What is the difference between Pantone & RAL?

[John Singh]

Generally speaking graphic designers working for publishers and printing companies use pantone colours. Producing stuff like glossy magazines, stationery

RAL is generally used by powder coating companies
Some vinyl suppliers will have RAL ref against some of their colours

[Ewan Chrystal]

Thanks for the reply John. They seem to be generally speaking the same thing so is there a reason that certain industries use one or the other?

[Jamie Wood]

To the best of my knowledge, RAL is a colour system for paint and powder coating,
Pantone is for ink. They are not interchangeable, but we use charts to try and colour
match between the two, not always successfully.