Julien Bauer, technical and training manager for France and EMEA south coordinator, is a true pioneer in making car painting attractive to the younger generation. Together with the French Refinish team, he uses the power of innovative PPG LINQ™ digital tools such as PPG MOONWALK® automated paint mixing system, PPG VisualizID™, and PPG DigiMatch™ to create an environment of gamification at refinish educational institutions, like schools. Through partnerships with different vocational schools across Europe, he was among the first pioneers at donating innovative PPG digital tools to encourage future painters to master them.
Julien Bauer: Donating PPG LINQ to Start the Engines of Refinishing Schools
Learning by Playing
Donating digital tools by PPG is key to popularizing refinish professions. Julien is concerned that today's parents generally do not encourage their children to become painters.
“Parents often express, 'Choosing a career as a doctor or a lawyer will bring you financial success and make me proud. However, if you decide to pursue more manual work, like painting cars, I won't share that same sense of pride.'”
This reality affects refinishing schools, resulting in budget shortages and inadequate equipment. By donating PPG systems, young painters are trained to use our products from the start.
"Youngsters are often much faster than the teacher. With color matching, you can even gamify the classroom experience as you try to match the right colors," Lucie Burianova, EMEA community engagement partner, explains.
The new digital technologies also offer numerous sustainable features, which may appeal to the younger generation. Automating key parts of the work process and optimizing the quantity of paint used not only speed up the work but also make the working environment “cleaner” for the painters.
Julien sees this project as something that will endure. While the work of car painters may diminish over the years, training a new generation and revolutionizing the refinish business will provide a lasting positive impact.
Setting Up the Concept
Julien Bauer works at our Rueil Malmaison office in France. He joined the Automotive Refinish business unit in 2018, taking on the roles of product marketing manager and technical training manager. He describes this as a good opportunity to mix his technical and marketing expertise.
"It has been a good way to have an overview of the market, from the launch to business development, including product testing and evaluating benchmarking against the markets or our competitors."
Julien is actively working on encouraging young people to choose professions in this field by creating partnerships with schools and donating PPG digital solutions to them. In this effort, he makes good use of his ability to establish contacts.
“A good contact at the school can speed up the process because they have complex administrative organizations. You need to know who the right people are, what the approval process is from their side, and if they can even accept the donation.”
In collaboration with Lucie Burianova, Julien had to develop a way to work with different types of schools.
"Different countries have different rules. We always have to confirm if our pre-set process is applicable and we also need a backup plan in case it is needed," Lucie explains.
In 2021, our Automotive Refinish business started introducing innovative digital solutions to vocational schools. One of the pilot projects was set up in France to see if these innovations could be implemented in local vehicle body repair and paint refinishing schools.
These donations aim to address the skills gap in the automotive refinishing industry by making fields like car painting more attractive to students. Donations could include the PPG LINQ digital ecosystem, including Moonwalk automated paint mixing system.
Partnerships that Shape the Future
In Europe, over 10 donations are scheduled to happen by the end of 2024. Two of these in France were already inaugurated: at the National School of Automotive Professions and Mobility (GARAC) and at Lycée Charles Petiet, including CFA de la Fédération Française de Carrosserie.
In the case of GARAC, long hours of training expertise and the PPG LINQ system, including Moonwalk automated paint mixing machine were donated.
"Their paint lab had old equipment and wasn’t very appealing. I explained to them that through a partnership with us, we can refurbish their image and draw young people to their institution."
At present, as part of the partnership, the school received a dedicated PPG trainer who ensures that the GARAC teachers fully master the digital technologies donated to them.
On top of the donations, students from the respective schools can also visit the PPG refinish training center in Gennevilliers at any time, where all digital tools can be tried out, demonstrated to potential customers, or trained on.
Julien believes that maintaining long-term business and human relationships with the people at partner schools goes beyond just a job.
“It is a reason to wake up in the morning. Because we know we're not just selling products but shaping the future.”