The Paint & Panel team was invited to a VIP day at the Sherwin-Williams HQ and training centre in Kincumber on the central coast last week. The company had gathered together what it called 'industry influencers' (way to stoke egos guys) to introduce its new premium paint system Ultra 9K and its groundbreaking fully automated paint mixing system Pronto. The video below is a snapshot of the day.
In a consolidating industry Debeer was acquired by Valspar who were then acquired by Sherwin-Williams and the team admit that it's been confusing for everyone. The first presentation was about who Sherwin-Williams are. It turns out they've been around the block a few times having set up in 1866. Henry Sherwin invented the first ready mixed paint and resealable paint can. Their coatings adorn iconic American structures such as the White House and the Hollywood sign and are on the inside of billions and billions of food cans. So from now on the company will be know as Sherwin-Williams and not by any previous brand names.
While the company is well established in the middle to lower end of the paint market, what was missing from its line up was a premium product - enter Ultra 9K refinishing system. Fortress Collision Repair Services have been trialling the paint system for 18 months and Fortress board member Joe Walsh gave a presentation about how well it was working for them. While there was an admission that paint is paint, the Sherwin-Williams team believes that its service and training offering is what differentiates it in the marketplace. The big message to come out of the day was the 9K's ease of use as a system which allows even average refinish technician to achieve a great outcome. Here's the Fortress video case study.
Next up was the Pronto fully automated paint mixing machine which is a real game changer. The machine can mix up to six colours in one go. The only need for human intervention is to take the print out of the colour label, stick it on the can and put the can in the machine and then pick it up when it's ready - which is between five to 11 minutes. It self cleans can mix ridiculously small quantities and actually is quite compact so doesn't take up too much space. It tells the operator if the tinter is getting low and it's very easy to top up. Editor Sam Street gave a great demonstration of how easy it is to mess up mixing a colour by hand which took nearly 10 minutes and was a waste of paint while the Pronto mixed it up perfectly in less time, with no clean up needed - oh and it mixed up another four colours while it was at it.
We will be writing in detail about the new products next week. In the meantime check out this week's podcast with Sherwin-Williams ANZ boss Richard Reneman.
Thank you to Sherwin Williams for a very informative and fun day.