March, 2020 | Gipe Auto Color

Keep Your Technicians Trained with PPG Certification

Posted on March 27, 2020May 21, 2022 by Alex Gipe

Learning is a lifelong pursuit, and with today’s complex colors, new refinish products, and procedures, there is plenty to keep up with.
PPG Certification Training is a key part of PPG’s commitment to ensure that automotive and commercial refinish technicians stay up to date with the latest products, processes and techniques for maximizing a paint shop’s productivity and quality. Gipe Auto Color can assist you with scheduling training.

Automotive And Commercial Refinish Technical Certifications

To achieve PPG certification, technicians must have at least one year of experience and successfully complete certification training specific to the PPG premium paint system used in their facility. Certification training sessions include a 2-day in-person training course consisting of classroom and hands-on training. Courses are conveniently offered at PPG Business Development Centers and various field locations across North America.

To maintain and renew their PPG certification, technicians must be recertified every two years by completing a 1-day recertification training course. PPG technician certification is an integral part of both the PPG Lifetime Limited Paint Performance Guarantee and the PPG Commercial Vehicle Paint Performance Warranty program.

Five Levels Of Automotive Refinish Certification

One often-overlooked benefit of achieving certification status is the recognition that automotive refinish technicians can gain by third-party acknowledgement and accreditation. To help recognize the professionalism of our painters, PPG offers five levels of certification: Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Master.

After achieving initial Blue-level certification, technicians are eligible to graduate to the next level by attending certain qualifying classes every two years. After eight years, qualified technicians are eligible to graduate to Master Certified Technician level. With completion of

each level, technicians are awarded a patch identifying their status.

Student Certification

PPG has partnered with select colleges and technical schools to give students the opportunity to become industry certified through the PPG Partners in Education™ program. To become PPG-certified, students must pass both written and hands-on testing conducted by PPG. Upon successful completion of the program, participants earn a two-year PPG certification.

About Gipe Auto Color

To learn more about how PPG™ training certification can keep your technicians ready to tackle the most difficult colors or refinish situations, call Gipe Auto Color at 502.966.2384, Monday through Friday between 8am and 5pm. We represent only the highest quality products on the market.

With over 50 team members and 9 locations serving Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Southeast Illinois, and Northwest Tennessee, Gipe Auto Color is one of the largest PPG™ Platinum Distributors in the region. We have seven dedicated tech reps certified in all PPG™ automotive refinish product lines. Their primary duty is to help customers apply PPG™ coatings using techniques that ensure maximum performance day in and day out.

Our service does not stop in the paint shop. We offer assistance in process evaluation, development of standard operating procedures, inventory management, performance data analysis, and targeted improvement strategies with an emphasis on customer profitability.

PPG and the Science of Color

Posted on March 27, 2020May 21, 2022 by Alex Gipe

PPG™ recently released its report on 2019 color trends, and around the world, silver increased in popularity about five percent over the previous year — now up to 15 percent — with white taking a four-percent hit, falling to a still-commanding share of 35 percent. Natural colors decreased in popularity by 2 percent, which doesn’t sound like much, except that it now enjoys only a 5-percent share. Other colors remained steady, although blue, with an 8-percent share, is predicted to increase in popularity over the next four years. Look for many nuanced shades that can be transformed with different pigment effects, fine or coarse metallic flakes, luminous micas, and sparkling glass flakes. Chromatic blues with slight red or green undertones are already appearing across the automotive market, and will continue to evolve over the coming years.

Exceptional Finishes

As PPG™ notes in its recent piece in FenderBender, the longest hauls are rarely measured in miles — they’re measured in years. Exceptional finishes from PPG™ are guaranteed to last, assuring top quality in all refinish products.

Qualifying shops can attain extra peace of mind with the PPG™ Lifetime Limited Paint Performance Guarantee, which assures that all refinish products feature state-of-the-art technology and will outperform the competition as long as your customer owns their vehicle.

The Science of Color

It’s a colorful world out there, and PPG™ is committed to matching everything from Amazonian tree frog green to luminescent jellyfish purple and anything that falls in between. From investing in breakthrough research and innovations in groundbreaking hardware and software to capturing color information globally, PPG™ continually advances the art of refinishing.

PPG™ is a strategic partner of transportation OEMs and pigment suppliers and has a trusted voice in the ongoing conversation about the newest colors and finishes.

The comprehensive PPG™ color database counts more than 27,000 new entries per year to a library of more than 3.5 million prime, variant and specialty color formulas. To navigate that library, PPG™ offers a comprehensive toolbox for fast access to the right formula for matching each color, and its color retrieval options are second to none. PPG™ embraces the latest technology to offer mobile access on smart devices as well as computerized touchscreen mixing and retrieval in addition to a full-featured paint management software system and best-in-class spectrophotometer.

A robust toolbox featuring color selectors, tint guides, color-focused training, and toll-free color library hotline means you’ll have everything you need to create spot-on color every time.

About Gipe Auto Color

To learn more about how PPG™ can help you match the newest, most technical colors, call Gipe Auto Color at 502.966.2384, Monday through Friday between 8am and 5pm. We represent only the highest quality products on the market.

Employee Spotlight on David Tanner

Posted on March 27, 2020May 21, 2022 by Alex Gipe

As controller, David Tanner works at both our Owensboro headquarters and the Louisville store, overseeing all information technology, finance, and human resources functions for the company. He has been with us since 2003, when as a recent college graduate, he was hunting for a job. A friend, who was working for us at the time, recommended us to him.

“I love working with the people, and Gipe has been very successful in creating a family environment,” David says. “The owners have continued the company’s legacy of having integrity in how they treat their team on the front end and the back end.”

When he’s not backpacking and enjoying nature, traveling with his family, or woodworking, David enjoys working on cars. His current projects are two Mustangs, a 1965 model and a 1979 model.

“I love cars and have a passion for anything automotive,” he says.

With 17 years under his belt at Gipe, David says he looks forward to the next 7 years with the company.

“I am very lucky to be part of a great working family.”

About Gipe Auto Color

To learn more about how Gipe Auto Color’s great working family can assist your business, give us a call at 502.966.2384, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. We represent only the highest quality products on the market. With over 50 team members and 9 locations serving Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Southeast Illinois, and Northwest Tennessee, Gipe Auto Color is one of the largest PPG™ Platinum Distributors in the region. We have seven dedicated tech reps certified in all PPG™ automotive refinish product lines. Their primary duty is to help customers apply PPG™ coatings using techniques that ensure maximum performance day in and day out.

PPG Speaks with CollisionHub on the State of the Industry

Posted on March 13, 2020May 21, 2022 by Alex Gipe

(photos)
Left: RapidMatch XI measures more angles than any other spectrophotometer for the most accurate reading on the market.

Right: PPG™’s OEM relationships ensures it has access to the latest colors so that variant formulas can be more quickly identified and produced.

The collision repair industry is continually changing. CollisionHub Director of Industry Relations Jason Bartanen recently spoke to Tom Maziarz, general manager of PPG™ Automotive Refinish for North America, to get his view from having his finger on its pulse.

PPG™ meets technician shortage head-on with training and support

“We are facing pretty broad-based technician shortages, and all the collision centers I speak to talk about having a tough time finding people to come in and work in their shops,” Maziarz said.

To help address that issue, PPG™ has added a training class, and it has added support to industry training programs.

“We just launched a two-day prepper class, and this is designed for people who really don’t have any experience in how to properly prepare a car to be painted,” he said. “And we partner with local schools in the various communities we serve. If they want to put a technical program in place, we may help them with some paint, or a training application message so they can go out and continue to bring more people into the industry.”

PPG™, a longtime supporter of the Collision Repair Education Foundation, also joined the newly formed I-CAR Sustaining Partner™ program, which is designed to help raise funds to reduce the overall cost of delivering training to people who want to get I-CAR certification.

Move More Production Through Your Shop with PPG’s Color Accuracy

Whether it is to drive higher revenue or get better placement with an insurance company’s direct repair program, there are good reasons for a shop to want to improve cycle time, Maziarz said.

“And one of the key things to driving better productivity, especially from a paint shop standpoint, is how quickly you can get to that exact color match.”

With OEMs coming out with more exotic colors, they are more complex to reproduce. Because PPG™ is a prominent supplier to OEMs, it has a close relationship with them, including having staff at ports of entry to compare incoming vehicles to existing variant deck chips.

“We’re on the forefront of being able to get those colors and be able to provide matches for those colors.”

PPG™ color tools, such as the Paint Manager® XI software and the RapidMatch XI spectrophotometer, allow a painter to rapidly select the correct color. Paint Manager XI offers 3.5 million colors and variants, with a database that is updated daily via the Internet.

The RapidMatch XI measures more angles than any other spectrophotometer, for the most accurate reading on the market. And a new solvent variant deck is coming soon this year for the Deltron® line that will be similar to the one in use for EnvirobaseHP® waterborne.

MVP Classes Help Collision Centers Improve Throughput

For shop owners and managers looking to improve throughput, there’s no better way than by taking advantage of the MVP Business Solutions classes PPG™ offers, Maziarz said, including the new-for-this-year two-day Advanced Estimating class. The popular Greenbelt Lean for Collision program continues to be one of the most popular classes, and it directly addresses the throughput issue.

“From Administrative to Production, we have a lot of classes through our MVP Business Solutions program for shops to take advantage of.”

How You Can Expect Coatings to Change in the Future

As vehicles continue to grow complex, coatings at the OEM level will move beyond corrosion protection and beautifying. Because PPG™ is an OEM supplier, it will be better prepared for the refinish market in having the products needed to restore that functionality, Maziarz said.

For just a couple examples, the future promises to bring coatings that keep car sensors clean so they can continue to be accurate as snow and dirt builds up, as well as interior coatings that reduce road noise and vibrations.

“Regardless of where those coatings evolve to, it positions us well to make sure that we can then take that technology and introduce it into the collision repair industry. We continue to provide a full array of products that allow the collision repair shop to repair the vehicles of today, as well as what the vehicles look like into the future.”

About Gipe Auto Color

To learn more about how we can help make your shop more efficient, call Gipe Auto Color at 502.966.2384, Monday through Friday between 8am and 5pm. We represent only the highest quality products on the market.

PPG™ Delfleet Essential® Customers Tell Why it’s Their Paint Line of Choice

Posted on March 13, 2020May 21, 2022 by Alex Gipe

The Delfleet Essential® brand is an easy-to-use, VOC-compliant paint system that delivers productivity and consistent quality at a value-conscious price.

This industry-proven, single-stage system provides a glossy, durable finish with exceptional throughput performance. To complement the line and expand capabilities, a basecoat offering increases color and finish options. Equally impressive, warranty coverage is available for both the direct gloss and base-clear finishes.

Check out what PPG™ customers in the United States and Canada had to say about the proven technology, total color solutions, and the best-in-class service provided by the Delfleet Essential® paint system and PPG Commercial Coatings.

Productivity of Delfleet Essential® Can Help You Deliver More Trucks and Equipment

The manager of an Oregon shop noted that, with only one paint booth, it’s important to be able to qget the vehicle or piece of equipment sprayed, baked, and out of the booth as quickly as possible. “We can get it out of there, get the next one in, and get it done.”

Others noted that they can easily adjust for wide fluctuations in temperature with the variety of hardeners and reducers provided by PPG. And low-VOC products meet stringent laws.

“We use Essential because it works for us,” said a Michigan collision repair shop owner. “It’s the best product out there; I brag on it so much.” He praised the product line’s superior coverage, noting that, “You don’t want to go around a piece of equipment three or four times. You want to get it done in two coats. And Essential’s never let me down for that.”

Color-matching Ability of Delfleet Essential® Helps Deliver More Jobs

With vibrant reds and greens and “very black” blacks, Delfleet Essential® can help your painter quickly match colors. “And if somebody brings something odd in that we can’t seem to find a code for, we can use the RapidMatch, take an image of it, and that will usually print us a very close-match formula,” said a painter at the Oregon shop.

“They also back it up with an excellent color chip book which is filled with actual paint chips,” said the supervisor at the shop in Canada. “Most [paint manufacturers] provide you with inks, which are not actual paint. Ours are paint, and it’s the quickest way to go. It’s filled the need every time. I’ve never had a letdown on finding a color or having to match our color.”

Appearance and Longevity of the Finish Keep Customers Returning

A floor supervisor at a Gardena, Calif., shop praised the line’s ease of producing quality-appearance results.

“It’s a really good product with no runs; it shines, and that’s what customers want to see. Mix with the right ratios, follow the specs, and put it on right, and you won’t have to buff it at all.”

The Michigan shop owner said that delivering vehicles to satisfied customers reinforces to him how important the quality of the finish is.

“Customers are excited to see the [newly refinished] truck, because when they brought it in, it was so faded and in bad condition. They come out like a brand-new truck. My customers are amazed. They compare it to an automobile finish.”

The quality of the products used keeps customers returning, said an Ontario, Canada, shop owner.
“It will outlast any other paint.”

“These are pieces of equipment that are worth half a million dollars, sometimes,” said a supervisor at that shop. “And the final thing you see is the paint. With Essential, the overall finish is spectacular.”

About Gipe Auto Color

To learn more about Delfleet Essential® and other products, call Gipe Auto Color at 502.966.2384, Monday through Friday between 8am and 5pm. We represent only the highest quality products on the market.