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2 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase
Fletcher Jones Motorcars Gets What They Pay For
With 3M Products
by Autobody News Staff
Due to their close affiliation with
the OEMs, dealership shops are
expected to maintain a high level
of quality in their repairs, and that
is more than true for Fletcher
Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz
in Newport Beach, CA. Specializing in such a high-end brand requires products that represent the
same degree of excellence so this
facility exclusively depends on 3M
to supply all of their allied products.
According to Steve Dougherty,
Manager of Fletcher Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz, "3M products are all we've ever used---all
I've ever used in my 50 year career. 3M offers the best quality materials and the most innovative
people in the industry. We could
buy cheaper products, but they
aren't worth it. In this industry, you
definitely get what you pay for."
In addition to being one of few
Mercedes Benz Elite certified
shops in their area, Fletcher Jones
Motorcars - Mercedes Benz is an
I-CAR Gold Class facility, and
since many of the manufacturer's
vehicles are aluminum-intensive
as OEMs strive to make lighter,
more fuel-efficient vehicles, the
shop's technicians have undergone extensive training to acquire
their aluminum welding certifications.
Dougherty notes, "We are seeing more aluminum components
than ever before, and this requires
a whole new technology in how we
repair cars. Aluminum structural
components require more bonding
and riveting, plus we need special
aluminum welders, rivet guns and
other equipment to properly repair
these vehicles. The aluminum
process takes longer which can
cause delays in cycle time."
With a 57,000 square foot facility that services 10 DRPs and
employs 70 collision repair professionals who repair an average of
500 vehicles monthly, Fletcher
can't afford any delays in the repair
process. "In order to be successful
and meet customers' and insurers'
demands related to cycle time, we
need to use quality materials, and
3M makes the best quality products in the industry," When it
Fletcher Jones Motorcars
Newport Beach, CA
800-417-5731
www.fjmercedes.com
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 70
In Business Since: 1999
Number of Locations: Ten
Fletcher Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz is one of the only Mercedes
Benz Elite certified shops in its market area.
comes to tapes, abrasives, adhesives, paint cups, spray guns and
all other allied products, we are
nearly 100 percent 3M. Our techs
love the products because 3M
helps them do their job more efficiently."
Additionally, 3M provides support whenever Fletcher Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz needs it
and has even enlisted the shop's
help to test products in development. In March, 3M's Chip Foose
and Kristen Felder of Collision
Hub filmed a commercial in the
shop, and Dougherty enjoys this
close relationship with 3M.
"We really work hand-in-hand,”
noted Dougherty. “They are constantly developing new technology
and new ways to do business
which is great because, in order to
thrive in this industry, you need to
be able to reinvent yourself. You
can't do what you've always done--you have to step up your game."
Fletcher Jones Motorcars is no
stranger to changing the game.
The shop Dougherty manages is
part of an automotive retail empire
which includes 19 dealerships
spanning four states. The first
dealership was founded in 1946 by
Fletcher Jones, Sr. who was
joined by his son, Fletcher “Ted”
Jones, Jr., two decades later. After
his father’s death, Ted continued to
develop one of the most successful luxury automotive dealership
groups in the U.S. with Fletcher
opening in 1999.
Fletcher Jones Motorcars Mercedes Benz is one of only two
dealerships to boast its own collision repair facility. The shop's pro-
duction space boasts three spray
booths, six enclosed prep stations
and two mixing rooms. Fletcher
is fully OSHA and EPA compliant.
Painters spray with BASF waterborne paint, and the shop recycles
all possible materials. They also
recycle water from their car wash
as part of California's water conservation initiative.
In addition to being environmentally conscious, Fletcher Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz
demonstrates their commitment to
the community by supporting local
cancer organizations and other
charities, but most importantly,
they recognize the value of investing in the next generation of collision repair industry professionals.
According to Dougherty, "The
new generation doesn't seem to be
entering the collision repair industry - they are driven more to technology fields, and nationwide, we
are seeing this problem of few
young people wanting to enter the
automotive industry. At Fletcher
Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz,
we sponsor local tech schools and
mentor their ROP students as we
try to introduce the next generation
to the collision repair industry. We
are inviting young people with automotive interests into our shop to
help our technicians with their
work, and we've been very successful. Many of our current employees started their careers this
way, and we have six students current progressing through our collision training. We do this with
estimators as well because we believe it's important to teach the next
generation a lucrative trade."
Combined Production Space:
57,000 square feet
Allied products manufactured by
3M help Fletcher Jones Motorcars Mercedes Benz reduce cycle times
because “they are the best part to
put on a car and to work with.”
Fletcher Jones Motorcars Mercedes Benz and 3M are leading
the industry with superior service
and quality driven by innovative
ideas, and Dougherty emphasizes,
“You get what you pay for.”
3M
Dale Ross
651-736-4088
[email protected]
3MCollision.com
Instagram 3MCollision
Facebook 3M Collision Repair Solutions
Twitter @3M_Collision
Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 3
Florida Shop Owner Takes a Swing at Perfection
with Sikkens
Bobby Andrews, the owner of
Sunbeam Autobody in Jacksonville,
FL, was a minor league level baseball player in his youth and now he
loves playing golf, so he’s obviously
competitive. But, when it comes to
making it in the collision repair industry, he knows it’s surely no
game and that’s why Andrews uses
Sikkens paint, made by AkzoNobel.
With two busy shops that fix approximately 350 cars every month,
Andrews, 50, said that he needs a
paint that can perform time after time
on every vehicle that comes through
the doors, for obvious reasons.
“With our volume, we need a
paint that will give us excellent coverage every time, because the clock is
always running in this industry,” Andrews explained. “We’re constantly
being watched and judged by the insurance companies and measured
for things like our CSI and cycle time.
So, using Sikkens is a big part of that
and an integral part of our production
process.”
A second-generation collision lifer,
Andrews learned much of the business from his father, Buck. By working alongside his dad in a garage in
their yard, Andrews learned the business by observing and doing it himself.
“It was a great experience because my
dad was an excellent painter and a
very good teacher,” Andrews said. “He
worked for car dealerships over the
years; had a wonderful career and is
now 72, retired and healthy. For two to
three years, he helped out here at the
shop prepping cars mostly.”
After playing baseball and getting a degree in business at Jacksonville University, Andrews worked
for several collision-related companies as the learning continued. But
first he had to make a big decision.
“The Montreal Expos made me an
offer to keep playing baseball, but I
knew that was a long journey. So, I
got a job at a car dealership managing a collision center for two years
and then I worked in different capacities in the industry. I was a damage appraiser for almost two years
and got hired as a sales representative for a paint company. And that’s
where I met the owner of Sunbeam
Sunbeam Autobody
Jacksonville, FL
(904) 880-6660
www.sunbeamautobody.com
Number of Locations: Two
65,000 square feet
With two locations, Sunbeam Autobody repairs approximately 350 cars
every month.
Auto Body, Dave McBroom, who
was one of my customers.”
McBroom purchased Sunbeam
in 2000, but Andrews could see he
wasn’t enamored with the business,
he said. “Dave was a businessman
as opposed to a body shop guy and
he was trying to get out of the industry, to be honest. So, I became
his partner in 2003 and when he
passed away unexpectedly in 2012,
I bought his estate out within the
last two years.”
Part of Andrew’s reason for staying in the industry has to be his two
sons who both work in the shops. Fraternal twins Harrison and Hunter, 21,
are learning the trade the same way
Andrews did more than 30 years ago.
“Harrison is a shop foreman and
Hunter is a body tech and I can see
they like their jobs, which is so
great,” he said. “My daughter Chloe
is 16 and an exceptional high school
softball pitcher. I don’t think she will
enter the business, but she would
be a great estimator, bookkeeper or
working in the front office, so we’ll
just have to wait and see.”
After working with the same paint
company for more than a decade,
Andrews started looking to switch last
summer. “We had a long-term, solid
relationship with our former paint
vendor, but in the end the AkzoNobel people and our jobber Keystone
Automotive impressed us with the
products and their performance.”
After training, the crew at
Sunbeam Autobody was able to
make the transition seamlessly, he
said. “All we had to do was switch
out the product and get a new mixing system. It was an easy process
and our entire paint crew (12 people) got trained here at the shop.
The AkzoNobel folks were here onsite the first week and then we
were pretty much good to go. They
checked in periodically during that
second week to make sure we
were okay and then after that it was
full speed ahead. It was all about
learning the new ratios, product
names and numbers and how the
mixing computer works, basically.”
One of the best things that Andrews likes about Sikkens is their
digital color process, he explained.
“We use a digital camera essentially to photograph the vehicle for
the best possible match. It’s a tool
that has been around for many
years, but AkzoNobel has taken it to
a whole new level. Instead of relying on the car’s color code, we just
use this system on every car. We’re
getting dead-on color matches now
and saving time, because there isn’t
any guesswork involved.”
“It lays out real nice and we’re
getting perfect coverage, metallic
control and the sprayability is awesome,” Andrews explained. “We’re
consistently duplicating OEM solid,
metallic and pearl color effects and
by finishing the job with Sikkens
clearcoat, we’re producing exceptional results with Sikkens Autobase
Plus MM.”
Shop owner Bobby Andrews runs
Sunbeam Autobody in Jacksonville
FL with his two sons, Hunter (left)
and Harrison (right).
Painter Bob Broberg loves the
accurate color matches that he
achieves with Sikkens Autobase
Plus MM.
AkzoNobel
1845 Maxwell Drive
Troy, MI 48084
www.akzonobel.com
Canadian Shop Has Found a Winner in Axalta’s
Low-VOC Solventborne Refinish System
As one of Ottawa’s highest-volume
collision repair facilities, the Tony
Graham Collision Centre works on
all makes and models including
Lexus, Toyota, Scion, Infiniti, Nissan,
Honda, Acura, Mercedes, BMW,
Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mazda, Ford
and GM. Fixing 150-200 cars every
month in support of three different
car dealerships means that they
need a paint that will both do the job
and be planet-friendly. That’s why
the Tony Graham Collision Centre
uses Cromax® Mosaic™, Axalta’s
3.5 VOC solventborne refinish system.
It’s a perfect marriage for Tony
Graham and Axalta’s Cromax Mosaic refinish system because it
complies with Canada’s regulatory
requirements while acting just like
the solventborne systems they’ve
used for many years. Plus, they didn’t have to invest in expensive new
equipment or extensive training to
adopt the Cromax Mosaic refinish
system when they started using it
late last year.
By utilizing an assembly-line,
lean-technology production system,
every car is kept in a controlled climate as soon as it enters his facility.
“The car comes into our drive-thru
area and goes through its prewash,
followed by all of the body work and
priming the vehicle in one of our three
paint booths,” said Andy Ferguson,
Tony Graham Collision Centre Body
Shop Manager “Then, the car goes
into our second booth and gets
painted. Once the paint is cured, we
take it out for final assembly and get
it ready for the customer. What we do
here is almost identical to Toyota’s
production process, which is lean
throughout.”
Ferguson, 48, started working at
the Tony Graham Collision Centre 28
years ago as a parts driver. He was a
counter guy and an estimator for the
company prior to getting promoted to
management in 1999.
“Waterborne paint has been
used here in Canada for 18 years
and we actually started using it when
it initially came out,” Ferguson explained. “The actual regulation does
not mandate strictly waterborne, but
rather it requires a VOC compliancy.
Most shops decided to go with waterborne after the regulation went
Tony Graham Collision Centre
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
(613) 596-6021
www.tonygraham.com
Number of Locations: One
DRP Programs: 12
Painter Cory Wilson sprays Axalta’s Cromax Mosaic 3.5 VOC solvent
borne refinish system at Tony Graham Collision Centre in Ottawa,
Canada.
into effect, because that was the only
way to get those VOC levels down.
More and more companies are coming out now with these low-VOC
paints and that’s why we looked at a
few before selecting Axalta’s Cromax
Mosaic refinish system.”
Why switch from a waterborne
product to a low-VOC alternative, we
asked Ferguson? “In the summertime
here in Ottawa, it gets hot and the humidity is high, so some waterborne
paints do not dry quickly enough. We
had a series of ups and downs with
the waterborne, so switching over to
the Axalta’s low-VOC product was a
logical move,” said Ferguson “The
Cromax Mosaic refinish system is so
forgiving that even on a very hot day,
it dries more quickly than the competitor’s waterborne that I used in the
past and we’re actually able to get the
job done with fewer coats, which is
outstanding.”
Converting to the Cromax Mosiac
refinish system in October 2015 was
both fast and drama-free, according
to Tim Kielburger, Tony Graham
Collision Centre Body Shop Supervisor. “The four people in our paint crew
were comfortable using it almost
overnight,” Kielburger explained. “We
just plugged it into our production
process and we were up and running.
There were no worries – we didn’t
need to increase the airflow, which
meant we didn’t have to purchase any
new fans or change our paint booth in
any way.”
“The Cromax Mosaic refinish
system from Axalta gives Kielburger
and his paint crew incredibly accurate
color matches time after time,” he
said. “We use their hand-held, digital
color-measuring device to get precise
color matches rapidly, dependably
and proficiently. We get a wide choice
of solid, metallic, pearl and special effect colors for spot, panel and overall
repairs by using this product and its
color-matching system. It’s phenomenal and better than anything else
we’ve ever used. As a result, we don’t
get comebacks or have to repaint vehicles. This technology makes all of
our lives a lot easier, because we’re
not guessing and we’re hitting these
colors every time.”
The Tony Graham Collision Centre also takes advantage of Axalta’s
UV primer-surfacer developed to
eliminate process steps for ultra-fast
repairs. It can be applied directly to
metal with a very smooth surface
and it dries quickly under high-intensity UV lamps. The entire coating is
fully cured on exposure and it can be
sanded immediately upon cooling.
By using a low-VOC form of paint,
Ferguson knows that he is providing a
healthy working environment for his
employees, which he greatly values.
“We really emphasize safety here
and take it seriously, so we are always stressing to our painters that
they must wear the proper equipment, such as air masks at all times,”
said Ferguson “We have a five-member safety committee here and we
meet every quarter to discuss how
we can be more green and a safer
company overall.”
21,000 square feet
Repairing 150-200 vehicles
monthly, Tony Graham Collision
Centre needs a paint like Axalta’s
Cromax Mosiac that can perform
at a high level all the time.
Collision Centre Manager Andy
Ferguson (left) and Body Shop
Floor Supervisor Tim Kielburger.
Axalta Coating Systems
50 Applied Bank Blvd., Suite 300
Glen Mills, PA 19342
(855) 6-AXALTA
www.axaltacs.com
BOOST YOUR PROFITABILITY.
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such as world-class appearance, OEM certifications, proven quality and maximum efficiency.
Get Color Advance and boost your profitability.
Visit basfrefinish.com/GlasuritColorAdvance to learn more.
Family-Owned Auburn Collision 1 Painters Love BASF
for Ease in Matching and Enhanced Productivity
Located in Auburn, WA, Auburn Collision 1 is one of two local shops
owned and operated by the Stamps
family. After working as a body tech
for several years in the late 1970s,
owner Gary Stamps ventured out
on his own and opened Auburn Collision 1 with a single office and only
four garage bays in 1981. “He did it
all for eight years and built the business from the ground up,” recalled
Barrett Stamps, Gary’s son and
current shop manager who is positioned to transition to the role of coowner alongside his sister within the
next year and a half.
Since the shop was founded, it
has grown to a 10,000-square-foot
facility with 7,200 square feet of production space and 12 employees;
the Stamps’ second shop in Bonney
Lakes boasts an additional 12,200
square feet of production space and
employs 15 collision repair professionals. Each shop repairs an average of 115 vehicles monthly, and
Barrett largely attributes this high
level of productivity to the use of
BASF’s line of paints and their UV
primer.
Auburn Collision 1 converted to
Glasurit® 55-line solvent-borne paint
in the early part of the millennium
due to the company’s reputation and
the fact that their product offering
was superior to their competitors.
The shop’s painters love the product
because it provides a flawless color
match and is easy to spray, so they
see very few comebacks.
Barrett also said he has experienced a huge positive impact from
BASF’s UV primer. “Their UV primer
contributes to our hyper-efficiency in
the shop and has drastically improved our productivity because it
dries so quickly. We are able to paint
within 30 minutes after applying the
primer, compared to normal primers,
which can take up to two hours to
dry.”
According to Barrett, converting
to BASF’s paint was very easy, and
as far as the UV primer, “The biggest
challenge was changing the mentality of our painters, not the actual
process, because they were taught
to use it sparingly since it’s more expensive; however, BASF’s UV primer
makes the process so much quicker
that we can repair more vehicles and
more than recover the difference in
cost.”
Although Auburn Collision 1 is
still currently spraying with solvent-
Auburn Collision 1
Location: Auburn, WA
(253) 735-0894
www.collision1.com
(27 total for both shops)
DRP Programs: Eight
Sales: $6.2 million (combined)
Auburn Collision 1 is a family-owned and operated shop in Auburn, WA
which has seen significant improvements in productivity and profitability
with BASF paints and primers.
based paints, Barrett plans to convert to BASF’s waterborne system
in the near future. The shop recycles all scrap metal, cardboard,
bumpers and hazardous waste in
compliance with OSHA regulations.
Using BASF’s products has
also made a huge impact on profitability for Auburn Collision 1. Barrett said, “Over the past few years,
we’ve measured everything through
BASF SmartTRAK®, which allows
us to be more successful with the
supplements we submit to insurers.
It has helped us reduce cycle time,
so we can be more profitable, plus
it helps us to be transparent.”
BASF also provides customers
with access to their 20 Group, which
is a value-added service that has
aided Auburn Collision 1 with profitability and a whole range of issues.
The supplier’s customer service department has been very supportive
in the rare circumstances when the
shop is presented with challenges
related to their products. “We’ve
never had a negative experience
with BASF’s customer service department. They come out within a
couple days to provide the support
we need, but generally, our shop is
pretty self-sufficient,” Barrett stated.
When comparing Auburn Collision 1 to other shops in his market,
Barrett said the biggest difference is
that his shop is family-owned and operated. He and his sister both grew
up in the family business, cleaning
and helping with paperwork on the
weekends. During high school, Barrett became more involved as he
started prepping and sanding vehi-
cles. After graduating college with a
business degree, he returned to his
family’s shop to oversee production
and to use his education to assist
with the business components of the
operation.
The Stamps siblings are poised
to become second-generation owners of Auburn and Bonney Lake Collision 1 Centers, and Barrett also
noted, “Many of our employees have
worked here for a couple decades so
they saw us grow up in the business
and have faith in us to take both
shops to the next level. That trust
factor really contributes to the relationship between the employees and
us as owners.”
Both shops are members of the
Assured Performance Network and
are certified by multiple OEMs. They
have nearly completed the requirements to receive their I-CAR Gold
designation, and several employees
at each facility are recognized as ICAR Platinum professionals.
In recent years, Barrett has noticed a lot of pressure from insurers
to reduce costs, and he said, “This
is definitely an obstacle when it
comes to running a profitable, successful business. It can be difficult
to stay competitive against large
MSOs who have the advantage
when it comes to price consolidation, but this brings shops to a
higher level and helps the real performers stand out. The competition
is good if you look at it positively.
There’s no better time to be in this
industry if you just look past the
negatives and see the light at the
end of the tunnel!”
Production Space:
7,200 square feet (22,200 square feet
combined)
Painters love the ease in usability
thanks to BASF products.
Saving time is essential for a shop
that repairs 115 vehicles monthly,
but BASF products pay for
themselves in time saved.
BASF Automotive Refinish
(800) 201-1605
www.basfrefinish.com
NJ Shop Thrilled Over Globaljig® Equipment
Presented by Chief
Brad Denning, 56, owns Dobbs
Autobody in Springfield, NJ and has
been working in the collision repair
industry since he was 21. However,
he realized much earlier in life that
fixing and restoring cars was going
to be his calling.
“In 1969, I was nine and we went
and picked up a brand new beautiful
Oldsmobile convertible and then the
whole family went out for dinner at a
place called Sip & Sup—it’s not
there anymore,” Denning explained.
“When we came out of the restaurant after our meal, we saw that
someone had taken out the whole
left side of our car. It was a hit-andrun and we were pretty surprised.”
Denning’s father obviously wasn’t pleased, but then he noticed that
there was a body shop right next
door to the Sip & Sup. “We brought
the car over there and a few days
later when my dad brought the car
home, I was shocked,” he said. “I
could not believe that they had taken
that car and now it was looking brand
new again. I was so impressed with
what they had done to that car that I
was instantly enamored with collision
repair after that. ‘I want to be able to
do that,’ I thought.”
Always a “car nut,” Denning
worked in several capacities within
the industry before purchasing
Dobbs. For a short time, he owned
a small body shop; ran a collision
center for a Ford dealership for
seven years; and then had his own
car restoration business for several
years. When Sonny Dobbs, the
owner of Dobbs Autobody, died unexpectedly in 1996, Denning found
out and made his move.
“Springfield is a small town, so
when the shop’s office manager told
me that the Dobbs family might want
to sell, I moved fast,” Denning said.
“I met with them on a Monday and
the deal was done by Wednesday. It
was like coming full circle, because
that shop where we brought our
Oldsmobile to more than 47 years
ago, is the same shop I own today.”
Denning is proud to run an ICAR Gold shop with five I-CAR Platinum certified techs in his crew. With
a wide range of high-end vehicles
coming through the shop, Denning
Dobbs Autobody
Location: Springfield, NJ
(973) 376-3535
www.dobbsauto.com
10,000 square feet
Brad Denning, the owner of Dobbs Autobody in Springfield, NJ, describes his Globaljig SuperRotax Presented by Chief as the "Big Daddy,
the V-12, the Rolls Royce" of straightening systems.
wants his employees and his equipment to be world-class, so he has all
of the top carmaker certifications, including the entire GM line, Ford
(aluminum) and Maserati as well as
recently signing up for the Cadillac
CT6 program.
“We work on all the top brands
and that’s why we pursue all of the
best equipment out there,” he said.
“We tried a lot of other straightening
systems, but once we saw the Globaljig® collision repair equipment and
used it a few times, we were sold.”
Last November, Chief™ added
Globaljig collision repair equipment
to its line, including their benches,
universal fixture systems and other
“European style” structural repair
equipment. Already, body shops are
stepping up and embracing this
equipment and using it in conjunction with their Chief racks, including
top operators like Denning at Dobbs
Autobody.
The line of Globaljig Presented
by Chief products includes the SuperRotax straightening system and the
Quick Pull system that Dobbs Autobody has been using since earlier this
year. Denning was happy with the
equipment when he purchased it, but
now he’s actually ecstatic after seeing it in action.
“This machine is the ultimate in
structural collision repair and there
is not a better piece of equipment
anywhere else,” Denning said. “The
SuperRotax is the Big Daddy, the
V-12, the Rolls Royce. If you don’t
have one of these, you can’t repair
new vehicles properly and even attempting to do so is literally impossible. I can’t even imagine how to fix
some of these BMWs, Bentleys and
Maseratis now without the SuperRotax. We couldn’t do it.”
The Globaljig system allows
Denning’s crew to find structural
damage that they wouldn’t even
know about without the SuperRotax.
“Every time we fix a car using the SuperRotax, all of my guys look at each
other and say they can’t believe it
was so easy,” he said. “We’re making
more money doing proper OE repairs
and returning these vehicles back to
their original condition without using
clamps. So now we no longer get
clamp marks all along the pinch
welds. Also, while a vehicle is on the
jig system, we’re able to remove
cross members and pull motors and
get complete access, because we
can move the car back and forth on
the fixtures on the bench. It’s the
most versatile bench system on the
market, no doubt.”
The numbers speak for themselves, Denning explained. “In the
last few months, we’ve done approximately $75,000 of collision repair work that I couldn’t have done
without this equipment and the best
part of it was it was profitable. Even
the insurance adjustors that come in
here every day are impressed with
this equipment. They see that we’re
using the SuperRotax and know
we’re a serious shop and that’s why
the insurance companies are willing
to pay us right for proper repairs.”
As a Maserati-certified shop,
Dobbs Autobody needs a top-ofthe-line straightening systems
and the Globaljig SuperRotax
Presented by Chief fits the bill for
Denning and his crew.
Dobbs Autobody is saving time
and money while getting more
work from the insurance
companies by using the Globaljig
SuperRotax Presented by Chief.
Chief Automotive Technologies
996 Industrial Drive
Madison IN 47250
(800) 445-9262
www.chiefautomotive.com/Global-jig
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equipment is hazardous.
» Includes three shelves for handy storage of tools, accessories,
abrasives and more.
» By using MAXIMA air sander, vacuum starts
automatically with startup of tool.
» Durable powder-coated finish.
» The systems are static-dissipating and conductive.
» One and two-tool models available.
» Very low air consumption: AIRFLUX vacuum
device works effectively between 15 and 75psi.
Portland, OR
971-563-3429
[email protected]
D&S Curing Solutions Cuts Drying Time, Saves
Money for Gilmore’s Collision Center
With almost 70 years of business
under their belt, Gilmore’s Collision
Center has perfected the art of keeping employees happy, while simultaneously increasing efficiency.
“Our body and paint technicians
work together as a team with a team
pay plan,” explained co-owner Greg
Gilmore. “We feel it makes us more
efficient when everyone is working toward the same goal. We also like
being able to play to each technician’s strengths.”
Gilmore said if a technician is
fastest or best at a certain skill, they
will push related jobs his way.
“This allows us to shift our resources around,” he said. “If our paint
shops get bottle-necked, the body
tech can help out, or if reassembly is
getting backed up, a paint technician
can help get everyone caught up.”
Gilmore said they made a group
decision to go to a team plan, and although they struggled in the beginning, it has made a huge difference.
“Technicians aren’t arguing over
hours, because they’re all working toward the same goal,” he said. “They
were working way too many hours
before, and we knew we had to become more efficient. Now, everyone
is making the same money or better
and they definitely work fewer hours.”
Gilmore’s Collision Center stands
out by staying up-to-date with the latest products.
“The IONITEC Robotic Drying
System by D&S Curing Solutions has
been a game changer for us,” said
Gilmore. “We have two down-draft
spray booths, which previously we
kept running all day long. Now, we
run every job through the IONITEC
booth because it’s that much faster
and cleaner.”
Gilmore’s can complete three
paint jobs using the IONITEC booth
in the same time it took to complete
one in the other booth.
“Our other booth has pretty much
turned into an extra prep station because we just don’t use it,” said
Gilmore. The IONITEC booth is especially helpful when using waterbased paint in such a humid climate.
“At times in the past, we’d have
to run a bake cycle for 30 minutes just
Gilmore’s Collision Center
Location: Wichita Falls, TX
(940) 322-3153
gilmorecollision.com
DRP Programs: All major providers
Production Space:
25,000 square feet
The front of Gilmore’s Collision Center, located at 3511 Old Jacksboro
Hwy, Wichita Falls, TX.
so the base coat would dry,” he said.
“Now, we just run the IONITEC arm
over, and in five minutes it’s ready to
clear. After we clear it, we run it back
over for another five to six minutes,
then once it cools, we can immediately start touching it and reassembling.”
Gilmore said that using the IONITEC booth has saved him, on average, $1,500 a month on gas.
“It only heats the panels that
we’re painting, so we don’t have to
heat every square inch of our booth,”
he explained. “I’m definitely reaping
the benefits of going green.”
Gilmore’s Collision Center also
has the capacity to work on aluminum vehicles, including the new
aluminum Ford F-150.
“We work on a lot of trucks here
in Texas,” said Gilmore, “Including
the new aluminum Fords, so we are
prepared and ready to put them back
on the road.”
When asked about their affiliation
with insurance companies, he said
although his shop is a DRP, they’ve
gotten more selective with their programs over the years.
“Some of them don’t fit us anymore as far as the way we like to
take care of our customers, as well
as our overall business model,” he
said. “We are all about making sure
we repair the vehicle in the safest
and best way possible for the
customer.
“Our guys treat these cars like
one of their family members will be
driving in it when it leaves,” Gilmore
said. Gilmore relies on word of mouth,
and some Facebook promotion to advertise.
“We also support the community
as far as local school sports teams,”
said Gilmore. “We won’t say no to any
of those kids.”
They offer an app on the Gilmore’s Collision Center website which allows customers to get an estimate
from the comfort of their home or
office.
“They can download the app to
their smart phone, take pictures, put
in the VIN and we can get them a
quote,” explained Gilmore. “Obviously we can’t always see all of the
damage from a picture, and we explain that to the customer, but it does
give them an idea of the cost so they
can decide if they want to file an insurance claim or just pay out of
pocket.”
As far as his involvement with
other industry members, Gilmore has
been a part of the BASF Performance
Group for eight years, and is currently
president.
“We’ve found nothing is better
than meeting up with other good body
shop owners and sharing information,
and being around owners that push
you,” he explained. “We set goals and
hold each other accountable to excel.
It’s been great for our business.”
Adam Miller, painter at Gilmore’s
Collision Center, enters in the
speed and distance for IONITEC
to cure the clear coat.
The IONITEC arm by D&S Curing
Solutions cures the clear coat inside Gilmore’s Collision Center.
D & S Curing Solutions
Doug Verdier, President
Sam Midgley, Vice President
of International Sales
1835 NW Couch St, Portland OR
(971) 563-3429
Australia Ph. +61 39323 1153
[email protected]
www.dscuringsolutions.com
Autopark Collision Relies on DJS Fabrications for
Productivity through Organized Parts Storage
Autopark Collision has been serving
customers in the Escondido, CA, by
capitalizing on their reliability and
trustworthiness to build their business with superior customer service
and high quality repairs.
Autopark Collision originally
opened its doors in 1978 as Heller
Body Shop, a dealership shop, and
became an independent collision repair facility in 2007. The single location boasts 12,000 square feet of
production space and employs 11
collision repair professionals who repair an average of 100 vehicles
monthly. Their equipment prepares
them to repair anything other than
aluminum, and they do not offer central vacuum services. They spray
with PPG waterborne paint which
provides expert color matching services, and they participate in four
DRPs with Mercury, MetLife, Kemper and Ameriprise.
Autopark Collision relies on products to be dependable and efficient
and simplicity is a key factor. Using
car parts storage racks manufactured by DJS Fabrications, for example. Scott Hillery, owner of Autopark
Collision, refers to these racks as
“one of the best purchases we have
ever made.”
Autopark Collision began using
car parts racks from DJS Fabrications in early 2012. Hillery calls it a
wise investment: “Car parts were
being left in customer vehicles for
storage, and it became a major
headache, especially because we
conduct a complete disassembly
prior to ordering parts to ensure that
the customer’s vehicle is accurately
restored to its pre-loss condition.
Using DJS Fabrications’ racks has
allowed us to become cleaner and
better organized. Now, parts are not
lost or damaged nearly as often. This
product has proven to be invaluable.”
The storage racks were easy to
add to the shop’s normal processes,
and Autopark Collision has not experienced any issues with the product or
DJS’s customer service department.
Hillery says, “Our shop started our relationship with DJS by purchasing just
a few racks, and we now use two
dozen. Our technicians will never go
back to the old way of storing and organizing parts — they prefer the DJS
Autopark Collision
Location: Escondido, CA
(760) 741-5766
www.autoparkcollision.com
In Business Since: 1978/2007
DRP Programs: Four
Autopark Collision in Escondido, CA delivers quality repairs to their
market.
racks because the mesh grates are
finer so the parts don’t fall through.
Also, the wheels perform better than
those on similar products, making
them easier to control when loaded
with parts. Plus, the product is bulletproof. There’s just no comparison; the
storage racks from DJS Fabrications
are some of the best purchases we’ve
ever made!”
DJS Fabrications offers a variety
of dollies and parts racks, as well as
truck bed carts and paint rail sets.
DJS racks are stackable and fold for
easy storage when they are not in
use, and their products provide easy
mobility of damaged vehicles around
the shop. Their website explains that
DJS can “help you lean out your
cycle and processing time with our
high-quality parts racks and mobile
stations.” DJS Fabrications’ products
are available for purchase through
dealers around the country and internationally, and they provide a
one-year 100% satisfaction guarantee for their customers.
While Autopark Collision is a
large standalone shop that resembles competitors in the Escondido
market, the shop stands out by guaranteeing superior customer service
and quality repairs. In addition to offering a nationwide warranty as a
CARSTAR location, Autopark Collision is also an I-CAR Gold facility,
plus they are affiliated with ASE,
BBB, Autobody Alliance and the Escondido Chamber of Commerce. Adhering to their focus on providing
customers with the best repair possible, the shop only employs technicians who are certified through I-CAR
or ASE. Although they repair vehicles
of all makes and models, the shop
has found its niche by specializing in
Ford and Hyundai vehicles. Their
customer service experience extends
to providing drop-off and pick-up
services for their clientele’s convenience.
In addition to supporting the local
community by sponsoring local high
school sports teams, Autopark Collision is very environmentally conscientious. They utilize dry sanding
techniques and spray with PPG waterborne paint to reduce airborne
contaminants. The shop also recycles all metal and paper waste in an
effort to reduce their carbon footprint.
Recently, Hillery has noticed that
insurers appear to be steering more
than ever. When looking to the industry’s future, Hillery predicts, “The
industry will continue shrinking with
the emergence of national brands.
With auto braking and self-driving
cars becoming more prevalent, we
may also see a reduction in the volume of repairs needed.”
Hillery has also observed both
negative and positive trends in the
industry in recent years: “Increases
in the number of telematics systems
in modern vehicles mandate the
need for scanning, and in order to
stay competitive, shops will require
a large capital investment. On the
positive side, shop operators are becoming better business people, and
more women are entering the collision repair industry. OEM certification is also making things better, so I
believe that we may actually get to a
real standard of repair.”
12,000 square feet
DJS Fabrications’ car storage
racks help Autopark Collision stay
organized and avoid misplacing
parts.
Owner Scott Hillery says DJS
racks are "one of the best
purchases we've ever made."
DJS Fabrications
Menifee, CA
951-698-4510
http://djsfabrications.com
Eco Repair Changes the Way BMW Collision
Center Fixes Cars
In 2010, New Century BMW, a large
BMW dealership in Alhambra, California (between Los Angeles and
Pasadena), opened their own collision center. Early on, the decision
was made to become a BMW Certified Collision Repair Center and to fix
only BMWs. All personnel, equipment, tool and facility decisions were
made with this goal in mind. Certification was granted two months after
opening.
Since then, under the supervision of Stephen Pan, General Manager, and Ed Cobett, Collision
Center Manager, the collision center
has experienced steady growth and
gained a reputation as the “go to”
place in Los Angeles County to get a
BMW fixed. Only new Original BMW
Parts, BMW Colorsystem Paint, and
BMW approved repair techniques
are used by BMW-trained technicians on every car they fix.
Chosen as the Best Overall Certified Collision Repair Center (CCRC)
by BMW of North America for 2014
and 2015, New Century BMW Collision Center repairs over 100 BMWs
every month.
Last year, this management team
signed on the dotted line with Eco
Repair Systems of North America
LLC, a “Robaina Group” company.
Eco Repair Systems is changing the
way BMW collision centers such as
New Century BMW fix cars by introducing innovative OEM approved repair equipment for the aluminum,
steel and plastics used in current
BMW vehicles.
By adding an Eco Repair System
to their 19,000 sq. ft. facility, New
Century BMW is able to repair some
panels that normally would have
been replaced. “BMW did some fairly
in-depth research before choosing
the Eco Repair System,” Cobett
said. “They saw in it action and used
it themselves to make certain it was
ideal for our vehicles. Now BWM
North America is not just recommending its use, but actually making
it a requirement in 2017. If you’re a
BMW Certified Collision Center, you
New Century BMW
Collision Center
Location: Alhambra, CA
(973) 376-3535
www.ncbmwcollision.com
New Century BMW in Alhambra, CA was chosen as the Best Overall
Certified Collision Repair Center (CCRC) by BMW of North America for
2014 and 2015. Here is Ed Cobett, the Collision Center Manager, with
the two awards.
will have to get this system.”
New Century BMW has been
using the Eco Repair System for less
than a year, but they have already
been impressed by the results. “After
30 years of being told to replace
parts, we’re now able to repair some
parts that we used to replace,” Cobett
said. “This means less impact to the
car, reducing severity and time. BMW
has advanced leaps and bounds with
their riveting and adhesive bonding
as opposed to welding on cars. With
Eco Repair, we don’t cut panels off
the vehicles — we leave them on and
do less invasive repairs.”
“It’s a comprehensive system
with more than 100 different parts
and there is definitely a learning
curve when it comes to using all the
different components correctly”
Cobett said. “For instance, I could
see that some technicians were a
little skeptical about using the various
parts of the system to remove dents.
But, now, after six months watching it
in use by others, they are using it,
with positive, sometimes amazing
results.”
The crew at New Century BMW
is getting better and better at using
the Eco Repair System, including the
aluminum repair system, a steel repair system, plastic welding, and
PDR equipment. Each of these subsystems can be used by individual
techs in their workspace while other
parts of the system are used by other
technicians.
Global approval by BMW AG
Group covers BMW, MINI & Rolls
Royce. Eco Repair Systems products are now required for use by
BMW AG and BMW of North America personnel for panel repairs via
BMW’s body repair programs and
BMW’s ISTA repair procedures.
Collision centers can now use the
approved Eco Repair System’s
equipment and tools to help reduce
the severity of repair, cycle time, improve cash-flow and their bottom
line while being a more responsible
and efficient facility.
Robaina Direct LLC on behalf of
Eco Repair Systems of North America LLC is the exclusive authorized
importer for Eco Repair Systems Ltd.
in North America. Robaina Direct
LLC sells its own brands, imports
Eco Repair System UK Products,
and the Flatliner systems as well as
other products it supplies for OEM
Vehicle Manufacturer Certified programs.
The honeymoon period with the
Eco Repair System is not over at
New Century BMW, but Cobett can
clearly see that the tools work. “Once
our technicians become more proficient at using this equipment, we’ll
see even better results. It always
comes down to practice, practice,
practice.”
19,000 square feet
New Century BMW has only used
their Eco Repair tools for a short
time, but they are already seeing
outstanding results.
All the technicians at New Century
BMW Collision Center are quickly
becoming more and more adept
at using their Eco Repair tools.
Here is Robert Cruz repairing,
rather than replacing, a door.
Eco Repair Systems
of North America LLC
Robaina Direct LLC
4695 MacArthur Ct. 11th Floor
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 945.2163
www.ecorepairsystems.com
www.robaina.direct
Lusid Technologies Gives Lakeside Paint & Body
“Glamour Affect with Economic Value”
Lakeside Paint & Body has been in
the same location, with the same
telephone number, using the same
personable approach to customer
service since its doors first opened
in 1968.
“Lakeside is a small community,”
said owner George Toth. “Eighty to
90 percent of us know each other on
a first-name basis. Our customers do
not feel like a number.”
He added that out of the 17,777
people he has served since he took
over the family business 28 years
ago, almost all have found the shop
by word of mouth.
“We are not a DRP,” said Toth.
“The insurance companies guide
customers to their DRPs, instead of
letting people choose who they want
to work on their car. At the end of the
day, it’s the customer’s car, not the
insurance company’s, and the customer should be comfortable with
whoever is working on it.”
In order to help new-age customers find their shop, Lakeside
Paint & Body became a member of
Yelp about a year ago.
“It’s the only form of advertisement we’ve had to use in 50 years,”
Toth said. He added that, as a business owner, he finds Yelp helpful,
likes it so far and has received a lot
of positive feedback. Although Toth
said since he doesn’t monitor the
Yelp reviews, he encourages customers who aren’t satisfied to speak
with him in person.
“I will respond to someone that
gives me a chance and who tells me,
‘Hey I’m not happy,’” Toth said. “I’ll
look at the car and evaluate it a little
differently, putting myself in the customer’s shoes, ‘How would I feel?’”
Toth also discussed the importance of using quality products to
meet the customer’s needs, which is
why Lakeside Paint & Body started
using Lusid Technologies a year and
a half ago.
“Lusid Technologies gives us a
glamour affect with economic value,”
he said. “It really looks good and it
costs about 25 percent less than
other materials.”
Toth added, “We’re having great
success with the color matches too,
and the clears are very high quality.”
Lakeside Paint & Body
Location: Lakeside, CA
(619) 561-0187
Facility Employees: Six
5,000 square feet
George Toth, owner of Lakeside Paint & Body, smiles for the camera
while behind his desk.
Lusid Technologies is dedicated
to supplying state-of-the-art product
technology to the OEM, fleet, and
automotive and light industrial marketplace. The company’s Northstar™
products are automotive quality tailored to meet fleet and OEM application requirements. Lusid’s research
and development laboratory and
sales team work diligently to ensure
suitable applications for customer
needs.
Toth said Lakeside Body & Paint
was the first shop in town to use waterbased paint, but now that there are
low VOC compliant solvent basecoats,
they’ve switched to Lusid’s GenVerde
line which meets regulatory standards
at an excellent price. This, combined
with better coverage rates, translates
into improved production time thus increasing efficiency at a better price.
When asked whether or not
Lakeside Paint & Body repairs aluminum vehicles, Toth said his shop
works with alloyed, fiberglass, and
also does metal fabrication.
He then went on to explain how,
after 20 years of working in the industry and thinking he knew everything, he started looking for new
ways to gain knowledge and reach
out to customers.
“I always knew in the back of my
mind that I had crashed my dad’s
Mustang three hours after getting
my temporary paper license,” said
Toth. “But I didn’t know my penance
would be to make the lives of 16year-old drivers a little easier.”
He said on more than one occa-
sion, he has had new drivers come
into his office in a similar state he
had once been in himself.
“People are crying, the parents
are there, the kids are just upset;
it’s a bad deal,” said Toth. “So, I
have to find a way to break the ice
and change that emotion. I don’t
like to see people crying.”
He then goes over to the new
driver and “drills” them on what happened.
“At first they don’t know I’m really interested, so after I hear this
and that, I ask, ‘How long have you
had your license?’” said Toth. “And
they go, ‘two weeks,’ or somewhere
along those lines.”
That’s when he tells the family
that they qualify for a discount.
“When they hear the word discount in that state of alarm, their
eyes widen and their ears open up
and listen,” said Toth. “And when
they ask what I mean, I say, ‘Well,
you didn’t break my record, so you
don’t have to pay full price.’”
He then goes into his own story.
“By the time they leave, they’re
laughing and more at ease,” said
Toth. “They’re still going to have to
pay something, but we try to give
the best discount we can, because
the most compassionate 16-yearold driver, me, is making the call.”
He said that lesson, and the
positive reaction he has received,
has kept him going.
“I may not have financial stardom, but my morals are still in tact,”
said Toth.
A view of Lakeside Paint & Body’s
outdoor facilities.
A customer’s bumper is painted
using GenVerde.
Lusid Technologies
(801) 966-5300
www.lusid.biz
Shop in Kentucky is Saving 40% by Using Matrix
TM
Rodger’s Body Shop
By putting cars back in their pre-accident condition, Rodger’s Body
Shop in Louisville, KY, is also able
to pursue their main passion, which
is building hot rods and restoring
classic vehicles for its customers.
By doing quality repairs and building a great reputation over the past
43 years, Rodger’s is able to perform both collision repair and car
restorations simultaneously, and
with high quality.
Rodger’s Body Shop has been
using the Matrix Premium Basecoat
(MPB) solvent line since late last
year with outstanding results. Although they were happy with the
quality of their former paint, and their
former paint vendor of more than
three decades − in the end it came
down to profitability.
Rodger Weihe is 71 and still
fully in the collision game, but he is
now depending more and more on
his two sons, Jeff, 46, and Jay, 37,
to run the business. “Jeff is my
main painter and Jay manages the
front office, dealing with the insurance companies and doing all of
the customer service,” Weihe said.
“They work well together and when
the time comes, they will be running this business.”
In addition to fixing approximately 40-50 cars every month,
Rodger’s is well-known for building
some of the finest hot rods in Kentucky. Over the years father and
sons have restored at least 300 hot
rods, according to Weihe Sr. The
shop won two ISCA Paint awards
at the 53rd annual Carl Casper
Custom Auto Show in Louisville
earlier this year, along with the Best
Street Achievement Paint award,
the show’s most coveted honor.
They all have other interests −
Rodger is an avid fisherman; Jeff is
a former offensive lineman for the
University of Kentucky; and Jay
trains Mixed Marital Arts fighters. But
hot rods are #1 in all of their lives.
The shop restores cars for customers, of course, but they also
have their own fleet of restorations.
“I’m down to six now, but I used to
have 10,” Weihe Sr. said. “My sons
have half a dozen between the two
of them, mostly Chevys built in the
Location: Louisville, KY
(502) 933-1475
Type: Collision and Car Restoration
Facility Employees: Six
20,000 square feet
TM
Painter Jeff Weihe has been spraying Matrix Premium Basecoat (MPB)
solvent line at Rodger’s Body Shop since late last year with excellent
results.
late 1960s. We all get a lot of satisfaction out of entering our vehicles
in car shows and getting them into
car publications.”
As the shop’s painter, Jeff Weihe
works with Matrix every day. “We’re
saving at least 40% over the brand
we were using before, which is
awesome,” he said. “All we needed
to do was get used to the different
basecoat numbers and the application was easy. The clearcoat from
Matrix is also a lot better, because
it lays done slicker and it’s just easier to spray. I don’t have to fight it,
which makes my life a little easier.”
The Weihe family appreciates
the company and their jobber for its
products and support. “It’s been a
great relationship and we couldn’t
be more pleased with Matrix,” Jay
Weihe said. “With all of the pressures in this business − price pressures and push back from the
insurance companies, etc. − we’re
happy to not have to worry about
our paint and the finished product.”
Jeff also values the support and
quick service from Keystone/LKQ,
his jobber, but also stays prepared in
case of a rush. “I like to have two of
everything here in the shop, just in
case one car uses up a lot of a certain color like red, white and some of
the silvers, for example. So, we go
two deep on our inventory, but if we
do need something fast, Keystone
will get it to us the next day.”
Jay said it wasn’t painless to
switch paint vendors, but in the
end it was an easy decision. “We
really liked out former jobber, but
we finally realized hey, ‘we’re in
this business to make money and
not throw it away.’ “We started getting price comparison sheets from
other paint companies and saw
that we were paying too much for
what we were getting. The Matrix
is just as good or better than the
other paint and the price makes it
a better solution for us.”
Founded in 1983, Matrix is acclaimed worldwide for its quality,
high performance clearcoats, and
primers, but it’s also known for its
amazing color and the ability to
come up with consistently precise
color matches. In 1994, the company began developing its revolutionary AccuShade® computerized
formula retrieval system. Painters
love using it because it’s fast, accurate, and easy-to-use and gets
them color matches they can’t find
anywhere else.
Will Rodger’s Body Shop keep
playing a dual role − fixing newer
damaged cars and restoring old
classic ones? “Definitely,” Jeff
Weihe said. “When we work on hot
rods, we’re making them look better than before, but when we do
collision repair, we’re just putting
them back together. One pays the
bills and the other one gives us a
real sense of accomplishment, so
it all works well together.”
This 1969 Chevelle is a prime
example of the award-winning
hot rods that Rodger’s Body Shop
is well-known for.
From left, Rodger Weihe with his
sons, Jason and Jeff run this
highly successful shop.
MatrixTM Automotive Finishes,
A Valspar Automotive Brand
P.O. Box 1461
Minneapolis, MN 55440
(800) 321-0672
www.matrixsystem.com
facebook.com/matrixsystem
instagram.com/matrixsystem
Mobile Environmental Solutions
The leading U.S. provider of Portable Mobile Paint Booths with
advanced technology airflow for the collision repair industry.
Finally, a Portable Mobile Paint Booth created
to make your paint business efficient and profitable.
CALL TODAY 888-321-1320
Positive Pressure Cross Flow Filtration
Mobile Paint Booth is EPA Certified, OSHA airflow
compliant, and made with material that complies
with the NFPA® 701 rule.
The Exhaust filters used exceed the 98% capture
efficiency. EPA (SUBPART HHHHHH) 6H Rule
The MES23X15HDLT comes equipped with twelve
adjustable filtered air inlets. This design allows the
sprayer to increase or decrease the air flow in
desired locations of the booth.
Perfect for mobile technicians or overflow in
bodyshops
Standard Sizes: 15x15, 23x15 & 30x15
Bigger and Smaller Sizes are Available
1150 McCaleb Road, Suite E1
Montgomery, TX 77316
888-321-1320 ph. 800-416-4230 fax
www.mobileenvironmentalsolutions.com
Street Scenes Auto Stays Green While Saving Space
with Mobile Environmental Solutions
Collision repair is just one of many
reasons customers across the
country seek out Street Scenes
Auto, a family-owned shop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Street Scenes Auto also specializes in custom paint and body,
paintless dent repair, interior repair,
reconditioning and finishing services with over 25 years experience.
The main shop is posted up on Futrell
Drive.
“We will ship cars all over the
United States,” said owner, Rick
Pearson. “My partners will also fly
to different countries and purchase
cars for clients.”
Since Street Scenes opened in
2004, Pearson’s clients have ranged
from NASCAR to Formula One Imports to Acme Aero, and everything
in between.
“We cater to the small guy and
the big guy; there’s no job too small,”
he said. “We work on all makes and
models; we might work on a $2 million car one day and a Camry the
next.”
“Street Scenes can be filled with
$5 million worth of vehicles at any
given time,” he added.
Pearson and his crew recently
worked on the #2 Miller Lite NASCAR
race car, driven by Brad Keselowski,
who broke a 33-race drought with a
victory during the Kobalt 400 at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway.
“In the past, we have also partnered with International Sports Cars
to perform classic vehicle restorations,” he said.
For local customers, Street
Scenes Auto offers free pick-up and
drop-off service to anywhere in Charlotte, and will help set customers up
with a rental car.
“We like to put the customer
first,” said Pearson. “We want to develop home grown relationships;
we’re not looking for a one time job
- we want to continue business.”
Although the shop is technically
not a DRP, Pearson said he is in contact with major insurance companies
in order to assist the customer.
“We like to focus on the whole
customer experience; from when
they walk into the door to when
Street Scenes Auto
Charlotte, NC
(704) 668-9680
www.streetscenesauto.com
Type: Collision Repair, Vehicle
Restoration, Aero
Facility Employees: Five
Production Space: 5,000 square feet
Street Scene Auto in Charlotte, NC, shares their facilities (pictured here)
with Acme Aero and International Sports Cars.
they leave with their vehicle,” he
explained. “We want it to be memorable.”
After customer service, the next
priority at Street Scenes Auto is
staying up-to-date on the latest tools
and products.
Pearson said his shop started
using Mobile Environmental Solutions a couple months ago.
“We were the first shop in North
Carolina to have a Mobile Environmental Solutions paint booth,” said
Pearson. “These booths allow for a
clean work environment that is EPA
6H rule compliant.”
provide the most ECO friendly paint
booth on the market today, with features like advanced technology airflow. Its portable quality gives body
shops the freedom to paint anywhere, anytime.
“I like how I can roll it up when
I’m finished with a paint job, and use
the empty work space for something
else,” he said. “I might not need the
paint booth for two days, and in that
time, I can use those bays for sanding and prepping cars. I didn’t have
that luxury with a conventional paint
booth. Now I’m able to take on more
work.”
He added that in the last 10 years
or so, the state has really been “cracking down” on shops about proper
waste disposal, converting to waterbourne paint, and, overall, becoming
more environmentally friendly.
Pearson has four employees
apart from himself that work in the
main 5,000 square foot facility.
“I’m an owner and an operator,
so I’m out here working too, I’m not
just sitting in the office,” he explained. “I do all the painting, I do all
the estimates, I deal with all the insurance companies...I’m hands on.”
Pearson said his biggest stress
is finding employees that are up to
his standards.
“For us here [at Street Scenes],
this is a passion, not something we
do just to make a living.”
Another one of Pearson’s passions is helping less fortunate children in the Charlotte area. For more
than three years, he and his wife
Ginger Pearson have been program directors for a nonprofit called
Make Your Mark Ministry.
The organization’s home base is
a three-story day center located in
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
The founders, Trent and Carmen
Post, have lived there for five years.
“Make Your Mark is an international Christian non-profit that is dedicated to defending the poor, the
orphans and vulnerable children,”
said Pearson. “We exist to love,
serve and build orphans and impoverished children/families, by meeting
their physical, spiritual, educational,
social and emotional needs that they
may overcome their life circumstances and break free from the
cycle of generational poverty.”
(L to R) Rick Pearson, owner of
Street Scenes Automotive;
Brandon Moore, master
mechanic shop foreman; Eric
Robinson, chief operations
officer of Acme Aero; Matt
McSwain, Owner of International
Sports Cars.
A vehicle is prepped for paint
inside the shop’s portable paint
booth by Mobile Environmental
Solutions.
1150 McCaleb Rd, Suite E-1
Montgomery, TX 77316
(281) 786-4584
(888) 321-1320
www.mobileenvironmentalsolutions.com
Shop Owner Fixes 80% of All Bumpers
with Polyvance
Highlands Ranch
Collision Center
Jay Corken owns a busy body shop
in Littleton, CO, repairing roughly
120 cars every month rain or shine.
With two DRPs, some fleet work
sprinkled in and several mutuallybeneficial relationships with local car
dealerships, Highlands Ranch Collision Center has a wide range of
brand-specific certifications. These
include: Ford (aluminum), Nissan,
Infiniti and Hyundai.
Corken, 56, is always looking for
the latest equipment, products and
techniques that he can use to repair
cars properly and quickly for people
living in this suburb of Denver. And
that’s why he was intrigued when he
first heard about Polyvance’s (formerly called Urethane Supply Comany) 6059-C Nitro Fuzer Welding
System, which is universally respected as the most cutting-edge nitrogen plastic welding equipment on
the market today. He has been using
it now for less than six months, but it
is already an integral part of his daily
production.
Corken learned the body business from his grandfather and his
uncle, back in the day when plastic
welders were not even imaginable.
“My grandpa Ken taught me a lot until
he passed at age 92,” Corken said. “I
remember watching him work when I
was six and riding around on some
old bumper jacks. I started Corken
Auto Body in 1984 and we were open
for 14 years. In 1998, I opened Highlands Ranch Collision Center and we
have been going strong ever since.”
By making sturdy repairs on virtually any type of plastic, Corken is
pleased to report that he is now repairing 80 percent of all the bumpers
coming through his doors. “Welding
with nitrogen gas creates the strongest
welds possible because it eliminates
oxidation of the plastic during the welding process,” he said. “I’ve been in
this industry for more than 32 years
and I’ve seen the technology change
and evolve. I’m very impressed with
this welding system, because now
we’re able to keep more money in
the shop.”
With the 6059-C Nitro Fuzer
Welding System, Corken is able to
make a great profit with each bumper
he can fix. “Since acquiring this
welder, our estimators are writing to
Littleton, CO
(303) 791-6660
16,000 square feet
At Highlands Ranch Collision Center, Technician Jake Kern has become
adept at saving bumpers by using Polyvance’s 6059-C Nitro Fuzer
Welding System.
repair the bumpers, which helps to
eliminate blending into the quarters. I have some great painters,
but with a lot of these new colors,
matching them isn’t always easy.
Now we can fix that bumper and
move on. It’s a pretty incredible machine!”
When it comes to using Polyvance’s 6059-C Nitro Fuzer Welding
System, the mantra is “repair rather
than replace” and an approach that
is working well for Corken and his
crew. “We can make more profit by
welding rather than using two-part
adhesives,” he said. “This system allows us to fix tabs, mounting holes
and slots--things we couldn’t do before with two-part adhesives. This
Polyvance welder comes with an Lshaped rod that you put in the back
of the bumper to weld the tabs back
on.”
Corken is also impressed with
the strong bonds he’s creating by
using the Polyvance welder. “The
finished product is almost stronger
than the original part, to be honest,”
he said. “After we fix a bumper, we
can stand behind it. We are confident that it will withstand whatever it
encounters and we’ve had zero
comebacks on any of them.”
Shops can also save time with
Polyvance’s 6059-C Nitro Fuzer
Welding System. “Using this machine works so much faster than
those two-part epoxies,” Corker explained. “There is no waiting for
cure time. When the repairs are
complete, they just cool the bumper
with some water, then sand it, prime
it and paint it.”
Corken’s crew was able to become skilled using the welder rather
quickly. “Each tech can use it,” he
said. “My lead tech and his helper
can turn these out quickly and
they’re perfect.”
The training process on the
6059-C Nitro Fuzer Welding System
was easy and the support is also
outstanding, Corken said. “A gentleman named Leon Roberts came out
here from Alabama and he did a
great job showing our techs how to
use the machine. Within 15 minutes,
they were using it and within a few
hours they were getting good at
using it.”
What does the future hold for
Corken and Highlands Ranch Collision Center? “I want to work until
I’m about 62 and then I’d love to sell
the business to my employees, because they’re one of the main reasons why we’re here now. That
would please me greatly.”
Back in 1981, Polyvance was
formed to address the needs of
bumper recyclers and to supply products to repair urethane bumper covers. As auto manufacturers began
using other materials in bumper covers, Polyvance developed products
to repair those types of plastics as
well. By focusing on plastic repair and
refinishing, Polyvance is breaking
down the process of plastic repair
and developing products to address
each step and changing the collision
industry one repair at a time.
Within just 15 minutes, Corken’s
crew was using Polyvance’s
6059-C Nitro Fuzer Welding
System and after a few hours
they were getting good at it.
Owner Jay Corken is keeping
money in his shop by fixing
bumpers instead of buying new
ones for his customers.
Polyvance
1128 Kirk Road
Rainsville, AL 35986
(800) 633-3047
www.polyvance.com
PPG Helps Car Craft Autobody after Stormy Days
Garry Goddard got a very rude
welcome from the collision repair industry when he entered it back in
2011. After taking over the operation at Car Craft Autobody in the St.
Louis, MO area, two highly significant weather-related tragedies occurred.
First was the well-known “Good
Friday” tornado, a thunderstorm that
produced a tornado that left a 21mile long path of destruction across
northern St. Louis County in Missouri. It was followed a year later by
the “Meteor Shower” hailstorm.
“I had just been hired by the
shop’s current owner Jimmy Mason
and was still living in Kansas City, so
I was on a plane to go back there for
Easter when I got the news that the
tornado had completely destroyed
our shop in Bridgeton,” Goddard said.
The tornado was a tragedy, but
it was also blessing in many ways,
Goddard reflected. “None of our employees were hurt, and to be honest,
we were getting ready to demolish
that building anyway. It was an antiquated facility and we were actually
drawing up plans for our new building, so in a way it did us a favor.”
Unfortunately, it also seriously
hampered Goddard’s production
process, especially when a huge
hailstorm hit the area almost exactly
one year later. “People were calling
it a meteor shower, that’s how intense it was! With the Bridgeton shop
still under construction, we were operating out of a 8,000 sq. ft. shop
when it hit. For the next year, we
were jammed with PDR work, shuttling 20-30 cars every week from our
Bridgeton location to our Chesterfield
shop to do all of the hail work. It was
crazy, but we got it done.”
Almost two years after the tornado, Mason and Goddard as well
as the Car Craft team re-opened
the Bridgeton location after delays
caused by FEMA and the insurance
companies. Now he and his team
were ready to do what Goddard
wanted to do all along—perform the
best quality repairs and strive to return each and every car back to its
pre-accident condition.
Since Goddard arrived, the Car
Craft team has doubled revenues
while adding an aluminum facility, as
Car Craft Autobody
Location: Chesterfield, Bridgeton
and Oakville, MO
(636) 534-7000
www.Car-CraftAutoBody.com
Number of Locations: Three
108,000 square feet
Painter Marty Miller sprays PPG all day long and loves it at the Car Craft
Autobody in Chesterfield, MO.
well as a third location in Oakville,
MO. All three locations perform mechanical repair and have also
earned a list of impressive nameplate certifications, including Tesla,
BMW, Porsche, Maserati and Infiniti.
Mason said there has been a
complete culture change at Car
Craft since Goddard joined the team
and became the company’s VP,
“We’ve changed literally everything
here,” he said. “We don’t just hope
that the customers will show up, we
give them a reason to come here
now.
One of the biggest changes at
Car Craft included a switchover to
PPG’s Envirobase® High Performance waterborne basecoat, after
being with the same paint company
for 24 years.”
Switching paint companies is
never easy, so Goddard thought
long and hard before he decided to
start looking around for an alternative. “It all started when we started
having tinting issues on the luxury
brands we repair,” he said. “Our former vendor tried to help us to get a
color match with the Tesla red and
they could not get it. They painted
one vehicle for us themselves and
four weeks later the paint started
bubbling, so we knew that we had
to change. We were getting comebacks and we were obviously very
concerned.”
Goddard’s jobber, Cooper Color
suggested trying PPG and its owner
Dave Cooper gave it a glowing recommendation. “Try it first. Dave told
us—so we did and we were immediately impressed,” Goddard said. “We
were blown away, to be honest.”
In January of this year, Car Craft
installed PPG Envirobase® High Performance waterborne basecoat into
its production after trying it for almost
six months. The shops also spray
PPG’s EC530 En-V™ Performance
Clearcoat, their high gloss 2.1 VOC
clear engineered specifically for use
over the waterborne basecoat.
Goddard appreciates the quality of the product and especially the
support he receives from both his
jobber and PPG itself. “Price is not
always the main factor and the
service and support from PPG is
exceptional,” he said. “Their sales
and service wowed me initially and
it’s just gotten better since then.”
Without another big storm coming his way anytime soon, Goddard’s
relationship with PPG will bring him
sunny days for many years to come,
he said. “PPG is now a big part of
what we do here and I can say that it
has helped us to achieve one of the
best customer service ratings in the
industry (97%).”
Car Craft is using PPG to paint
approximately 450 cars every month
and they haven’t looked back since.”It
is one of the best decisions I’ve ever
made and every time I look at a pristine Tesla or a Porsche with a perfect
paint job, it reinforces in my commitment to this paint. We haven’t had
one single comeback and the feedback we’re getting from our customers is outstanding.”
Car Craft Autobody paints roughly
450 cars every month, so they
rely on their PPG Envirobase®
High Performance waterborne
basecoat big-time.
The busy shop floor at Car Craft
Auto Body’s Chesterfield facility.
PPG Automotive Refinish
Company Contact: Cindy Schauer
(440) 572-2800
[email protected]
www.ppgrefinish.com
Collision Center Supporting Multiple Dealerships
Relies on Prospray®
Supporting multiple car dealerships
while painting a wide range of used
cars for resale, Ed Martin All Makes
Collision Center in Indianapolis, IN,
needs a paint that can perform at a
high level. Body Shop Manager Dennis Deaton and his crew rely on
Prospray every day to give them the
finished product they require.
Deaton, 61, has been in the collision repair industry for 41 years with
13 managing the company’s collision
center. The Martin family has been
his only employer and he is proud of
that. To say that Deaton worked his
way up the ladder hardly describes
it. He started as a body tech and held
that position until 1985. Then, he became an estimator until 2003, when
he became the body shop manager
at Ed Martin All Makes Collision Center.
“It’s a great company and I love
what I’m doing,” Deaton said. “I
came here when I was 19 and they
gave me a shot, so I’m not planning
on going anywhere else. I will probably retire at some point, but it has
been nice to work for the same company for so long.”
The Ed Martin Automotive Group
was founded 61 years ago by Ed
Martin Sr. He was a football star at
Butler University in Indianapolis and
his parents were both attorneys. In
1946, Ed sold his first car out of his
parent’s front yard.
The next day, his parents told
him that their front yard was not a
used car lot, so the young entrepreneur went to the owner of their
local gas station and negotiated a
deal to sell his cars there. As his
sales grew, Ed decided to open
his own car lot, from which he continued selling and wholesaling used
cars.
In 1955, Ed Martin purchased
an Oldsmobile dealership in Shelbyville, IN, and five years later he
became the youngest Ford dealer
in the country. Ed passed away in
2005 and today his two daughters
and his son-in-law run the business’
13 franchises in seven locations.
Ed Martin All Makes
Collision Center
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 359-4227
www.edmartinhonda.com
TM
DRP Programs: Two
The Ed Martin All Makes Collision Center has been using Prospray since
September of 2009 with spectacular results.
Deaton has been using Prospray®
since September of 2009 and it has
been a wonderful relationship ever
since. He liked his former paint vendor
and their products, but he needed a
more economic solution. “We wanted
a quality product at a better price, so
we started looking around,” Deaton
said. “We were barely breaking even
with our current paint and materials
and the insurance companies were
capping us. So our jobber said ‘let’s
find a good paint at a cheaper price’
and two weeks later he came in here
with Prospray.”
Deaton was fairly skeptical until
he did a little research on the company and their products. “At the time,
it was fairly new to us, but really it was
a 27-year-old British company and
they had a great track record of being
a good quality production paint,” he
explained. “We started using it and
painted 4-5 cars with the Prospray
and we’ve been using it since. Our
painters really like it and our customers are thrilled with the results.”
Ed Martin All Makes Collision
Center uses the Prospray solvent
line’s versatile intermix system that
delivers single stage and basecoat
finishes from a single set of highstrength mixing toners to provide
both domestic and import formulations for a wide range of VOC-complaint applications.
Deaton is very impressed with
the accurate color matches he is
able to achieve on each and every
car that comes through his facility.
The Prospray European Intermix
System is comprised of an array of
exclusive toners, balancers, and
binders giving you the ability to mix
a full spectrum of color formulations, according to the company’s
website.
“These color matches are deadon and it’s pretty remarkable,” Deaton
said. “We had an old Isuzu Rodeo
here in the shop one day − a car that
was discontinued more than 10 years
ago. But we took one rusted bumper
and painted it with the Prospray and
man − it came out perfect. We work
on a lot of used cars here, getting
them ready for sale on our four used
lots and we treat them all the same
with the Prospray. These vehicles
come out looking new, so it really
helps us in our used car department.”
Prospray is versatile and that’s
why Deaton and his crew aren’t
afraid to apply it to even on the most
expensive vehicles they repair. “We
get $100,000 cars in here all the
time, because we work on all of the
brands that the Ed Martin Automotive Group sells, like the Nissan
GTRs which aren’t inexpensive. We
know that with the Prospray, we’re
always going to get a quality job that
matches perfectly, so there is a
peace of mind with this product.”
10,000 square feet
Today, the Ed Martin Automotive
Group has 13 franchises in seven
locations.
By painting a wide range of highend vehicles, The Ed Martin All
Makes Collision Center needs a
paint that can do a pristine job
every time and that’s why they
call upon Prospray.
Prospray® Automotive Finishes
P.O. Box 1461
(800) 321-0672
www.ProsprayFinishes.com
facebook.com/prospray
youtube.com/prosprayautofinishes
Painter Uses SATA Guns and Shoots for Quality
Premier Collision
Painter Steve Jones, 40, has been
making cars look beautiful again for
the past 23 years, and it all began
with a 1991 Camaro Z-28. A 17year-old with literally zero painting
experience, but with a background in
automotive repair, Jones was poised
and prepared to make his muscle
car look spectacular. When the finished product impressed everyone,
including himself, he was hooked.
How did that Camaro eventually
come out? “It was my car and I loved
it and I wanted to change the color
from a factory maroon to black,”
Jones said. “When I looked at the finished product, I knew that this is what
I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Jones’s passion for cars in general started 10 years prior. “My grandfather was a mechanic who worked a
lot on small engines in his garage in
Louisville, KY and I was pretty much
raised there,” he said. “Back then, we
also restored a ton of old VW Bugs—
that was a big business in Kentucky
during that time. I was out there at
age 10, every single night and every
weekend. Other kids were out playing sports and running around, but I
was in the garage with my grandfather working on cars.”
Jones keeps things fresh by fueling his artistic side, he explained,
while painting cars at Premier Collision in Duluth, GA. “I like to do custom work alongside my production
work, so that I can be creative and
tap into that. I took 12 years of art
classes in from elementary school
through high school and my mother
was an artist—a painter and a sculptor—so I think it’s in my DNA.”
Whenever he paints any vehicle,
whether it’s a restoration or a repair,
Jones uses SATA spray guns. He
has been using SATA exclusively for
the past decade, but for many years,
he was experimenting with different
spray guns, and paint brands as well.
“I’ve literally used every spray
gun in existence and sprayed every
type of paint you can imagine,”
Jones said. “I want to try everything
and demo it if I can, so that I can be
the best painter I can be. When
every gun used to come out, I would
try it. But, about 10 years ago I de-
Duluth, GA
(770) 622-0064
10,000 square feet
Steve Jones at Premier Collision in Duluth, GA is a perfectionist and
that’s why he is also looking for better ways to use his arsenal of
SATA spray guns.
cided to quit wasting time and just
rely on my SATA guns. The other
ones were just not built for me.”
Jones sticks to his SATA guns
for all the right reasons, he said.
“They’re fast and efficient and the
material transfer—you can’t beat it,”
he said. “A former employer told me
a few years ago that I was one-coating cars, because my clear coat
usage was so low. But, I told him
that’s the SATA guns that do that. I
put it on SATA because I know that’s
the reason why.”
While other painters were using
30% to 70% more product, Jones
was saving the shop tons of money
by using his SATA guns. “I want a
spray gun that I can tweak, because
I am always looking for the best
technique and I don’t want it to limit
me. I am always refining and changing the way I paint cars and these
SATA guns give me that flexibility.
I’m actually a different painter than
the one I was a year ago, because I
want to constantly evolve.”
Jones uses social media to
show his work to the world and to
the industry via Instagram at #paintbysteveo and also at #shoplife. “I
put 100% of all my work on Insta-
gram because I can get immediate
feedback from other painters and
car people,” Jones said. “It’s instant
and satisfying when other people
see your work and comment, share
it, etc.”
With 20 SATA guns and a hunger
for information about how to use
them better, he appreciates the technical support and customer service
provided by SATA. “I can actually ask
Tony Larimer at Dan-Am Company,
and he gets back to me promptly. If I
need a part, I have a local distributor
here and I can get them the next day.
The people at SATA care about their
products and that’s why they will
work with you and give you the information you need, which is exceptional.”
What will Jones be doing in 20
years when the SATA guns will be
even more cutting-edge and shops
will likely be fixing a lot of autonomous cars? “I’ll still be doing
this, because painting cars is a passion for me, not a job,” Jones said.
“If it’s a wrecked car or a motorcycle
or if I’m laying down candies, doing
graphics or just a regular paint job—
it does not matter. It’s what I am and
I still enjoy it after 23 years.”
Premier Collision is where Jones
performs his magic and his SATA
guns play a pivotal role.
Jones appreciates his SATA guns
every day, because they’re fast
and efficient and the material
transfer is superior.
Dan-Am Company
One Sata Drive
P.O. Box 46
Spring Valley, MN 55975
(800) 633-7282
www.sata.com
NY MSO Uses Only USI Spray Booths
Cole’s Collision Centers
While many body shop owners all
over the country are looking closely
at the incredible USI line of paint
booths, one shop owner is all-in with
this 40-year-old company and their
cutting-edge booths, mixing rooms
and prep decks. With a total of seven
USI booths in all of his four locations,
John Cole, the owner of Cole’s Collision Center in upstate New York,
isn’t just a customer, but is also a
huge advocate for these booths and
how they have helped his production
in countless ways.
As a veteran of the collision industry who started working for a
shop at age 16, John Cole, now 51,
began thinking seriously about opening his own shop back in 2006. With
the help of his father and a handful
of great friends, Cole renovated an
old building and converted it into a
state-of-the-art collision center facility. With previous experience managing a high-volume collision center
at a local dealership, Cole knew what
it would take to get his collision center operating at a high level.
Cole’s approach was to first get
some key employees, a few DRPs
and the finest equipment available
on the market and that’s exactly
what he did when he opened Cole’s
Collision Center of Colonie in 2007.
In just a short time, the shop was
one of the most successful collision
repairers in the region and Cole
was looking to expand.
From there, he opened three
more locations—in Ballston Spa
and Wilton in 2007 and another
shop in Clifton Park in 2012. Recently, he relocated Cole’s Collision
Center of Colonie to a new, modern
facility and this year he will be celebrating 10 years in business.
Cole knows exactly how his USI
paint booths have helped him to be
successful, crediting their amazing
features, including cycle inversion
dynamic dampers, online customer
assistance, humidity-based temperature regulation, warm-up operations
and a function that automatically regulates the booth’s air volume. But
that is technical jargon and probably
confusing to many people. What’s
most important to Cole and his paint
crew is that his USI booths do the job
the right way time and time again
Location: Colonie, NY
(518) 213-2070
www.colecollision.com
Number of Locations: Four
65,000 square feet
The USI booths get a lot of action at Cole’s Collision Centers in upstate
New York. In fact, they have five booths at their four locations.
and with outstanding results, while
saving time, energy and money.
Cole is no newbie when he
comes to paint booths and their capabilities, so when he decided to acquire USI booths, it was surely not
an impulse buy. “I have probably
sprayed in every paint booth out
there and I’ve never seen a booth
perform like a USI,” he said. “They’re
incredible and the air movement is
unmatched. The motors they put in
these fans—they’re like the blades
on a helicopter—amazing.”
“We love the waterborne feature
of the USI booths because we spray
waterborne in all of our locations,”
Cole said. “With these booths, we’re
getting the shortest flash-off and curing times in the industry, bar none.
You push a button and it ramps up
to cure the waterborne more quickly,
which is wonderful. With these
booths, you don’t need any additional fans or blowers in your booth
to cure these cars. Plus, it saves us
a ton on energy and we’re keeping
contaminants out of the paint.”
With USI’s Easy Paint System
(EPS), the booth can set the working rhythm and parameters of the
job, instead of it being performed by
the painter. “It’s actually a button on
the iPad that we use in conjunction
with the booth and it’s a totally automated function,” Cole said. “It gives
you the proper temperature, fan
speed, duration, purge and proper
bake and all you do is simply follow
the instructions. It’s like a microwave oven - you push the button
and it tells you what to do. You really
don’t have to even think about it.
Our painters love it!”
Cole is also enamored with USI’s
DGT Manager for its reporting capabilities, he said. “They give you total
control with this feature, so that we
can constantly have access to all of
the information available about our
energy consumption in real-time for
each job, including time reports for
the single cycles, operators and
pieces. This way, we’re not guessing;
we’re knowing.”
Training for the USI spray booths
was prompt and thorough, according
to Cole. “The people from USI came
in here and taught our painters how
to use it right away and then they
come back about a month later, and
re-train them and that’s where they
really fine-tune their skills. USI has
been great with training and support.
If you have a shop anywhere
near upstate NY and want to see a
USI spray booth in action, is Cole
willing to oblige? “Absolutely,” he
said. “I love these booths and I tell
people they’re the best out there, so
sure—call us and we’d be happy to
let you see how they work.”
John Cole runs a profitable MSO
and credits USI paint booths for a
good portion of his success.
USI booths do the job the right
way for Cole’s Collision Centers
while saving time, energy and
money—just ask painter Julio
Santana.
USI of North America
Company Contact: Stefan Moretto
(201) 405-7760
email: [email protected]
www.usius.com
Monte’s Auto Body in CA is High on the
Valspar Refinish™ Low VOC System
Monte’s Body Shop
It’s a story we hear more than once;
shops that are located in close proximity to bodies of water, whether it’s
a river, a lake, or the ocean itself,
are using a waterborne system, but
they just can’t seem to get it to cooperate, especially during hot and
humid summer days. In areas like
California where Low VOC is mandated, this can be a serious issue,
especially during particular times of
the year.
Forced to wrestle continually
with a waterborne system while fixing 120 cars a month, two shops
along California’s Central Coast
were looking high and low for a Low
VOC system that would help them
to get out of their predicament. The
solution turned out to be Vapspar
Refinish Low VOC base-coat system and since then, the shops are
enjoying these new products and
the amazing results they’re achieving with them.
Since 1979, Monte’s Auto Body
has been performing auto body repair services out of two locations in
Lompoc and Buellton, CA, while
serving the Vandenberg Air Force
Base, Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa
Barbara County. The shops pride
themselves on using top products
and repair techniques to maintain
several factory certifications, including Ford, General Motors, Chrysler,
and Hyundai, and Valspar Refinish
Low VOC system is playing a big
part of it.
Chris Pickles and Erasmo Angulo (also known as “Razz”) are the
co-owners of Monte’s Auto Body
and this year they will be celebrating
their 10-year anniversary. In 2006,
they purchased a 27-year-old shop
and three years later they opened a
second location.
Pickles, 46, became interested
in painting cars at age 14 when he
started helping his older brother
David to paint old, classic vehicles.
Shortly after that, he landed a job at
a local body shop in Lompoc, where
he worked for 18 years before he
and Angulo decided to go out on
their own.
“Erasmo and I worked together
for about 15 years at the same shop
as we both moved up the ranks,”
Pickles said. “He is six years younger
TM
Location: Lompoc, CA
(805) 688-4846
www.montesautobody.com
DRP Programs: Five
Painter Arthur Andrade sprays Valspar Refinish Low VOC at Monte’s
Body Shop in Lompoc, CA. The product is ideal for their location along
the California Central Coast.
than me and his first job was being
my helper. Then for many years, we
worked side-by-side as body techs.
At one point, we just looked at each
other and said hey, let’s do this ourselves. I can definitely say that it’s a
partnership that has been very successful.”
To find out if other body shops
along the coast of the Golden State
were experiencing the same problems that they were with the waterborne products, Pickles and Angulo
decided to go on a road trip.
“We visited body shops from
Lompoc all the way to Orange County, including San Luis Obispo, Paso
Robles, and Santa Maria,” Angulo
said. “And we found out that they
were having similar issues with the
waterborne. The waterborne paint is
a good product, but because of
where we’re located, it just wasn’t an
ideal match for us.”
After performing their due diligence, Pickles and Angulo decided
to go with the Valspar Refinish Low
VOC product and started dropping
it into their two shops. Buellton was
up and running with it last December and the Lompoc location followed one month later.
It was a case of love at first sight,
according to Pickles. “The training
was excellent and our painters got
good at applying the product almost
immediately. The process is the
same as with the waterborne, so it
wasn’t difficult. There were four people here from Valspar and one of
their reps was here all week long,
painting cars right alongside my peo-
ple. Now they check in with us every
1-2 months to answer our questions,
but to be honest, we haven’t had any
issues with Valspar.”
By using Valspar’s proprietary
Universal Intermix System, both
shops are getting accurate color
matches with every car. Using one
set of universal tints, powder pearls,
and technology-specific binders,
they’re able to mix basecoat, polyurethane single-stage, acrylic-urethane enamel, alkyd enamels, vinyl,
and specialty-sign coatings at VOC
levels that meet all California airquality regulations.
JD Allard is Monte’s Keystone/
LKQ account manager, servicing
both locations with parts, paint, and
ancillary products. “By having two
very reputable shops onboard with
Valspar is a big thing for us,” Allard
said. “Chris and Razz did their research and really put in the time and
effort to learn as much as they could
about the product, so it means a lot
that they’re using it.”
Now that Monte’s has been using
Valspar RefinishLow VOC basecoat
for at least six months, many of the
benefits associated with it have become apparent. “The product is less
expensive and we’re using 20% less
paint, so we’re very pleased about
making the move to Valspar Refinish
Low VOC,” Pickles said. “The problems that we were encountering with
the waterborne paint are no longer a
concern. We’re still green and now
we can do a better job while saving
money. This product works for us instead of the other way.”
20,000 square feet
After working together as metal
technicians at another shop, Chris
Pickles and Erasmo Angulo
bought a 27-year-old shop and
three years later they opened a
second location.
Andrade is pleased with Valspar’s
proprietary Universal Intermix
System, because he's getting
accurate color matches with
every car.
Valspar Refinish ,
P.O. Box 1461
(800) 845-2500
www.valsparrefinish.com
facebook.com/valsparautomotive
instagram.com/valsparauto
TM

HERE - Autobody News

Transcription

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