Shop and Product Showcase

Shop and Product SHOWCASE www.autobodynews.com

SPECIAL INSERT / TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND TESTIMONIALS

INSIDE

PPG:

Pacific Collision Centers Fullerton, CA

DUPONT:

Body Works Collision Center Murietta, CA

PRO-SPRAY:

Unique Auto Body South Jordan, UT

MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL:

Precision Body Shop & Detail Colma, CA

Shop and Product Showcase

Pacific Collision Centers Says Relationship with PPG a “Wise Move” Steve Vettel, owner of Pacific Collision Centers, with six locations located in five Southern California counties, learned the collision business by working at the dealership level for many years, and gleaned much knowledge from that perspective.

Since then, Vettel’s shops have flourished and consistently generated rave reviews, while establishing a reputation for embracing the latest technology and operating on the cutting edge. His relationship with PPG, his paint supplier for more than a decade,

Pacific Collision Centers has six shops located in five Southern California counties

is one of the reasons why Pacific Collision has hit impressive numbers, even during a recession.

Together, Pacific’s six locations repairs an average of approximately 500 cars monthly, operating out a total of 140,000 combined square footage and employing 100 people, including 25 paint crew members, Vettel told Autobody News.

At his peak, Vettel said he was repairing 750 cars per month, but the recession dropped his numbers, just like everyone else’s in the country. “So much has changed within the last 18 months that we don’t know where we’re headed right now. The larger operations will survive and a lot of the smaller independents will be closing or getting absorbed by the larger chains.

That’s the reality of it, so we need to prepare for these developments if we want to survive and stay profitability.”

One of the things Vettel calls a “smart move” involves his 12-year relationship with PPG. “They’ve helped us in so many ways,” he said. “We’ve used their assistance on how to dial in our processes and we’ve tapped into their knowledge and experience time and again. PPG is a great supplier, because they have a good product, Envirobase® High Performance, but they also help us

on so many different levels.”

“It’s a product that’s easy to use and that’s one of the biggest benefits of using PPG’s products,” Vettel said.

“Over the 12 years, we’ve really learned to appreciate everything about PPG, including the process, which is streamlined; the simplicity of the mixing and the color matching and the ease of application. And it was easy to teach our people about the product, which is a time savings, obviously. It’s a very user-friendly product.”

Vettel started using PPG waterborne for a full nine months before the mandate in his counties took effect.

“We’ve been using it for two years, so we’re completely comfortable with it by now. My philosophy was that I didn’t want to be on the bleeding edge, but I certainly wanted to be on the cutting edge. We wanted to convert before it was mandated, just so we could work out the kinks, and that’s what we did.”

Vettel’s path to becoming an owner of six locations is somewhat unique. “I started out as a dealer auditor for Chrysler Corporation right out of college. My job essentially was to audit dealerships for profitability and it was very interesting to find out the body shops were busy and generated a fair amount of revenue, but they were never profitable on paper. I would sit down with these dealership principals, and they would always tell me that you can’t make money in the body collision industry. It was a very educational experience.”

Vettel discovered that the dealership’s collision facilities were successful, but were always saddled by all of the fixed operations associated with selling new cars. “The rent, the insurance, the advertising--all went to the body shop’s expenses, so the owners viewed the collision aspect of their company as a loser, but they were actually making money.”

After seeing this again and again, Vettel decided to go out on his own.

“This can’t be this difficult, I thought.

So, in 1987, I opened a small body shop in Huntington Beach with just two techs. And that was the genesis of my career in collision repair.”

When each new location opened, Vettel worked there until he knew it was time to open another one. “I am a

2 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

very hands-on guy. Every time I opened a new store, I was the one working with the techs and training them myself. I’d get the model running in the back, and then I’d be the person writing the estimates and pushing the production. The entire time, I’d be growing my managers. When we were stable at the location, I’d start looking around for

Pacific Collision Centers stresses professionalism and uses all of the latest techniques, products and equipment to repair an average of 500 cars monthly

another area or opportunity. That’s how I was able to grow.”

Jim Downey is the senior PPG regional manager who oversees half of Southern California and Hawaii. In the past few years, he’s been involved in helping more than 600 body shops to convert to PPG waterborne, including Vettel’s six locations.

Vettel was an early adopter and made the changeover to waterborne one location at a time, Downey said. “Steve Vettel is probably one of the most astute businessmen I know in this industry. He’s always on top of the newest trend. He’s got an incredible background and he was able to foresee the economic crunch before others did and that’s why he’s surviving while a lot of other shops are struggling and don’t see any relief in sight.”

Twice a month, Vettel, his managers and Auto Color Specialists, his local PPG distributor, conduct a conference call to stay in touch, discuss issues and monitor things like profitability and how they can do a better job, Downey said.

“Every once in awhile, we’ll participate in the conference calls to find out what Steve’s shops are doing and to explore how we can make their lives easier. Feedback from the shop managers is very important and being proactive is the key. Anticipating rather than reacting is a smarter way to go, because when you have six locations,

there is a ton of moving parts.”

In the early days of waterborne, Vettel tested several other paints before deciding on PPG’s product. “Steve evaluated another product specifically, testing our product and a competitor’s for three months to see which would give him the highest quality. In the end, he continued working with us, and Steve said he avoided a grave mistake by sticking with us. We proved ourselves to him and that was all he needed.”

Downey believes that customers appreciate the greening of the industry in using waterborne paint and that body shops can leverage that approval to get more business, he said. “In Southern California, people are very aware of the green movement, because the media is always talking about it.

They’re very informed about what’s going on with the environment around here, so they do care. Will people gravitate toward shops that will be greener?

Based on my experience, yes, so we all win.”

Where will Vettel and Pacific Collision Centers be in five years? “We’re operating in what’s been referred to as

C

P tw C m m b ti a v

b g ti th n

D a e fo th 2 sh d th ju

p w C sh b re m

All of the Pacific Collision Centers use PPG waterborne to paint every vehicle that comes through the doors

the ‘New Normal’ in collision repair. I think today’s business environment requires you to have the ability to change and adapt quickly and that requires a very fluid five-year plan. I wish I could pinpoint where we’re headed, but I can’t. I believe there will be a certain amount of attrition in the collision repair business. It’s an uncertain time in this industry, right now, but we’ll know a lot more in the next 12-18 months.”

Pacific Collision Centers 1621 Orangethorpe Avenue Fullerton, California 92831 (714) 888-9000 www.pacificcollision.com

P C im C

h m m s

a is in ti e

e, e ltor e e e y s

rs y at al n y e t. s d v? ll

le as

I ee a d I n en w

Shop and Product Showcase

California Shop Credits Mitchell’s Ultramate and RepairCenter for Managing Growth

Precision Body Shop & Detail, with played a major role in our success,” two locations in Colma and San Rafael, Caprini said.

CA, has grown rapidly, with more and Today, Precision does nearly $4 more cars coming through every million in sales annually and employs month. Having lots of work can be a 59 people working out of two locations blessing or a curse, because organiza- totaling 22,000-sq.-ft. The Colma locational and production bottlenecks can tion will be expanding with an addiarise in minutes within a busy work en- tional adjacent 6,000-sq.-ft of space vironment. within the year.

Precision has not only survived, Precision’s relationship with but thrived during a recession. They Mitchell has been highly beneficial for give a lot of credit to Mitchell Interna- controlling and monitoring the comtional Inc. and the decision to adopt pany’s production flow. their market-leading business management systems.

Precision Body Shop & Detail was started 10 years ago with just three employees detailing cars primarily for new car dealerships throughout the Bay Area. In 2004, Precision’s dealerships started inquiring about Precision’s Body Prep Techs (from left) Robert Lucero, Manuel doing minor body work on Lucero and Alejandro Perez. their fleets and the company jumped at the opportunity.

“You can’t store 120 cars every “We started out doing primarily month in your head. You’re going to paint, panel and hanging bumpers to go lose track of where each vehicle is in with our detailing for dealerships,” the repair process, if you can’t accuCaprini said. “Then, we realized we rately keep this information in one loshould do it all. So, starting in ’06, we cation that you can access and alter began pursuing all forms of collision easily. That’s what the Mitchell’s Rerepair and it’s been a great business pairCenter brought to our business and model for us.” it’s proven to be invaluable,” Caprini said.

Precision initially purchased the Ultramate Estimate program then added RepairCenter last year, and the shop has already seen some significant improvement on several fronts.

“We’ve used their RepairCenter now for about seven months and it’s been a great experience. They help us manage the entire day-to-day repair Precision Body Shop & Detail Co-owners Anthony process and give us real-time control Caprini (left) and his partner Lou Hanhan attribute and analysis of everything we do. It’s improved production to adopting Mitchell’s Repairquickly become a big part of our lives Center system. around here and it’s provided us with a Caprini and his partner Lou Han- shop’s single integrated access point. han have tapped into their comple- That’s maybe the most important thing. mentary skills to create a company that Every tech, painter and estimator acmakes a profit and is poised for expan- cesses identical updated information, sion. so we’re all on the same page all the “I’m more of a numbers person time,” he said. and a production process guy and Lou According to Mitchell, “The Reis very connected to the car dealerships pairCenter is the collision repair inin this area, so we make a very effec- dustry’s first single shop workspace tive team. On top of that, we have an to manage the repair, the customer excellent crew. They’ve definitely and the business—and just about

everything in between. RepairCenter’s repair and opportunity management capabilities help shops to capture more business, identify workflow bottlenecks and improve functionality.”

When Precision added Mitchell RepairCenter in order to access all of the program’s additional features the shop wanted to incorporate, it proved to be a wise decision. Caprini feels that the RepairCenter is indispensible to his operation.

“It’s been a huge part of everything we’re doing here,” Caprini said.

“I look at it a minimum of 6–10 times every day. It’s our lifeline and we love it because it’s always on. The most important things it does for us are by acting as a virtual real-time whiteboard; the parts management and vendor management aspects are also very important, because it helps us to effectively order, receive and track parts. By making our daily lives easier, Mitchell has

duced by Mitchell also provided Precision with valuable ongoing education.

“Their videos are excellent. You can get a grasp of what they’re doing quickly and easily. We refer them to them all the time and our estimator and office manager don’t have to deal with that whiteboard ever again, because everything is right there on the RepairCenter. Their lives are easier now thanks to Mitchell,” he said.

Three months ago, Precision also added Mitchell’s Shop Clock, adding further track ability to its shop.

“Now we’re able to see how long it takes take to do each job. If a repair takes 10 hours, for example, I can see where we’re at right there on the computer screen. If we’re ahead or behind on any repair, we can make changes on the fly, because the Shop Clock feature keeps us current and allows us to anticipate what we need to do to get it done within the allotted hours.”

“Our cycle times are much im-

The detailing crew at Precision processes approximately 300 vehicles per month.

allowed us to concentrate on other things—like acquiring new business and cutting our cycle times.”

One of the main benefits Caprini appreciates about Mitchell includes the training his shop received when they converted to RepairCenter.

“Mitchell’s trainer came here for three full days and made an extremely professional presentation. He was easy to work with as he trained our entire front office staff. He answered all our questions while he was here on-site, and was available for followup questions for several weeks afterward. We can call them anytime and they’re quick to get back to us. If we ever have an issue, they’re right there to help us and that’s so important.”

A series of how-to videos pro-

proved and we’re able to better manage our shop overall. We’re doing 25% more work, yet we haven’t had to hire anyone new. Our efficiency is up and our productivity is the best it’s been.

So, we’re feeling more confident about pursuing more business, because we know we can do it and do it well. Instead of spending all our time dealing with problems, we’re producing great work and Mitchell has played a significant role in our success.”

Precision Body Shop & Detail 245 Collins Avenue Colma, California 94014 2nd location: 623 Irwin Street San Rafael, California 94901 (650) 992-9775

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Shop and Product Showcase

Murietta Shop Goes to DuPont™ Cromax® Pro for One-Coat Coverage Doug Albin, owner of Body Works Collision Center in Murietta, California, knows paint. He’s been painting cars since he was in high school and has owned a body shop for nearly a decade, so he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to paint and painting systems.

Body Works Collision Center operates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop, generates $250,000 per month in sales, and performs 65–70 repairs monthly.

The company employs 12–15 people depending on workload and seasonal spikes in business. Body Works specializes in repairing Toyotas, Hondas, Acuras and Mazdas, but they’ll work on any non-exotic vehicle on the road.

Albin, 41, has been in the body shop business for his entire life, as a master tech and a painter. He’s a second-generation shop owner who worked every summer with his father’s body shop while in high school and also

the back shop in a lot of shop environments. I’ve learned every aspect of this business hands-on and that’s undoubtedly been a big part of our success.”

After working with the same paint vendor for nine years, Albin made a change to DuPont™ Cromax Pro® when he ran into problems with his long-standing paint vendor during his switchover to waterborne last year.

DuPont stepped in to deliver a system featuring their Cromax Pro® waterborne product. And the results are exemplary, Albin said. He’s saving money, matching every color, reducing waste, and producing more vehicles in less time than ever before. Albin was almost instantly enamored with Cromax Pro’s exceptional coverage ability.

“When our conversion to waterborne began, there was an issue with our original paint company, so we inquired about other vendors and DuPont stood out in a big way. They came to

Body Works Collision Center is a second-generation shop that stresses quality and customer service.

completed training to be a master painter shortly thereafter.

“My dad’s shop was called Albin’s Classic Cars in Newport Beach, and he worked restoring high-end expensive cars,” Albin said. “It was a great education, because I was allowed to step in and work on different types of vehicles.

Some people are born to follow their parents’ career path and I gravitated toward the body business from day one.”

By doing rather than simply delegating every aspect of collision repair over the years, Albin has a unique and invaluable perspective of how to run a body shop from top-to-bottom and front-to-back.

“I know how to hang a bumper and paint a car, so I know what’s expected.

Natural progression in this industry doesn’t really exist anymore. Many body shop operators don’t have those abilities. As a result, there’s a growing separation between the front office and

the shop and sprayed a car and we were instantly impressed. Our original vendor’s paint was requiring 3–4 coats per vehicle and it was taking us way too long. With Cromax Pro, we can paint a car in a maximum of two coats without a flash and in many cases we’re doing the job with just one coat. Their wet-onwet procedure makes our lives so much easier,” said Albin.

“With DuPont’s waterborne product, we quickly discovered that every color has one-coat coverage capability and that’s never happened before ever in this industry, I believe. They told us it would happen and we were a bit skeptical. Then they showed us they were right and we were very impressed.

I went from painting three cars daily to 12 vehicles with the change to Cromax Pro®.”

Albin says he has saved a significant amount of money and time since he signed on with DuPont, but the over-

4 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

all quality of the finished product is what he values over everything else.

“We’re producing more finished cars more quickly now since we switched to DuPont. The products, their system and the support people who helped us so much—they offered us the complete package and we’re happy we made the move. It’s costing us less now,

adapted to it right away.”

Albin’s customer service approach is fairly simple.

“Our main customer service goal is to do the repair right the first time, which means that the vehicle is returned back to the manufacturers’ standards and nothing less,” he said.

“We don’t cut corners; we never

A

If a o m v

o

Body Works Collision Center operates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop, generates $250,000 per month in sales and performs 65–70 repairs monthly.

but it’s not all about the money. The performance of the paint system is more critical and the quality of the finished product is the top priority.”

Increased productivity is one of the major reasons why Albin’s so enthused about DuPont’s Cromax Pro®.

“Time is money in any business and anything that will save time is invaluable to my operation. I have one painter who works with four helpers and they get all of the cars done fast and efficiently, with a perfect uniform paint color and optimum coverage every time without fail.”

Another one of the benefits Albin cited about Cromax Pro® is the accuracy of the computerized color-matching

take short cuts and we avoid comebacks as a result.”

DuPont’s New Accounts Specialist Kevin Harrington was pleased when Albin adopted Cromax Pro®, after been working with another vendor for several years.

“Doug is what I call a raving fan for Cromax Pro® . He went from doing 3–4 coats per car to approximately 1.5–2 coats, without a flash when he switched. He saw a spike in his productivity right away and he was using less paint, so the savings were immediately evident.”

Harrington has converted hundreds of body shops to the DuPont Cromax Pro® system throughout Southern Cali-

Body Works is now painting more vehicles in less time since adopting DuPont’s Cromax Pro and its matching system (right).

system.

“It’s incredible. Color matching was always an issue with our former system. It didn’t provide matching for certain types of vehicles, but DuPont climbed to the top of our list when we got a chance to use it. It’s extremely user-friendly and my crew

fornia during the rush to change to waterborne last year, and he normally witnesses a rapid learning curve when shops are first exposed to his products and his system.

“It’s a relatively simple process and most painters can adapt quickly,” Harrington said.

w

m o a u p th th

ru to th ia B

a fo T to D e ti y

th to ia c o

s p b a w th h y c

h

s e, en-

er

ks

st n n v-

n g y e og i-

ds x i-

g

ay n ts

s ”

Shop and Product Showcase

Auto Body Guru Helps Body Shops One Click at a Time If you don’t know SEO from [a] CEO, and PPC could be a new type of paint, or if ‘organic search’ sounds pretty much like a hunt for fresh but pricy vegetables, you might want to pay some close attention to Auto Body Guru. Don’t be embarassed if you lack internet skills. Instead take a little while to understand what you might be leaving on the table, Body Shop Owner Rouben Mirzaians by ignoring the pohas experienced an tential benefits to ongoing improvement your business. in his business via the Internet since Body shops need he signed on with to know how to fix his Rony’s program cars while navigatwith Auto Body Guru. ing around the many obstacles that can get in the way of doing a good job while still making a profit. That’s why it makes sense to understand the benefits of using a company like Auto Body Guru to figure out the proper ways to position yourself on the Internet and get results.

“Body shop owners know how to run their businesses, but when it comes to Internet marketing, they will admit they need assistance,” Rony Mirzaians, the founder and owner of Auto Body Guru explained.

“Would you hire a body tech to create your Web site and then optimize it for search? I don’t think you would.

The best thing a body shop owner needs to know is what he or she doesn’t know.

Delegate your online marketing to an expert and you’ll succeed. Do it parttime or hire a hobbyist to do it, and you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

Most body shop owners will admit that they just don’t have sufficient time to do marketing. And that’s why Mirzaians knows the game plan when it comes to getting shops customers via online, he said.

“Our job is to educate the body shops about how to leverage their presence online. A shop can have a beautiful Web site with all the bells and whistles, but if no one can find it, what good is it? The bottom line is that the phone needs to ring. You can have an award-winning site, but if you’re not attracting customers, who cares?

Auto Body Guru is associated with all the big names in the World Wide Web, Mirzaians said. “We partner with Google, Yahoo! and bing and are Google Adwords Certified Partners, Yahoo Ambassador Program Members and MSN AdExcellence Members. These Certifications allow us to provide the best Pay Per Click management and setup options to our clients. The partnership with Google, Yahoo! and bing as trusted data providers allows us to provide enhanced Local Search (SEO) and maps optimization services.”

“These are the worldwide powerhouses of search and we have great relationships with all of them,” Mirzaians said. “I tell shops that we’re working

your core service requires you to communicate with your customers consistently. This means you are not restricted to one distinct location like the traditional brick and mortar business. In fact, it’s not unusual for auto body companies to service a 50+ mile radius. This extended service radius means you potentially have a larger pool of customers to capture. PPC (Pay Per Click) Marketing is the perfect method to instantly tap into that pool of customers. Especially since it allows you to geographically target your specific area so that your ads will be displayed to customers online.”

Auto body customers usually have a sense of urgency when they are looking for repair services online, Marza-

The Auto Body Guru crew includes (from left) Senior Sales Executive Jonathan Johnson, Sales Executive Ignacio Juarez, Operations Manager/Social Media Expert Nikki Pope, Owner Rony Mirzaians, Director of Search & Pay Per Click Young Chu, Customer Service Manager Frank Perez, Sales Executive Josh Shipley, Local Search & Google Maps Tech Gary B. and Social Media Manager Lilit K.

with the leaders, so if they’ll give me at least 2-3 months to help them, they’ll start to see tangible results.”

Auto Body Guru can help body shops to wean themselves off the costly yellow pages and jump into the online world at a very reasonable rate, Mirzaians said. “The yellow pages are dying, because people are now using their computers, cell phones and GPS devices to find businesses. We can sign a shop up quickly and affordably, without contracts, setup fees and per click charges. 65% of users search online for auto body services and that number will increase each year, we believe.”

One of the main advantages of online marketing allows shops to attract customers from a wider geographical range, Mirzaians said. “The great thing about the auto body business is that

ians said. “In a typical scenario, the auto body customer is likely to be doing a search on the side of the road on their phone or at home after an accident so they can quickly get their car back on the road. The most powerful real estate for auto body companies is in the first page of Google, next to the map and complemented by sponsored links for maximum online exposure.”

Being patient while building an online presence is key to his program’s success, Mizraians said. “With any marketing campaign you’ll have to give PPC at least a month to properly test its effectiveness. Start with a small campaign and a modest budget to build and test the campaign. Be prepared to spend time and learn from the results you find with each different ad and make changes on weak campaigns.”

Body shops have embraced the search expertise implemented by Auto Body Guru, getting outstanding results since signing with ABG. One of Mirzaians’ first customers was his father, who has owned American Eagle Auto Body in Los Angeles for 12 years. In fact, one of the main reasons why Rony got into the Internet marketing field initially was to help his dad in generating leads for his shop, he said.

“In ’07-’08, when the economy started to limp along, my father came to me and asked me to help him with his marketing. Like many other shops, he had no idea where to start. So, I designed a Web site for him rather quickly, to get him in the major search engines, primarily Google and Yahoo.

In our first month, my father’s shop got three new jobs from being on the first page of Google next to the map, which equaled $14,000 in revenue. Since then, he’s experienced a consistent response.

Unlike the yellow pages, his Internet marketing efforts have paid for themselves and now they generate a profit every month.”

Rooben Mirzaians has experienced an ongoing improvement in his business via the Internet since he started with his son’s program 2.5 years ago.

Now he knows exactly how many leads he gets each month from the SEO he and Rony strategized, he said.

“It does work,” the senior Mirzaians said. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries and they’ve lead to a considerable amount of repair jobs. We used the yellow pages for many years and it was very expensive.

The Web site and the search approach gets the phone ringing, and then it’s our job to get them to come here. Once they also see our feedback online, people will drive from all corners of L.A. County to come here. Once they feel confident and secure about us, they don’t mind traveling to get their cars fixed.”

Joe Merdkanian, owner of Eurasian Coach Works in West Hollywood, recently contracted with ABG and he’s already seen some significant activity based on the search strategies they devised for his shop, he said.

“We’ve been with ABG for a few months and we’re still tweaking and learning the program. They put my Web site together and it was so fast I was amazed.

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 5

Shop and Product Showcase

Utah’s Unique Auto Body Voluntarily Picks Pro-Spray’s H2O Waterborne Jeremy Weller, owner of Unique Auto Body, started painting cars in his early 20’s, and he’s now 39, so he knows what he’s talking about with paint.

Weller’s two shops in the Salt Lake City area in Utah paint an average of 10–12 vehicles daily, so he needs a paint system that provides accurate color matching with consistent quality throughout. After a decade of being with another paint company, Weller made the switch to Pro-Spray’s waterborne product—and it’s decision he’s extremely enthused about.

“We’re getting exceptional color matches with Pro-Spray that we couldn’t achieve before,” Weller said. “We didn’t feel like we were getting all of them 100% with our former paint supplier, so we started looking around.

Getting away from the solvent as our main paint was a key move too.”

tain type of paint will help them do that—they’re excited.”

Both shops still use solvent-based paint for older vehicles, but every newer car that comes through the doors is painted with Pro-Spray H2O Waterborne, Weller stated. “We’re using very little solvent right now and

depth and the intensity of the finished product looked so amazing that it became a no-brainer.”

Eventually, Unique Auto Body embraced the Pro-Spray H2O Waterborne for its earth-friendly aspects as well, Weller said. “We figured that if we can get proactive in this thing, why

“... more shops [outside of regulated areas] want to convert all the time. Green is a huge issue and it’s going to get bigger, because shops can get better color matches”

—Paul Reid of Pro-Spray

we’re going to phase it out eventually. not? We’re getting better results, so if It’s a convenience issue right now, but we can help the environment at the we’ve had such a great experience same time, let’s do it.” with the waterborne paint that we Has the conversion to waterborne want to use it to be as our sole paint.” helped his business overall, Autobody The changeover to waterborne News asked Weller. “Yes, I hear our met with some hesitation amongst his customers commenting about the wapainters initially, but terborne all the time. People in this area in the end Pro-Spray are into being green and we promote won them over, Weller the fact that we use the waterborne. If said. “Painters are we can position ourselves in a better creatures of habit. light by using the Pro-Spray product, They were a little stub- it’s well worth it. There are only a handborn and reluctant to ful of body shops using waterborne in Unique Auto Body embraced Pro-Spray’s H20 Waterborne product to acchange, but in the end the Salt Lake Valley right now and cess its color-matching capabilities it’s been better for we’re proud to be one of them.”

Pro-Spray’s Western Regional US Unique Auto Body has now been them, because now they don’t have to using the Pro-Spray waterborne prod- breathe in all that solvent all the time. Sales Manager, Paul Reid, has seen uct for a year and a half and the new You can smell that solvent 100 yards more shops switching to waterborne in paint is already a welcome production away and you can’t even tell that this areas where the laws haven’t yet repartner. waterborne is in the room most of the quired them to change over to low Pro-Spray’s color matching capa- time. It’s a huge bonus for my painters, VOCs yet. bilities has alleviated stress in both his because they’re now happier and if I “It’s a new movement that we’re locations, Weller said. “I don’t have to can provide a safer working and seeing more and more,” Reid exworry about showing a customer a car cleaner environment for them, it’s a plained. “I’ve converted at least 50 in the right light anymore. These dead- great thing.” body shops outside of regulated areas on color matches have built a sense of within the last year or security with my painters, because we so, and I’m starting to can now match these colors every sinhear that more shops gle time.” want to convert all the time. Green is a huge Unique Auto Body’s two locations employ 25 people, including four seaissue and it’s going to soned painters who know the score Between its two locations in the Salt Lake City area of Utah, Unique Auto get bigger, because when it comes to producing cars at a Body paints an average of 10–12 cars daily shops can get better rapid rate. Weller saw that his painters color matches from our initially bucked the change to the ProWeller didn’t switch over to water- products and the finished paint jobs are Spray H2O Waterborne paint, but were borne because he had to in order to ad- superior overall.” quickly onboard and using the new here to local laws, because Utah doesn’t According to the company’s Web paint enthusiastically. require the use of waterborne paint. So, site, Pro-Spray® H2O Waterborne Basecoat consists of 70 pigment-rich, “They saw the benefits and that’s why did he do it? what motivated them,” Weller said. “If “The color matching aspect of the shake-and-pour toners formulated using we can get a better finished product, it’s Pro-Spray initially attracted us to the advanced European technology to dea big plus. Painters are very focused on product, because we saw that the liver quick coverage, precise color doing the best job they can, and if a cer- matches were so superior and that the match, superior metallic orientation,

6 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

easy blending and fast dry times, saving body shops time and money.

Pro-Spray waterborne paint is part of a complete line of low VOC automotive surface preparation products, undercoats, primers, clear coats, thinners, activators and ancillary products backed by user-friendly color formula software, technical support and waterborne conversion, color theory and painter refinishing training.

Weller’s painters were trained by Pro-Spray’s experts and were using the H2O Pro-Spray Waterborne within one week. “Jim Wallace was the technical representative from Pro-Spray and he came down here and took us through all of the steps in a very clear and logical process. Paul Reid was also very involved in the training. We were up and running right away and they kept checking in with us to help us further. If we had questions, they were right there to provide answers. They made the transition problem-free and that was a huge plus.”

Quickly and fairly easily, Unique’s painters were up and running with Pro-Spray’s H2O Waterborne paint

Weller had to invest approximately $4,000 in equipment as part of the changeover to waterborne, but he sees it as a modest expenditure that will rapidly pay for itself. “We had to purchase some new fans for improved air movement and then my painters had to buy new guns, but other than that, that’s all we had to do. For what we’ve achieved here, this was a very small investment.”

Reid is happy every time when he sees that a new one of his customers has stepped up to make the sage move to waterborne.

“Jeremy is a former painter, so he knew what he was getting with the Pro-Spray H2O Waterborne product.

He’s also a very hands-on owner, so he got right in there with his painters.

L

L ti li c m la m g n c le a u s

c

L fo

m a la c 4 to p ti g 8 a a

p d o e g G A g a s

g o W M N

le o s

v-

rt os, nts a rd

y e e al e ll al nd pt If e e a

y e it pe ey ll d ” e as o

e e t. e s.

Shop and Product Showcase

LKQ is Fueling Smarter to Expand its “State of Greenness” LKQ operates from nearly 300 facilities nationwide and surpassed $2 billion revenue in 2009. It’s an enormous company that could potentially burn many unneccesary thousands of dollars on fuel and electricity every month. But, by staying ahead of the game in its pursuit of ultimate greenness and sustainability in parts recycling, LKQ has quickly become a leader in re-using, remanufacturing and recycling everything it can while using fewer of the world’s natural resources in the process.

LKQ is a recognized leader in recycled auto parts and uses environ-

Keystone become greener, as part of an We also mandate our employees, even paths. We started doing this several ongoing, proactive journey for the in areas where we do not have those years back when fuel prices were sky world’s number one auto parts recylaws, that they shut up their vehicles. high. It made us stop and take a long cler.

We started implementing that several look at our truck routes. We put a GPS Shaw’s job is a huge undertaking years ago when fuel went up to $3–4 system on each truck for a week at a as he oversees 34 LKQ and Keystone per gallon. That can rerecycling salvage yard locations, two ally start to sting when wheel plants and six bumper recyyou consider how much cling facilities. More than $300 milfuel we use as a comlion in annual sales comes out of his pany. region, making it a significant part of One way we are trythe overall LKQ picture, which coning to be more fuel-effisists of nearly 300 facilities nationcient is by re-using fuel wide. on the Keystone side. We In the newest facility in Houston, re-use all of the fuel that Shaw oversees a mega-warehouse that we pull from recycled acts as an vehicles and use it at LKQ makes being green a priority, by leading the way in re-using, LKQ aftermany of our locations. remanufacturing and recycling 492,000 vehicles annually market facilThis has been very ity, a bumper cost effective for us and in some cases time to map out each route. We then manufacturhas provided enough recycled fuel to compiled the data to show the most ing facility supply the entire fleet in certain marcost effective routes and to ensure that and a full rekets. We feel that if we can run on free our trucks were not crossing paths cycling facil(recycled fuel), we will obviously go when they did not need to. The next LKQ’s enormous warehouse in Houston, Texas has received multiple accolades ity all under that route because it not only benefits step we took was to combine LKQ and for being a mega-green facility one roof. our company, but also the environKeystone routes where it made sense. mentally friendly business practices ment.

With the information from the GPS and while recycling 492,000 vehicles ABN: Fuel conservation is an oband the combination of LKQ and Keylast year. That is equivalent to recyvious step to improve greenness. What ABN: What other methods are stone routes, we were able to change cling about 540,000 tons of steel, are you doing to make your trucks you using with your vehicles to save 60% of our routes to be more cost ef47,000 tons of aluminum, and 13,000 more fuel-efficient overall? fuel? fective and fuel efficient in Dallas tons of copper, according to the comShaw: The first thing we do is upShaw: We changed all of our alone. Our ultimate goal is to not have pany’s web site. Through its operadate our fleet regularly. A majority of forklifts to electric, and all of the new more than one truck going to the same tions, LKQ helped to reduce our newer trucks are equipped with forklifts we put into our newest facillocation. greenhouse gas emissions by over idle shutdowns, depending on each ities are all-electric. We also buy gas890,000 tons, which is about the same state’s requirements. powered forklifts where we can, so ABN: Adaptability and constant as the annual emissions of a city of For example, in Texas we have that we can re-use our recycled gas in change seems to be the norm in pursuabout 82,200 people. laws that only allow 10–15 minutes of those forklifts while saving propane. ing the newest technologies to achieve “In addition, LKQ recently idle time. Cutting down on idle time We’re also always updating our older complete greenness. partnered with the Arbor Day Founcan save a good deal of fuel while benvehicles to get better mileage. A lot Shaw: Absolutely. Technology dation to give its customers and anyof our old box trucks didn’t is a rapidly evolving industry. What one else interested in helping the have the proper wind deflecwe did last year is already outdated environment an additional way to be tors on the front, so we added today. My regional managers meet green in the company’s LKQ Get those to many of the old often to discuss the changes in techGreen promotion, which ran from trucks. Then, we started ananology and ways to make our reApril 22 to June 30 of this year. Tolyzing gear ratios on many of gion more green. By staying on top gether with its customers, LKQ was our semis and the drive trains of the newest technology advances, able to plant a forest at the concluthey use. You can change out we can use that to our advantage to sion of the program.” the ratio of a semi and save benefit our company and the enviPaul Shaw is LKQ’s Central Re$20,000–30,000 annually in ronment as a hole. One of our most gion Vice-President, overseeing Colfuel just by altering the ratio recent advances is the opening of Storing recycled fuels extracted from salvaged vehicles orado, South Dakota, Nebraska, of a tractor trailer. our first green warehouse in Wifor re-use is an integral part of the whole green plan at Western Iowa, Western and Southern chita, Kansas. Some of our cost efLKQ Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, ABN: Have you altered your fective areas of that warehouse Northern and Western Louisiana. efiting the environment. Texas is startdistribution strategies over the years to include the heating system, skyAutobody News recently talked at ing to implement many of the laws that save more fuel that way? lights, motion sensor T5 lights, and length with him about the latest develhave been in effect in California for Shaw: We are constantly looking the ventilation system. The energy opments in his region. One of his reyears, so that helps us to stay on top of at our truck routes to save on fuel and costs associated with this waresponsibilities is to see LKQ and things and keep things in perspective. to cut back on our trucks crossing house are exceptional.

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 7

Shop and Product Showcase

Understanding the Basics of the Waterborne Paint Booth Imagine it has just rained. There are puddles on the ground, and everything is coated with droplets of water. On a cool, overcast day with no wind, that water will take quite a bit of time to disappear. Now imagine the clouds part and the sun emerges. Those puddles will evaporate faster, right? Now what if a stiff breeze kicks up. That water will be gone pretty quickly. Everyone knows if it’s hot and windy, a puddle of water will be evaporated a lot faster than if it’s cool and still. This is the same principle that gets applied when

we’re talking about curing and drying the latest in advanced waterborne paints.

Naturally though, things get a bit more complicated when we’re talking about drying paint under very controlled conditions, such as those on an automated finishing line, or in an automotive body shop. Modern coatings are incredible examples of chemical engineering. They can be designed to withstand the harshest of conditions, while maintaining their desired appearance much longer than coatings of the past.

However, in order to achieve the best possible results with these coatings and maximize their effectiveness, they need to be applied under very specific environmental conditions. This is where the modern paint booth comes in.

Modern paint booths contain more technology than most people would expect. Gone are the days of the simple ‘big metal box’. New paint booths are designed to provide not only a better painting environment, but also a more efficient working space for the painters.

Things like automated temperature control and shadow-free lighting make the painters’ job easier than ever. Yet there is no one individual factor that can be singled out as the key to working with waterborne paints. It’s the combination of several technologies that allows you to effectively spray and cure most waterborne paints with maximum results.

Going back to our ‘rain and puddle’ analogy, the two things that are ab-

solutely essential when we’re dealing with waterborne paints are heat and airflow. Granted, you CAN cure waterborne paints without extra heat or accelerated airflow, but it’s inevitably going to take much longer. This is not something most modern businesses are ‘okay’ with. After all, why spend more time when you can spend less? This is why it’s so important to make sure that your booth is set up properly for waterborne.

First, let’s talk about heat. There are two basic types of paint booth heaters: Indirect-fired and Direct-fired.

With an indirect-fired air heater, the gas burner is built inside a large metal drum within the heat unit. The burner heats the drum, and as the air moves over the drum it becomes hot before it is forced in to the cabin. The inherent inefficiency in this design is the drum itself.

Since the drum needs to be heated first before the air can be heated, indirectfired heat units take much longer to come up to optimum temperature when compared to the direct-fired variants.

Direct-fired heaters utilize a much simpler and more effective heat-transfer design. In these types of heaters, the burner is placed directly in the path of the moving air. This allows for nearly 100% of the heat generated by the burner to be transferred directly in to the air. The result is much better heat-

rise, and lower gas consumption over the duration of the paint process. Direct-fired heaters are generally accepted as the more effective and efficient choice for modern paint booths, especially when dealing with waterborne paints.

The second part of the heat issue is control over the temperature itself.

Every coating has unique curing and drying properties. Different paints can require a higher temperature for less

8 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

time, or a lower temperature for more time, or even different temperatures over the course of one cure cycle. These temperature variances can be a nightmare for the painter if they have to do everything manually. This is why some paint booth manufacturers have developed pre-programmed control panels that are specifically designed to automate the drying cycle. Some of the more advanced control panels are programmed for specific brands and models of coatings. This programming simplifies the operation of the booth by allowing the user to push a single button to begin the cure cycle, and the booth does the rest. Automatically controlling the temperature of the air based on the pre-determined times in the cure cycle. This allows for the fastest drying times by using the best possible cure cycle for that specific paint, and gives much better consistency with each finished product.

Next, we’ll look at airflow in the paint booth. While simply increasing the CFM of air moving through the booth does give some improvement in the drying times, the key thing to remember here is that we don’t necessarily just want MORE airflow, but what we do want is SMARTER airflow.

What we mean by smarter airflow is more control over the airflow in the cabin. This is accomplished in two ways: with variable frequency drives and with an accelerated airflow system.

Variable frequency drives (VFD’s) are electrical control units that are integrated in to the heat units to provide enhanced control over the motors. VFD’s regulate the flow of electricity to the motors, and allow the motors to run at any speed, from 1% to 100%. Typically, electric paint booth motors only operate at 100% speed, which requires mechanical dampers in order to control the airflow generated by the fans attached to the motors. By utilizing VFD’s, the motors can be adjusted to any speed in order to control the airflow, which drastically reduces energy consumption since the motors are only spinning as fast as they need to at any given time.

This control over the motor speed allows virtually infinite adjustments to the air speed in the booth, allowing the operator to customize the air movement for optimum performance.

Accelerated airflow systems are very common in modern auto body shops, and are becoming more prevalent in industrial applications as waterborne coatings become more popular.

These devices can come in several different forms, including hand-held compressed air blowers, simple fans, or more advanced booth-mounted air blowers. Regardless of the type of accelerator equipment, the concept remains the same: increased airflow on the painted surfaces. There are two reasons that this increased airflow is important: Heat stratification and low-pressure micro-climate.

First, let’s explain heat stratification. This is basically a fancy word for ‘layering’. We all know that warm air rises, and that in any paint booth, the air near the ceiling will be warmer than the air near the floor. This causes the upper surfaces of the painted object to dry faster than the lower surfaces. Accelerated airflow systems are designed to mix up the airflow in the booth and force more air on to the painted sur-

faces. While some systems focus air on specific spots for smaller jobs, the more advanced systems will turn the whole booth in to one big convection oven.

This allows for the heat to be distributed over the entire painted object, and provides much more even and consistent curing results.

Next, when we say ‘low-pressure micro-climate,’ we’re not talking about the weather. This refers to the way the air moves over the surface of an object.

As air moves over an object in a linear way, even at high speeds, there is a barrier of slow-moving air between the fast moving air stream and the painted surface. This barrier or ‘micro-climate’ is a low-pressure area that acts as a buffer, preventing the water or solvents in the paint from being drawn out, therefore slowing the drying process.

M

b

A m sh

R s

g s o c k o a h m w 1

a 2 D g w ti J in

c th fo a th th C h m

e y arr. fmor ir cen amd

aor ir ir e er y ro d r-

n e e n. bd s-

e ut e t. ar rst ra r, e e

Shop and Product Showcase

Mobile Airbag Company Relies on Autoland Scanners

by Ed Attanasio

An essential piece of equipment can make or break any company. If a body shop has problems with a lift or a paint

L.A. weren’t getting involved with installing airbag systems, Salas said.

“They would call me and say can we do an installation or come in to see what this vehicle needs. We would

Rod Salas relies on his iSCAN II to run Airbag Tech, his LA County-based mobile airbag repair and service company

gun, it can slow down their production significantly. That’s why Rod Salas, owner of an airbag mobile service company in Southern California, knows that his scanners have to work on every service call or he’ll lose time and of course, money. That’s also why he said he’s happy to use scanners made by Autoland Scientech, a worldwide leader in diagnostic tools since 1990.

Salas, 46, has been working in the airbag industry since 2000, and in 2003 he started Airbag Tech in Downey, CA, servicing all of Los Angeles County. It’s a small company with two vans and several on-call parttime employees, including his son Rod Jr., 20, but the company is busy even in a recession, he told Autobody News.

Half of Airbag Tech’s clients are collision repair companies and most of the time the body shops Salas works for require either troubleshooting or diagnostics to re-set airbag lights before they can complete the repair and return the vehicle to the customer, he said.

Car dealers and individuals who find him on the Internet make up the remainder of his business, Salas said.

In the beginning, body shops in

give them a list and they would buy the parts, so they could make some money.

And then we’d come back and do the work. Now, to make more money, body shops are doing their own installations themselves, but sometimes they make mistakes. That’s when they call me and I’ll either service the airbag, perform troubleshooting and/or do the diagnostics to find the problem and clear the light.”

It’s always about the light, Salas explained.” 99% of the time the light is on and they don’t know why. Most of the time it’s the last thing they’ve done and they’re in a rush to get the vehicle ready for the customer. So, I get down there as fast as possible, half-hour to 45 minutes most of the time, to check those codes and do whatever I need to do to get the job done. That’s why I have the Autoland scanners, because they work well for almost all of the cars we encounter.”

Salas was initially introduced to Autoland’s scanners a decade ago, he said. “When I started working for an airbag company ten years ago, I began to use one of Autoland’s scanners and I learned how to use it very

quickly. The technology was a lot different back then and it was a little black scanner that would just read the codes. We had to look up the codes and figure out what the problem was.

“So, when I started my own business, I invested in all Autoland scanners,” Salas said “First I had the iSCAN and then later I got the iSCAN II. Ease-of-use and great coverage— those are probably the best things about these scanners. I have some other companies’ scanners, but they’re only for backup purposes. I use the iSCAN II for pretty much all the cars I diagnose. When it comes to Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo and BMW, the iSCAN II is the only one I will bring with me to the customer’s shop.”

Was his investment in his Autoland scanners a good one, we asked Salas. “They’ve paid for themselves many times over by now, definitely. It cost us roughly $6,000 for the iSCAN and the package that comes with it, but it also includes a great warranty and software updates as long as we have the device.”

Salas is obviously enamored with his iSCAN scanner, a tool that he can use to make money on a daily basis, but he also values the thorough support that Autoland offers him, so that he can

erate the scanners in less than one day.

It was a very simple step-by-step process and they make it very easy to understand. Also, I can get my iSCAN II updates downloaded directly over the phone every 3-4 months free for three years. The support offered by Autoland is very good and we’re never worried about getting stuck out in the field without one.

Richard Zenteno, the Marketing Director for the Americas for Autoland Scientech U.S.A., said he has recently seen a movement throughout the country in which body shops are using companies such as Airbag Tech to clearing codes and servicing their airbags. And many shops are also buying Autoland scanners themselves to do all their diagnostics in-house, he said, to retain more control of the repair and capture more revenue in the process.

Autoland Scientech was founded 20 years ago, developing engine analyzers initially, Zenteno said. “We’ve been doing something right in this business for two decades to be around this long. We’re leaders in this area and our excellent reputation is the result of hard work.”

Zenteno has seen body shops thrive in the world of diagnostics by embracing his company’s line of scan-

The software in with Autoland Scientech’s iSCANII system supports 40 OEM manufacturers

make sure his device will work well even under heavy usage, he said.

“They can train you how to use these scanners over the phone. One of my part-time guys learned how to op-

ners, he said. “The iSCAN II is a multi make scan tool that offers comprehensive coverage ranging from engine, transmission, ABS and most importantly airbags.

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 9

Shop and Product Showcase

Mattei: Over Seventy-five Years of Compressor Leadership Italy makes amazing race cars (Ferrari), top-tier watches (Bulgari) and luxurious shoes (Gucci) and they also make some of the finest air compressors on the planet, respected by auto body and mechanical shops throughout the world.

Mattei’s General Manager Jay Hedges knows air compressors inside and out after two decades in the industry. He’s been with Mattei for nearly three years, overseeing North American Operations for the company that developed the first rotary vane compressor in 1958.

For nearly a century, Mattei’s machines have been in use worldwide for industrial and automotive applications.

Body shops throughout North America have embraced the company’s rotary vane compressors because they’re more efficient and durable than comparable products on the market, Hedges said.

Mattei was founded in 1919, when a young Italian Army Engineer named Enea Mattei, started exploring the compressed air industry, an industry that hadn’t even been fully born yet. In 1934, he invented the world’s first portable air compressor and after many years of growth and technological advances, his namesake company become a leader in the world of compressed air technology.

Hedges cited several reasons for Mattei’s success worldwide: “We developed the technology, so we’re in a good position. Recent patents generated by our research & development department are evidence of our drive to continually exploit proprietary vane technology and advantages. Collision repair facilities benefit from the performance and efficiencies of our rotary vane compressors versus traditional rotary screw compressor systems. With a focus on both current and future compressor models, Mattei will reduce maintenance and energy costs while delivering ever increasing efficiencies.”

Mattei’s compressors are sold in the U.S. exclusively through distributors and a handful of re-sellers, such as Keystone Automotive and a network of 200 independent distributors throughout the country. Big collision chains that currently use Mattei’s compressors include Caliber Collision and Cook’s Collision, Hedges told us.

“Big collision chains are attracted to these rotary vane compressors because they can save a lot of money through the machine’s ability to conserve energy and the low maintenance required. Large companies want a reliable compressor, that when routine maintenance is performed by qualified techs it will not cause unscheduled downtime. Any equipment failure costs you money, but when your compressor is down you are essentially shut down. It’s obviously critical for operational consistency. It’s rare for a compressed air user to have 100% back-up air compressors at the ready.

Therefore, corporations can’t tolerate a compressor failing. Whether you’re

Mattei’s rotary vane compressors are more efficient than screw rotary compressors and deliver 90% mechanical efficiency, according to Hedges.

“As the speed decreases, the compressor’s efficiency increases, offering straight-line energy savings,” he said.

“And they’re more durable, because our vane compressors are designed for low speeds and long life and backed by a revolutionary 10-year warranty. Our vanes are designed for 100,000 hours of service without bearing changes or rebuilding an airend, twice the life of most rotary screw compressors. They just don’t break down, because they feature direct drive and in-line operation, while using fewer moving parts.”

Mattei’s General Manager Jay Hedges showing body shop owners the company’s products at their Collision Repair Compressed Air Training Center in Baltimore, Maryland

fixing 50 or 500 cars monthly, the compressors in any size shop must be reliable because if they go down, it will obviously affect their production.”

Cubic feet per minute (CFM) is the key power rating when it comes to compressors and Mattei’s rotary vane compressors lead the industry in that regard. “More air with less energy; that’s our reputation and we are proud of that. Our machines produce more CFM per horse power than any other rotary or piston compressor on the market. This is one reason why our compressors are great, because they represent a value for body shop owners and that’s why they’ve been a big success in the collision industry as a whole.”

10 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Mattei’s Optima Series is ideal for high-volume body shops, according to Hedges. “The variable speed feature is highly coveted by collision repair companies because they will optimize energy savings for collision facilities with varying levels of plant air demand. One of the best things about Mattei’s vane technology is that this machine has no ball or roller type bearings because there is no thrust loading.

Thrust bearings are subject to B-10 and L-10 design life considerations and the thrust forces deteriorate those bearings making them the most-common parts to fail in rotary screw compressors. This is a big deal.”

Dan Wittenberg is the general manager of Keystone Automotive in

St. Cloud, Minnesota. He has seen a spike in popularity of Mattei’s rotary compressors within the last few years, and he tells us why: “We’re seeing more body shops in our region making the transition to using waterborne paint, and these Mattei rotary air compressors are ideal for waterborne, because they provide more airflow. Plus, they’re greener overall when compared to piston-type compressors.

They will shut down automatically when demand for air drops so it won’t pump air all the time. A smaller shop requiring intermittent usage is a perfect application for a Mattei rotary compressor.

“It’s easy to operate and maintain and the new computer-based rotary vanes are on the technology’s leading edge,” Wittenberg said. “The three major advantages of the Mattei rotary vane compressors over the rotary screws are: 1) They cost less to operate, because the motors will run less.

With the cost of electricity, this is a big deal for a body shop watching its bottom line and 2) Durability—the rotary vane compressor will last longer and it can handle any amount of usage you can throw at it. 3) They’re quieter than any other compressor on the market.

You can stand right next to this machine and have a conversation, which is a breath of fresh air, that’s for sure.”

Wittenberg and Keystone performed extensive product research while looking for a better air compressor and he discovered that Mattei’s rotary compressor is the best on the market, he said.

“We always do our homework before we take on a new product, and the Mattei was a no-brainer. Keystone has been researching products for 85 years in this industry, so we know what our customers want. The Mattei rotary is in the big leagues and the package is very reasonable, so we’re excited to be carrying them.”

The extensive support and handson service provided by Mattei is another big plus of working with a leader, Wittenberg said. “The customer service is exceptional. When we call Mattei for any reason, we get a welltrained individual on the phone and the follow-up is the best we’ve encountered.

A

B T ri a to st p

b S a 1 w b y lo

s o th d m re

A in

B p h fe w te

a y s, g g e mes, ms. y ’t p ct m-

n y g e y y rs. g ty it u n t. ah � rh soe

ee as rs ur s s e

sna er ll le n-

Shop and Product Showcase

AEGIS Tools Innovates Windshield Repair Systems Worldwide Bob Birkhauser, owner of AEGIS Tools International, has 34 years experience in the automotive glass industry, as a second-generation owner/operator/product developer whose father started an auto car glass specialist company 48 years ago. “My parents started their auto glass business in 1961 and I became an S.O.B. (Son of the Boss) after I graduated from University of Wisconsin in 1975,� Birkhauser said. “My dad wanted me to commit to the family business, so he made me sign a fiveyear commitment agreement. I never looked back or hesitated for a minute.�

In 1982, Birkhauser invented the first AEGIS windshield repair system for Auto Glass Specialists, Inc., to be used in his family’s chain of auto glass installation centers headAEGIS Tools Owner quartered Madison, Bob Birkhauser Wisconsin. grew up within “In the earlier days his family’s auto specialist business, of this industry, starting in 1961. windshield repair was an emerging service available primarily from repaironly franchises. Viewed as a serious threat to the auto glass replacement industry, windshield repair reduced the demand for replacement and directed referrals away from replacement shops.�

Over the years, AEGIS designed innovative glass installation tools and refinements to the windshield repair system. In 2005, the Birkhausers sold the Auto Glass Specialists installation centers to Belron North America but retained AEGIS Tools International, which is now a separate corporation. “AEGIS Tools International Inc. is a small, family-run business still located in Madison,� Birkhauser said. “AEGIS tools and equipment are sold worldwide through a network of distributors and our Web site. Our specialties are in customconfigured windshield repair kits and tools to make glass installations safer and more efficient. Constantly innovating, a staff engineer brings new ideas from concept to design, while a talented group of customer/field testers assist us in making our tools the most well-designed in the industry. Most of our components are made in the Upper Midwest and assembled at and shipped from our Madison production facility.�

In 1990, Birkhauser became president of AEGIS Tools and assumed complete control of the company when his father retired several years later. The company is flourishing today, with seven employees and selling more than 1,000 repair windshield kits annually, he explained.

It’s a worldwide business today, Birkhauser said. “Half of our business is international right now. We’re currently selling to 50 countries and growing this rapidly expanding market, to shops and wholesale distributors in South and Central America, France, Germany, Netherlands and sections of Eastern Europe.�

AEGIS Tools sells primarily windshield tools, repair kits and related components. Since opening its doors more than three decades ago, AEGIS has sold its products to more AEGIS Tool’s staff assembles one of the company’s patented windshield than 17,000 auto glass installation tools. shops, Birkhauser said.

Never slowed by a challenge, the AEGIS Tools has designed many of Birkhauser family decided to offer re- the most popular auto glass repair syspair as an additional service, but needed tems in the market today, Birkhauser said. high-quality tools without franchise “Auto glass techs from all over the fees. Within a short time, the AEGIS world provide us with valuable feedwindshield repair system was designed, back, telling us what products want tested and awarded two patents. manufactured and how these tools can

and air to be evacuated from the break, while hydraulic pressure forces resin completely and quickly into the break.

One of Birkhauser’s main goals is helping auto glass companies doing a better quality job by using superior products and bettering efficiently, ergonomics and overall safety, he said.

Even with better tools and training in 2009, there are still a wide range of safety and quality issues in this industry Birkhauser said.

AEGIS Tools headquarters is located in Madison, Wisconsin. “I would guess that Birkhauser said, popular with auto glass 80 percent of the same types of mistakes shops, collision repair facilities, new car happen when auto glass work is performed,� he said. “Some errors are small, dealerships and wholesale distributors.

The company’s newest leading but others are significant, but we don’t product is the patented dry vacuum-hy- have any sympathy for companies who draulic pressure system for AEGIS wind- take shortcuts using inferior materials and shield repair, featuring the QuikSilver engaging in unsafe practices. If you vioTechnology, which allows repairs in as late the standards, you’re running a risk little as five minutes, Birkhauser ex- of giving the customer an unsafe prodplained. Dry vacuum allows all moisture uct.� be designed or re-designed in order to make their jobs easier,� he said. “We tap into our customers’ extensive knowledge regularly and it makes for better tools.�

AEGIS Tool’s windshield repair systems are the company’s largest sellers,

!%')3¸ 7).$3()%,$ 2%0!)2 !$$3 4/ 9/52 "/44/- ,).%

s !%')3¸ 7INDSHIELD 2EPAIR 3YSTEMS s !%')3¸ 2EPAIR !DHESIVES s !%')3¸ 'LASS (ANDLERS s 3/,/ 7INDSHIELD 3ETTING 4OOLS s !%')3¸ 3CRATCH 2EMOVAL 3YSTEMS s !LL -AJOR "RANDS OF 0OWER AND -ANUAL #UT OUT 4OOLS "LADES AND !DHESIVE 'UNS s 'REAT SERVICE AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT 6IEW PRODUCT DEMOS AT WWW AEGISTOOLS COM

&OUFS DPEF "#/ GPS PĂľ BOZ XJOETIJFME SFQBJS TZTUFN BU XXX BFHJTUPPMT DPN

4HE #HOICE OF 0ROFESSIONALS 7ORLDWIDE FOR OVER YEARS

TOLL FREE IN 5 3 AND #ANADA % MAIL INFO AEGISTOOLS COM s 0HONE s &AX 0 / "OX -ADISON 7) 53!

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 11

12 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase