Automotive Protective Tapes Don’t Just Save Your Surfaces – They Could Save Your Brand
In many ways, the value of using protective tape in automotive manufacturing speaks for itself. Carmakers maintain the integrity of delicate painted surfaces against scratches and other abrasions presale, shield the carpeting against heavy foot traffic common to production and even protect against UV radiation while a car sits in a dealer’s lot.
Those are the hard benefits, but what about the soft ones? How does protective tape for the automotive industry deliver additional advantages to operations and branding as opposed to product preservation?
Speedy production
As automakers push to optimize manufacturing down to an exact, waste-free process, they inversely capitalize on steps that add quantifiable value to the production line, the product and the brand overall. Protective tape already fulfills these criteria by design.
“Speed must always be a factor when measuring value on the plant floor.”
Be that as it may, even if automotive manufacturers find these qualities important, they cannot come at the cost of lead times or bottlenecks. Hence, speed must always be a factor when measuring value on the plant floor. That means any protective tape products should be easy to unspool, position and apply with minimal risk of do-overs. Products like AutoWrap temporary protective tapes were designed with production in mind – these tapes are treated with release coats to ensure they only stick to surfaces and not to themselves, so manufacturers can continue to hone assembly without worrying whether tapes will keep up the pace.
Loyalty lowers customer acquisition costs
Businesses inside and outside the automotive industry spend considerably on amassing and retaining customers, but nothing keeps clients returning to the same automaker quite like quality. Considering the cumulative investment consumers place on their vehicles – purchase or lease payments, repairs, etc. – it’s no wonder why dealerships and automakers don’t want their client base perusing other car lots.
Differentiators like protective tapes enhance brand value in the eyes of consumers and plant the seed of loyalty that brings customers back to one carmaker over all others. In so doing, automakers can invest capital in things other than consumer retention and perhaps even save a bundle.
“Protective tapes are not strictly for aesthetics.”
Higher safety standards
Scratches and environmental blemishes like acid rain, gasoline and bird droppings may make cars and trucks look less appealing on the lot, but they don’t compromise the safety of the vehicle. With that said, protective tapes are not strictly for aesthetics – WheelMask tapes, for instance, prevent damage to crucial operational components like brake rotors.
Again, brand image is everything to automakers and they’re willing to pull out all the stops to prevent their name from being tarnished. Therefore, a single isolated defect in transit from the assembly line could feasibly result in costly investigations into exactly what went wrong. Instead, manufacturers and dealerships can rely on protective tapes for quality assurance over their products’ functionality and safety.
As you can see, the advantages automakers reap from utilizing protective tapes during production and presale extend far beyond a clean coat of paint. Product preservation can also have a resounding impact on assembly, brand perception and strategic planning. Talk to an industrial tape supplier today and see how protective tapes can provide these benefits and more to your organization.
