Spies Hecker, the Cologne-based paint manufacturer, celebrates its 120th anniversary in 2002. The Company can look back on a long, eventful history that has had a major impact on the development of paint.

In 1882, Adolf Friedrich Hecker built up his Rhineland company with energy and vision. In London he found partners in the shape of the brothers Adolf and Hermann Spies. The families founded their Anglo Continental Varnish Company, with the suffix Spies, Hecker & Co., simultaneously in Cologne and London.

The first high-grade paint products were launched under the brand name of PERMANENT. In 1912, the Company was officially renamed Spies, Hecker & Co. GmbH.

The introduction of the production line in the car industry also had its repercussions in the paint industry. Speed was of the essence. The first spray guns came onto the market, along with quick-drying nitrocellulose paints, which Spies Hecker marketed under the name of PERMALOID. The Cologne paint factory expanded rapidly.

In 1932 the family business celebrated its 50th anniversary. In celebration of the anniversary, a white Japan enamel was produced for interior and exterior finishes under the memorable name of "Die Krone vom Rhein" (The Crown of the Rhine). Big in demand were high-gloss PERMALOID nitrocellulose combination paints, the first to dispense with subsequent polishing.

The Second World War left the Spies Hecker company building in ruins. Summoning all its efforts, the Hecker family ventured on a new start immediately after the war. The Company introduced the PERMANAL brand, a synthetic resin paint which soon became the No. 1 for vehicle refinishes. The customers now included the first industrial companies in rail car engineering, in addition to refinishers and bodymakers.

The Fifties and Sixties were dominated by reconstruction and an economic boom. There was a strong trend towards motorization and with it growth in the volume of refinishing business. The Company strengthened its international outlook and built up a tightly meshed sales network. Vehicle refinishers were keen to make their working methods more efficient.

From the mid-Seventies, 2K technology based on acrylic resin became increasingly widespread in paint systems, thus satisfying the wish for faster through-drying and -hardening. Spies Hecker launched the PERMACRON brand for high-grade 2K paints and base coats.

The growing diversity of colors and the introduction of metallic and pearl effect colors led in the Eighties to the systematic expansion of the COLOR INDEX documentation system. With the PERMACOLOR mixing system, refinishers could now mix their own colors on site. In addition, the Company invested in a comprehensive range of services.

Established in 1985, Spies Hecker has quickly become one of the most important suppliers to the Australian industry. It has assisted Bodyshops in maintaining their quality of workmanship and management skills through local initiatives. It has also been at the forefront of the international company's strategic development with many world firsts. For example:

Spies Hecker currently serves over 160,000 customers in 55 countries. Its outstanding accomplishments of recent years include the ongoing development of the eco-friendly and economical waterborne, high solids and very high solids paints. Its next step will be to conquer quick-drying UV technology.