Standox revolutionises ultra-modern bodyshop’s paint shop.

28 July 2021 – Cannings is one of Cape Town’s oldest and largest automotive refinishing specialists, and overall winner of the prestigious 2020 Lightstone EchoMBR award. Always looking to push the boundaries of technology and techniques while striving to offer its customers the best quality, right-first time repairs, Cannings switched to Standox, one of the premium refinish brands from Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, in 2020. This change has revolutionised the bodyshop’s paint shop and enabled Cannings to look confidently towards future expansion.

A family-run business, Cannings was started in central Cape Town in 1973 by Clem Canning. It is now run by his two grandsons, Charles and James, who are both passionate about the business and proud of its heritage, having taken over from their father, Barry, in 2019.

“Our logo, which you will see everywhere in the premises, is a honeycomb that incorporates our grandfather’s initials. To us, this represents nature’s strongest form coupled with a desire to be the best. Our choice of products and processes is also very important to us, as working efficiently also means sustainably,” says Charles Canning.

In 2020, after 53 years working with the paint brand their grandfather had originally used when Cannings first opened, Charles and James decided it was time for a change. The business had just relocated to a purpose built, state-of-the-art, 3,000m2 site in the Queen’s Park district of Cape Town so the time felt right. They wanted a paint brand that was not only cutting edge, but also one they could trust to produce the best results and to provide excellent support and training. Having seen Standox demonstrated at the opening of the Axalta Customer Training Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, in 2019, they knew it was the brand for them.

“We were bowled-over by Standox, no other paint brand comes close to it. We particularly liked Standoblue Basecoat. It is highly efficient, with exceptional colour accuracy, easy and seamless colour blending and gives excellent results time after time. Today we also use the Standox Xtreme System and saw time-, energy- and cost-savings as soon as we started working with it,” says Canning.

Since the switch to Standox in July 2020, the Canning brothers have been impressed by more than just the paint.

“The Standox installation was completed over a weekend, so we were open for business when people arrived for work on the Monday morning. Thanks to the highly professional and knowledgeable technical team from Axalta, the switch-over was hassle-free, the on-boarding was brilliant, and we have benefited from continuous in-house training and support ever since,” says Canning.

He admits he is always keen to get the newest technological advances for the bodyshop and uses the most up-to-date digital tools Standox has to offer: from the Genius iQ spectrophotometer to the Standox digital colour management system, Standowin iQ Cloud, which can be used wirelessly from anywhere on the premises with a WiFi connection, and links to a web-based database of over 200,000 constantly updated colour formulas.

“When it comes to its product offering, Standox is head and shoulders above the rest. The cloud tools enable our refinishers to work much more efficiently, as they can input and access all the information they need without having to leave their stations,” affirms Canning.

The next stage for Cannings is to secure further OEM approvals, another reason Standox was so appealing. Canning says, “Standox has long-standing partnerships with all the leading car manufacturers and responds fast to OEM colour and effect trends. Working with Standox makes us even more attractive to insurance companies who make up the bulk of our business. The future is looking very bright for us.”

Hannes Kloppers, Country Business Lead for Axalta in South Africa, says, “It is so exciting to work with a business like Cannings, where their desire to offer top quality repairs is only matched by their enthusiasm to look to the future and to embrace the latest technologies and processes in the paint shop. This is just the beginning of our journey with them, and we look forward to helping them grow their business even further.”

For more information about Standox products and services, visit www.standox.co.za.

About Standox

Standox, a global refinish coating brand from Axalta, is the best choice for professional refinishers. Customers can rely on Standox to achieve the best quality results, every time, accurately and quickly. As a brand manufactured in Wuppertal, Germany, Standox ensures our customers are ready for future digitalisation by improving workflow and work processes with digital tools. Standox further supports customers not only with relevant market insights but also work provision thanks to extensive approvals from car manufacturers as well as fleet, lease and insurance companies, which reflect the brand’s position as a leading partner to the automotive industry. Standox – the art of refinishing.