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Letter to the Editor

BASF Receives PACE Award for ColorCARE System

The award was presented to BASF in the Manufacturing Process and Capital Equipment category of the PACE Awards competition.

The ColorCARE system was developed by BASF in Muenster, Germany. With the help of the system's analytical software, a technician at an assembly plant can continuously monitor the color match between vehicle bodies and add-on parts, such as bumpers and mirror housings, as the units move along the line. When the system detects a deviation, further "build-out" of the vehicle can be stopped and the cause of the color deviation can be eliminated by adjusting the paint or application process.

"The ColorCARE system is a real conceptual as well as technological breakthrough," said Rainer Blair, Group Vice President for BASF's Automotive OEM Coatings business in North America. "Implementation of the system can help eliminate substantial nonconformance costs for car makers, resulting in the potential for more profit per unit by increasing the 'first-run OK' rate."

Add-on parts are manufactured by suppliers that paint the parts at their own facility and deliver them to manufacturing plants for assembly on new vehicles. Often, a difference between the color of an add-on part and the rest of the vehicle body is sufficient to require refinishing, a costly and time-consuming process for automotive companies. By helping eliminate color deviations at the factory, the ColorCARE tool has been shown to reduce end-of-line refinishing costs for such companies as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Volkswagen.

According to Blair, relying on visual inspection to identify and eliminate color deviations or mismatches has always been difficult because of differences in perception among observers. The ColorCARE system removes that variability from the equation, providing objective and consistent data that enables accurate adjustment in the paint or the process.

The PACE award was established in 1994 by Automotive News and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young to honor automotive suppliers that have embraced innovation or reinvented themselves to meet the needs of the automotive industry.

"Receiving the prestigious PACE Award is an honor for BASF," said Blair. "The fact that we received the award for the ColorCARE concept is a tribute to one of the guiding principles of our Automotive OEM Coatings business-what we call 'zero headaches' for our customers."

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