NEWS
When the Supplier Becomes the Customer
Trust and Performance Combine in Winning Formula
Shepherd Color knows a thing or two about what it takes to make long-lasting paints. For more than 90 years, the company has manufactured and supplied complex inorganic color pigments for a variety of applications, including architectural coatings. The company’s pigments are well known for their unmatched durability, weatherability, opacity, chemical stability, and non-migratory properties.
The pigments’ ability to withstand the toughest weather elements and last for decades without fading is one of the reasons APV Engineered Coatings counts on them as a key ingredient for its line of NeverFade® Façade Restoration Coatings with Kynar Aquatec®. The pigments, when combined in custom formulas with Kynar Aquatec® PVDF resin, help to give NeverFade® Coatings the long-term performance that allows APV to offer a 15-year product-and-labor warranty on fade resistance.
“Shepherd Color pigments are like super-hero components that help us bring our NeverFade® coatings together,” said Greg Marty, Development Chemist, APV Engineered Coatings. “They provide the ultimate in durability, are heat stable over 2,300oF, don’t dissolve in acids or bases, and are impervious to UV degradation.”
The long-standing relationship between the two companies came into play when Shepherd Color needed to repaint one of its Ohio manufacturing plants. NeverFade® was the top choice to resist frequent repainting due to the fading and chalking that can be common with traditional acrylic coatings applied in that region of the country.
APV Engineered Coatings worked closely with Shepherd Color and Shepherd’s building services management company throughout the entire recoating project. APV chemists custom-blended several Shepherd Color pigments together to match the desired slate gray color. APV also created an application guide for the project, which included the use of crushed walnut shell abrasion to prepare the building’s surface for optimal primer adhesion. APV field application engineers conducted color mockups and adhesion testing and helped to supervise the coating contractor’s work.
“APV has an exceptional team who provided truly exceptional service and quick turnaround,” said Brian Schwer, technical manager, Shepherd Color Company. “Even though this was a relatively small-volume project, we never felt like a small customer. Their attention to detail and hands-on assistance throughout the project were a big part of the successful outcome. Over a decade later, the coating still looks factory fresh and has faded by a ΔE of less than 2.0, well within APV’s product guarantee and much less than what would be expected of other coatings.”
NeverFade® is a registered trademark belonging to APV Engineered Coatings Inc. sold under a trademark license from Arkema Inc., owner of the Kynar® and Kynar Aquatec® registered trademarks.
ABOUT THE SHEPHERD COLOR COMPANY
Founded in 1981, The Shepherd Color Company produces a wide range of high-performance Complex Inorganic Color Pigments (CICPs) used in a variety of industries. These pigments are an extraordinary class of inorganic pigments that offer stable, long-lasting color for many applications. They have unbeatable weatherability, heat and chemical resistance, are non-warping and easy to disperse. More Expertise. Better Performance. Best Value. That’s Shepherd Color. We brighten lives.
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