New X-Rite Color Matching Software Makes Automotive Refinishing Easy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 19, 2016 – X-Rite Incorporated, a global leader in color science and technology, and its subsidiary Pantone LLC, today announced the availability of a new software application for use by coatings companies serving the automotive refinishing market. X-Rite Auto SC is a color matching software solution that delivers a robust search-and-correct capability for accurate color matching between a coatings company’s automotive refinish formulas and car parts. In one step, refinishers utilizing the coatings company’s supplied database and the X-Rite Auto SC application, will improve consistency of repairs across locations and shifts, reducing waste and eliminating unnecessary rework. This will reduce costs for auto refinishers, who often need to use extra paint in areas adjacent to the damaged area if a good match cannot be achieved.

“In the automotive refinishing business, time is money,” says Chris Winczewski, VP of Product Marketing, X-Rite. “With the growing number of special effect colors on the market, matching automotive color can be increasingly time consuming and challenging. Using the unique capabilities of Auto SC, along with a coatings company’s paint database, refinishing shops can quickly and easily obtain an acceptable color match accounting for a variety of different finishes. This simplifies difficult repainting jobs without sacrificing accuracy. Shops can service more cars, increase profits and improve customer satisfaction.”

Technological Innovation
Auto SC incorporates several innovations in color matching technology. Auto SC utilizes new metrics for more accurate color searches. These new metrics are based on the spectral footprint of a color rather than simple colorimetric data and enable Auto SC to achieve faster and more accurate color match. Spectral data has long been used in such X-Rite products as Ink Formulation® and iMatch® for accuracy in color matching. A new next-generation effect color formulation engine also contributes to Auto SC’s accuracy. The engine predicts the influence of all types of pigments – including the latest special effects pigments - on paint appearance and incorporates this information into the final color match. Auto SC supports X-Rite’s family of MA9X multi-angle spectrophotometers, providing a total solution for reliable measurements of both traditional and special effects paints and coatings.

Important for a coatings company is the ability for Auto SC to be distributed and managed across a network of refinishing locations. A coatings company would work in collaboration with X-Rite to develop a calibration set database for each paint line and import the data to Auto SC from a central location. The import utility merges spectral data and metadata from existing coatings company formulation libraries into a database usable by Auto SC and accessed by all authorized locations.

For coatings companies that have their own body shop formula search software, X-Rite provides an Application Programing Interface (API) that enables Auto SC integration into existing software for correction and advanced search metrics. This protects existing investments and maintains current work processes while improving paint formulations and color matches.

Affordable
Auto SC is offered in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and includes ongoing application support to optimize processes, improve performance, and add new paint systems.

“We expect most refinishing shops to see notable savings with an installation of Auto SC from their coatings company,” Winczewski explains. “Adding to the software’s fast ROI is the reduction of refinishing time and paint waste. This solution will very quickly pay for itself and continue to deliver returns throughout its life cycle.”

For more information about X-Rite solutions for the automotive industry, please visit http://www.xrite.com/automotive-color-management.

About X-Rite
Founded in 1958, X-Rite, Incorporated is a global leader in color science and technology. With its wholly owned subsidiary Pantone, X-Rite employs more than 800 people in 11 countries. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Grand Rapids, Mich., with regional headquarters in Europe and Asia and service centers across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. X-Rite Pantone offers a full range of color management solutions used by manufacturers, retailers, printers, photographers and graphic design houses to achieve precise management and communication of color throughout their processes. X-Rite Pantone products and services are recognized standards in the printing, packaging, photography, graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles and medical industries. For further information, please visit www.xrite.com. For the latest news, information and conversations, connect with X-Rite on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

About Pantone
Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, has been the world’s color authority for nearly 50 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone also offers paint and designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com. For the latest news, trends, information and conversations, connect with Pantone on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

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©2016 X-Rite, Inc. All rights reserved. X-Rite is a registered trademark of X-Rite, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. PANTONE® and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC. © 2016. All rights reserved.