constancy con·stan·cy n. 1. Steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness. 2. The condition or quality of being constant; changelessness. Noun 1. of lines and batches and any deviations from this constancy. The data-analysis tool of the ColorCare concept then ensures that lines are running consistently and that a batch just applied can be followed without any problems whatsoever by the next batch. It analyzes differences between test methods and line application and permits tolerance variations to be adjusted during the actual batch production process at BASF. In this way, ColorCare enables the final results to be controlled, ensures consistent quality in production and use, and makes it possible to reproduce colors accurately anywhere in the world. Despite constantly counteracting processing influences, the colorimetry colorimetry Measurement of the intensity of electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum transmitted through a solution or transparent solid. It is used to identify and determine the concentrations of substances that absorb light of a specific wavelength or colour of subsequent batches exactly matches that of the previous ones. Suppliers can also use a special ColorCare concept for hang-on parts. The bilateral conformance then simplifies the process of matching the colorimetry of body and parts. But BASF's ColorManagement system is designed to go even further. Like a high-quality thousand-piece puzzle, it starts with the activities of Finkenzeller and Hoffmann, and even at this early stage is already smoothing the path into the future--the path for future developments, for the implementation of visionary flights of imagination and for cost savings. The primary driving forces are customer demands and market trends. The TotalCare concept is preceded by the design idea, realization with pigments and additives, feasibility and safety studies, and customer approval after appropriate acceptance testing (programming) acceptance testing - Formal testing conducted to determine whether a system satisfies its acceptance criteria and thus whether the customer should accept the system. and any adaptations. Due consideration is also given to process reliability and a carefully interconnected logistics system incorporating storage, data transfer, documentation etc. Further elements include: * ColorCare--or batch and color handling--system, which operates across different lines; * Result-driven use of software, quality assurance and testing concepts; * Individual process adaptation; * The functionality of color matching, even without using a master panel; and * Color compatibility between the bodywork coating and hang-on parts from various suppliers. CONCENTRATION TO CUT COSTS TotalCare specifies and then manages all the individual operations and becomes the all-encompassing shell, an overall logistical concept. Both the on-site expert as well as color labs, fast-response service teams, differing production specifications, the matching of body panels and hang-on parts, quality assurance, cost cutting and minimization of pollution are factors of relevance to the matching process. It is planned that future TotalCare managers will simply handle hang-on parts as if they were a "raw material" and therefore significantly reduce the cost volume for the hang-on part manufacturers and their paint shops. The ColorCare Toolbox and the ColorCare concept are the preliminary stages to this which have already been implemented. Nevertheless, a very large number of "know-how and technology wheels" must all mesh if a car's paintwork and color are to perform not only the obligatory technical functions, but are also to be aesthetically pleasing. Global color competence, therefore, not only forms the basis for visual acceptance in the different cultures that make up the world markets, but it also becomes a sales-promoting, trend-setting, safety-enhancing, or image-promoting and attention-grabbing success factor. Because of its structural diversity, this success factor must then be managed using a variety of mechanisms backed up by specific expertise to ensure that its effects can be felt around the world FRANK BLOSER GLOBAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AUTOMOTIVE OEM COATINGS FOR BASF |
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