• Andrea Albertoni from Italy wins 1^st place Best Painter Award
• Josephine Ellwein from Germany wins 2^nd place Best Painter Award
• 3^rd Place Best Painter Award goes to Masaya Kataoka from Japan
• R-M rewarded its first PIONEERS Award to Joesphine Ellwein from Germany

R-M^®, BASF's premium automotive refinish paint brand, has announced the winners of its 13^th International R-M Best Painter Contest. Andrea Albertoni from Italy was named the contest's winner, 2^nd Place Award went to Josephine Ellwein from Germany, and Masaya KATAOKA from Japan received 3rd Place. This year, R-M also rewarded its first Pioneers Award, recognizing the values of talented painters and their social and sustainable values as young professionals, to Josephine Ellwein from Germany.

"This year we integrated elements of social, creative, digital and sustainable aspects into the best painter criteria to ensure the next generation of painters are equipped with the right combination of skills to thrive. R-M technical experts, under the highest quality competition conditions, designed a series of seven unique skill-based tasks to ensure the best repair, in the most efficient, sustainable, and profitable manner”, said Jamie Panter, Head of Global Applications Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions at BASF and Head of Jury of the contest's international final. ”We have seen an amazing caliber of painters this year, huge increases in refinish know-how, technical excellence and skills precision than ever before and with R-M’s focus on digitalization has elevated the exchange and competition standards.”

National finals were held over the past years, and eight best painters from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal and Spain were welcomed at R-M Refinish Competence Center in Clermont-de-l'Oise, France on June 28-30th for the final event. All the finalists competed in a series of seven skill-based and digital tasks including color reading, efficient application, smart repair, health & safety and use of paint-related products. The contest was supported by R-M's premium and global business partners 3M, ANEST IWATA, EMM by COLAD, SATA and RODIM as well as Horn&Bauer, IRT by Hedson, METTLER-TOLEDO and siaAbrasives.

"The International Best Painter Contest, R-M's premium flagship event, is designed to develop and nurture young talent on a global platform to ensure the sustainable future of skills in the refinish coatings industry. We are very proud of all our best painter participants who displayed the highest skills level in creativity, digitalization and sustainability which is the perfect combination of skills as we create a pipeline of talent for our customers and for the industry to thrive," said Fabien Boschetti, Director, Global Marketing, Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions.

During the competition, media representatives learned more about R-M Refinity™ a secure, cloud-based, digital solution platform offering a unique and seamless digital experience in digital training, along with R-M's color information management and software solutions. Key speeches from R-M’s global experts and of the event's premium business partners illustrated the innovative and sustainable impact of product development in the market. In particular, R-M showcased eco-effectiveness solutions including AGILIS, e’Sense, ambient curing technologies and the world’s first unveil of the complete, fastest and friendliest UV 2-layer smart repair process demonstration. 

VIdeos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAI1FOvve38&list=PL6ToRYLPKq3kk7h6KHUgm5vv_G8weZc0r&index=1

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