Sherwin-Williams accelerating growth in France through innovation, partnership and people

How would you describe the presence of Sherwin-Williams and its involvement in the French refinish sector today?

Sherwin-Williams has a strong and growing presence in France, combining the reach of a global group with the agility of a highly responsive local organisation.

A key differentiator is our team. In France, we have six dedicated Technical Consultants who work closely with customers in real time. They understand how body shops operate; provide hands-on training, technical expertise, and practical solutions; and are fully embedded in customers’ day-to-day realities. This is supported by a dual organisation where Sales and Technical teams work together to deliver real customer value.

We also work closely with both distributors and body shops, ensuring a balanced relationship across the entire value chain. Combined with our ongoing investment in training, innovation and people, this approach allows us to adapt quickly to customer needs and build long-term, trust-based relationships in the French market.

Collision Core Pronto was launched last year. What feedback have you received from French professionals using it?

The feedback from the French market has been very strong. Today, more than 15 body shops in France are already using Collision Core™ Pronto™, and customers consistently highlight how practical, reliable and efficient the system is.

As a fully automated, industrial-grade dispenser, Collision Core Pronto guarantees accuracy even for the smallest amounts, dispensing as little as 0.01g rams accurately, amounts impossible to achieve manually. It helps significantly reduces errors, waste and cycle times, delivering clear time and cost savings in busy workshop environments.

What resonates most is that Collision Core Pronto is part of the global Collision Core™ suite of digital tools, combining the dispenser with colour management (Collision Core™ Color) and inventory control (Collision Core™ Inventory). This gives body shops better visibility into material usage, costs and profitability, turning innovation into measurable results.

Equally important is the support behind the technology. Our global technical expertise, combined with our local French Technical teams, ensures smooth integration, training and ongoing optimisation. This reflects our approach: Delivering innovation backed by people, support and long-term collaboration.

During the event, you showcased several technologies. Which solutions are currently proving most useful to French body shops?

French body shops value solutions that deliver immediate, tangible benefits in productivity, speed and quality, and that’s where our technologies are making the biggest impact.

In France, DeBeer® Refinish plays a central role, supporting everyday body shop operations with a reliable and flexible paint offering. At the same time, Ultra 9K™, as a premium Sherwin-Williams paint brand, brings high-performance technology, outstanding colour accuracy and durability for customers looking to move back towards premium solutions.

From a process perspective, technologies such as Collision Core Pronto and our Colour Retrieval Systems are driving real efficiency gains. Collision Core Pronto delivers measurable time savings, reduces waste and optimises resource usage, while colour tools support first-time-right repairs.

What matters most is adaptability. By combining global innovation with a flexible product and technology offer, we support a wide variety of body shops, from cost-driven operations to premium-focused businesses, always keeping customer needs at the centre.

From your interactions with painters and body shops, what challenges are French refinishers talking about most today?

French refinishers are facing increasing pressure from skills shortages, higher workloads, and rising expectations around colour accuracy and cycle times. Body shops are being asked to do more, faster, with fewer resources — without compromising on quality.

This makes training, reliability and strong technical support more important than ever. Painters are looking for solutions that simplify daily tasks, reduce the risk of error and allow them to work with confidence. That’s where automation, productivity-driven technologies and hands-on technical support play a key role.

At the same time, we see a clear need to invest in the future of the industry. Sherwin-Williams is actively present in training centres, vocational schools, Centre de Formation d’Apprentis, Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie and technical high schools. We work closely with CESVI, our technical partner in France, and provide products, expertise and guidance, helping to train the next generation of painters and supporting the industry in addressing long-term skills shortages.

Our role is to stay close to the reality of French body shops, supporting them today with practical solutions, while investing in people, training and innovation to help them grow sustainably tomorrow.