Paint industry expertise • Initiating and securing growth • Commercial and technical support
Paint Industry Consulting — Company Profile & Corporate Dossier
Empowering coatings manufacturers, raw material innovators, and distributors through tailored operational frameworks, brand mastery, and market acceleration.
B2B-Cornerstone is a premier strategic advisory practice that gives a coatings manufacturer a European commercial-development and technical-service team without building its own European organization. We work on behalf of the manufacturer, alongside its distribution partners, connecting commercial strategy with product performance, bodyshop requirements and technical service. Our specialists bring 50+ years of combined experience in the refinish business: national sales management, technical service, training and product development.
To serve as the foundational cornerstone for coatings enterprises, unlocking sustainable profitability, next-gen formulation commercialization, and durable customer alliances.
To stand as the international benchmark in coatings consulting, celebrated for bridging rigorous technical science with modern commercial agility and green sustainability.
Commercial Development
20 years with Axalta and DuPont Performance Coatings, including leadership of the national sales and technical-service organization. International distributor networks, channel management, commercial organizations, strategic marketing, product management, change and project management.
Technical Development
20 years with the Spies Hecker and Standox refinish brands — at importer and paint producer levels (DuPont Performance Coatings and Axalta). International technical service, coating application, product testing, technical training, cooperation with R&D and European technical teams.
For a manufacturer entering Europe this means one thing: we know how the large European refinish systems are sold, supported and defended in the bodyshop — and we know the people who sell them. This cannot be hired in a few months. It comes with the team.
Finance, documentation and CRM are handled by our own back office, so every assignment is reported in a structured way from the first month.
Four activity areas, carried out by the same people, so that nothing is lost between market, product and bodyshop.
Country-specific assessments: who distributes what, price positions, channel structures, distributor and bodyshop interviews, identification of regulatory and product-documentation requirements (VOC, REACH/CLP, SDS/TDS).
Deliverable: market-entry recommendations — where to enter, with which products, through which channel, and which product-readiness gaps to close first.
Identification, qualification and introduction of distributors, commercial case preparation, negotiation support, coordination of first market activities.
Deliverable: a qualified partner pipeline, documented opportunities and a distributor-development plan. Commercial agreements and pricing remain with the manufacturer.
Application tests in real bodyshop conditions, comparative testing against the systems European painters already use, structured feedback from professional users.
Deliverable: technical reports and competitive benchmarks showing where the product wins, where it loses, and what R&D should adapt for which market.
Training of distributor staff and painters, product demonstrations, support during first mixing-system installations and bodyshop conversions, local technical diagnosis of claims.
Deliverable: documented training and implementation activities, technical issue reports and field feedback. Decisions on claims and warranty remain with the manufacturer.
As an independent team in the European refinish market, we accelerate entry for emerging brands. For a label previously unknown in the region, our initial achievements include:
We respect client confidentiality. Detailed metrics and references are available upon request under an NDA.
B2B Cornerstone operates as an external European market-development and technical-service partner. We already apply this model in ongoing assignments for a European refinish manufacturer.
Each assignment has agreed objectives, activity areas and deliverables. The manufacturer keeps every commercial decision: pricing, contracts, order acceptance.
Every month the manufacturer receives a report of work done, findings and recommendations. Invoicing follows the accepted report.
The cooperation can combine ongoing monthly work, dedicated projects and agreed milestones. It can start with one country and one project and grow with the business — without hiring, offices or stock in Europe.
What this replaces is not a cost line. It is the time a manufacturer would need to find, hire and integrate European specialists with this background — and the risk of getting the first markets wrong while that team is still being built.
An initial engagement can focus on one or two European markets selected by the Paint Manufacturer and combine the four activity areas into one integrated project:
Of the Paint Producer plans and strategy in European market.
Competitive landscape, price position, technical readiness against the competition, applicable requirements.
Interviews and visits, commercial and technical barriers, qualified candidates.
Recommendations, qualified opportunities and an implementation plan for the Paint Producer.
The findings give a Paint Producer a practical basis for deciding where to invest, which partners to approach and what support the first introductions will need. Further cooperation can then extend into distributor onboarding, technical training and field implementation.
Connect with our team
🏢 B2B Cornerstone
📞 +32 496 52 97 00 (Victor) | 📞 +49 177 793 96 91 (Evgeny)
✉️ Enterprise Practice: consulting@b2b-cornerstone.com