Axalta Coating Systems has been named a finalist in the 2015 Automotive News PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers Contribution to Excellence) Award program for its innovative 2-Wet Monocoat paint system.

The first of its kind, the 2-Wet Monocoat paint system was designed to help OEM customers reduce the complexity of the conventional coating process and increase productivity by fusing the properties of a basecoat and clearcoat into one coating layer and reducing the number of drying cycles and ovens from two to one. The result is a system that needs less space on the shop floor, which is ideal for manufacturing facilities with smaller footprints and for brownfield paint shop conversions. To create these properties, while also improving the monocoat’s appearance, Axalta tailor-made a hyper-branched acrylic polymer for this innovative new product.

“Axalta’s 2-Wet Monocoat paint system was designed to improve appearance and durability while providing step-change efficiencies for our OEM customers,” explained Steven Markevich, Axalta Senior Vice President and President of its Light Vehicle OEM coatings business. “Having our 2-Wet Monocoat paint system selected as a 2015 PACE Award finalist reflects our commitment to constant innovation. Our unique resin chemistry helped to facilitate the streamlining of the process and the elimination of st EPS .”