Price-Value Proposition an Industry Disruptor

Q: What role does the automotive industry play within Roberlo’s operations?

A: The automotive aftermarket accounts for 80 to 85 percent of our sales. We offer a broad portfolio of products under our Disolac brand, which is an industrial color system with 27 bases and more than 30 binders. Applications include pool painting and industrial tank painting. Our products help save costs and boost productivity. Our main differentiator is that we can provide more than 30,000 colors. We work with Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies and although we are not in the original painting segment, we are getting ready to enter that market. We are already making some progress in Europe and eventually we will introduce it to Mexico.

Q: What innovations have you made in terms of coating and other refinishing solutions? 

A: Roberlo’s purpose is to be disruptive in our price-value proposition. We offer a broad product portfolio at an amazing price. We are delivering a considerable added-value in terms of product properties and quality. 

Roberlo is constantly innovating. We have a research area dedicated solely to R&D at our plant in Girona, Spain, which is where we developed our Disolac Tintometric System. For the aftermarket segment, we are launching new products, such as our multi-filler express primer that does not require any additional material. This primer will provide the Mexican market with new capacities. 

Q: What is Roberlo’s relationship with dealerships and spare parts shops?

A: We have a shared network of around 130 dealerships and we have set a goal to expand into new channels, including opening wholesale outlets similar to Roberlo’s Color Centers in Argentina. In seven months, we have opened one wholesaler per month. Mexico city’s Metropolitan Area was our main focus but we are now exploring other cities. We analyze the size of the vehicle fleet in each state and the number of accidents to determine how many wholesalers we will need. Monterrey, Chiapas and Sinaloa will be next. 

We want to work with wholesalers who have a large distribution capacity, an ability to provide technical service to the end-customer and strong logistics abilities to address other areas quickly. That is a main differentiator from the traditional retail model; having a synergy with the wholesalers while remaining close to our customers and providing product availability. We can develop our wholesalers from scratch, or collaborate with more experienced players. 

Q: What factors have ensured Roberlo’s growth in a contracting industry?

A: Our value-price proposition makes us a disruptive force. When Korean OEMs arrived to the country, they came with a disruptive model, offering a high-quality vehicle, a warranty that broke paradigms and a very competitive price that offered additional features their competitors did not have. That is what we are doing. For a car shop that provides refinishing work, working with our products implies high-quality and high performance with a broad range of possibilities at a price that will increase its profits. 

Q: What are Roberlo’s plans to strengthen its position in the Mexican market? 

A: For the automotive industry and the aftermarket segment in particular, we are designing schemes for workshop management that includes Six Sigma and lean manufacturing characteristics. These will allow us to deliver more value to our customers by providing guidance on reducing their time cycles. In effect, our management tools can reduce the amount of time that the car spends in the refinishing shop. Most people who experience a minor accident can be without a car for an entire month. Our tools can help to improve a shop’s management without any additional cost. 

We are also launching a pilot program with an insurance company to send their cars to shops that use our products. In return, the shop can access our consultancy tools without an additional cost. This helps the insurance company because it can send a higher volume of cars to shops since the latter will be more productive. 
 

Roberlo is a multinational family-run Spanish company with more than 50 years in the market. It delivers coatings and other repair solutions for the refinishing aftermarket and industrial applications. It has operations in more than 130 countries. The company established its subsidiary in Mexico in 2016