AUTOMOTIVE: EXTERIOR APPEARANCE

The exterior body of a motor vehicle is made up of an extensive range of parts, each with their own colour and feel. Each component needs to be assembled in a way that portrays style, quality and harmony. Whether it’s the plastic trim, bumpers, door panels, headlights or overall paint finish, every part needs to be carefully manufactured so that when they are assembled they appear the same.

Colour and appearance indicate quality. Consumers often make a judgement about a vehicle before the start the engine. The exterior finish and appearance and the sense of quality you get from the interior often defines whether a consumer will purchase a vehicle. It it therefore important to manage and control colour of each part of a vehicle from the black buttons on the dashboard to the black leather seats to the shimmering exterior paint finish.

In most cases, all of these components are manufactured by a wide range of manufacturers which causes challenges when assembling a car that needs to look the same. Car part manufacturers need to comply with strict guidelines with regards to the colour and appearance of the parts they produce. They use colour measurement to ensure that they adhere to manufacturer guidelines.

Colour measurement can be used to measure every part of a vehicles exterior and a majority of our instruments are designed specifically for the automotive industry.

Colour measurement assists car and parts manufacturers with the following:

• Measure the colour of plastic and rubber trimmings
• Measure the colour and appearance of a cars paint finish
• Measure the paint effects of a car like gloss, DOI, sharpness and RIQ
• Measure surface appearance
• Avoid customer complaints due to colour
• Comply with strict stipulations set by the automotive industry