Autobody News Shop & Product Showcase: June 2016

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 Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz 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 Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz 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 Jones Motorcars - Mercedes Benz 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 daross1@mmm.com 3MCollision.com Instagram 3MCollision Facebook 3M Collision Repair Solutions Twitter @3M_Collision

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 3

4 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Florida Shop Owner Takes a Swing at Perfection with Sikkens

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 72

In Business Since: 1986

Number of Locations: Two

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 5

6 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Canadian Shop Has Found a Winner in Axalta’s Low-VOC Solventborne Refinish System

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 22

In Business Since: 1978

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.”

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 7

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Visit basfrefinish.com/GlasuritColorAdvance to learn more.

8 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Family-Owned Auburn Collision 1 Painters Love BASF for Ease in Matching and Enhanced Productivity

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 12 (27 total for both shops)

In Business Since: 1981 DRP Programs: Eight

Number of Locations: Two

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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 9

10 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

NJ Shop Thrilled Over Globaljig® Equipment Presented by Chief

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 12 In Business Since: 1954

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 11

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12 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

D&S Curing Solutions Cuts Drying Time, Saves Money for Gilmore’s Collision Center

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 28

In Business Since: 1947

Number of Locations: One

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 dougv@activeabi.com www.dscuringsolutions.com

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 13

14 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Autopark Collision Relies on DJS Fabrications for Productivity through Organized Parts Storage

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 11

In Business Since: 1978/2007 Number of Locations: One 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.”

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 15

16 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Eco Repair Changes the Way BMW Collision Center Fixes Cars

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 22 In Business Since: 2010

Number of Locations: One 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.”

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 17

18 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Lusid Technologies Gives Lakeside Paint & Body “Glamour Affect with Economic Value”

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: Six

In Business Since: 1968

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space: 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 and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 19

20 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Shop in Kentucky is Saving 40% by Using Matrix

TM

Rodger’s Body Shop

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision and Car Restoration

Facility Employees: Six

In Business Since: 1973

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 21

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 NFPAÂŽ 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

Mobile Environmental Solutions 1150 McCaleb Road, Suite E1 Montgomery, TX 77316 888-321-1320 ph. 800-416-4230 fax

www.mobileenvironmentalsolutions.com

22 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Street Scenes Auto Stays Green While Saving Space with Mobile Environmental Solutions

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair, Vehicle Restoration, Aero Facility Employees: Five

In Business Since: 2004

Number of Locations: One

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.”

Mobile Environmental Solutions 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.

Mobile Environmental Solutions 1150 McCaleb Rd, Suite E-1 Montgomery, TX 77316 (281) 786-4584 (888) 321-1320

www.mobileenvironmentalsolutions.com

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 23

24 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Shop Owner Fixes 80% of All Bumpers with Polyvance

Highlands Ranch Collision Center

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 19

In Business Since: 1998

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space: 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

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 25

26 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

PPG Helps Car Craft Autobody after Stormy Days

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 60 In Business Since: 1963

Number of Locations: Three

Combined Production Space: 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 schauer@ppg.com www.ppgrefinish.com

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 27

28 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Collision Center Supporting Multiple Dealerships Relies on Prospray®

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 10

TM

In Business Since: 1991 DRP Programs: Two

Number of Locations: One 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.”

Combined Production Space: 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 A Valspar Automotive Brand P.O. Box 1461 Minneapolis, MN 55440 (800) 321-0672 www.ProsprayFinishes.com facebook.com/prospray youtube.com/prosprayautofinishes

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30 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Painter Uses SATA Guns and Shoots for Quality Premier Collision

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 10

In Business Since: 1991

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space: 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

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32 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

NY MSO Uses Only USI Spray Booths Cole’s Collision Centers

by Autobody News Staff

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

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 80

In Business Since: 2007

Number of Locations: Four

Combined Production Space: 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: s.moretto@usius.com www.usius.com

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 33

34 JUNE 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Monte’s Auto Body in CA is High on the Valspar Refinish™ Low VOC System

Monte’s Body Shop

by Autobody News Staff

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 Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 18

In Business Since: 1979

Number of Locations: Two 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.”

Combined Production Space: 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 , A Valspar Automotive Brand P.O. Box 1461 Minneapolis, MN 55440 (800) 845-2500 www.valsparrefinish.com facebook.com/valsparautomotive instagram.com/valsparauto TM

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS JUNE 2016 35