AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings has launched MIXIT, a digital color-retrieval system designed to help maintenance providers retrieve and mix the paint colors they need directly on site.

The goal of the MIXIT workflow is to reduce the time of these repairs without compromising on quality or compliance.

AkzoNobel's MIXIT is a cloud-based application which retrieves color formulas from a digital database accessed via a desktop, tablet, or mobile device. If the color formula isn’t known, then a spectrophotometer can be connected to MIXIT to measure a surface, identifying the closest available formula.

The customer can then use the correct formula with a color mixing wall, precision scale to prepare the coating on site using the right tints and associated components, including hardeners and thinners. The workflow is designed for repair situations where aircraft availability and response time are critical.

By bringing more of the color retrieval and preparation process into the paint facility, MIXIT is intended to help MROs, airline paint facilities and distributors to move more quickly from identifying the color requirement to preparing the coating for application.

The launch took place at MRO Europe in October 2026. At the AkzoNobel display, visitors saw the workflow in action with a spectrophotometer to scan actual panels, linked to a touchscreen, and a real time video will show how quickly a color can be retrieved from MIXIT and used to prepare the coating.

MIXIT for aerospace customers builds on AkzoNobel’s established MIXIT application which has been used in automotive refinishing for the past 10 years.

The system is being introduced in phases. In the initial phase MIXIT will access to more than 2,700 formulas for the most frequently requested tints for AkzoNobel’s Topcoat FR2-55 for cabin interiors.

Exterior formulas will be added to the MIXIT database in 2027, and additional digital tools are under consideration for 2027, including stock management, e-commerce, reporting and the ability for customers to store their own generated formulas.

AkzoNobel’s Aerospace Color Manager, Graham Lambourne said, “From unscheduled maintenance on an interior panel to damage to a nacelle, aircraft-on-ground situations demand a fast, practical response.”

Lambourne continued, “So MIXIT has been designed to help approved paint facilities, or their distributors, retrieve the required color and prepare the coating on site, giving them greater speed and more control during the repair process.”

“It allows them to make the coating repair immediately rather than having to make temporary fixes until repairs can be scheduled,” added Lambourne.