Twenty-four nations and one shared standard for quality work

The Canadian competitor with her trainer, who also served in the competition’s technical management.

A competition and a shared place to learn

WorldSkills is a competition and a meeting point for vocational education. Competitors arrive with different training systems, routines and experience. In Shanghai, they worked on the same tasks under the same judging criteria. This made the shared international demands of modern vehicle refinishing visible.

The tasks covered repair, colour management, paint application and efficient material use. Trainers and experts supported the competitors without doing the work for them. Judging considered both the outcome and the process used to achieve it, making preparation, organisation and process control integral to the competition.

What a Skill Sponsor contributes

The official WorldSkills website listed IONSTAR as a Skill Sponsor of the Car Painting Competition. Herrmann Innovations supported the skill as a Bronze Sponsor and, according to the company, provided every team with an IONSTAR set. The device formed part of the professional equipment available to competitors rather than appearing only as branding beside the competition area.

The photographs from Shanghai document this proximity to practical work. Competitors, trainers and jury members from Europe, Asia, Australia and North America encountered IONSTAR in the immediate competition environment. These images are not product-performance evidence. They do show that electrostatic charge had a defined place within an internationally demanding refinishing process.

Technology must make sense in the workflow

New tools do not earn a place in a bodyshop simply because they are new. They must fit into a familiar sequence and remain practical under time pressure. IONSTAR therefore has a clearly defined role: it neutralises electrostatic charge as the final preparation step immediately before coating.

This distinction is especially important for young professionals. Understanding a tool’s purpose helps them use it deliberately and respect its limits. IONSTAR does not replace skilled, careful work. It supports that work at a point where the relevant surface condition would otherwise remain invisible.

Conversations across borders

The Shanghai photographs show the international reach of the Car Painting community. Teams from Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Spain, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, France, Canada and Germany met in the same competition area. Jury members and technical officials from further countries joined them.

This exchange matters to a manufacturer because application conditions, training and expectations can differ by region. The central product position must remain consistent: IONSTAR is a preparation and process-control tool used before coating. Local distributors turn that role into demonstrations, training and support in their markets.

Sponsorship connected to practical work

WorldSkills concluded with the Closing Ceremony on 27 September, ending a long period of training for the competitors. The working methods demonstrated in Shanghai remain relevant to bodyshops, schools and trainers. The competition showed how closely practical skill, process understanding and modern tools now interact.

The sponsorship will have lasting value when visibility leads to real application knowledge. That requires clear product information, correct demonstrations and support for distributors. Shanghai provides a credible starting point: IONSTAR was available where the next generation of car painters worked under world-class competition conditions.