R-M® AWARDS THE BEST AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH PAINTERS FROM 15 COUNTRIES:
Berry Kooijman from Netherlands is the winner of the International Final of the R-M® Best Painter Contest
2nd place goes to Genya Yokota from Japan and 3rd place to Myles Veljacic from Canada
R-M, premium automotive refinish paint brand of BASF, has announced the winners of its 12th International R-M Best Painter Contest: Berry Kooijmam from the Netherlands is the 2016 R-M Best Painter winner, followed by runner-up Genya Yokota from Japan and Myles Veljacic from Canada in third place. This year, for the first time, the R-M jury also honored the most “sustainable” painter. Myles Veljacic from Canada proved to be the most talented participant when it comes to efficient and sustainable use of paint-related materials. The R-M team, business partners including EMM, 3M, SATA, DeVILBISS, RUPES, as well as guests congratulated the winners and all 15 finalists from Europe, South Africa, Japan and Canada for their excellent results in this final competition in which they demonstrated their strong commitment to representing the business with both top-level expertise and innovative and sustainable thinking. The event took place on 29 September 2016 and was organized in a climate neutral manner.
“We are very proud of R-M’s initiative to encourage young talents in all our different countries to commit to work more efficiently and sustainably. We ensure high training standards in our Refinish Competence Centers worldwide and develop innovative solutions for our bodyshop customers to meet the market's current demands for boosting their productivity and eco-efficiency, including in their local markets”, said Dr. Katja Scharpwinkel, Senior Vice President Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions Europe. Among the 15 finalists R-M considers to be its “next generation” were two women, one from South Africa and one from Germany. Canada participated in the R-M Best Painter Contest for the first time.
In addition to the competition and the R-M press presentations, the event featured a BASF stand presenting selected projects with an innovative or sustainable impact that are produced by other business units. In presence of the German ambassador to France,
Dr. Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, the competition endorsed of the German-French cooperation and BASF’s continued involvement in supporting professional education.
Know-how and expertise
During the competition, media representatives from Europe, Japan and South Africa learned more about R-M’s path to using digitalization in training courses, along with R-M’s color information management and software solutions. Furthermore, they attended press presentations and key speeches from the premium business partners EMM, 3M, SATA, DEVILBISS and RUPES that demonstrated the innovative and sustainable impact of product developments in the market. The contest's regular business partners Festool, Mettler-Toledo, sia Abrasives and Horn & Bauer supported both the national and international finals by showcasing the latest products and market insights. R-M testimonials Yvonne Hofbauer, R-M technician in the German market and new face of R-M’s UV LIGHT FILLER GREY campaign in EMEA, and the winner of the 2013 R-M Best Painter Contest, Ole Kristian Fureid from Norway, who works as an R-M technician today, told media representatives how the “next generation” can achieve success in a career through innovative and sustainable thinking. Fureid provides professional R-M support to bodyshop networks including DK, where the largest share of 100% electric Tesla vehicles in the world is painted.
Be innovative – Think sustainable
Guided by the motto “Be innovative – Think sustainable”, the finalists from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine and Canada demonstrated their skilled mastery of the different tasks in areas ranging from preparation, blending, color retrieval, color reading, masking, health & safety to paint-related products. In an additional sustainability-related task, the contest evaluated the impact of each participant's sustainable solutions in every task.
“This final has shown us the very high level and strong commitment of all 15 finalists. The winner impressed the jury. But the second and third-ranked winners were also very close. Over the past years, we have become aware that the young automotive refinish painters are better prepared and take advantage of our training courses for more efficient and sustainable application,” said Ronny Raeymaekers, Jury President of the International Final of the 2016 R-M Best Painter Contest.
Beyond Refinish: Colors & Design by R-M
Inspired by the latest color trends and the motto “Be innovative” and with the help of R-M's color competence, on the last day, the participants presented their color concepts on painted shapes, providing their personal view of future color concepts for e-cars. The winner of this additional color task was chosen by the journalists. The winner, Jorge Padrón from Spain convinced the journalists by his color concept and received a special “Colors & Design” prize: a pair of the new Adidas Ultra Boost running shoes. As the finishing touch, the winner of the DS3 painted by R-M in Brilliant Red and finished with the new GLOSSCLEAR was announced. Now that the showcar has completed its tour through Europe, it will return to its fans in Poland.
R-M Automotive Refinish Paints: an important part of BASF`s Coatings Division
Under the R-M brand, BASF markets a comprehensive range of automotive refinishing paint systems, focusing on eco-efficient waterborne basecoats and high-solids paints. By using these systems all legal solvent-reduction requirements can be complied with anywhere in the world, and with regard to appearance and resistance, the products meet the same quality standards as solvent-borne paints. In this area, the company offers a wide variety of services to support its customers. R-M Automotive Refinish Paints is approved by most of the leading car manufacturers for aftermarket repair and chosen by the world's most prestigious car companies for its color expertise.
Further information :
R-M Automotive Paints - Clermont de l’Oise (France)
Contact: Gesine Arend-Heidbrinck
Phone : + 33 (0)3 44 77 73 70
E-Mail: gesine.arend-heidbrinck@basf.com
www.rmpaint.com
www.facebook.com/rmpaint
www.bestpainter.rmpaint.com
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