Interview with Patrick Tabone; Managing Director, Sigma Coatings
To appropriate Shakespeare, the Sigma brand is certainly a name to conjure with.
Widely known, and consistently praised and recommended, this brand of paints is a hallmark of quality.
Design & Build caught up with Patrick Tabone, Managing Director of Sigma Coatings Malta, who is rightly proud of the hard work and commitment that have made this brand the automatic choice of many.
In a survey earlier this year of more than 1,200 households in Malta that had just carried out a paint job in their house, more respondents had used Sigma as their brand of choice than any other brand by far”, Mr Tabone said. The mission of the company is to ‘Protect and Beautify’, added Mr Tabone, and this seems to have been well understood and appreciated by a vast swathe of local homeowners. “With Sigma they know that they will get both the aesthetic beauty that they dream of for their home, as well as excellent, and long-lasting, technical performance of the product”, said Mr Tabone. This is what he believes forms the basis of Sigma’s enviable customer base.
“People associate Sigma Coatings … with beautiful results, long-lasting protection, and peace of mind”
While Sigma is not the cheapest paint on the market, the result is consistently excellent; “that’s why, as the survey clearly shows, our customers keep on coming back to use our products.”
RIGOROUS QUALITY CONTROL
Sigma paints in Malta are produced under license to PPG, a US multinational that for many years now has been either the largest or second largest paint company in the world.
This means that while the paint is manufactured by a Maltese company in Malta, the formulations, raw materials used, and paint-making processes employed, are all subject to the strictest international standards, with regular external audits. “Using the best raw materials is key. We will only use suppliers of raw materials that have been approved by PPG, and they accept nothing but the best,” explained Mr Tabone.
Although Sigma is constantly approached by vendors offering cheaper materials, these are not considered – “We always go with what is tried, tested and approved, because in the long run an inferior component will influence the quality of the product. We are not interested in that,” said Mr Tabone.
“Trust in our paint has been earned over decades…this is the rich heritage that is behind every litre of paint that we make”
The second key factor is the process employed in the making of the paint itself. “Besides rigorous testing and approval of every batch, our processes are subject to audit by PPG. At any point we can be, and often are, audited to make sure that our processes are exactly right. That is on top of ISO Certification and other standard quality control procedures,” said Mr Tabone.
The combination of premium raw materials and rigorous processes leads to a consistently high-performing product. “The result came out again in the survey we just did – people associate Sigma Coatings with beautiful results, long-lasting protection, and peace of mind” smiled Mr Tabone.
A VARIETY OF OPTIONS
While Sigma Coatings is now the leading paint brand chosen by Maltese households, the origins of the company locally were in the marine sector, and for decades, Sigma has been one of the leading paint suppliers to local dockyards. “Sigma Coatings produce one of the leading ranges of marine paints worldwide,” observed Mr Tabone, “and we service any of the PPG’s fleet of client vessels that calls or docks in Malta”.
“We are present in more local shops than any other brand, and we treat these shops as our partners”
He explained that this was one of the benefits of working with a leading global paint company – “trust in our paint has been earned over decades; Sigma Coatings and PPG have provided paints and specialised coatings to everything from the Space Shuttle, to cultural icons like Wembley Stadium, countless power plants, factories, ships and aircraft around the world. This is the rich heritage that lies behind every litre of paint that we make”.
A RAINBOW OF CHOICES
For the architectural market, there are, of course, different grades of paint: from the more economical paints to the premium grades, and ‘next generation’ paints such as Sigma Expert.
“This is a type of paint which evens out the work no matter the ability of the painter, so that everyone using it looks like an Expert” explained Mr Tabone.
“I should know – my 10 year old daughter and I painted her room, and although we are the opposite of experts, it looks like we employed the best contractors around!”
Another top-of-the-range product is Sigma Façade Topcoat. “This is an insanely tough, weatherproof product…extremely robust. Many hotels and homeowners, for example, insist on using only it, because they know that every extra year they get out of our product translates into fewer disruptions, and ultimately, significant savings” exclaimed Mr Tabone. “It also helps that it looks gorgeous, is very easy to keep clean, and has excellent colour retention”.
COLLABORATION NOT COMPETITION
A major asset to Sigma Paints in Malta is its relationship with hardware stores. “We are present in more local shops than any other brand, and we treat these shops as our partners,” said Mr Tabone. “We also have over 25 tinting machines in hardware stores spread across Malta and Gozo, for in-shop colour tinting while you wait. Even at other shops without a Sigma Coatings tinting machine, special colours may be ordered for pick up the next day”, explained the Sigma Managing Director.
“We look forward to the future without any complacency, but with the confidence born of long experience and a single-minded commitment to quality”
Charts for colour selection may be found online or in stores, and the Sigma Coatings website also allows you to upload a photo of your own rooms to see how they would look in any shades that you choose. There is also a map showing the hardware stores stocking Sigma’s paints, so that the clients can find a store located to their convenience. A small fleet of trucks and vans services all these stores, and a workforce of around 25 staff makes this a very tightly and efficiently run ship.
ASSURED QUALITY FOR THE FUTURE
“Both locally, and in partnership with PPG, we will always keep on innovating and investing in the future” said Mr Tabone. “We make sure we keep our products at the cutting edge of excellence; and that we service our customers efficiently, pleasantly, and with a minimum of fuss. We look forward to the future without any complacency, but with the confidence born of long experience and a single-minded commitment to quality”.
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