Butler Community College, Collision Repair Program has added Omni, a PPG line of automotive paint, into their training program. We already had the PPG line, which is one of the leading paint companies, but PPG’s lower line of automotive paint called Omni, will allow our students to learn how to mix paint, learn to spray paint and how to blend colors at a much lower expense. All of these techniques use the same methods, so it does not make sense to use the top-end PPG paint to practice. We can use the PPG paint when we perform live work, as many dealerships and top quality body shops use.

PPG has been serving transportation coatings since 1928, when they purchased Ditzler Inc. – the leading supplier of OEM automotive paints for automobiles at that time. Since then, PPG has stayed in the front of research and development to provide the most advanced technology and the ultimate high-quality solution. PPG offers a program called CertifiedFirst Network, which allows body shops to provide their customers with a lifetime paint guarantee. You can learn more about this program by visiting their web site.

Omni, also known as Shopline, is also high quality paint, but they do not have the CertifiedFirst Network or offer the lifetime paint guarantee. They do not spend a lot of money on promoting and advertising like PPG does either. And they do not spend as much research on OEM colors; therefore their colors may not match quite as good as the PPG line. However, it is still a high quality automotive finish at an affordable price. It definitely has its place in the market and at our training facility.

I would like to give Danny Hutchins and Car Color in Wichita, KS a special thanks. They provided us the PPG and Omni mixing banks to help us train our future collision repair technicians. They will also supply us the PPG and Omni paint at an educational rate. It’s folks like this that support us and strive to help us make Butler Community College a superior Collision Repair Program. For more information about Car Color you can visit them at http://www.carcolorinc.com/

If you would like to get additional information about how you can train to become a professional collision repair or refinish technician, feel free to contact me.