Axalta Coating Systems has launched the Acquire Color Compact spectrophotometer. Deepti Thore looks into the claims of cost-effectiveness, accuracy and faster colour match.
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., known for providing innovative and sustainable coating solutions for the automotive industry has introduced ‘Acquire Color Compact’ spectrophotometer. It is aimed at addressing the automotive industry’s long-standing requirement of colour matching. These requirements come from the body shops where the deck searches and spray tests are known to be time-consuming. Making it available in the Asia-Pacific region including China, India, Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia, the global supplier of liquid and powder coatings is eyeing a larger customer base with this launch. Not only is the spectrophotometer claimed to be small in size and light in weight, but it is also positioned as affordable too. “A powerful demonstration of Axalta’s commitment to total customer support, our next-generation spectrophotometer benefits from the power of all the digital platforms,” pointed, Simon Lee, APAC Refinish Business Director, Axalta.
Accurate colour match
Designed to provide high-speed access to over 200,000 current colour formulas using enhanced digital connectivity, the spectrophotometer is aimed at delivering an accurate colour match every single time. This capability is made possible by a three-angle measurement and the use of LED technology. The capability extends to solid colours, as well as add-on enhancer effects like the sparkle effect. Users can look forward to step-by-step instructions on the large high-resolution screen, carefully designed to offer an easy-to-use, user interface that is feature-loaded. These multi-faceted features in combination make colour identification and matching more efficient, reliable and are claimed to help operators save time. The state-of-art device works with all Axalta refinish brands, including Standox®, Cromax® and Duxone®. These spectrophotometers are designed to be compact with an internal light source and are made available with an optimised calibration kit which comes with an additional tile. It also enables wireless measurements and helps in the auto-correct formulas to enhance operability.
Simon Lee,APAC Refinish Business Director,
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.
The operating procedure
The advanced portable computerised colour matching tools offered by Acquire Color Compact at first captures the exact colour of a vehicle. It then transmits the information to Axalta’s color retrieval software installed on the Axalta Color Cloud. The device comes into play first by helping operators identify the damaged area followed by an assessment of the refinish requirements. This is followed by checks to determine the manufacturer and colour code. It runs a check to identify any special pigments that may be included in the formula. Doing so helps prevent higher repair costs that would have otherwise been borne by the operator. The operator is required to choose a flat area as close as possible to the damaged area and clean it ahead of the colour measurement cycle. This is followed by degreasing of the cleant surface, mechanical polish and a clean wipe. The degreasing is repeated on the polished surface in one more iteration. The device is calibrated using white and green tiles for measurement coupled with the software aiding in the identification of the best match. The final step is to spray which in turn is on a calculated basis of the operator requirement to apply RFU, mix of colour and spray coverage.
Utility scorecard
It enables the professional body shops to create more accurate and faster colour matches with the help of productive digital colour measurement tools thus claimed to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. This is yet another innovation from Axalta that leverages fast, efficient, high-quality coating technologies and integrated digital business processes. It is claimed to have made the entire paint repair journey faster, easier and more profitable for many centres and custom painters around the world. ACI
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