BASF Coatings Japan Ltd. held the “Best Painter Contest" for users of the company’s R-M automotive refinish coatings system this December, the first contest for painters in Japan using waterborne coatings. The contest was the industry’s first to be held by a coatings manufacturer.
The winner, selected from a total of eight finalists, was Nobuhiro Nagatsuka from Honda Body Service Tochigi. Nagatsuka will be invited to the R-M Best Painter Contest 2010, which will take place in September 2010 in France, where BASF Coatings’ headquarters for the R-M brand is located.
“I am very proud to have won this high level competition, as the atmosphere was pretty tense,” Nagatsuka said. “My winning is the result of the collative support I received from my colleagues as well as trainers of BASF Coatings Japan. I am looking forward to proudly taking part in the contest to be held in Clermont, as a representative of R-M painters in Japan.”
This year’s Painter Contest in Japan was evaluated based on five sections: a written exam (on products, coating processes, color expertise, and troubleshooting), blending, efficient coating, color matching and color inquiry, all related to R-M ONYX HD, BASF’s waterborne product.
“By applying waterborne solutions in the painter contest, we further support and encourage R-M users to pioneer the use of waterborne systems, especially those high-spirited painters who aim to improve their coating skills as well as those business managers who aim at more eco-friendly body shop operation,” said Katsuhiko Kubota, head of Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions, BASF Coatings Japan. “As the leading coatings manufacturer, we plan to further promote consciousness of environment, contributing to the industry’s voluntary initiative to achieve 30 percent reduction of VOC emission in 2010, in comparison with the number reported in 2000.”
More information:
• BASF Refinish
