Automotive Refinisher January - February 2016

TAKING THE FRICTION OUT OF COLLISION REPAIR

CALL 0861 268 885

Contents January - February 2016

NITROTHERM

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Technology

SEMA SHOW

What More Can You Say?

YATU’S PAINT PLANT Grand Opening In China

BASF

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KZN Boost Body Shop Business

FUTURE TECH

BMW i3 I3 Repair Highlights

JEEP RENEGADE Virtual Plant Tour

VRYBURG TOP SHOP Top Car Panel Beaters

USING SOCIAL MEDIA

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Up Your Business Game

PPG

Automotive Colour Palette ‘16-’17

TRAINING FOCUS

What’s On Offer This Year?

ROOF OF AFRICA Extreme Enduro

8 10 16 22 28 34 40 44 50 76 82

Cover: Porsche’s Mission E electric Concept Contents: Stephane Peterhansel’s Peugeot 2008 DKR

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PUBLISHING BYTE

by Ian Groat

EDITORIAL

NO DISCIPLINE ON SOUTH AFRICAN ROADS COSTS LIVES ravelling on South African roads becomes a bigger risk everyday. Quite how we manage to get things so wrong seems to be part of a belief that life is cheap in South Africa and that everyone for some curious reason is expendable. With close to 40% of death victims being passengers and another 34% pedestrians means lucklesss victims offer close to half of our Christmas holiday as outgoing humans.

Just how do authorities come to terms with the lack of respect for any road rules remains a big mystery in this critical period. It is quite clear on an everyday basis to see drivers zooming past you in a traffic jam, whilst white mini bus taxi’s who are a big culprit for our national road deaths, simply reverse or turnaround driving against on-coming traffic. To entertain themselves more often than not with no intervention by any traffic officials to apprehend them, all the while many drivers totally ignore speed limits and manage on average to pay just 18% of all road fines that pop through the postbox.

The questionable lack of understanding of road rules is also shown major contempt in any rush hour situation where blue light equipped officers zip down the left side of you in the emergency lane ignoring everyone else and without following the road rules themselves.

The carnage is therefore set to continue with an estimated one out of every two road drivers using a fake licence which they got in a lucky packet somewhere. So leading from the front on road safety is a big ask when sadly our government in road discipline is so lacking and with drivers who have become used to getting away with shoddy driving and blatant use of unroadworthy vehicles.

It gives a whole new meaning to terms of use defensive driving methods to survive. It is difficult to enforce road rules in the face of such ignorance and blatant bad road manners and that is why our road statistics read so badly. Like normal you might say!

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Te le p hon e: + 27 ( 0) 1 1 94 9 4 09 1

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ROAD DEATHS BETWEEN 1 DEC 2015 AND 11 JAN 2016 PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN Kwazulu Natal Eastern Cape Gauteng Limpopo Mpumalanga Western Cape Free State North West Northern Cape

302 278 271 208 84 162 157 136 57

VICTIMS Passengers Pedestrians Drivers Cyclists

38.3% 34.9% 23.9% 2.8%

GENDER Males Females Remainder burnt beyond recognition CARS INVOLVED Small Motor Vehicles Light Delivery Vehicles Minibuses or Kombi Trucks

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

F a cs imi le : +2 7 (0 ) 11 2 5 2 68 4 4 E ma il : a u tor e f@i a fr i ca . c om Web s it e: www. a u tor e f. co. z a

UNITED KINGDOM

P u bli she r : Ia n G r oa t E d ito r : C la i re Ma c fi e A c cou nts : Val G r oa t D e sig n: Ja y Gr oa t A ss ist a nt : N a ta sc hj a F er re i r a C T C or re s p ond e nt: Dav e F a ll Te ch nic a l Ed it or : A nd r ew M a r sh 4

A U S T R A L I A MEDIA PARTNER

74.4% 25.2%

47.9% 22.7% 10.1% 4.8%

The views expressed in ar ticles in Automotive Refinisher are those of the authors and shall not be construed to represent those of the Editor or the Publisher.

Accordingly, Automotive Refinisher accepts no responsibility for claims and statements made by advertisers and independent columnists. Fur ther, the appearance of advertisements herein does not necessarily indicate the approval by Automotive Refinisher for the product and/or service advertised. Material may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Publisher. Automotive Refinisher is dedicated to servicing the business interests of the collision repair industry.

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LOCAL UPDATE

by Aleeshen Kisten

CRA NEWS

DEVELOPING TRADE TRENDS FOR 2016 t’s going to be an interesting year of change ahead as South Africa gets set to see a new trend of consolidation in the collision repair trade. Independent owner-operators will perhaps see these developments as a big threat to their long term survival or as an opportunity of creating certainty by being part of something bigger, but last year my travels to both the IBIS convention in Greece, gave me the opportunity to meet colleagues from markets in Europe, Australia, America and Asia.

World trends are showing that stock market related investment companies are very busy developing new networks across the USA, while in other diversified markets like Australia where 86 body shops have been bought out by a body shop consolidator working closely with an insurer to remove unnecessary points of friction and cost in vehicle damage repair. An overall drive to keep costs of body repair down is a big focus for many top motor related insurance companies.

Our accident rate also plunged by approximately 7% last year, this coupled to some other major factors like the new and questionable insurer trends of writing off damaged vehicles at a 50% of their retail market value plus a major depreciation of the rand adds up to in my mind that it won’t be a business as usual market when business kicks back into gear this year.

The cooperative and franchise companies that have been started in SA mark the first signs of consolidation and are largely doing well and will continue to grow in my opinion in line with international trends of consolidation. Cross relationships are constantly improving between repair groups and insurers and both parties need to work closely together in developing sustainable businesses in both the repair and insurance trades.

It is great to have the insurance industry knowledge of Peter Todd on board to focus and grow sustainable solutions that progressive body shops and insurers will need in an ever changing market place.

Balancing these different input demands from both body shop and insurers will remain a constant juggling act as the global footprint on body shop business develops locally.

It’s a difficult ask to try and take in that USA predictions on trade consolidation are openly predicting that over 50% of all body shop repairs will be carried out by six major consolidated collision repair groups within the next few years on their time scale.

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A good measure would come from a historical insight into other industries in South Africa, like the supermarket trade, which was once dominated by the family owned business not so long ago.

Consolidation in that industry happened rapidly and today we are left with the 95% of the market being captured by the corporate identities of Woolworths, Pick n Pay and Shoprite Checkers.

Truthfully, I can’t see that type of radical progression taking place in South Africa immediately in the collision repair trade, but there are major developments that could lie ahead in our local trade on accident repair management that can improve the service delivery to both the insurer and the consumer that will certainly fast track this trend.

It could, in our case, see a scenario that just 400 shops in our national landscape of repair might end up carrying out around 80% of all insurance damaged vehicle repairs in a few years time. It’s a very good thing that our shops in the main have invested heavily in new equipment and upped repair standards and performance to be able to take their place in the consolidation process that should roll out rapidly in the year ahead.

My personal prediction, and I’m quite confident on this trend in the future is that it could all unfold within the next 18 months. This looks like becoming a major game changer for our top repair shops in South Africa.

In closing the role we have to play in these market developments is to have the time to spend in negotiations that take place consistently to ensure all parties in the value chain (insurer, repairer and consumer) enagage in a constructive manner to create a sustainable trade and a win-win model on any future trend or development that is taking place in South Africa. We have much experience of what went wrong in other parts of the world like the UK and learning from these findings puts us in good stead to understand what the do’s and the dont’s are for our market.

So you can be assured that there will be some major developments that will take place as we watch this space and South Africa braces for a big bout of consolidation from key international and local players to change business as we know it. My advice is that the winds of change are blowing, ensure you have a para-sail or you might be blown away.

US NEWS

GOOGLE’S AUTONOMOUS CARS HIT THE STREETS oogle’s autonomous two-person, passenger vehicles have started to circulate around its company headquarters to further adapt to real world driving scenarios, according to a report by USA Today.

These cars are a realisation of Google’s vision for self-driving cars.

The vehicles are pod-like in their design and can carry two people,, have no boot and have a black bubble on the roof containing scanners that map the world around.

These prototypes do have a rudimentary steering wheel and pedals for the on-board safety driver, but the vision is to have occupants fully trust the machine to get them to their destination.

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Google has had a fleet of two-dozen Lexus SUVs that are strapped with radar and Lidar sensors driving the streets of Mountain View for years now. The cars have logged a total of more than a million miles on city streets, resulting in about a dozen accidents that Google claims were the fault of the human drivers. Recently Google agreed to keep a running web-based tally of any incidents going forward after being criticised for not doing so in the past.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE US NEWS

INSURERS UNDERPAY IN USA - LEGAL ACTION

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n behalf of their customer, Three C Body Shops filed suit against an at-fault party due to their insurance company’s alleged repair underpayments.

The complaint, filed in the municipal court of Franklin County in Ohio, named Caleb Brickey as a defendent and alleged that Brickey's insurer – Allstate Insurance Company – failed and refused to provide Three C Body Shop’s customer full payment for numerous reasonable and necessary charges for processes and materials.

The suit stemmed from an automotive accident in which the at-fault party, Brickey, was negligent and admitted liability for damages to a 2005 Jeep Liberty, owned by a Three C Body Shop’s customer.

Three C submitted their estimate to Allstate and after four supplemental attempts to attain the full and proper compensation were unsuccessful, Three C Body Shops proceeded with the recommended and proper repair, at the direction of their customer.

The final cost of the authorised repair was $5 687.83; Allstate released $3 585.43 towards the repair, leaving a difference and deficit of $2 102.40. Three C Body Shop is seeking recovery on their own behalf.

The lawsuit seeks full payment to Three C Body Shops of the difference, plus costs, expenses, attorney fees, prejudgment and post judgment interest.

"This process exposes the insurer’s poor behaviour to their policyholder and places the at-fault party in a position of vulnerability and exposes them to liabilities. Liabilities they expected their own insurer to shield them from," said Bob Juniper, second generation president and owner of Three C Body Shops. "Their failure to shield their policyholder may place the insurer in a position of potential breach of contract and other potential legal liabilities. Our hope is this exposure will cause for a positive change in insurer behaviours; regardless if a first or third party claim.”

WHAT’S HOT?

EZI-METHODS IN IRELAND uto Industry Consulting, the creators of EziMethods have announced the signing of a sales and distribution agreement with Atecea Ltd to support their Ezi-Methods product in Ireland.

AIC Atecea who are based in Dublin will actively promote and distribute the Ezi-Methods product into the local market.

Ezi-Methods is a cost effective web-based repair methods solution, allowing insurers and repairers easy access to OEM based vehicle repair data.

Ben Cardy, commerical director of AIC Ltd said they were delighted to be working with Noel and Harry at Atecea.

Collectively their experience and knowledge of the collision repair industry, and more specifically the local Irish market is second to none. They look forward to a prosperous and successful working relationship.

Vehicle construction and technology is changing so rapidly so more than ever there is a need for repair methods that are easily available for repairers and engineers.

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WE ARE NOW DIGITAL

Great news! All issues of Automotive Refinisher magazine are available for easy download on all iPads and Android tablets.

Check out past editions on our website www.autoref.co.za or go to www.autoref.co.za/past-editions

Get all your latest news on new products and equipment for your repair shop, as well as training info.

PRODUCT NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

NITROTHERM A SPRAY PAINTING REVOLUTION he Nitrotherm Spray System from Eurosider is a revolution in coating application technology. Nitrotherm Spray gives unprecedented control over the coating process and brings cost savings by using nitrogen as the fluid carrier instead of compressed air.

Nitrotherm Spray saves costs and time while maintaining a very high-quality and consistent finish. Savings of 25% can be made on coating materials and 30% on labour costs.

The system reduction of overspray and rebounding paint, cleaner working environment, improvements in finish and reduction in application time. Return on investment (ROI) is generally measured in months.

Nitrotherm Spray System is available in South Africa exclusively through Kanye Vimba.

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The Nitrogen Advantage In replacing the traditional fluid carrier of filtered compressed air with a clean, dry and ionised nitrogen-enriched supply, the system eliminates problems associated with moisture and static electricity.

The nitrogen is also free from impurities such as dust, oil, oil-fumes and other chemical contaminants present in the feed air.

This means that the paint does not react in any way to the carrier as it passes through the spray gun or during application.

Nitrogen travels faster than compressed air enabling a lower pressure spray, which leads to reduced working pressure, less overspray, increased transfer efficiency and less spraybooth maintenance, extending the life of booth filters and creating a cleaner working environment.

Quality, Speed and Cost Savings Paint can be applied with a more defined and precise spraying cone, giving a higher definition of image and enabling improved colour matching in solvent and waterborne paints.

Heating the nitrogen reduces the viscosity and makes paint application easier, which has proved to be decisive in accelerating flash off and evaporation times, regardless of the ambient temperature.

With Nitrotherm Spray each coat adheres to the surface being sprayed rapidly and without altering the properties of the paint.

More material can be laid in one coat with reduced waiting time between coats. Sags, runs, drips and orange peel associated with traditional application are reduced.

Easy Installation Nitrotherm Spray System is quick to install and can be used with all kinds of air compressors, paints, spray guns and in all temperatures, including across multiple spraybooths.

What Nitrotherm Means To Body Shops Painters are able to spray more cars, make more money, use less paint and produce higher quality work. The learning curve is very shallow and all current spray guns and other equipment can be used.

Nitrotherm Spray System is a real revolution for the bodyshop industry.

Why Nitrotherm?

Significant Savings – reduces coating materials costs by 25% Improved Refinish – precise cone, reduced orange peel, no mottling, better colour matching 8

Cleaner Environment – reduced overspray and rebounding paint, less wastage, less maintenance Reduced application time – save 30%+ on labour costs Low start up requirements – use existing manual or robotic equipment

Suitable For All Coatings Water- or solvent-borne 1K and 2K materials Acrylic High solid (HS) Primers and fillers Basecoats (including metallic) Enamels Clearcoats Powder coats Find out more at www.nitrothermspraydistributors.com or by calling Kanye Vimba on +27 (0)11 396 1161.

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Fast molecules: Less working pressure Increased transfer efficiency Better working conditions Less spraybooth maintenance Extends life of booth filters

Heated Nitrogen: Lowers product viscosity Reduces use of solvents Reduce VOC Improves application speed Improves coverage Less aggressive application

Adjustable polarity: Increases adhesion to different substrates

A spray-painting revolution.

Saves costs and time.

Gives a very high quality finish.

Guarantees a consistent performance.

Creates a cleaner working environment.

Minimal installation requirements.

Rapid return on investment.

Kanye Vimba Trading tel: +27 11 396 1161 cell: +27 82 552 8126 Email: info@kanyevimba.co.za or visit our website: www kanyevimba.co.za

Nitrogen can be charged with positive or negative ions

Regulated by up to 15kv Drastic reduction of impurities on the finished surface

Easier application to metallic substrates

SEMA LAS VEGAS 2015

WHAT MORE CAN YOU SAY!

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story & pics by David Newton-Ross

Artworks like these are the main reason why SEMA just gets bigger year on year.

Sata stand .

Rupes stand.

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ell that’s it for SEMA 2015 and what an amazing event it was once again. When I look back at my headers for the past six years of attending SEMA I am running out of exactly what I can say as SEMA just keeps on getting better!

If you are going to SEMA just to attend the collision repair section and the outstanding educational package presented

by SCRS you would not be disappointed.

But when you add to this all of the other attractions that not only SEMA but Las Vegas has to offer then this has to be the best value proposition for anyone in our industry or the automotive industry in total.

Once again the number of attendees was staggering over the four days - more than 159 000. The number, variety and quality of the cars, trucks and motorbikes and some weird looking vehicles has to be seen to be believed. I think between Chris Stone and I we took over 4000 photographs (thank heavens for digital photography!) We could

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easily have taken a lot more but we only had four days!

The number of personalities not only on the individual booths but also at the Velocity Live session was more than ever and they are all really totally professional and available to the attendees who want to chat, have autographs signed plus ‘selfies’ and photographs taken. (One young English guy actually got up on stage with the Wheeler Dealers to take a selfie!)

The educational sessions presented by SCRS were very well attended and the OEM all day presentation was not to be missed.

The information provided by the OEMs on current and future technology was invaluable.

The CIC (Collision Industry Conference) meeting with a half day session on each of the first two days was busy, informative and at times heated as repairers, suppliers and insurers came together in one room to discuss industry issues. I made a presentation on the second day covering activity in the

Australian market and the audience were very impressed with the AutoPath website initiative to attract young people into the industry put together by NRMA. Included on Autopath is a video of Steve Lozenkovski from Bears Accident Repair Centre in Wollongong talking about his business and what he does to attract young people to join the industry (this includes tats, a nose ring and riding a skateboard or Ferrari to work!)

Check this out at www.autopath.com.au and be as impressed as your peers in the US who applauded the video at the end!

All I can say about SEMA is if you have not attended then you need to go add it to your bucket list. I know that I will be there again next year and looking for more superlatives to describe what is THE EVENT for our industry. This year the dates are 1st to 4th November, 2016. Be there!

Take a look at the following pages of editorial and photographs and enjoy a small piece of SEMA 2015 which will hopefully whet your appetite for 2016.

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SEMA LAS VEGAS 2015 PPG stand.

The Marouns Group took a big South African party of body shops to Sema.

Presta stand Anest Iwata stand.

Chief automotive technologies stand.

Chip Foose (left) is a Sema regular and is seen here signing autographs on the Glasurit stand.

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R-M stand .

Celette stand

AkzoNobel and Sikkens stand.

Spanesi stand.

Roberlo stand.

Presta Stand

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INDUSTRY NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

ADDRESSING AIRBAG ADVANCEMENTS irbag technology is rapidly advancing and so are the methods for inspection and replacement.

Restraint systems in many of today’s vehicles are more complex and more intricate than ever before. Airbags in particular are becoming more complex, and their methods of installation more involved.

“It’s imperative that both the appraisers and technicians remain on top of the information that’s available, to write the estimates accurately and perform repairs safely and properly,” says Douglas Gan, CO of Airbag Solutions in Rochester, N.Y. That’s why he recently spent nine months working with I-CAR to develop a new course, Restraint Systems Damage Analysis.

Designed for estimators and damage appraisers, the course is meant to identify various types of restraint systems and their parts, the deployment of different passive restraint systems and the understanding of required replacement or inspections for passive restraint system parts. In short, the course covers how to identify airbags by type, understand how they work and how they’re inspected or replaced.

“The course introduces a few of the new items available in the 2011 and 2012 vehicles, but more importantly, it attempts to bring attention to the fact that these

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developments are occurring regularly,” Gan says.

Gan says this includes the new rear seatbelt airbags that debuted on the 2011 Ford Explorer. And Toyota, he says, is introducing rear curtain airbags to protect some of the newest small cars on the market, such as the iQ, which has a rear curtain airbag.

Further complicating the airbag scene, these safety systems can vary not only among vehicle models, but also among model years. Honda, for instance, produces different requirements and components for each of its vehicles.

“In the Civic, seatbelts and buckles actually deploy – they have an explosive device that pulls the passenger, or driver, back into position prior to the airbag deploying,” Gan says. “You’re being pulled from both the left and right side by the seatbelts in the Civic. With the Accord, they’re only using the belt side, so the buckle is not an explosive device.” These multiple components and configurations require specific replacements and inspections after

deployment, or collision, if the airbag light is illuminated, Gan says.

Airbag system installation has its nuances, as well. Some systems require different procedures depending on a model make and year. Others have the same equipment and procedure for a variety of vehicles, but require a specific software configuration.

General Motors, for example, makes an airbag control unit that fits a variety of vehicles, but Gan says that once it’s installed, it needs to be told what vehicle it’s in. “It used to be you would order a control unit for the specific car you’re working on, plug it in, and the airbag system would be fine,” he says. “Now, you would get a control unit that would fit a variety of vehicles, plug it in and the light will still remain illuminated because the unit doesn’t know what car it’s in. So it requires a specific download from GM to identify and activate all of the components.”

The coverage of airbags systems has been around awhile, but covered nowhere near as comprehensively as it is in the new course, given the changes in technology and manufacturer specifications.

TECHNOLOGY

ADJUSTING HEADLIGHTS ext time you drive at night, see for yourself how many cars you can spot with incorrectly adjusted headlights.

They either blind you, or they bother you in the rear view mirror. And yes, most them have been at the panelbeaters.

When asked, “How do you adjust headlights?” The prompt answer is “The two screws on the headlight,” and of course this is correct. So where do you adjust the headlights to? This seems to be a difficult question to answer. Some reckon that headlights come pre-adjusted, others adjust them to their knee when standing in front of the vehicle and compare one side to the other, but in reality, most have no idea whatsoever.

When you ask body shops about headlight adjustments, the general answer is that insurances don’t pay for them and when you ask an assessor, the answer is that the adjustment time is part of the R&R time and I have even heard some claiming that new headlights are pre-adjusted at the factory.

So there you have it, the explanation why you get either blinded or bothered in the rear view mirror by so many unadjusted headlights. But really, does it take so long to adjust these lights?

There are different ways to adjust them. You can use an optical headlight adjuster that costs very little for a Chinese machine, and the sky is the limit for a similar contraption made in Europe. Over the years several makes and models and have been designed and it is a fairly simple task and an accurate one providing you know what 14

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Here is a basic ‘Headlight Adjusting Instruction’ which can be placed on the notice board on how to adjust headlights.

Instead of using a wall or the workshop doors, you can use a mobile board. Move the car five metres back and not the board to maintain the centre alignment. A novel idea is a magnet as an aiming point.

Points to Remember: The floor must be level and the steering wheel must be straight at all times Left/right adjustments are made on high beam only.

Up/down adjustments are made on low beam only Following the low beam adjustment double check the high beam again and re-adjust if need be.

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Introducing a new and improved formulation system with local and international formulas.

LIFETIME WARRANTY

Contact Suleman Tel (031) 902 7666 info@automotivepaint.co.za www.automotivepaint.co.za

REFINISH COATINGS YATU PRODUCTION, CHINA

YATU’S GRAND PAINT PLANT OPENING

Designed by an Italian

paint production company the new plant is huge. It was built by the Guangdong Construction Co. and visitors got to walk the entire 22 acre production site.

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There are kilometres of stainless steel pipes and paint vessels inside the factory.

Indiviudal mixing stations are powered by Netzsch high output grinders.

he publisher was one of over 150 specially invited international guests who attended the launch celebrations of the huge, all-new auto refinishing production facility in Sanlian industrial area, a district of Guangdong in China. The massive investment made by Yatu into its first waterborne production venture was carried out at a cost of some $100 million and features an automatic installation facility to control output and guarantee outstanding quality of every batch.

The Yatu company was founded in 1995 from a small base but the company’s outward-looking success has seen it grow in international export sales to some 18 000 tonnes of exported and local sales of their brands such as Easicoat and Maxitone – along with others – to over 70 international countries. The result of all of this effort sees their new stateof-the-art production site which is spread across 50 acres of land featuring a new factory building of some 22 acres. The all-new production factory is just about ready to come on stream to keep pace with demand for the company’s refinish range. This will probably commence after the Spring festival in March 2016.

Ralph Shen of international marketing and sales welcomed the delegates to the big opening event and showed the new plan that Yatu have developed across their international markets.

The first waterborne production site will run with 20 semi automatic production lines featuring a specially designed layout performance from an Italian specialist production company. Netzsch high speed grinders are being employed to develop the low VOC waterborne base coat range and Yatu received very generous government support from the environmental government department by way of a loan to improve the site and to develop further (R&D) at Yatu car paint.

The production site features a huge area that contains their own double spray booth and preparation work training facility. It is packed full of Festo dust-free sanders along with SATA and DeVilbiss spray guns in the 161 400 square feet, dedicated, three-storey design.

This section will ultimately house some 100 workers in developing colour research in a marketing strategy that gathers global colour samples from OEM car makers, and it will also cater for the Yatu industrial and commercial truck division because Yatu handle in China the needs of some 1 060 distribution points.

When it comes to factory approvals Yatu have plenty, including JMC, Ford and Geely Changan,Trumpchi and Haima.They are recommended by

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Lion dancers welcomed guests to the all new Yatu waterborne facility.

T his tank far m is filled with r aw materials, w hich sup plies p lant pr od uctio n.

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REFINISH COATINGS YATU PRODUCTION, CHINA

Managing director Raymond Chow gave a big welcome to over 150 international at the official launch opening ceremony.

Honda, Mazda, VW and Citroën. They are principle suppliers for original coatings for models made locally. Surprisingly there are another 24 car makers in the local market with names you will probably never hear outside this sizeable market.

Yatu exports from 2005 have risen to over $1 203 million in export car paint right now. It’s a success story unparalleled by any other Chinese paint maker, driven by competitive pricing and product reliability across three areas of activity in waterborne-, solvent borne- and fleet products. By developing over 10 000 colour shades with derivative colour, backed up by over 24 specialist colour formulators working flat out to keep pace with colour retrieval demand, their colour spectrum unsurprisingly meets every international market demand.

Training schedules include special seminars for product training; colour training, business channel training and products and pre-treatments.

The size of China to an outsider like me is staggering, for unlike any other nation on the planet, it’s some 9.6 million kilometres square featuring 56 nations speaking a total of 80 languages. It also boasts five climate zones! It’s mind-boggling for anyone who isn’t oriental. Consider this: for over 5000 years 829 kings have come down the line keeping guard over 24 dynasties while managing to fight 3 800 wars to while the time away!

Today China is amazingly advanced with new roads, new cars, new buildings and shopping malls with business booming across every area of manufacture and tourism. It is a big shock to the system for anyone with a fixed view of what China is like. It’s an absolute can-do-anything country in all aspects of its lifestyle.

Not content with their success, Yatu staged an opening ceremony that would up-stage the Beijing Olympics with dance from traditional entertainers and Chinese opera, while other singers were presented to guests in the hot summer climate. It was a blissful experience. The company honoured its longest serving employees, directors and company founders, along with their huge array of some 70 distribution partners from across the world as far away as Fiji, Russia, the US and Mauritius, to name just a few.

Some travelled 30 hours or more to attend this huge celebratory function.

It proved an outstanding success for this privately owned paint maker (Yatu) in the great roll out of their latest and most modern new waterborne production facility seen in China. Everyone celebrated and it all turned out to be a great occasion. The company have a great ethical business style and fully deserve their current wave of success.

The sole importer for the Yatu brand in South Africa is Automotive Paints, contact Suleman on +27 (0) 31 902 7666 for any enquiries about the brand.

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The event had all the glitz and glamour with special traditional dancers.

Ralph Shen g ave an over view o f the glob al mar keting str ategy for Yatu.

Pr oject dir ector, Tummer ex plained that the new p lant will b egin p ro duction in ear ly 2016.

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Meeting ISO quality standards is assisted by the use of 22 semi automatic computer controlled technology lines.

The Yatu training centre features two waterborne spary booths with full dust free extraction and a team of fully trained staff to pass on their skills to their trainers across the world.

Celebrating 20 years of Yatu success brought out all the key directors to complete the grand opening. The large contingent of Yatu international distributors were awarded for their assistance in boosting export sales of the refinish range of car paints.

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COATINGS NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

Brett Winter from Winclo Spray Painters in Stanger says that many areas of profitability are now on the radar since the Glasurit ABS workflow training seminar.

GLASURIT VALUE BEYOND PAINT s economic pressures continue to have an impact on the industry, BASF Coatings Services understands that, for body shops to remain sustainable, both parties need to undertake a holistic approach to business.

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Advanced Business Solutions (ABS) Through Glasurit, BASF’s premium paint brand, a consultancy portfolio called Advanced Business Solutions (ABS), was established to help body shop owners discover and develop unused potential in their shops – from receiving the order to handing over the repaired vehicle. According to Glasurit ABS Consultant, Paul Rathbone, “We understand that our customers’ business goes beyond the paint we supply, therefore we saw the need to develop a strategy that will allow us to offer value beyond paint.

“Through ABS, panel shops are able to increase their efficiency and develop new profitable business areas through a tailored strategy that we create for each individual shop.”

ABS is made up of a number of hands-on concepts. Customers are first introduced to the programme through workflow seminars.

“These seminars are the foundation on which ABS is implemented.

We provide this platform to educate our customers and help them understand the concept of ABS so that they can see the value of the programme,” said Rathbone.

According to Brett Winter from Winclo Spray Painters in Stanger, KZN, who attended one of the Glasurit ABS workflow seminars, and who is in the process of building a new body shop, the training greatly increased his understanding of workflow in his current operation. “We are currently working on new methods of speeding up production with the Glasurit consultants, all of which will be implemented in the new facility,” he said. Since the training Winter noted that his overall business approach has become more professional after implementing the concepts he had learned during the workflow seminar.

As the industry is going through challenging times, with insurers also continuously looking at reduced repair costs, it is essential that body shops change the way they operate and conduct their business more effectively in order to mitigate any potential negative impact the current economic climate could have on them.

Process Improvement Once the customers complete the workflow seminar, the next step in the ABS process is for Glasurit consultants to assess the individual businesses from a financial perspective, the core components are analysed individually and a way forward is plotted.

“We then follow up with other process improvement services such as the body shop audit and body shop design, which are focused on process improvement,” adds Rathbone.

Tongaat Auto Industries, situated in Tongaat, KZN, is another body shop that has implemented the ABS programme. Sugan Govender who manages the shop was upbeat about being able to significantly reduce his consumable costs by improved systems and concepts learnt at the workflow seminar. “Now that we have been taught how to manage the main operational key performing indicators, the business will be able to become much more efficient in all areas of operation, which will contribute to a significant improvement on our profits,” he said.

“We strongly believe in helping our customers realise the value that comes with the paint,” says Azeez Choonara, Glasurit branch sales manager in Durban.

For more information on Glasurit’s Advanced Business Solutions, contact Paul Rathbone, +27 (0)87 808 1571 or email: paul.rathbone@basf.com It’s great that your business is running well. Give it a chance to run even better!

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Sugan Govender, (right), from Tongaat Auto Industries says it was a real eyeopener on improving many areas of their body shop. He is seen with Glasurit’s Ashley Pillay, head technician in KZN.

Azeez Choonara, Glasurit KZN branch sales manager.

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BUSINESS UPDATE From left to Right: Francois Theron (COO, Discovery Insure), Dorus Knoop, CEO of CK Coachworks Motor Group and Themba Baloyi (Executive Director, Discovery Insure).

AWARDS

CK COACHWORKS MOTOR GROUP AWARDED TOP PARTNER AT DISCOVERY INSURE AWARDS

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t the prestigious Discovery Insure Awards ceremony held in November last year, it was CK Coachworks Motor Group who was awarded the Top Motor Partner of the year in the Western Cape for its particularly high service delivery and for providing world-class service to its clients.

Aeysha Knoop, owner manager of CK Coachworks Motor Group said, “We are extremely delighted and honoured to have received this award, and extremely proud of our team at CK Coachworks. Our continuous drive to improve the quality of service at CK Coachworks has finally paid off ”.

CK Coachworks Motor Group has four coachworks centres, all based in the Western Cape. The main hub is in Tokai, with a speed shop in the same area. There is a recently refurbished centre in Gardens and another in the Nor thern suburbs branded CK Coachworks Tygerberg. This makes CK Coachworks Motor Group the only coachworks company in Cape Town to be represented in each of the city’s main centres.

“We put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. We understand that having an accident or damaging one’s vehicle is a traumatic as well as an inconvenient experience. Hence we take great pride in upholding our reputation in high quality

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automotive spray painting and refinishing, leaving our customers’ vehicle as good as new”, commented Dorus Knoop, CEO at CK Coachworks Motor Group.

“The Partner Awards were created to reward our Partners for providing world class service to clients,” said CEO of Discovery Insure Anton Ossip, in an article posted on Discovery’s web site. Feedback from clients form the foundation of the Partner Awards programme. Partners need to live the values of the Discovery Insure Partner Service Charter and have a good understanding of the measurement criteria.

Knoop concluded that, “CK Coachworks Motor Group is continuously striving to improve service delivery, expand their market share in the Cape and build a sustainable business with a steady, growing and satisfied customer base. Thank you to all our customers who voted for CK Coachworks Motor Group”.

CK Coachworks Motor Group is a family owned and managed business that has grown from one small motor body repair business to a group of highly professional companies with state of the art equipment.

Carworld Do It Again The Discovery Award for the Johannesburg family panelbeating group as a top repairer nationally for the insurance group is always a big compliment to the hard

work and effort that the Scanlen family put into their vehicle repairs.

“The company has a 29-year track record of producing top quality workmanship,” says Sean Scanlen. They are all hands-on working senior managers at the company business in Wynberg, Sandton.

Dion Scanlen holding the Discovery Insure Award for top repairer for the Discovery Group.

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Tel: 011 872 1217

RSB AutoGroup, Joshua Doore Building, 4 Andries Street South, Wynberg, JHB

FUTURE TECH BMW I3 REPAIR

BMW I3 REPAIR HIGHLIGHTS

By Andrew Marsh

he i3 has been on sale around the world for more than a year now, and still represents a step change in automotive engineering, especially from a collision repair point of view.

The headline is of course the carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) body shell, but as we shall see the shell is a good deal more sophisticated than that. Let’s start with the exterior.

Unusual features include the front seat belt integrated into the rear door (as seen before on Mazda RX-8, Mini Clubman R55 and most King cab pickups) and removal of the front door to remove the fixed or moving glass. Indeed body side rebuild involves adjusting the gapping and flush fit for the front door, front door glasses, rear door and rear door glass. Super.

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Major Work Now we shall take a look at one of the typical major repairs.

Underneath the CFRP ‘life’ cell are five main structural components – the front subframe, the front module, the rear module and the two link members between the two modules. In addition there are bolt-on parts for the bumper beams and braces for the rear module. The front module and front subframe serve all the front suspension/steering rack pick up points whilst the rear module locates all the rear suspension pick up points.

There are very specific instructions about the allowable bonding agents, the way to prepare both the CFRP as well as the aluminium parts for bonding, as well as the number/type of rivet to be used.

Prior to assembly the whole thing is put together dry using a jig to establish the position of the front module to the remaining body – and to permit drilling the holes required in the box members for the brace plate rivets. The assembly is then stripped, the bonding agent applied, the front module set into position and the front strut towers attached to the A pillar reinforcement casting. When the bonding agent has cured, the remaining rivets can be applied.

There are a large number of CFRP structural repair methods available, which include precise instructions about how to: Prepare new CFRP panel to existing CFRP panel joints.

Prepare CFRP to aluminium panel joints.

How to soften the original bonded joint (maximum permitted temperature 120°C to avoid damaging the CFRP resin matrix).

One can see that it really would be a good investment to get BMW body repair training for the ’i’ brand – and the BMW i8 is even more complex! Whilst the i8 will not be a major volume seller, the i3 is one to watch. It will never be a mass market ‘volume’ seller but it will be almost as common as the Nissan Leaf.

Scary? Well for those used only to welding steel, perhaps. We can see directly from this that it is essential to have the right training in place to cope with bonding, riveting and handling of CFRP. In addition the methods must be followed closely. Overall the whole process is ‘M.E.T’ centric, and once the principles are understood there are no outstanding issues.

Auto Industry Consulting is an independent provider of technical information to the global collision repair industry. Products include EziMethods, our online collision repair methods system and Auto Industry Insider, our collision repair industry technical information website. For more information please visit the websites: www.ezimethods.com and www.autoindustryinsider.com or contact ben.cardy@autoindustryconsulting.com 28

The BMW I3 CFRP body shell

All of the exterior skin panels are made from a wide variety of thermoplastics, with the exception of the lower tailgate skin which is glass and the roof skin which is painted CFRP. The removal, preparation and bonding of these parts is important and must follow the BMW repair method process. © BMW AG

The front and rear door skins are held in place on the aluminium door carrier frame with single use clips. In addition the front and rear door skins, rear door glass and tailgate spoiler have the facility to adjust the panel flush fit with the surrounding panels via the adjuster integrated into the mounting clip shown above right. © BMW AG

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FUTURE TECH PEUGEOT 308 - by Andrew Marsh

Carriers are used for both the front as well as rear wings which are important for panel location, and so must be replaced in the event of damage. The front right wing can have access to the fuel filler neck if the range extender engine option has been specified, whilst the rear right wing has the high voltage charge port access. © BMW AG

The outer aluminium extrusion serves also as a jacking point. The extrusion is removed in two stages, taking care to soften the bonding agent with heat directed only at the aluminium (never at the CFRP!) with a maximum temperature of 120 C. If this is not done the CFRP ‘life cell’ will be damaged, requiring potentially a replacement body if the damaged section is not available as a repair section. © BMW AG.

There are sacrificial bolt on elements to the core body shell covering the front upper and lower aluminium bumper beams, the front subframe (which is emphatically never to be used as a lifting point), the rear frame aluminium braces and the rear bumper beam. The high voltage battery pack sits between the central members, on the underside of the passenger compartment floor. © BMW AG

The front module can be sectioned whilst the rear cannot. The aluminium front module (above right) and the aluminium rear module (above left) require a good deal of skill to replace in that they are bonded to the CFRP ‘life cell’. The plates (item 2 and 3) are used to bridge the section between the original assembly parts and the new assembly. © BMW AG

Looking at the front module, the first stage is to un-bolt the cast aluminium strut towers from the cast aluminium A pillar reinforcement extension – if that’s damaged too, it will entail partial removal of the outer A pillar CFRP skin. The front module is then cut away from the vehicle. © BMW AG 34UTOMOTIVE A R

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The remaining front module box members are sectioned and the new assembly is cut to match. In both cases the bonding needs to be cut through and in the case of the reinforcement plates, the bonding agent needs to be removed even from the remaining section for a length of 60mm to allow the plates to slide between the CFRP ‘life module’ and the original aluminium box member. © BMW AG

The front and rear aluminium frames are linked in the centre and then bonded and screwed to the CFRP shell. This is done in-plant – BMW can supply either the front or rear module, but not the entire assembly unless as a complete body assembly. © BMW AG 29 AUTOMOTIVE R I

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COATINGS NEWS PRODUCT PROFILE

KAROCLE HIGHLIGHT THEIR FUNCTIONAL PRODUCT RANGE arocle’s functional products are various so as to provide convenience and high productivity for the spray painter and body shop.

Here is a brief product explanation.

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Cleaner SMC-109 is formulated to remove grease, oil, wax and other contaminants from bare metal, plastics, existing finishes, etc.

SMC-110 is an antistatic cleaner which is formulated to remove grease, oil, wax and other contaminants from bare metal, plastics, existing finishes, etc.

It is especially suitable for the pretreatment of plastic surfaces because of its antistatic ability.

Plastic Primer SMP-201(Clear) is a transparent, single-component, non-sanding, fast-drying adhesion promoter that is designed for refinishing thermoplastic bumper covers and other exterior and interior plastic.

SMP-201(Gray) is a grey colour, single-component, non-sanding, fast-drying adhesion promoter designed for refinishing thermoplastic bumper covers and other exterior and interior plastic.

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Additive SMA-100 is a matting agent which can be used to flatten any single stage colour and clear coats. There are three established gloss levels; flat, satin and semigloss. Or the end user can custom match any degree of flatness.

The flattener is added to an existing interior colour, eliminating the need to formulate any additional Karocle intermix colour qualities.

SMA-300 is an accelerator which is designed to improve the overall air dry and curing time of Karocle single-stage Starcolor and urethane clear coats.

Starclear products need to be sprayed in cool temperatures and may not be used in a baking situation, as it may cause die back in metallic and mica colours.

SMA-400 is an anti-crater additive that can reduce and prevent the potential for craters, crawling and fish eyes. It is designed for use with Karocle single-stage Starcoat and urethane clearcoat Starclear products.

SMF-600 is a flexible additive that offers you the advantage of flexible additive for acrylic lacquer, acrylic enamel, polyurethane enamel, acrylic urethane enamel and primer-surfacers.

It adds flexibility to each of these

systems. In addition, it is easy to use and can be applied over a wide variety of semi-rigid and flexible plastic parts.

Fade-Out Solvent SMB-701 is a ready-to-spray blending agent used to melt the edge of Karocle 2K urethane topcoats. It is specifically designed as an edge blending solvent for invisible blend repairs where full panel repairs are not desirable.

It is designed for use in the Karocleurethane topcoat system.

Pinhole Filler SMT-150 is a single-component filler.

It is suitable for minor filling work on rough or irregular surfaces over which a smooth, high-gloss paint finish is required.

Pinhole filler is ideal for moulded surfaces, especially plastics.

Headlamp Recovery Clear SC-9210 is a premium purpose clearcoat designed for application in spray booths. SC-9210 is also excellent in its resistance to contamination.

SC-9210 is especially suited for headlamp recovery. It is an easy to apply clearcoat with excellent flow and melt-in properties.

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FIAT CHRYSLER MELFI PRODUCTION LINE, ITALY

JEEP RENEGADE VIRTUAL PLANT TOUR

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iat Chrysler Automobiles is celebrating the first year of Jeep Renegade production with a new virtual factory visit tool, accessible via Google™ Maps. Launched exactly a year ago, the Jeep Renegade was a groundbreaking vehicle for the brand in that it was the brand’s first ever compact SUV and also the first Jeep vehicle built in Europe. Today, more than 135,000 Renegade units have rolled off the Melfi production line in Italy so far, contributing in no small way to the Jeep brand’s continuing growth, having achieved its most successful sales year ever in 2014 with more than one million units sold.

More recently, Jeep has enjoyed its best sales ever in North America while in Europe Jeep is the region’s fastest-growing automotive brand so far in 2015, with the new Renegade already established as a best seller in Italy, France and Austria. The second quarter of 2015 was the best sales quarter ever for Jeep in the region with 23,000 sales.

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The new compact SUV has also notched up several significant awards in Europe, including "New Car of the Year 2015" as voted by Quattroruote readers in Italy; "Best SUV of 2015" according to Spain’s influential Coches.net website and "4x4 of 2015" in France’s "4x4 Magazine".

To celebrate this important production milestone, the Jeep brand is now opening the virtual doors of the Melfi factory in Basilicata where the first FCA model to be manufactured in collaboration between Italy and the USA is assembled. By searching for “SATA - Società Automobilistica Tecnologie Avanzate S.p.A. - FCA Italy” or just “FCA SATA Melfi” on Google™ Maps, visitors can explore the entire production cycle of one of the most advanced automotive plants in Europe, where almost 8,000 employees and 968 robots produce the Jeep Renegade and FIAT 500X to a silver medal certification standard, according to WCM (World Class Manufacturing), an international

methodology for optimising the manufacturing cycle.

Making the experience as immersive as possible, a total of 3,924 pictures were taken over the course of three days. Stitched together using a special algorithm, which creates an immersive 360° horizontal and 290° vertical environment, these images are used to offer 327 different panoramic viewpoints, each of which consists of 12 HD photos.

Users thus have the possibility of "moving" inside the plant and exploring the details that interest them – with the same intuitive dynamic offered by Google™ Street View – as they travel through the factory's four productive units: stamping, body-inwhite, painting and assembly. They also have the option of in-depth investigation of certain processes via seven 30-second video clips.

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A TOTAL OF 3 924 PICTURES STITCHED TOGETHER BY A SPECIAL ALGORITHM CREATES AN IMMERSIVE 360 DEGREE VIEW OF THE MELFI PRODUCTION PLANT. AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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INTERNATIONAL UPDATE WHAT’S HOT?

GOOGLE AUTOMOTIVE TO PRESENT IBIS KEYNOTE BIS is delighted to announce Richard Offermann, industry leader automotive at Google, and Tanja Hufschmidt, analytical lead at Google Automotive, will deliver the keynote presentation at the IBIS Global Summit 2016, on 23-25 May at the Hilton Diagonal Mar in Barcelona.

Google is one of the largest and best-known companies in the world and the most visited website on the planet. To talk of Google is to talk in superlatives.

With business interests in almost every sector that technology touches (from space exploration to ‘curing’ death), Google’s move into automotive and insurance was inevitable and its power to disrupt, change and lead the future of our industry is incomparable.

Richard will be joined by his colleague Tanja in the keynote slot on the morning of the first day of the IBIS Global Summit conference. This year’s theme is ‘changing future landscapes’ and few organisations are as well placed to cover this as Google.

IBIS Global Summit tickets are available for just £1 795 and include full access to the Welcome Reception on 23 May; access to the full day’s conference, including lunch and breaks, on 24 May; the International Dinner on the evening of 24 May; as well as the final half day’s conference and delegates’ lunch on 25 May. The price also includes two nights’ accommodation (23 and 24 May) at the conference venue – the Hilton Diagonal Mar. To book your place, complete the online booking form by emailing Nicola Keady: Nicola@ibisworldwide.com or call 00 44 (0)1296 642826.

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The IBIS conference brings the world’s top speakers and industry movers and shakers together every year. It’s an event not to be missed.

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INDUSTRY NEWS US NEWS

THE FUTURE OF STEEL IN BODY REPAIR

hile new materials have been making headlines, established materials such as steel have also experienced significant developments. Ronald Krupitzer, vice-president of automotive applications at the Steel Market Development Institute, a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute, discusses the future of the material.

As we come up with new kinds of steel, there is also new manufacturing processes that go along with them. For example, in the early days, the steels were high-strength low alloy. We discovered that as we made these steels stronger, they were also less formable. We could not make the same detailed, beautiful shapes with the highstrength steels. We started researching new approaches and new types of high-strength steels. The first group we came up with were dual-phase steels. This began the work on advanced high-strength steels.

No, we’re making steels stronger and adding formability too, It makes us capable of making even stronger steels while using the same stamping operations and welding processes. We’ve doubled the strength of steels that are now being used in automobiles, all at the same investment the car companies have had over the years. That’s been very good and cost effective for car companies.

That’s still not the end. We’re realising that the new CAFE standards have ramped up even higher expectations. If you take a 2011 vehicle and you look at the new CAFE standards, it’s truly doubling the fuel economy in a relatively short time. Now we’re pushing an even higher strength. We’ve added new kinds of advanced high-strength steels like transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steels, and we’ve even gone into hot stamping, It’s possible to make very light steel parts that are super strong and help satisfy the weight reduction needs, while still making the structure safer than in previous models.

I ran a stamping operation for Chrysler and part of my labour force was a repair team. If there was a dent or ding, their job was to repair it. They would be trained in how to best do that to perfectly eliminate the defects. Same thing with a body collision. There are standards techniques that people use to handle a metal repair. If you have collision damage, you either have to replace the part or you can rework it to make it acceptable in terms of its original appearance.

As we change the materials, we also have to retrain the workforce in terms of repair methods. We’re working with the car companies and the people in the repair industry on letting them know how many new high-strength steels are going into cars and trucks and the acceptable repair procedures. We’re working with the repair community on all of these new steel options so they’ll know if they can cut and replace, bend and straighten, if there are sleeve methods.

As we’ve changed the steels, we have to work directly with the car companies on the repair process and make sure the new methods

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and techniques are in all of the manuals.

I’m certain there’s a limit of some sort as to how “high strength” steel can go, but we haven’t reached it yet. The federal government has realised steel is a very promising new material, as well as an established material. What they’re doing is giving us a four-year grant of $6 million to work with universities, national labs and car companies to develop the science of making new kinds of steel.

We’re peeling back the onion and going back into the very physics and atomic behaviour of the elements that go into steel and we’re learning how to build them back up into full steel products again.

We’re really going back to the basics of the atom and nanostructure of steel and trying to reassemble the microstructures that are used to define steels.

You know that a vehicle is made of many materials. There’s certainly been a lot of news about aluminium becoming a good choice for weight reduction. And it is, but it’s also a very expensive choice. Right along with that are really good choices for weight reduction with high-strength steel. Our job in our business is to let people know they do have a choice. They don’t have to replace steel parts with other metals. They can re-engineer their steel parts with new steel and get a very lightweight solution at a much lower cost.

We have had the benefit of directly partnering with car companies through our 28-year-old Auto/Steek Partnership, the members of which are Ford, GM and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. We work closely with all of the car companies. We understand their engineers are working with other materials industries too. We’re in a very sporting industry and we’re in very good shape for this competition and we’re building even better steel solutions. But at the same time, we’re looking over our shoulder at what the competition is doing because we know we have to work even faster to prove that steel is the right choice for many of these designs.

Weight reduction is their number one concern. Materials constitute the weight of the vehicle, so if they’re going to get efficiency out of a vehicle there’s nothing good about a heavy vehicle.

It takes more energy to stop with the brakes and accelerate with the engine. We can contribute if we can solve their structural needs.

We’re working on that with them every day.

It’s a fun and exciting time, even though we know there’s a lot of competition. We have conversations with car companies and we know that as soon as we leave the room, the next person to knock on their doors are the aluminium guys or the magnesium guys with another solution. The engineers are really looking at all the options.

You shouldn’t think because of all the news that’s out there about other materials that there isn’t keen interest in steel. We are doing more projects on light weighting with steel right now than in my whole career working in this industry, which spans 46 years.

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NEW RAPID BOLT ON REPAIR AREA E-GLASS CURTAIN WITH TTV RED EYE PROTECTION SELF ASSEMBLY WITH ALUMINIUM RAILS FREE STANDING WORK AREA AVAILABLE IN TWO SIZES

Mobile Vacuum Work Centre

Marouns Johannesburg: Marouns Midrand: Marouns Benoni: Marouns Vereeniging: Marouns Durban: w w

(011) 216 0600 (011) 312 2767 (011) 420 2700 (016) 455 4423 (031) 208 3221 w . m a r o u n s g

Marouns Bloemfontein: Cape Paint & Panel: Intercity Springs: Intercity Pretoria: r o u p . c o . z a

(051) 430 0960 (021) 510 8250 (011) 815 4433 (012) 327 6133

TOP SHOP TOP CAR PANEL BEATERS, VRYBURG, NORTH-WEST PROVINCE

VRYBURG STEPPING OUT

The hug e spray area features three waterb orne SAIMA spr ay cabins plus a special mix ing colo ur matching centre.

Story and pics by Ian Groat The shop has a different bench rack repair system for big truck s and b ak kies.

Christo Ro se has invested heavily and the shop now b oasts an aluminium multi-mix repair sectio n.

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ryburg is in the North-West province, and is a district often referred to as the “Texas Beef County of South Africa.” It is an unusual setting for the completion of a state-of-the-art collision repair centre.

The managing director of Top Car Panel Beaters, Christo Rose, had a big dream of setting out his business in Market Street, the main road through the town, way back in 1997. He wanted to realise a modern shop in South Africa based on a large client base that stretches from Mafikeng, Wolmaranstad, Christiana right on up to Kimberley.

Christo has built a mammoth shop that is capable of completing up to 300 repairs a month. The Vryburg shop now employs around 55 staff and is only in its fourth month of full operation. For this astounding vision Christo took the advice and equipment offered by 40

the Maroun’s Group. It was a ground up venture as it was just veld to start off with. Foundations had to be dug, floors had to be thrown, a roof erected and all the necessary planning permissions sought along the way.

Rory and Heinz from the Marouns Group have been the men behind the scenes to bring the shop up to speed. “For the mix of approved repair vehicles that Top Car have,” says Rory, “you need a big vehicle capability. In the paint shop a huge SAIMA Gamma small truck spraybooth was installed. This is backed-up with a pair of imported ST106 waterborne spray cabins matched to the latest colour matching room mixing centre. It has amazing lighting levels of 1500 lux and makes a spray centre without parallel in the province, in my opinion.”

Heinz designed the underfloor six-lane preparation zone which

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“It to ok p lenty of technical training to g et the p rep aration and finish finish team up to sp eed,” s ays Christo.

The latest technolo gy sees the sho p ready to g row for any future expansio n.

A warm atmosp her e with friendly staff make Top Car Panel Beaters a pleasant place fo r any custo mer.

“It’s a b ig family team effor t to keep the new comp any op eration on to p ,” s ay s K o ti e ( r ig h t ) wh o handles the inside op er ations team.

Small area repair is big business in Vryburg ‘s To p Car sho p. features a standing vacuum, implementing just one giant prep deck where all the work space can be used. Along with this is a novel final wash bay where vehicle dust and other general grime is removed before final masking on the prep deck takes place.

Rose spared no expense and a growing wall of approved repair certificates and approval for many top insurers is testament to his investment. He wanted to operate as the best collision repair business in Vryburg and Top Car Panel Beaters boasts an all-new aluminium multi-mix repair bay, the latest Spanesi ST106 bench and measuring systems installed and a number of two-post lifts for assessing body damage. The final build up time from Marouns took around eight weeks to complete.

“Right now we’re feeling our way forwards with the shop in startup phase, but I can say that we are seeing a big reduction in rework

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jobs and major improvement with the infrared small area repair work in progress,” said Rose. “I need to thank my staff for their dedication and hard work as without them, this operation wouldn’t work. It’s a team effort for sure and I also need to thank our clients and our suppliers for helping me achieve my goals and for believing in my vision.” He also says that he is so grateful to God for blessing him.

The shop occupies some 10 000 square metres in total. It is huge in any direction that you look and with all this major investment they will be in good shape to cope with any added volume while keeping their clients happy with excellent quality ouput.

As usual it is a family inspired- and run business, so the entire Rose family have their work cut out for them to keep pace with the latest expansion at Top Car Panel Beaters in Vryburg, and its sister company in Kuruman in the Northern Cape.

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE SMART BUSINESS

WHICH INTERNET MARKETING CHANNELS ARE RIGHT FOR YOU? nyone who owns a body shop has heard the mantra: “If you’re not marketing online, you’re losing out,” Every seminar and workshop in the last 10 years has had a hot new social media channel that you have to be a part of because “It’s the next big thing.”

In 2015, there are so many online marketing options and social media platforms that the idea of getting involved in any of them can be overwhelming. Many of the shop owners I work with come to me periodically with questions such as, “I just heard someone give a speech on Instagram, do we need to be on Instagram?” Does your shop need to be on every single internet marketing channel to have an effective online strategy?

The answer is, “No”. You don’t have to be on Instagram.” Would there be a way to use Instagram to benefit your shop? Absolutely. Is it possible there are other online marketing options that would provide a better return on investment? Yes. To be clear, I’m not singling out Instagram as a bad investment. On the contrary, it can have great benefits for certain types of shops, in certain situations. My point is simply that you don’t have to invest valuable time and resources into every available online marketing option in order to have a strong strategy. What’s important is that you understand the marketing channels available to you and decide which will fit in your budget and which will work together to create the highest ROI. At first glance, Google AdWords may seem like the most expensive online marketing channel available, with keywords demanding upwards of $6 to $10 per click in the collision industry.

But then, consider the number of hours necessary for creating new content for social media channels, or for targeting “organic” or unpaid search engine results. How many hours of an internal employee’s time, or of your time as the owner of the shop, are required for taking pictures to share on social media, or writing new pages and posting them to your website?

Before you choose your Internet marketing strategy, consider what your investment will be into each channel in terms of both time and money. And then consider the question, “How well does each channel complement the other?” Remember, you’re using these channels as a co-ordinated strategy designed to increase brand recognition for your company and generate more leads.

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Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) There was once a time when a business could stuff a paragraph of keywords onto a Web page and, as a result, show up at the top of Internet search results when potential customers searched for their services. Those days of easily manipulating search results are long gone, as Google has significantly changed and (for the most part) improved their algorithm.

Does this mean that search engine optimisation is “dead” or no longer a viable marketing channel? No, SEO is still at the core of internet marketing and goes hand-in-hand with making sure your website is user-friendly, well-structured and technically sound.

One of the most important things to remember with search engine optimisation is that Google’s primary purpose in changing its algorithm is to improve the quality of the results it provides for its end-users. Therefore, you’ll get further if your website provides a good user experience.

Here are Some Tips Make sure it’s easy to navigate through your website and find 44

information about your company and your services.

Make sure it’s very easy to contact your shop through the website, and that your phone number, contact/estimate form and address are all very easy to get to.

Make sure your website is a place where potential customers can find out everything they need to know about your shop without cluttering any one particular page. Structure your website so that all of the most important information can be found very quickly, but then link from your main pages to more in-depth pages about topics such as manufacturer cer tifications, information about your technicians or useful articles about car maintenance. Posting new content improves your search engine rankings, gives you more material to share with your followers on social media and can be an opportunity to create landing pages for paid search campaigns through Google AdWords.

Make sure that you have Google Analytics set up to track traffic to your website, and, very importantly, make sure you have it set up to track goals, such as when someone submits a contact form or calls in after finding your website. This will help you track the number of leads that your online marketing efforts are generating and, as a result, help you track your return on investment (ROI).

Google AdWords Pay-Per-Click search engine marketing through AdWords can seem intimidating to companies that aren’t familiar with it, or that haven’t tried it. The idea of paying $6-$10 per click (which can be the range for keywords like “collision repair” and “Auto body shop”) can sound very expensive in comparison to social media marketing and organic SEO. However, when done correctly, Google AdWords campaigns can be one of the best, most direct ways to get access to a customer who is ready to make a purchase. AdWords is also one of the most measurable and targeted forms of internet marketing, allowing you to market to a specific neighbourhood, or to people with an interest in a specific vehicle manufacturer.

Some important things to think about when you get started with Google AdWords.

Make sure you have conversion tracking set up. This is especially important for AdWords and will allow you to know when someone has called or submitted a contact form after clicking on one of your ads. You can then use this conversion data to make adjustments based on which campaigns are providing you with return on investments, increasing your budget to ads that result in leads and pausing or replacing ads that are costing you money without resulting in sales.

Create user-friendly landing pages for your campaigns. When people click on your AdWords ad, it takes them to a specific page on your website.You’ll want that page to be as relevant to the ad they’ve just seen as possible. (For example, if someone clicks an ad for paint repairs, they should go to a page with relevant information.) This not only increases their chance of contacting you, but it also improves the rankings of your ads in Google results.

Social Media Marketing Social media marketing is an affordable way to build brand awareness and engage with an audience of past- and potential new customers. It can also be one of the most confusing and overwhelming marketing channels. With so many different platforms people can easily get overwhelmed with posting, tweeting, sharing

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and commenting.

The best thing to do is to start small and build your brand well on just a few of the social media platforms that make sense for your business. There is no use in having accounts on 15 social media platforms if you don’t have the time or content to post on all of them regularly. It’s better to master a few social media profiles and build your following on each of those first than to create a dozen profiles that never get any attention.

For example, you could start with a Facebook page and commit to regularly posting relevant updates, articles, photos and videos. Set a budget for advertising through Facebook, which allows you to boost and sponsor particularly relevant or exciting posts or special offers.

Facebook gives you the ability to target by demographic and interest, allowing you to build a following to your service area that is relevant to the specific capabilities of your shop.

If you have the aluminium certification for the 2015 F-150, create new content and promoted ads tailored to social media users with an interest in that vehicle. With all forms of social medium think of yourself as building a community united by common interests relevant to the services you provide.

Any social media platform, when done right, can have a powerful impact on your business. However, to do it right requires that you engage with and give back to your followers, so be realistic about the time you have to commit to each channel.

Email Marketing One of the most cost-effective online marketing and (customer relationship management) channels is email marketing. Sometimes given a bad rap thanks to spammers, email marketing is, in truth, highly effective and inexpensive.

You can set up simple email campaigns using an email service provider (free and/or inexpensive options include Mail Chimp, Constant Contact and Exact Target.) Most of these ESPs have easyto-use interfaces that don’t require any HTML knowledge.

Here are some useful pointers to keep in mind: Use discount offers and wesbsite content in your emails.

Customers and prospects alike will appreciate emails with special discounted service offers and the new pages you’re creating on your website can be repurposed as useful email content. And if your email audience feels that they receive useful content in the emails you send them they won’t feel that you’re sending them spam.

Email marketing provides a tremendous return for the cost, which is often pennies for 1 000 seconds.

A great way to cross-promote your social media and email channels is to add in social media share buttons in your emails and add email sign-ups on your Facebook page and website Provide multiple opportunities for your customers and prospects to stay in touch and you will see engagement soar.

Video Marketing Last, but definitely not least on our list of online marketing channels is video marketing. Relevant and interesting video content can be posted on your website, posted on social media platforms, embedded into email campaigns and, of course, added to the company YouTube page.

Did you know that YouTube has become the second most popular search engine after Google. It’s true, according to SocialMedia Today, more people search on YouTube than on Bing, Yahoo, Ask and AOL combined. so all the more reason to utilise video as a marketing and advertising tool.

Custom video content can tell your company’s story, showcase compelling first hand testimonials and provide relevant content for social media. Video can make your approach (in every area of your marketing strategy) more successful.

For example: SEO – Video embedded on your website can help your search engine rankings, as well as improve the user experience. Visitors to your website would much rather watch a video than read the text on the page, so embedded video will make your web pages much more engaging.

AdWords – Videos can be used in highly targeted video ads through Google AdWords, displaying targeted advertising to Internet users with relevant interests in your service area on YouTube and in the Google Display Network.

Social Media Marketing – Videos can provide perfect content to share to social media. Not only can you share links from YouTube but also, with platforms like Facebook you can upload the video file directly and create ads tailored to video advertising Email Marketing – Videos also provide great content to include in emails. Content like videos and interesting website content will make it feel more like you’re providing a useful newsletter, as opposed to “spamming” your audience.

Use a Co-ordinated Online Marketing Strategy Use a combination of these online marketing channels to increase your brand awareness, drive sales and benefit your bottom line. Some of the platforms mentioned in this feature (Like social media) are more effective for branding, while some (like Google AdWords) are especially effective at converting website traffic into leads. All of these platforms should be working together to generate sales. For example, use branding to stay at the forefront of potential customers’ minds so that when the time comes that they need a repair, they already know and trust you enough to give you a call or submit a request for an estimate.

Your goal shouldn’t be use every online marketing channel you’ve ever heard of. Your goal should be to use the right combination as a co-ordinated strategy to get the best return on investment for your business.

INDUSTRY UPDATE

story by Bryce Evans

US NEWS

EBAY NOW SELLING AUTO REPAIR SERVICES IN USA AND EUROPE

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he online retail giant eBay has begun selling services in a price comparison format, and the industry awaits the possible ramifications. When corporate giants step into a new industry segment, the reverberations are often felt down to the smallest of businesses.

This was the case when Devin Wenig, president of the marketplaces business for eBay, made a casual announcement that the Internet retail giant would start a test run of selling automotive repair services.

During a lengthy interview with Newsday, Wenig said that the company would begin the test in a handful of select US cities.

Then, in September, 2015, eBay made an announcement in Germany that it had formed a par tnership with UK-based Autobutler, a site that provides online repair quotes in a price- and services-comparison format. The companies joined forces for a similar offering through the newly created eBay Motors Werkstattportal. The service is available in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the UK. Through a company spokesman, eBay declined to comment on its plans for expanding the programme stateside, but said further announcements are imminent. eBay is certainly far from the first to launch this type of online programme.

Companies like RepairPal, OpenBay, and AutoMD have had similar offerings (each with cer tain variations) for years. But throwing a name like eBay into the ring adds another element.

“More than anything, it likely grabs the attention of the average consumer,” says RepairPal CEO Art Shaw. “It just reinforces

the trend that consumers are looking to the Internet more and more for finding services like auto repair. This is the way things are heading.”

The eBay Effect Although unable to comment on the specific pilot project, an eBay spokesman was quick to point out the company’s already significant footprint in the auto industry.

Some Quick Facts: More than 5. 1 million passenger vehicles have been sold to date through eBay Motors, and today, on average, the company sells a vehicle every five minutes. eBay sells 1. 5 million parts and accessories in the US each week; 1.2 million are sold each week globally, via mobile devices. Roughly twothirds of all US transactions are delivered within three days. And more than 59% of eBay buyers shop via multiple screens, indicating price-comparison shopping.

To say that eBay is a newcomer to auto repair would be inaccurate, and adding service options on its site seems to be the next logical step for the global corporation.

The programme launched in Europe is fairly simple: Customers enter in basic vehicle information, along with a description of the problem and the consumer’s ZIP code; the system churns out three selected shops from its network (built through Autobutler) and quotes on the repair; and the customer can select one of the options and book an appointment through.

More Jobs or More Problems?

Shaw is not a car guy, but as the CEO of RepairPal, he has become intimately involved in the auto repair industry, and how the

average vehicle owner views the average shop. “A recent RepairPal survey found that 81% of consumers want quality first; 7% said price was most important,” Shaw says.

However, a separate 2014 survey stated that 52% of all respondents believe they are “ripped off ” at repair shops. Shaw says to keep that in mind: Those consumers weren’t stating a lack of trust, but more seriously stating they felt they’d been previously cheated.

That’s the solution Shaw feels RepairPal offers through a shop-certification process, something that Autobutler has put together, too, in order to balance quality with price.

The average vehicle owner doesn’t understand the intricacies of a repair, but they do understand the effect it has on their bank account. “We try to present them with the information of what a quality shop offers.

“You get a quote online from a shop and they find a few more critical issues that need to be fixed and all of a sudden that repair bill is much, much higher,” Swift says. “Online price comparison can cause unrealistic expectations.”

Consumers, though, are flocking to these services, Shaw says. Before joining RepairPal, Shaw helped Charles Schwab launch its online financial service segment through its first website more than 20 years ago.

“People were hesitant at first; they were afraid of the Internet,” he says. “But as a vehicle for consumer’s gaining information, the Internet has become this wonderful tool.

“When I came to RepairPal three years ago, I saw the transformation taking place in this industry. Consumers just want information, and this is the new way they are gaining it. ”

UK HIGHLIGHT

ELECTRIC VEHICLES HIGH ON THE AGENDA

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ew research by joint industry/government funded Go Ultra Low has found that the majority of car buyers aspire to own high-tech, low-emission electric vehicles. When questioned, 67% of respondents identified alternatively fuelled vehicles as a purchase consideration. Three quarters of motorists said that running costs were the biggest consideration when choosing their next car, making the argument for switching to ultra low emission vehicles even more compelling.

Hetal Shah, head of Go Ultra Low said: “Our research shows that, after purchase price, the top things motorists look for in a new car are affordable running costs, comfort, space and style.

The huge variety of electric vehicles now on the market is changing motorists’ concept of desirability, with the majority of consumers surveyed aspiring to the new breed of quiet, refined, technology-packed plug-in vehicles. We’re confident that this year alone we’ll see thousands more motorists up and down Britain plugging-in to this growing trend.”

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Telephone: +27(0)79 206-7881 / Fax: +27(0)11 452-8372 Tyrone: +27(0)82 856-1200 Aki: +27(0)84 889-7014 / Email: info@phoenixchange.co.za Website: www.phoenixchange.co.za

NEWS FROM THE ZOO - by Roger Houghton

SOUTH AFRICA LAGGING BEHIND ON THE TRANSPORT FRONT aving just returned from a three-week holiday touring “Classic Europe” (Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands) using a variety of transport from airplane, to Rhine cruiser, Paris Metro, trains, trams, city buses, touring coaches, gondola (in Rüdesheim) and taxis, I have realised how far behind South Africa is in all aspects of public transport. This includes an inadequate road infrastructure, some roads in bad condition, poor road markings, lack of law enforcement and non-functioning traffic lights.

Let’s look at this subject in more detail.

Firstly the SA train system, which was once the best in Africa and the lifeblood of the country for moving people and goods for many decades, is now trying to reinvent itself. But then very expensive Spanish locomotives are acquired at R40-million each, which do not comply with height regulations and can’t even fit in the maintenance sheds. One of these Afro4000 locomotives, pulling the Shosholoza Express train near Kimberley, was derailed soon after going into service and after months was evidently still lying on its side alongside the rail tracks.

Comparatively few people use rail for long distance travel in SA whereas in Europe it is convenient and fast. We travelled from Munich to Basel, in Switzerland, via Zurich, and later from Amsterdam to Paris in great comfort on high speed rail (up to 300km/h). What a pleasure!

Commuter rail is another important ingredient in the overall transport mix in many countries in the world, but here in SA commuters have to put up with trains that often do not run to time, trains in poor condition with security concerns for the passengers and every now and then there is the horror of a commuter train accident.

Underground trains are not new, with London having had its first electric underground train operating in 1890 while the Paris Metro, which transports more than four million people a day, opened for business in 1900. Although there were plans to build an underground rail network in Johannesburg many decades ago, it came to nought.

In fact we had to wait until the World Cup in 2010 to provide the impetus for a rapid transit passenger train (the Gautrain) that runs partially underground in Gauteng with only a handful of stations.

However, it has a very limited capacity, runs at a huge loss and has had some reliability problems, including losing electric power due to cable theft. This rapid rail system has also suffered several strikes by the bus drivers taking passengers to and from the Gautrain stations which inconvenience its customers.

South Africa continues to battle to roll out its Rea Vaya and similar urban “rapid” transport systems due to ongoing opposition from the minibus taxi industry and many driver strikes while efficient bus and tram networks in Europe are a key to the integrated transport system in the cities and are convenient and plentiful – and run to the timetable!

Then let’s take a look at what people do for themselves in Europe in terms of moving around for business and pleasure.

Because Amsterdam – and in fact the Netherlands – is pretty much flat it is ideal for cycling and there are thousands of bicycles in regular use for commuting. Most of them are black in colour and look pretty ropey but this is a necessity to prevent them being stolen or

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vandalised! These bicycles also rule the road and take precedence over other forms of transport and when you are a pedestrian you have to be wide awake when walking on the pavement to ensure that you are not hit by a cyclist.

Although there are efforts to promote cycling in Paris, including bicycles that you can hire from racks all over the city centre, there is a growing trend to ride scooters – most of them big, dark-coloured models – with weather protection to cover the legs and some have two front wheels for added stability in traffic.

Moving to the infrastructure situation in Europe we saw very few broken road surfaces, very good road markings and traffic signs on the verges, while we did not see even one traffic light not working, let alone an intersection with no robots operating. We did not even see a bumper bashing in our three-week trip through four countries and marvelled at the high standard of driving.

While we were overseas the Johannesburg authorities experimented with an eco-mobility month in Sandton which aimed at cutting down the number of cars entering this area. Feedback has been mixed, but it does not seem as though Johannesburg residents are prepared to change their way of life, with bicycles not being seen as a viable alternative because of the danger from other road users.

All in all it seems it is too little too late on the South African transport front with many other demands, including those of students, Eskom and all the other parastatals for funding from the fiscus.

Nevertheless it was blissful enjoying public transport systems that work for three glorious weeks!

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COATINGS NEWS

PPG’s Colorography Studio displays all the latest colour collections for the next couple of years.

COLOUR TRENDS

PPG AUTOMOTIVE COLOUR PALETTE 2016-2017 PG Industries recently released its annual automotive colour popularity data that revealed nearly 60% of consumers identified colour as a major factor in their vehicle-buying decisions and that carmakers continue to sell a vast majority of cars (nearly 75%) in conservative colours such as white, black, grey and silver.

According to PPG’s global build data, white was the most popular colour (up 7% from last year to 35%), followed by black (17%) and silver (12%).

In research that PPG conducted among consumers in the U.S. and Europe, three in five respondents said colour was a major factor in their vehicle-buying decisions. In fact, more than half of respondents said that if the colour they wanted was not available on the lot, they would wait for it to become available before finalising their purchase instead of purchasing a vehicle in a secondchoice colour.

The research also indicated that metallic colours are more popular among men, while women show a preference for solid, singlecolour non-metallic-looking gloss finishes and pearlescent/coloured sparkle effects.

Automotive colour and appearance are especially important among style-conscious male consumers ages 18-39, with respondents saying that they want a vehicle to exude an image of success and in many cases would be willing to pay more to own a vehicle that adequately reflects their personality.

In response to the continued demand for colour innovation in automotive coatings, PPG has introduced more than 60 exterior shades to manufacturers for consideration in styling 2016-2017 model year vehicles.

Titled “Colorography,” the collection includes five palettes.

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Hi-Breed Hi-Breed emphasises the new design harmony between man and nature with a palette consisting of neutrals, pastels and bright hues such as Lapis, a brilliant 50

gemstone blue that uses ANDARO(R) tint dispersions by PPG. Mosaic Mosaic is based on the wealth of artisan patterns, shapes and prints, as well as their strong colorations, and it includes colours such as Autumn, a vivid metallic orange with coloured aluminium flake that evokes an image of fall foliage.

New Spirit New Spirit reflects the primitive, natural colours of a desert sunset with shades such as Sunray, an intense yellow tri-coat colour with a high-sparkle glass flake.

Magnifigance Magnifigance combines the words magnificent and elegance, and the palette recaptures elaborate styling details and opulent, regal colours for a post-recession world with colours such as Mystic Magenta, a vibrant purple with a unique hue-shift effect.

Theorem Theorem is a precise and minimal contemporary palette that uses rich brown, red and deep blue as accents for balanced neutrals such as Crisp Grey, a graphite colour with a surprise highlight of green metallic.

PPG engages a network of 23 internal colour experts with a focus on automotive, architectural, aerospace and consumer products markets. These specialists analyse design trends, consumer preferences and priorities across regional, cultural and global markets to determine factors that will influence future colour choices.

The new colours and palettes introduced this year for automotive manufacturers reflect developments across all these markets and influences.

PPG: BRINGING INNOVATION TO THE SURFACE.(TM) PPG Industries' vision is to be the world’s leading coatings company by consistently delivering high-quality, innovative and sustainable solutions that customers trust to protect and beautify their products and surroundings.

Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG provides added value to customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company.

Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in nearly 70 countries around the world.

Reported net sales in 2014 were $15.4 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com and follow @PPGIndustries on Twitter.

Bringing innovation to the surface is a trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. This Mosaic collection shows some very strong colours that PPG envisage in solid and metallic options.

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For more information call +27 (0)11 454 8105 or visit www.ppgrefinish.com

TECHNICAL FRONT WHAT’S HOT?

MOVES TO PROTECT DATA PRIVACY loud computing Services, or Web-based computation, Software, and data storage providers, are quickly growing in popularity with collision repair shops. The technology has given shop owners the ability to store and generate service information online, which prevents both data overload on their personal systems and loss of information if shop systems are compromised.

But there is industry concern that the convenience the cloud offers in the way of data storing can also allow for data sharing by third parties, such as insurers, without shop consent.

“This was limited somewhat with ‘local based’ software since not all estimates were being uploaded,” says Tony Passwater, chairman of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Data Privacy Committee.

“However, with cloud-based systems, all data is available by the provider of the software.”

To address these issues, the CIC introduced two surveys to evaluate industry concerns about the privacy of estimating and management systems data, and also examine where data is going, how it’s protected and where it’s possibly being leaked.

The first survey was distributed during a CIC conference to the companies that are storing, generating or transmitting data from estimating and management systems. The second survey is for those with firsthand knowledge of instances in which specific repair information was reportedly leaked to third parties.

Passwater says results of the first survey, which is now closed, would probably not be made public. The second survey is still available for repairers at svy.mk/CICsurvey2. Passwater says the second survey will probably stay live to help identify when any possible abuses take place.

He says that in researching the issue while developing the survey, the CIC found that many third parties have “data pumps” capturing data and using it beyond the product or service the shop is

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subscribing to. The issue is of great concern to Nick Gjomeric, CEO at Collision Plus Auto Body Repair Centres in Illinois, who wonders whether insurers could use the information to set prices based on numbers alone.

“If I was an insurer, I would like some inside information to push the button to reduce my costs,” Gjomeric says. “I’m just not sure that I would always want to share my costs with the buyer.”

Aaron Schulenburg, executive director for the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), says most repairers aren’t aware that thirdparty data sharing is occurring and most often, companies aren’t giving business owners the option to ‘opt out’ of third-party sharing.

Information provided on it, if any, typically comes in fine print, he says, as part of a user-licence agreement. All that’s required is to click a check box that says, “I agree.”

“On the management side, there are probably a couple of more options through some of the smaller companies. On the estimating side, there are few if any options,” Schulenburg says. “All of the companies have similar positions on the point-of-sale requirement: ‘If you want to buy our system, then you have to give us authority and rights access in the end-user licence agreement to be able to extract your data, de-personalise it, aggregate it and redistribute it or sell it.’ ” One state, North Carolina, has made it illegal for management systems to make the allowance of party-data sharing a point-of-sale requirement, Schulenburg reckons. He says he is unaware of legislation in any other states that currently addresses this issue.

Schulenburg says the CIC committee, the SCRS and other groups are continuously trying to figure out how to level the playing field for repairers. The surveys, he says, should provide some data to help do that.

SAFETY

NEW DRIVING DANGERS SELFIES, VIDEO CALLS AND TV ew research by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) reveals the shocking extent to which drivers use their phones and tablets to take selfies, make video calls and watch videos while driving.

The findings come from research commissioned exclusively by the IAM which asked 500 drivers how they use their smartphones and tablets in the car.

Results show that 9% of drivers admitted to taking a selfie while driving ‘in the last month’. This increases to 15% of young drivers aged 18-24 and 19% of 25-35 year olds. Women are less selfie obsessed than men, with just 5% of women citing they have taken a selfie while driving compared to 12% of men.

Eight percent of drivers admitted to driving while using a videocalling application such as FaceTime and Skype to make and receive video calls, rising to 16% among 18 to 24 year olds.

An IAM study in 2012 showed that using a smartphone while driving is more dangerous than driving at the legal alcohol limit or when using cannabis. Drivers have much slower reaction times, difficulty staying in the same lane and are less able to adapt to even slowing changing circumstances.

IAM’s chief executive officer, Sarah Sillars said, “Everyone knows how dangerous using a smartphone or tablet is while driving. That’s

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why it’s shocking to see new trends like taking selfies and making video calls becoming common practice.”

“Safe driving is everyone’s responsibility and more must be done to catch drivers using these devices dangerously by increasing the fines and points for smartphone and table use at the wheel, there is simply no excuse.

“Campaigns must also be introduced that raise awareness of the prevalence of the issue in society and make this behaviour socially unacceptable as drink-driving.”

Other findings included Seven percent of drivers admit to watching videos and stream catch-up television on the road, rising to 13% of drivers aged 18-24 and 15% of 25-35 year olds.

Eighteen percent of drivers have accessed the internet using their smartphone or tablet, rising to 27% of drivers aged 18-24 and 34% of drivers aged 25-34.

Despite this, the number of drivers given penalty points for using smartphones at the wheel fell by more than 40% in 2014.

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story & pics by Jay Groat

TRAINING

BETAG INNOVATION’S ALUMINIUM & PLASTIC REPAIR TRAINING

luminium is increasingly popular amongst car manufacturers and thanks to the malleable lightweight properties of the material it can be repaired quite easily using the right tools.

The repair methods of the aluminium may vary depending on the extent of the damage, but also because of the different alloys being used. Therefore it is important to integrate all methods in one system – a kind of one-stop shop for your aluminium repair needs.

The team at Betag Innovation held another repair training seminar recently at Celette SA’s headquarters in Johannesburg. The training took place over four days and covered most repair techniques, from plastic repair through to aluminium medium dent repair. Customers got to see the full range of Betag tools on offer to help save body shop budgets by repairing rather than replacing.

Betag’s complete plastic repair station “the Plastic Fusion System” was on show. The system offers solutions for all types of plastic welding to chemical repair methods. The combination of the fusion unit and the newly designed welding strips makes the repair of thermoplastics so much easier, thanks to having a two-speed grinder and plastic vice as part of the kit. There are also three different versions to choose from in the Betag Innovation range.

The demonstration started with the plastic fusion system. All in attendance learnt new methods of tackling the most common cases.

From there the trainees moved onto the Alu Flatliner with Alumet welder which is becoming very popular among body shops and 54

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insurance networks as OEM’s make the move to increasing their lighter aluminium-based production.

Aluminium is normally more expensive than traditional parts and therefore also more economical to repair. The parts saving capabilities of the Alu Flatliner is a large reason body shops are making the move as just the part replacement cost of some premium brands is enough to slash all shop profits. Work which would normally be replaced is now quickly and easily repaired, thanks to the process repair methods taught by CEO and founder of Betag Innovation systems, Ralph Meichtry.

Once you have the right repair technique and approach to the type of dent, a little bit of tooling pressure mixed together with some heat to make the metal malleable brings the body panel back to life in less time than it would take to replace. “It’s almost common sense”, says Meichtry. ”If you follow the lines of the damage and implement what we teach you in the training session, you will perfect the art and protect your bottom line in no time”.

The Alu Flatliner working station contains all the tools necessary for a professional aluminium repair. You will have a wide range of tools available, all put away neatly in a practical trolley for your convenience.

For pricing and training information on any of the Betag Innovation Systems contact Celette SA on +27 (0)11 334 1875.

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REPAIR UPDATE PRODUCT PROFILE

FESTOOL SURFACE TREATMENTS AND SPOT REPAIR n no other area is the assessment of quality so diversified than in surface finishing. Be it quick and high material removal capacity or the preparation of a paticularly fine sanding pattern as a basis for the perfect finish. Or the treatment of a flawless, high-gloss surface. In no other area is the system concept so pronounced than in the target orientated development of our sanding and polishing tools.

With robust power tools designed for long, effortless use, thanks are due to their ergonomic features. With co-ordinated pads and sanding pads for perfect transmission come the extremely robust, reliable and durable Lex 3-150.

Air sanders are maintenance free and lighter than power tools. The compressed aireccentric sander is ideal for tough applications. They are perfect for every area, coarse, intermediate or fine sanding. It is secure and precise with a deadman switch and sanding pad brake for cleaner sanding results.

The low compressed air consumption ensures high cost savings. It has high quality FUSION-TEC sanding pads the MULTI JETSTREAM principle is perfect for dust extraction and is economical in consumption.

Vibrations mean a non tiring healthy work environment.

It is easy to guide with one hand and is safe for sanding aluminium, carbon and glass fibres.

The dry flammable dust is safety extracted with a special dust extractor with a flame retardant 48 litre plastic container for the explosive dust.

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Spot Repair For additional business in less than 90 minutes the Spot Repair Set is the perfect way to go.

To repair minor damage fast and easy for a fixed price with the Rotex RO 90 DX offers your customers real added value with minimal effort.

The standard operating process is simple.

Clean the damaged area and remove the damaged material.

Reduce surface roughness and once you’ve applied the body filler/putty you sand the body filler/putty.

Once completed the area around the paint is sanded and the area painted.

Final stage is polishing and then it’s all ready to go.

Perfect Finish Whether you need to remove material quickly or achieve a particularly fine sanding finish your applications determine the requirements, and Festool has a range to suit every need.

The MPA 8000 has a creamy consistency of the polishing compound which makes it particularly easy to apply. All components are perfectly coordinated for error free work.

For more information and distribution sales call Vermont Sales on +27 (0)11 314 7711 or visit our site www.festool-powertools.co.za 56

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INDUSTRY UPDATE WHAT’S NEW?

CHIEF LASERLOCK, IMPROVING CYCLE TIMES IN BODY SHOPS ne of the best ways to improve a collision repair shop's cycle times is to measure every vehicle that comes in and blueprint a specific repair plan for each one. Since many shops only have one frame rack, though, the prospect of tying it up for estimating may be daunting to users of traditional computerised measuring systems.

To address this concern, the new LaserLock live mapping system from Chief Automotive Technologies features a portable laser scanner with out-of-level measuring capabilities that can be used for blueprinting throughout the shop, even on two-post vehicle lifts.

LaserLock frees up the frame rack to be used exclusively for repairs, which increases productivity and generates more profits.

"When you measure every vehicle upfront instead of just conducting a visual inspection, you reduce the chance that 'hidden' damage will crop up and delay the repair," says Bob Holland, chief director of collision in North and South America. "'Hidden' damage can lead to supplemental estimates, lost time waiting for additional parts and unhappy customers. LaserLock's design allows it to be easily moved between the estimating bay and frame rack, leading to better estimates and quicker repairs."

In addition to the laser scanner, LaserLock includes 45 targets with a wide range of attachments, dual flat screen monitors, a computer, colour printer and exclusive Chief software. An aluminium kit is available for use with aluminium vehicles such as the 2015 Ford F-150 pickup. The system is contained within its own rolling cabinet, so it can be moved throughout the shop without having to be dismantled or loaded onto a cart. An optional tripod is available for raising the scanner to measure a vehicle mounted on a two-post lift. To accommodate any bay layout, the scanner connects to the rolling workstation with a 6 metre cable.

No matter where it is mounted, the LaserLock scanner can measure more reference points than any other system on both fullframe and uni-body vehicles. It can map the entire vehicle at once, reducing the time it takes to compile data for an estimate on vehicles with both front and rear damage, or diamond and twist damage. Once the vehicle is measured, estimators can print fullcolour maps of all the collision damage on a vehicle to create a thorough estimate.

LaserLock's main flat-screen monitor is dedicated to the live mapping system, while the secondary monitor can be easily switched between an estimating programme and OEM repair procedures.

"With LaserLock, a shop operator who wants to start blueprinting doesn't have to dedicate a frame rack to measuring or even purchase a second measuring system for the estimator," says Holland. "The estimator can wheel the system over to a two-post lift, which is the most cost-effective way to get most vehicles in the air. When the estimate is complete, LaserLock can be wheeled back to the repair bay and set up for frame rack use in less than five minutes."

During the repair process, technicians can use LaserLock to monitor dimensional changes in real time. This saves time by eliminating the need to recalibrate after every pull and reduces the risk that a pull will put more damage into the vehicle. After the repair is completed, LaserLock can be used to create a final inspection report that shows the vehicle has been returned to OEM specifications.

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About Chief Automotive Technologies Chief Automotive Technologies, a Vehicle Service Group (VSG) brand, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-quality collision repair products and services, including frame-pulling equipment, vehicle-anchoring systems, measuring systems, and vehicle frame specifications. Chief is also a leading provider of comprehensive training on structural analysis, measuring, collision theory and design based repair.

Y.E.S. – Your Equipment Supplier is the sole distributor of Chief Automotive Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Contact their sales team on +27 (0)10 590-9444 or sales@yesrsa.co.za for more information.

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LATEST NEWS NEW

AIRBAG REPAIR CENTRE BOKSBURG

perating out of their manufacturing hub in Boksburg for 12 years now, the Airbag Repair Centre have made quite an impression – due in the main to good service, great value and a commitment to quality of the final finished product. It was interesting to find out that they not only repair airbag systems for most vehicle types, but also restore and refurbish the damage done to the areas involved, be it the dashboard, steering wheel, seats etc.

The Airbag Repair Centre has a variety of SRS airbag systems available. You can choose from front-end collision passenger dashboard-, knee- and driver airbags, to side impact curtain wall and seat airbags. They also include re-programming and re-setting of airbag ECU’s and airbag warning lights, if needed. Certainly most intriguing was their attention to detail in restoring new or classic model dashboards, some real quality workmanship much in evidence.

In case of a vehicle smash the airbag SRS system is controlled by an electronic control unit (ECU) that acts like the brain of the SRS system. In a moderate to severe crash, signals are sent from crash sensors to the ECU that in turn sends signals to the corresponding inflator airbag module.

An igniter in the inflator starts a chemical reaction that produces

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a harmless gas, which inflates the air bag in the blink of an eye – or less than 1/20th of a second, which, incidentally is close to 322km/h.

Speaking to Mustafa Turkes, CEO of the Airbag Repair Centre, he said that having been in the industry for quite some time now the company has a great reputation for their quality products. “We are very popular amongst our collision repair shops as we carry the latest SABS 9001 quality and safety certifications. Our service is also popular with classic car restorers around the country.

“The complete restoration of your vehicle is done by our inhouse professionals who use only the best quality imported products to ensure that the vehicle’s safety systems perform as good as new.

Not only is our service value for money, but we offer a six-month guarantee on all workmanship and materials. It’s a first-class service.”

They have branches in Cape Town as well as Johannesburg and agents around the country. For more information on their services visit their web page on www.airbagrepairs.co.za to find your closest outlet.

Below is an example of one of Airbags Repair Centre’s refurbished and repaired dashboards. The same can be done to damaged door panels, seats and seatbelts.

Before

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Repair airbags, the right way.

SABS ISO 9001 Approved.

Airbag renewals to original standard by professionals All airbags & dashboard renewals - airbag module programs Seat & curtain airbag repairs - safety belt repairs

Johannesburg Branch 86 Rietfontein Road Boksburg Call +27 (0)11 823 2094 Mobile: +27 (0)72 458 6463 Email your enquiries to Monique@airbagrepairs.co.za Or request a quote online by visiting our website www.airbagrepairs.co.za

Cape Town Branch B7 Sparehead Business Park Cnr Montegue & Freedom Way Montegue Gardens Call +27 (0)21 551 0108 Mobile: +27 (0)72 458 6463

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COWLEY AUTOMOTIVE & INDUSTRIAL COATINGS (PTY) LTD

Tel: (011) 952 1552 email: sales@cowleysa.co.za

INDUSTRY NEWS

REFINISH BEAUTY

REALITY SHOW STARS AT SEMA CREATE BUZZ FOR VALSPAR alspar Automotive was the talk of the annual SEMA Show late last year in Las Vegas. A steady stream of attendees stopped by Valspar’s booths to meet and get the autographs of several reality TV show stars and industry legends while learning about Valspar’s leading brand lineup.

“SEMA is an incredible place to connect with new and longtime customers,” said Laura Yerkey, marketing director for Valspar Automotive. “We wanted to create memorable experiences for everyone who stopped by our booths while also showing off our newly expanded family of automotive refinishing and custom brands.”

Valspar’s custom brand, House of Kolor, hosted Richard Rawlings, owner of Gas Monkey Garage and star of the Discovery Channel’s “Fast N’ Loud,” and legendary customiser, John D’Agostino, owner of Celebrity Custom. House of Kolor’s creator, famed Jon Kosmoski, also made appearances throughout the show. Danny “The Count” Koker, Kevin Mack and Ryan Evans, stars of the History Channel’s hit show “Counting Cars,” met with fans in Valspar’s Refinish booth.

Attendees had plenty of opportunities to learn about the Valspar Automotive family of brands. They had four separate exhibits – House of Kolor custom refinish, Valspar Refinish, USC and Valspar Automotive/PlastiKote – featuring a wide array of products, six painted vehicles and motorcycles, videos and demonstrations. Valspar also launched two new products at the show – the Dominator Urethane Truck Bed Liner and a new Matrix Performance Basecoat.

In addition, Valspar’s Charlie Whitaker, a technical service representative, presented “Optimising Your Shop Sales Mix,” an educational session for business owners.

The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world. It draws 60 000+ buyers from around the world and 2 300 exhibitors to the Las Vegas Convention Centre. The show also provides attendees opportunities to learn from educational seminars, product demonstrations and special events.

Check out more photos and information on Valspar Automotive’s Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

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Valspar had four seperate exhibits and attendees had an opportunity to learn about the product range at the SEMA Show.

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DID YOU HEAR?

Peugeot is on top of the wor ld with Stephane Peterhansel who c laims his sixth win at the Dakar Rally.

by Roger McCleery

ou have got to hand it to the South African motor industry.

Despite an economy on the downward trend, 2015 still saw the motor industry just 4.1% down overall compared to 2014.

With interest rates going up and a Rand dropping against the dollar to almost “junk” status (Zimbabwe and Botswana will not accept Rands as payment) there were attractive incentives thrown at motor dealers by the manufacturers to help keep sales on the boil.

Preliminary estimates are that new vehicles sales turnover had grown by only 3.6% based on sales volumes despite an average increase of about 6.5% in new vehicle prices during 2015. Turnover was R235bn.

Good news is that new vehicle export sales of 337 748 cars, bakkies and trucks are 20.5% up on 2015 to make it the highest export figures the industry has ever achieved. These figures thankfully justify a manufacturer staying open and assembling vehicles in this country. Assuming the global economy perks up forecast for export sales could improve by 42 000 vehicles they say or 12.5%, to reach 380 000 units distributed around the world.

The car rental sector thankfully accounted for an estimated 12.5% of new car sales so it shows there is one area which can grow if tourism is allowed to increase if draconian birth certificate/visa rules are changed. Total vehicle sales for 2015 ended on 618 000 units.

Top sellers were Toyota for the 36th year in a row followed by VW, Ford, General Motors/Isuzu and Nissan; and getting into the top six was Renault with a range of fully imported cars. General Motors bucked the industry trend posting sales going up nearly 19% compared to their December sales in 2014. The Isuzu KB bakkies and Chev Utilities increased by 5% with Opel sales – listen to this – up 74% versus 2014. Isuzus manufactured in PE went up by 4%.

So it is not all doom and gloom. Buy soon if you want to buy a new vehicle or replace your current wheels as prices are sure to go up, interest rates are sure to increase, and the Rand – unless some economist changes policies in the Government – is sure to continue its dive.

The annual DJ Rally commemorating the original motorcycle road race between Durban and Johannesburg, staged between 1913 and 1936 before it was banned by our authorities on public roads for safety, is taking place from March 11th and March 12th. It is run over

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a 700km route from Hillcrest on Friday starting at 6 am to the Classic Motorcycle Club at Germiston Lake, finishing at 3 pm on the 12th.

An overnight stop, as in previous years, will be in Newcastle.

Ford has begun assembling their Ranger bakkies in Nigeria. They hope to produce 10 units per day initially creating 180 direct and indirect jobs in that country. Coscharis Motors Limited is the assembly plant being used.

The Nissan Patrol, first launched 64 years ago, which has had an on/off history in South Africa of being available, has a completely revamped interior with full grain leather on all five seats. Also electrical adjustment on the seats and brushed aluminium and wood grain finishes on the two-tone dashboard. There is in-car entertainment. The Patrol has always been a vehicle to take on the country’s best such as the Land Cruiser. This revamped model, with lots of additional creature comforts, should do the job for them and give them more volume.

Mercedes assembly plant in Sindelfingen in Germany has produced enough vehicles to stretch two and a half times around the world. They have just completed their 20-millionth machine. Is this brand going places, or what!

The new Mazda MX5, recently launched into our market has been named the 2015/2016 Car of the Year by the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame. A Mazda RX8 took also those honours in 2003.

Six military men pulled up in a main street in Nova Scotia as part of a parade. They were in a standard World War II Willy’s Jeep. In less than five minutes they completely disassembled, reassembled and drove off. The whole idea was to show the genius that went into making of the Jeep and its basic simplicity. It certainly contributed to the Americans helping to win WWII. As they say in the classics: “They don’t make them like they used to anymore.”

500 VW Polo’s are made daily at the VW plant in Uitenhage since production started in 2010. These cars are for export and also, of course, the local market. The Volkswagen Passat has become 2015 European Car of the Year. It has just been launched in the South African market. It is the third time in six years that the German carmaker has won the title. A panel of 58 European business and trade journalists do the judging. The Citroën Cactus was second and Merc C–Class third. They are all available right here in South Africa.

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Listen to Roger McCleery every Tuesday on Radio Today (1485 AM) at17h30 for everything about SA motoring.

One year after returning to South Africa, Datsun, with a onemodel range has sold 6 500 vehicles showing that there is a need for this type of car over here.

There is nothing in it as the world’s top three motor manufacturers vie for top world sales position. Latest figures show Toyota leading Volkswagen by just 60 000 units and GM 200 000 vehicles behind them.

KIA Sorrento won the Public Car of the Year title in the Middle East at an annual awards ceremony held in Dubai. There were 48 nominated vehicles. Winning is a real feather in KIA’s cap.

The South African Petroleum Industry Association says on its website that the Ministry of Energy promulgated regs for new fuel specs to be introduced by July 2017 in June 2012. So far nothing has happened and the new implementation date has been pushed out that’s still to be determined. There’s action for you. Cleaner burning euro fuels are still a long way off which means we will still be taxed on carbon emissions from our current “dirty” fuel.

General Motors are celebrating the making of their 500 000 000th vehicle in 2015, 106 years after they started. 2.7 million of these were made in South Africa.

South Africa’s top adventure man, Riaan Mancer and a professional driver, Nduna Chari, completed a 53-day tour going through nine countries and travelling 14 500km in a new TGX MAN truck. On the way they also distributed five tons of malaria nets to the needy and opened up five new dealer points for MAN trucks, now in South Africa for 53 years. Renault has sold 13 000 Clio’s since the model was first launched in South African markets.

Now they have added automatic versions to the range which feature cruise controls, keyless entry, hill-hold starting, Bluetooth, a 7-inch tablet navigation and a 1.2 litre engine that pushes out 88kW. Prices are very fair starting at R180 000 and going up a bit, depending on spec.

The famous annual (Malcolm) Kinsey Report, which has been going for 25 years, shows that of the latest 74 vehicles on the list the new Datsun Go is a clear winner with the cheapest parts basket. Second was the Nissan Micra with the Polo Vivo third. They were runaway winners. Malcolm collects all the parts prices of the various manufacturers from their retail outlets so that they are right up to date.

Not to be outdone by other members of the SUV market, Hyundai has brought out a revised Santa Fè five-seater- and 7seater Elite that features all-wheel drive. This, plus all the safety and comfort features comparable to any other make or model makes them highly desirable and very capable. A 2.2 litre turbodiesel engine is used offering 145kW of power and more importantly 436Nm of torque. Economy is good as well, with prices starting at R660 000.

There has been a resurgence in the TATA brand with a refreshed and revitalised TATA Bolt model coming onto the market. It is the first model of a whole range of new-look TATA’s soon to filter through. The engine is a 66kW 1.2 litre, mated to a five-speed box, along with ABS and dual air bags. Prices start from R133 000 with good quality, performance and looks.

Toyota offers good value for money. Their latest restyled Aygo with a 1000cc three-cylinder engine, two-tone colours and refreshed interior/exterior hits the spot at R139 000. All with a three-year/100 000km warranty.They are expecting 250 units to be sold each month.

Featuring a three-cylinder engine, the new 208 Peugeot is not getting left behind with its automatic gearbox. They sold 880 000 of these in the first six months since introduction. Peugeot has been here in South Africa since 2002 and certainly back their vehicles with parts supply, warranty and assisted mobility if the car is in the workshop too long. Their MD, Francis Harnie, is a retailer of note and certainly knows what is needed at dealership level.

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The compact Korek HD floor frame features a double layer ground frame for robust performance and easy set-up. The flexible tower assemblies are highly mobile. It offers extended cab tower pulls with traction pulls of 20 tons per basic tower.

The towers are simple to fix as they operate on rollers and are fixed to the HD Korek frame by four wedges with three main stands on offer. This is coupled to 30 ton composition hydraulic sets. The options for a perfect chassis cab and frame straightening job are endless as well as painless.

As far as speed of output and profitability are concerned, the HD Korek offers major profitability at a reasonable entry level cost. It is ideal for both CV repairers and large fleet operators as an investment in Truck repair.

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HENKEL SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD Tel: +27 11 617 2400 Email: ag.marketing@henkel.com Website: www.loctite.co.za

INDUSTRY UPDATE

by Sean Carey

INSURANCE TRENDS

THE FUTURE OF CLAIMS MANAGEMENT

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onnected car technology has the power to revolutionise the way the collision repair industry handles accidents. Many private and commercial vehicles now offer connectivity via systems such as OnStar, Toyota Safety Connect and Fleetmatics.

Sean Carey is the president of SCG Management Consultants and has more than 30 years experience working with all sectors of the automotive claims industry. He has a unique understanding of the needs of insurers, repairers, OEMs, rental companies, technology providers and supply chain vendors. Carey recently discussed with FenderBender the effect that connected car technology could have on the claims process.

How Will Connected Car Technology Change The Way Our Industry Handles Accidents?

Because we all want to get in our cars and throw our phones on the passenger seat and continue to be connected to our daily lives, be it as simple as streaming music or as complex as operating functionality that exists in the home or the office, the car is becoming more of an extension of our willingness to have this connected lifestyle.

To this point, the OEMs are working hard to make all of those things happen by adding more and more connective tech into the vehicle. The insurers are looking to extend into that area by connecting to the everyday life through their applications. And to some extent, that includes claim fulfillment. They’re also moving into usage-based insurance.

What we’re getting is a convergence of the technologies to a point where we can have all of the technologies that reside in the vehicle make the claim.

What Might The Claims Process Look Like In The Future?

To date, we look at claims in a very linear

Tel: 011 425 4062 Franz: 082 463 6284 Email: info@specialheat.com 1 Madeley Street, Rynfield, Benoni 68

way. Event A happens before event B happens before event C happens. It starts with notifying the insurer and rental car company, going to get your estimates, waiting for the car to be repaired.

What I’m predicting and what I’m suggesting exists at 90% capability today, is a very seamless claims process. Thanks to the car’s sensors, telemetry and communications (such as 4G), the car could today send up messages to a data centre of choice or necessity and then pass all that data and send it onward to all of the relevant members in the claims process.

For example, it would start with a message to the insurance company with a data-rich first notice of loss. That would include demographics, geographics, genesis of the accident, what happened a few seconds before and afterward, what part of the vehicle has been damaged, and which sensors aren’t working.

At the same time, it can send a message to the rental car company. It will also look at the geographics and the demographics of the vehicle and vehicle owner and search for a body shop. The way it would do that is bounce pertinent vehicle information off a data set to generate an initial estimate. For example, let’s say the vehicle is a red Toyota.

It would search a database of hundreds of thousands of red Toyotas repaired and conclude that red Toyotas with this level of damage are likely to cost R20 000 to repair.

Given that information, the system is going to search in the locality and says the shop that best repairs red Toyotas with R34 000 worth of damage is Fred’s Body Shop. The system will then send a message

Supercure Spraybooth Rail System

to the body shop that says, this car is on its way to you. It can also send a message to the claimant and says, given all the factors, we think Fred’s is the best place to get this repaired unless you want to take it somewhere else.

The system can also send a message to parts companies that says, this red Toyota that crashed has this much damage and requires these parts. It can also send a message to the paint company by linking the VIN code to the paint code and then send the paint codes and colour match directly into the shop’s mixing scheme.

Finally, it can update the customer by continuing to monitor the repair through the shop’s management system, can tie in all of the paperwork that’s come from that, complete the CSI and effectively close the claim book.

How Soon Do You See This Happening And Where Are We Today?

This all may sound far fetched but the fact of the matter is that all of those component parts exist today. However, nobody is pulling them together in one single place, full start.

What I’m predicting is that it’s likely that we’ll have new entrants in our industry. Those entrants will be data managers. There are a variety of telematic service providers out there right now that have the ability to connect all of these parts.

“There are two places where, as consumers, we give up more information than any other area: to be insured and to get repaired, either physically ourselves or to our things.”

Procure Mobile Infra-Red

Hotbox Colour Matching Dryer With Timer AUTOMOTIVE R

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Contact: +27 (0)11 463 2169 Block B, Ground Floor, St. Andrews Office Complex Meadowbrook Lane, Epsom Downs, Johannesburg

APPROVALS UPDATE REFINISH NEWS

VALSPAR - DE BEER NOW WITH FORD, MAZDA, GM AND CHRYSLER APPROVALS

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he refinish manufacturers have announced a major gain in their approvals programme on some global co-operation arrangements with some of the world’s top motor makers.

“Ford is just one of our clients,” says Carl Wierks global vice president of Valspar Automotive. They say that their De Beer brand, Octoral and Valspar refinish lines are now internationally approved by Ford’s commercial and passenger car divisions for popular vehicles like the F150, Fusion, Fiesta and Mustang for repair with the water base 900 Series range. The specification M2P100D applies to all Ford productions including the Lincoln brand for all applications that include warranty damage and repainting.

De Beer refinish 900 waterbase is also another recommended finish for the Chrysler Group LLC that covers Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram. Another approval that the Valspar Group have secured on an international basis across all markets. Their reference in meeting this approval is quoted as PF-10537 and the specification covers all the above brands in collision approved refinish paint systems that meet low VOC rules and environmental demands.

General Motors is yet another top world car maker that has given a worldwide approval for all countries with their specification GMW 15406M. The group have now also adopted the De Beer 900

waterbase and low VOC high solid clears and hardeners where GM vehicles are manufactured and sold. In an announcement GM now confirm that extended warranties have resulted in the company having to meet customer expectations and that the single complete refinish system offered by the Valspar Group meets their highest quality standards on durability. All this effort is the direct result of literally thousands of man hours in research and development by the De Beer brand to meet the company’s annual testing process on quality.

Mazda is yet another international brand that will fully endorse and approve the De Beer 900 waterbase range of refinish.

Cowley Automotive SA who are the sole importer for the De Beer range of refinish say that the latest waterborne refinish range is held in South Africa by their national dealer network.

The fact that all the above car makers involved in OEM activities have now endorsed the De Beer waterborne 900 series is a big feather in the cap of the company and fully recognise that one of the world’s oldest and most respected paint makers now meets and exceeds their stringent compliance demands.

South African customers can rest assured when the De Beer brand is used in their car repair they are getting the best. For more information call +27 (0)11 952 1552.

WHAT’S HOT?

VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS COMMIT TO AEB AS STANDARD

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en major vehicle manufacturers have committed to making automatic emergency braking (AEB) a standard feature on all new vehicles built in the US. The announcement, made at the dedication of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) newly expanded Vehicle Research Centre, represents a major step toward making crash-prevention technologies more widely available to consumers.

The 10 companies – Audi, BMW, Ford, 70

General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo, will work with IIHS and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the coming months on the details of implementing their historic commitment, including the timeline for making AEB a standard feature.

The US Department of Transportation, its NHTSA and the IIHS are encouraging all other light-vehicle and trucking manufacturers to bring automated vehicle technology to all vehicles on US roadways as soon as possible.

“We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focused on preventing crashes from ever occurring, rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen,” said US transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx.

“But if technologies such as automatic emergency braking are only available as an option or on the most expensive models, too few Americans will see the benefits of this new era. These 10 companies are committed to making AEB available to all new car buyers.”

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INDUSTRY NEWS NEW IN SA

SIMONIZ BODY SHOP AEROSOL RANGE olts South Africa, have rolled out a new workshop aerosol paint range with market leading technology. Chris May, International Business Development director for Holts says that the range of aerosol paints features a comprehensive line-up of specialised products used in car repair and servicing, every day.

Preparation paints include Hi-Build primer, Etch Primer, Plastic Primer and Zinc Primer for corrosion protection. Colours vary from light grey, dark grey, white and red oxide aerosol packs.

The use of a new acrylic binder technology, high pigment loading and a superior spray pattern enables complete coverage and the perfect finish with only one coat. Workshop professional topcoats include gloss, matt and satin black, together with a range of standard colours. They are backed-up by two wheel finishes, chrome paint, Ford van white and some other popular colour shades. Clear lacquer completes the range of professional acrylic aerosol paints. Within the special finishes, Simoniz has a range of very high temperature aerosol paints that will work on engines, manifolds, racing brake calipers and other high temperature surfaces. They are available in black (800°C), red (300°C), blue (400°C) and silver (800°C).

The range also includes a tough satin black and aluminium engine paint, based on a tough yet flexible polymer for the ultimate chip resistant finish on bumpers, roof bars, etc.

"With this range of Simoniz high performance workshop aerosol paints we are looking to enter the market where quality at a fair price is key,” said Chris. On a national basis we feel it also has a place in the progressive body shops and we are happy to work with our partners in helping to develop this.

You can get more information about this range, as well as Holts, by calling them on +27 (0)11 613 6111 .

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COMPREHENSIVE AEROSOL PAINT RANGE DESIGNED FOR YOUR REPAIR SHOP

CALL HOLTS SOUTH AFRICA Johann Wouda (left) from Holts South Africa is upbeat about the comprehensive system Simoniz have developed for South African body shops. Chris May says that Simoniz Paint will work well on all steel, aluminium and even wood surfaces.

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INTERVIEW AMR EL SAYED, KAPCI COATINGS

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mr El Sayed handles the commercial export markets in Kapci Refinish for the South African market. Automotive Refinisher Magazine took time out to interview him.

How important is the South African market to Kapci Coatings?

Kapci Coatings is a diverse paint maker with a very prominent position in the Middle East. Last year the company saw sales of some $200 million on a global basis. Our production site in Port Said had a very good result. Because of that the car refinish coatings business represents around 57% of our total production, so it’s a big part of what we do.

With continuous research and development on products and services our colour formula range has been boosted to around 35 000 international colours. This has been assisted in accuracy with the new colour spectrometer that measures with three angles to get better colour control on each and every tint. Kapci Coatings in South Africa has been one of our best performing international markets for over a decade and they were pioneers in our exports internationally.

Nizam Ally and the team deserve congratulations for this achievement.

What new car refinish products are Kapci Coatings planning to bring to market?

The global trend towards low VOC refinish has seen us extend the clearcoat range with a new anti-scratch clearcoat. The recent SEMA show that we attended in Las Vegas showed us an increased demand and introduction of new primers, fillers and body filling putties. Watch out for more on the 5200 line, along with a full basecoat toner range of 5900 this year. Some countries where 72

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environmental legislation is monitored and checked have increased sales of the waterborne refinish lines. In Africa and Russia the coating sales remain mostly in solvent type products.

Tell us how you are coping with global demand increases.

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Two families of directors are managing the business. We are currently ranked 62 on the paint makers list in the world. We are at an advanced state to complete a new 130 000 square metre factory site in Cairo. This alone will use up $150 million to bring us on line for first-phase ramp up in 2016, and at full capacity in 2019 on the second phase of completion.

We are also doing business in India in Bangalore, as we expand the paint making operation. We also export to China’s huge market to satisfy the refinish and wood coatings materials usage.

Looking towards the next five years, how are Kapci Coatings looking?

We’re in good shape because we adopted a really professional approach to car refinish paints over two decades ago. The research and development into increasing output and quality plus the attention to detail on the colour services side of the business is paying big dividends in markets like the US, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Australia, among others.

Our huge international dealers of the Kapci Coatings brand are now in Norway along with 14 other European nations. The brand is manufactured to ISO 9002 quality standards and it’s that kind of peace of mind that every tin sold of our refinish product range seeks to deliver every time it is used.

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To the world with perfection

www.kapci.com

Tel: +27 11 834 1252 Fax: +27 11 834 1259 Email: info@kapci.co.za

IRT Hyperion Infrared Systems

RUPES HE-901 Dust Extraction System

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NAJA 3D Measuring System

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BETAG Plastic Fusion Pro Station

BETAG T-Hotbox PDR Paintless Dent Removal System

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BETAG Flatliner Modern Body Repair System

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SUPPLIERS OF OEM EQUIPMENT TO THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY Celette Sevenne

Rotary House, 31 Heidelberg Rd, Johannesburg, 2094 Phone: (011) 334 1875 Fax: (011) 334 0965 www.celette.co.za info@celette.co.za

FOCUS TRAINING 2016

February 9 February 10-11 February 15-19 March 1-2 March 3-4 March 20 - 21 March 29-31 April 19 April 11-15 May 16-20 May 30-31 June 1-2 June 13-15 July 11-15 July 20 July 21-22 July 27 - 1 Aug August 10-12 August 22-23 August 24-25 September 12-16 October 10-11 October 12-13 October 25 October 26-27

Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module

3 4 5 1 2 4 7 3 6 5 1 2 7 6 3 4 5 7 1 2 5 1 2 3 4

Painting Plastics Standox Colour Standohyd Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Colouristics Specialised Training Painting Plastics Standoblue Standohyd Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Specialised Training Standoblue Painting Plastics Colouristics Standohyd Specialised Training Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Standohyd Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Painting Plastics Colouristics

W/CAPE

February 22-26 March 22 March 23-24 May 9-10 May 11-12 May 23-27 June 29-30 July 1 August 15-19 August 23-25 September 26-27 September 28-28 November 7-11

Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module

5 3 4 1 2 5 4 5 5 7 1 2 5

Standohyd Painting Plastics Colouristics Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Advanced Standohyd Colouristics Standohyd Standohyd Specialised Training Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Advanced Standohyd

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STANDOX TRAINING

February 16-18 February 22-26 March 7-8 March 10-11 March 16 April 4-8 April 18-22 May 3-4 May 5 May 18 June 7-8 June 9 June 20-24 July 11-15 July 25-27 August 10-11 August 12 August 22-26 September 5-7 September 21-22 October 3-7 October 24-25 October 26 November 7-11 November 21-25

Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module Module

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Specialised Training Standoblue Spraypainters Forum Spraypainters Forum Advanced Painting Plastics Standohyd Standoblue Spraypainters Forum Painting Plastics Colouristics Spraypainters Forum Advanced Colouristics Standoblue Standohyd Specialised Training Spraypainters Forum Painting Plastics Standohyd Specialised Training Colouristics Standoblue Spraypainters Forum Painting Plastics Standohyd Standoblue

Advanced

Advanced

Advanced Advanced

T o book a training course kindly contact Standox on +27 (0)11 861 0300 or Fax +27 (0)11 907 8858 76

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GAUTENG

GLASURIT TRAINING February 22-25 February 29 - 2 Mar April 11-13 April 14-15 May 4-6 June 6-9 June 13-15 June 27-29 July 18-20 July 20-22 August 29-31 September 12-15 October 17-19 October 20-12 November 1-3

PE1 & PE2 PE3 CE1 PS1 CE2 PE1 & PE2 CE2 PE3 CE1 PS1 PE3 PE1 & PE2 CE1 PS1 CE2

(6 days) (2.5 days) (3 days) (2 days) (3 days) (5 days) (3 days) (2.5 days) (3 days) (2 days) (2.5 days) (5 days) (3 days) (2 days) (3 days)

Product Education 1 & 2

February 15-17 April 6-8 April 11-13 April 14-15 June 6-8 June 13-15 July 27-29 September 11-14 October 24-26 November 14-16 November 28-30

PE1 CE1 PE2 PS1 PE3 CE2 PE1 PE2 CE1 PE3 CE2

(3 days) (3 days) (3 days) (2 days) (2.5 days) (3 days) (3 days) (3 days) (3 days) (2.5 days) (3 days)

Product Education Colour Education Product Education Spot Repair

Colour Education

FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre FCCC Training Centre

April 19-22 May 23-25 May 26-27 July 26-28

PE1 & PE2 CE1 PS1 CE2

(6 (3 (2 (3

Product Education 1 & 2 Colour Education Spot Repair Colour Education

Central Central Central Central

days) days) days) days)

RCC RCC Colour Eduction RCC Spot Repair RCC Colour Eduction RCC Product Education 1 & 2 RCC Colour Education RCC RCC Colour Education RCC Spot Repair RCC RCC Production Education 1 & 2 RCC Colour Eduction RCC Spot Repair RCC Colour Education RCC

Colour Education Product Education Product Education Colour Education

Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand Midrand

Refinish Refinish Refinish Refinish

Centre Centre Centre Centre

PE 3: The aim of this seminar is to introduce participants to methods for enhancing efficiency and workflow for measuring and analysing their key performance areas and to implement these in the body shop.

T o book contact W ayne Brandon: wayne.brandon@basf.com

SPIES HECKER TRAINING Spraypainters College Permahyd Hi TEC Tinted Clears Permahyd Colour College Hi TEC Spraypainters College Permahyd Colour College Tinted Clear Hi-TEC Spraypainters College Permahyd Permahyd Tinted Clears Spraypainters College Colour College

W/ CAPE

February March March April May June August September October

8-11 1-4 10-11 12-14 3-5 27-28 1-4 15-16 17-20

Permahyd Spraypainters College - Blended Paint Colour College Tinted Clears Permahyd Colour College Spraypainters College - Blended Paint Painting Plastics Permahyd

Hi-TEC 8-11 February Spraypainters College - Blended 1-3 March Spraypainters College - Blended 12-14 April Hi-TEC 23-26 May Tinted Clears 13-15 June Hi-TEC 27-30 June Spraypainters College - Blended 3-5 August Hi-TEC 29-2 August-September Tinted Clear 10-12 October Spraypainters College - Blended 18-20 October Permahyd 1-4 November T o book a training course kindly contact Spies Hecker on +27 (0)11 861 0300 or Fax +27 (0)11 907 8858

GAUTENG

8-12 22-26 7-11 15-17 4-8 18-19 6-10 20-24 4-8 19-20 26-28 15-19 5-9 19-23 17-21 2-4 14-18 24-35

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-Blended Paint

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Paint Paint

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February 15-16 February 17-19 March 7-9 April 4-7 May 9-12 June 20-22 July 11-12 July 13-15 September 19-20 September 21-23

TP1 (2 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days) TPB (3 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TPB (3 days) TP1 (2 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days) TP1 (2 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days)

RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand RCC Midrand

W/CAPE

February 2-4 March1-3 March 4-5 May 23-25 July 11-12 August 1-3 August 22-24 November 1-3

TP1(2 days) TPB (3 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TP1 (2 days) TPB (3 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days)

First First First First First First First First

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R-M TRAINING

February 22-25 May 3-6 May 14-15 June 27-28 June 29 - July 1 August 10-12 September 26-29 October 24-25 October 26-28

TPB (3 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TP1 (2 days) TP1 (2 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days) TPB (3 days) TP5 & TPB (4 days) TP1 (2 days) TP11 & TP12 (4 days)

Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans Flanagans

• TP1 • TPB • • • •

TP TP TP TP

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Car Car Car Car Car Car Car Car

Care Care Care Care Care Care Care Care

College College College College College College College College

Training Training Training Training Training Training Training Training Training

Centre Centre Centre Centre Centre Centre Centre Centre Centre

Focus on efficient use of R-M waterborne basecoat system Onyx HD Multi Stage Blending. Identify and complete most efficient repair solution.

Blending of 3 & 4 stage pearls and spot repair.

Painting of plastic parts.

Surface Preparation.

Optimisation of application techniques & TP 12 Colour retrieval and Colourimitry and colour adjustment techniques.

3 day course 3 3 3 2 3

day day day day day

course course course course course

Booking forms are available in G auteng from: wayne.brandon@basf.com or quintes.smit@basf.com For W estern C ape bookings email: C live.allie@basf.com

IMPERIAL TECHNICAL TRAINING ACADEMY (ITTA) TRAINING February 29 - March 4 March 7 - 11 March 14 - 18 May 17 - 21 May 24 - 28 May 30 - June 3 June 6 - 10 July 4 - 8 July 11- 15 July 18 - 22 September 5 - 9 September 12 - 16 September 19 - 23 September 26 - 30

ABR0001 SP002 ABR0001 ABR0001 SP0001 SP0001 SP0001 SP0001 SP002 ABR0001 ABR0001 ABR0001 SP0001 SP002 SP0001 SP0001 SP0001

Strip & Assemble Flatting & Polishing Strip & Assemble Strip & Assemble Preparation, Primers Preparation, Primers Preparation, Primers Preparation, Primers Flatting & Polishing Strip & Assemble Strip & Assemble Strip & Assemble Preparation, primers Flatting & Polishing Preparation, Primers Preparation, Primers Preparation, Primers

Week 1

& Masking & Masking & Masking & Masking

Week Week Week Week Week Week

2 3 1 2 3 4

& Masking

Week Week Week Week

1 2 3 1

& Masking & Masking & Masking

Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

T raining is at the W adeville A cademy in G auteng. C ontact +27 (0)11 255 4240 for booking or email wesleyh@itta.co.za 78

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GAUTENG

PPG TRAINING February 15-19 February 23-25 March 1-3 March 8-10 March 11 March 16-17 March 18 April 4-6 April 11-13 April 20-22 May 9-11 May 18-20 May 25-26 May 27 May 31 - June 2 June 3 June 6-8 June 13-15 June 22-24 June 29 - July 1 July 6-8 July 12-14 July 20-22 July 27-29 August 2-4 August 5 August 17-19 August 24-26 September 5-7 September 14-16 September 20-21 September 22 September 28-30 October 5-7 October 11-13 October 14 October 26-28 November 3-4 November 8-9 November 10 November 16-18 November 21-23

Train-the-Trainer Envirobase® HP Waterborne Colour Management/Paint Manager® PPG Deltron® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques MaxMeyer® - solvent borne Fade out & SMART repair techniques Special Painting Processes & Techniques LIC Selemix Application Process Plastic Painting Processes/Polishing Techniques Envirobase® HP Waterborne Colour Management/Paint Manager® MaxMeyer® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques PPG Deltron® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques Plastic Painting Processes/Polishing Techniques Train-the-Trainer Special Painting Processes & Techniques LIC Selemix Application Process Colour Management/Paint Manager® Envirobase® HP Waterborne LIC Selemix Application Process Plastic Painting Processes/Polishing Techniques PPG Deltron® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques Special Painting Processes & Techniques Envirobase® HP Waterborne LIC Selemix Application Process Colour Management/Paint Manager® MaxMeyer® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques Plastic Painting Processes/Polishing Techniques Envirobase® HP Waterborne PPG Deltron® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques Special Painting Processes & Techniques Plastic Painting Processes/Polishing Techniques MaxMeyer® - solvent borne Fade out and SMART repair techniques Colour Management/Paint Manager® Train-the-Trainer

T o book a training course contact Earl Hill: earlhill@ppg.com or call him on 071 039 5754

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TRAINING NEWS

SKILLS FOCUS

IMPERIAL TECHNICAL TRAINING ACADEMY he Imperial Group has increased their focus on trade training into the area of collision repair. Their new facility houses a fully set up and commissioned spray booth and preparation area, along with the latest welding technologies and body repair equipment.

The Wadeville Academy of the Imperial Technical Training Academy (ITTA), is the only one of their three academies that offers autobody repair and spray painting training.

It has been in existence since 2012, but Imperial Technical Training Academy as a brand started back in 2009. The ITTA is home to seven trades, namely motor and diesel mechanic, motorcycle and scooter, forklift, auto electrical, and their newest addition being that of autobody repair and spray painting.

The training facility is 4 000 sq m in size and boasts the most up-to-date equipment and refinish coatings, etc.

So how does the training work? First the apprentice would need to register for training or alternatively the body shop would need to enter into a contract with the learner to start his/her apprenticeship. Once this is established, their admin department at the training academy will then liaise with Merseta to follow up on contract registration and provide the workshop with the learners training schedule.

The learner would come to the training academy for one week’s training comprising both theory and practical elements. They would then return back to their workplace for four weeks. This is where they complete tasks that are then recorded into the learner’s logbook as evidence of on-the-job

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training and then they would return back to the academy for another week of training.

This continues until the learner has completed all the required modules for their level.

Once all the modules are complete they come back for a revision week in which we prepare them for their level test.

The potential apprentices would have to meet certain entrance criteria namely that of maths, science and English at 50% at Gr 12 level. Even though the requirement is only Gr 9, we are seeing how technical and sophisticated the vehicles are becoming and we feel that candidates will need a better foundation to cope in the years ahead.

Once the learner meets the relevant entrance criteria we put them through a series of tests, which shows their aptitude for their trade as well as a basic numeracy and literacy tests. The results from these indicators, along with an interview, would tell us if the learner would be suited for an apprenticeship.

Normally the learners that enter an apprenticeship are already in employment, but once their apprenticeship is completed and they wish to move on they would be able to distribute their CV’s to their clients and maybe assist in future employment if needs be.

Courses for spray painting currently are as follows, with more in the pipeline: Polishing Stone chip and colour matching Preparation for painting.

Courses for autobody repair are as follows, with more in development: Paintless dent removal Strip and Assemble.

Please note that these courses are still awaiting accreditation from Merseta.

There are seven trainers and two test officers at their Wadeville branch, while Germiston has nine trainers. The Cape Town office has five trainers and a test officer.

The benefits of an apprentice to your company are: Contributes to the BEE scorecard: 15 points for T&D Your company will be able to claim a tax incentive of up to R30 000 per learner from SARS Your company will be able to claim back up R139 350 in the form of grants from Merseta Ultimately you will be contributing to the productivity of each of your workshops.

“Once these courses and our intake has taken off, we would like to open up a parttime apprenticeship course whereby the learner attends class after hours and on weekends in order to obtain their qualification. We plan to roll this out across all seven trades that we offer training for.

We are also in the throes of accrediting shorter courses for small area repair and hail damage, so watch this space,” said Wesley Huntly of ITTA. The Imperial Technical Training Academy takes care of all the administration matters relating to apprenticeship from end to end, they have world-class facilities with highly skilled trainers and above all they are committed to helping industry bridge the skills gap within the various trades.

So what are you waiting for? Call them on +27 (0)11 255 4240 or email: wesleyh@itta.co.za

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

D RIVEN HYUNDAI H1 BUS yundai’s Multicab, has undergone a mid-cycle make-over that has added a number of features to this people carrier which should entrench its position as the leading seller in its segment.

A new front grille and bumper design, and new 16-inch alloy wheels are the latest exterior features of the H-1 range, while a new, redesigned centre fascia and instrument cluster enhances the interior. The panel van will still be equipped with steel wheel rims, nevertheless.

Several new convenience and safety features have also been added to the rangetopping H-1 2.5 Turbodiesel nine-seater bus, including: Folding-type key Bluetooth connectivity for the sound system with multifunction controls on the steering wheel Cruise control with controls also found on the steering wheel Full automatic air conditioner with climate control Glovebox cooling Side airbag Leather steering wheel and gear knob

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Electric folding mirror Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) for the turbodiesel derivative; and Jam protection and auto down function for the driver side window.

The nine-seater H-1 9-bus has long been one of the most popular vehicles in the Hyundai line-up, with applications as a family vehicle as well as commercial use for businesses that require a car for transporting a number of people in luxurious comfort and safety.

With almost 11 000 H-1’s sold since its South African launch in 2009, it has dominated the local market segment for a considerable time. It is available with a choice between two engines: a 2 359cc petrol engine, delivering 126kW maximum power and 224Nm maximum torque through a five-speed manual gearbox to the the rear wheels; and a 2 497cc turbocharged diesel engine that delivers 125kW maximum power and a healthy 441Nm maximum torque.

The 2.5-litre turbodiesel, which has a few more luxury, safety and convenience features than the petrol derivative, uses a five-speed automatic gearbox and is also driven through the rear wheels.

Handling characteristics of the H-1 are carlike, with confidence-inspiring roadholding.

Rack and pinion steering ensures crisp responses while hydraulic assistance reduces the effort required in tight situations. Drivers will find the bus easy to park, and along with the generous glass area and substantial mirrors, there is a PDC system fitted to the rear bumper.

The H-1 series is equipped with McPherson type strut with gas shock absorbers for its front suspension, and for the bus version a rigid axle five-link rear suspension with oil-filled shock absorbers ensures a comfortable ride. Dual leaf springs are used as rear suspension for the multicab and panel van versions, giving them a rating to carry 1 100kg and tow up to 1 500kg.

The prices of the H-1 range are: H-1 2.5 Turbodiesel 9-seater Bus (auto) R579 900; H-1 2.4 Petrol 9-seater Bus (manual) R482 900; H-1 2.5 Turbodiesel 6seater Multicab R492 900 and the H-1 2.5 Turbodiesel 3-seater Panel Van R441 900.

Pricing includes Hyundai’s five-year/ 150 000km warranty and roadside assistance plan, as well as a five-year/90 000 km service plan.

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ROOF OF AFRICA EXTREME ENDURO 2016 f the motto, “The Mother of Hard Enduro" isn't enough to put hairs on your chest then maybe the thought of getting hopelessly lost in Lesotho's Maluti Mountains and spending the night in the snow whilst being thrashed by wind and rain

I is?

Most race competitors were fortunate enough to spend the night hiding from the elements in the lounge of a local herdsman hut, but then these are all stories from the race’s heyday, where 600km a day was par for the course as it was a car rally too back then.

Our modern day Roof of Africa now runs between 150200km a day and is purely an extreme endurance test of man and 2-wheel machine. Ridiculous strength is tested through the intense 3 day race taking you up technical rock climbs and through massive mountain passes. There is nothing easy about the race and possibly why it's become to be known as the hardest extreme enduro in the world through it’s 50 year history.

Thanks to the addition of GPS a couple of years back, riders now follow loaded routes so there’s very little possibility of getting lost now and having to spend the night chatting to a local goat.

Also improved is the hosting of the race in early December rather than September so the weather is great and has become hugely popular with spectators and riders alike with full fields in every Bronze, Silver and Gold class.

Big local and international talent were seen again in the Mountain Kingdom to treat spectators to one of best races in recent years. With local talent Wade Young (KTM) 2 times winner of the Roof up against international rival Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 2 times Roof winner too, speculation was rife.

Also included from last years podium local Brett Swanepoel (Yamaha) was there to claim his stake as well as other great homegrown talents such as Travis Teasdale, Altus de Wet, Charan Moore, Kenny Gilbert and Jade Gutzeit.

With so much competition within the top ten riders, the scene was set for another great Roof of Africa.

TIME TRIALS: The starting order is decided over an inner city street and dirt

race on day one around Lesotho’s capital Maseru. The “Around the Houses” time trials has each class battling it out to see who’s quickest for first position in the following day’s races. With locals on every street corner cheering racers on and loving the show, it’s a very festive atmosphere. Even his majesty the King of Lesotho, joined festivities in starting the final gold race off.

Wade Young was the first to the finish line followed closely by Charan Moore (KTM) and Brett Swanepoel with Graham Jarvis and Jade Gutzeit concluding the starting order for following day’s race through the Maluti’s.

DAY TWO FRIDAY: With hot and dry conditions forecast for most of the weekend Wade Young blasted off from the start with a five minute lead over Jade Gutzeit (Yam) and teammate Brett Swanepoel who followed just four seconds behind. Kenny Gilbert and Altus de Wet were looking to improve their times and keep Graham Jarvis behind. After and hour and a half in the saddle riders came into the first designated fuel stop with Wade Young still in the lead and Jade Gutzeit and Brett Swanepoel behind trying to catch the KTM. Ntsupe pass was the first big climb of the day and the further they got into it the more technical and extreme the terrain became forming separate groups of riders. This year saw some of the gold mountain passes used in previous years now a part of the silver and bronze routes which is proof that there’s no easy route through The Roof, and why you often see groups of riders helping one another to get through the course. The final re-fueling point saw Teasdale take the lead from Young due to his KTM having traction issues, with Swanepoel and Jarvis following shortly after.

The three battled it out over the last 10km’s to set the scene for the final day’s race.

DAY THREE SATURDAY: The day’s race was so hot, even the weather played into it’s favour with a 37 degree expected high! The top six riders were all in the running to take fame with Brett Swanepoel’s Yamaha setting off first with Jarvis, Teasdale and Young following on his tail. After the first service point Wade Young had re-claimed the

THE ROOF OF AFRICA THE MOTHER OF HARD ENDURO Story & pics by Jay Groat

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lead but after the second service point the top four were grouped together with Jarvis saving energy by letting the local youngsters do all the work waiting for a chance to pounce.

Once the riders reached the northern Maluti mountains tensions started to build as the real tough stuff started to show. The Mokopu pass is where Jarvis decided to make his move as he overtook to take the lead into a new addition to the race, Flying Shepards climb.

This is where Jarvis manage to open up a fifteen minute lead over Young in second place with Teasdale and Swanepoel battling it out for third. Futher on Wade Young made up some time on Jarvis coming down Bushman’s pass but by then Jarvis’ strategic attack had left the them all behind with no time to catch him. Jarvis rode to claim his third Roof of Africa victory finish. Young claimed second on the podium and Brett Swanepoel just managed to take third jslightly ahead of Travis Teasdale as neither gave an inch until the end.

One thing that must be noted is that without it’s dedicated sponsors and organisers this event would not run as smoothly as it does. It’s a must see, and it’s the perfect place to start the end of the year.

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

Graham Jarvis (centre) celebrates with Wade Young (left) and Brett Swanepoel

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INDUSTRY NEWS

by Steve Kessel

CRA NEWS

RECOMMENDED REPAIRER NETWORK “

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reaking from the traditional collision warranty repair path Mazda have developed an all-new approach to our customer’s vehicles that become damaged in accidents,” says Trevor Ward, head of customer service for the group.

The new programme will be rolled out early in 2016.

The Mazda approved status will become a programme managed

by South Africa’s top collision repair centres as new service level agreements will be signed by local body shop associations that include CRA, SAMBRA and SAARSA. The approved repairers will become the hands-on team with Mazda warranty work in a new framework with reduced fees or levies from Mazda Southern Africa. “The one big aim with this route for the warranty repair of Mazda vehicles is to deliver to our customers the freedom of choice as to who will repair their damaged vehicle,” said Ward. “Mazda will also be introducing a much larger national repair footprint for South Africa.

“Our decision is based on research and feedback from the market place. For too long major structural repair body shops have been dictated to by many manufacturers on what equipment levels must be implemented and used. Our view is that with our previous programme the Mazda driver was often not able to get local repairs done by competent repairers. Looking at equipment we know that almost 96% of graded brands are common across many manufacturers approval programmes, so we are out to keep much of the duplication and inspections that go with approval networks down to an absolute minimum. The development of an all embracing Consumer Protection Act with systems of dispute resolution has become another key factor in our objective to move to an industry repair status association approval programme.”

Mazda at the new warehouse in Midrand have boosted their parts on hand for repair to some 56 000 line items. This has seen first pick on spares order to over 94% with approximately R90 million of stock value.

“We are in good shape right now as the Mazda brand continues to grow at amazing levels of 800% each month and our new Right to Repair philosophy recognises that our cars in and out of warranty eventually go to a reputable quality repairer.”

Steve Kessel, operations director for the CRA body says they have already signed up the service level agreement with Mazda and

Tr evor Ward, head of cus to mer service for Mazda Southern Africa. repairers in good standing with them. They will now become eligible to repair Mazdas. CRA members in the main are accredited repairers so they will meet the terms and conditions set out by Mazda with ease. What will change in a big way is that non-structural repairers now qualify for approval status to allow for procurement opportunities in the warranty repair market.

CRA will manage the administration of the recommended approval programme on behalf of their members and ensure commitment to quality repair. This said, they are very pleased at the route Mazda has taken in their approach to relationship building and placing trust in an initiative to keep their customers content with top quality body shop repair.

The buzz at Mazda p ar ts is visible and their urg ency to d eliver is reaping reco rd sales p ar ts turno vers.

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w, . o n ’ k dy ’s life a lre car a r ers you v i dr end A t ZD - Ex A s t M part a h n w azda o M ly Re uine n ’Ge Your Mazda Dealer is your true PARTNER when it comes to buying genuine Mazda parts. Mazda Dealers offer the widest range, a factory-backed warranty and unbeatable support that can’t be duplicated.

It’s a true partnership.

BASF Coatings Services (Pty) Ltd, 39 Venturi Crescent, Mazda Southern Africa Gauteng, (PTY) Ltd Hennops Park, Extension 56, Centurion, 0517 4 Travertine Avenue, N1 Business Park, Midrand, Tel: +27 (0)12 681 9200, Fax: +27 (0)12 6810157 9231 Visit us online at www.mazda.co.za or call (012) 760 7702

NEW PRODUCTS LUXOR PAINTS CARVELLO RANGE Carvello has proved itself to be a leading value car refinish system, offering features that few other systems do. When you upgrade to Carvello you will experience complete system integration from preparation to clear coat, resulting in a perfect, invisible repair every time.

For more information call Luxor Paints on +27 (0)11 397 6622 or visit www.luxorpaints.co.za

STUCCHI STI-C AND ST2-C PROFESSIONAL MOBILE DUST EXTRACTION UNITS Stucchi Powders Exhaust Systems have been providing the world with dust extraction solutions since 1950. Their ST1-C and ST2-C Professional Mobile Dust Extraction Units are unique with an innovative filtering system and a dust filtering efficiency of 99%.

With both manual and automatic cleaning of filters at 15 minute intervals and a spare built in tank that guarantees a continuous supply of air for filter cleaning, these filters are guaranteed to be compliant with the strictest of industry standards.

They are compact and robust and are highly durable which makes their maintenance and management costs ultra low and gives them a long lifespan. The electrical motor on these extraction units is extremely powerful (1300W) and silent. They have a removable dust container without a bag and anti-tilting rubber casts to improve handling. This container needs emptying from time to time.

The Stucchi Professional Mobile Dust Extraction Units are an asset to any workshop. Contact the boys at Y.E.S. for more information on this product - Tommy du Plessis on +27 (0)73 163 0882, Darrel van der Kolff on +27 (0)83 926 7101 or Alex van Haute on +27 (0)79 536 4574 or alternatively email sales@yesrsa.co.za.

VERASSI AUTOMOTIVE ADJUSTABLE FOOT DENT GUN Mini lifters are great tools for pulling dents in all areas. With the right set-up, the mini lifters snap is something all dent technicians love. These tools have the ability to pull the centre pit right and create a high spot to get the dent right where you want it. Ideal for trolley dents, hail damage, crease dents and more. Our systems are fully adhesive based.

Dent Tools stock a full range of Paintless dent repair equipment including rods, dent pullers, lights, full tool kits and accessories.

You can visit our online store at www.denttools.co.za or call us on +27 (0)21 300 1874, +27 (0)82 853 8845 or email to sales@verassi.co.za

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PYRMO SA COLAD SENSOR COVERS Colad Sensor Covers are specially designed to mask parking sensors during the sanding and painting process in the most effective and efficient manner.

The bumper can be repaired without removal of sensors or removal of the bumper to properly disassemble the sensors. Also prevents any problems or malfunctions with the sensors afterwards.

Accelerate your sanding and painting process by using this efficient solution.

Due to its patented design the stickers are easy to apply and easy to remove.

Suitable to fit to most modern parking sensors.

Over-paintable and possible to sand over by machine.

You can get more information by calling Pyrmo SA on +27 (0)11 244 4978

AUTOGLYM RAPID RENOVATOR Autoglym’s all-new Rapid Renovator is a genuine ‘one step compound’ for all colours and paint types - the complete machine polishing solution. It has been developed to quickly remove flattening marks from freshly cured paint and to remove paintwork defects, swirl marks, water marks and surface scratches in old fully cured paintwork, leaving an outstanding gloss finish.

It is capable of removing the same defects as Paint Pro Renovate and Refine, but performs quicker with one compound rather than two stages. Not only is Rapid Renovator a quicker genuine onestop product for the industry, taking half the time, it is also more efficient.

Contact Ezecare for more information on this and their full range on +27 (0)11 908 5446.

GUERILLA DENT SYSTEMS BRIDGE PULLER XL The Guerilla Dent Systems Bridge Puller XL offers superior dent pulling power in a large variety of situations.

Benefits: Increased leverage to pull large damage Adhesive based system (no welding) Ability to pull damage on most panels Numerous positions for ideal set-up Designed to pull small and large dents Included adapters fit most industry tabs Fast, initial reshaping of panels Ability to move large portions of metal.

For our full range of tools, please visit www.guerilladentsystems.co.za, contact Verassi Automotive on the following: warehouse: +27 (0)21 300 1874, mobile: +27 (0)82 853 8845, email to: sales@verassi.co.za

AIRBAG REPAIR CENTRE STEERING AIRBAG REPAIR Airbag Repair Centre services include the restoration of steering wheels, depending on make and model. They are now able to repair any condition of steering wheel. They provide a first-class service and offer a genuine and complete restoration by professional craftsmen.

Your unit will be reconditioned, padded, shaped, and recovered with the best quality foam using their vacuum heat moulding process. This process ensures that your unit will be finished to "as good as new" condition, in the colour of your choice, at no additional cost.

Call them on +27 (0)11 823 2094 in Gauteng and on +27 (0)21 551 0108 in the Cape for more information.

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NEW PRODUCTS ANEST IWATA GRAVITY SPRAY GUNS CONCEPT AZ3 HTE P.A.S. Pressure Assisted System (P.A.S.) and special designed air cups that spray high viscosity materials the easy way. It is for thixotropic waterborne paint without pumps or pressure tanks. The new concept air cap HTE-P1 high performance spray technology delivers a flat and long pattern even when spraying heavy materials.

The metal lid is sturdy and resistant for heavy duty use. The gun has a high precision mini pressure regulator and responsive trigger action. All parts in contact with fluids are stainless steel which makes for easy cleaning and less corrosion.

You can get more information by calling Anest Iwata on +27 (0)11 463 2169 for details on this high performance spray gun range at a value price.

Supply a full range of industry leading paintless dent repair equipment.

Offer invaluable advise to beginner & expert technicians.

A full range of pdr rods, glue pulling tools, lights & accessories available through our online store.

We ship throughout Africa and offer both EFT and credit card payment facilities. Various retail stores supply our equipment too.

Shop online now at www.denttools.co.za

DON’ T FEEL LEFT OUT? ADVERTISE ADVERTISE AND BUILD BUILD YOUR YOUR BRAND. BRAND.

We are a company with expertise in Air Filtration and Dust Collector units. We offer broad and versatile products and services for the most cost effective filtration solutions you need. Let us help you obtain the best air quality in your body shop. Distributor opportunities available.

The voice of the collision repair industry for over 30 years

CALL US +27 (0)11 949 4091 EMAIL US autoref@iafrica.com 88

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Contact Lydia on 082 549 4017 or filtacape@outlook.com AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

WHAT’S HOT? JOBS, EQUIPMENT, SERVICES AND MUCH MORE

Years of experience in the body shop and paintless dent repair industry have brought us to the GUERILLA DENT SYSTEMS range. Innovative dent pulling equipment designed in South Africa to save you time, money and consumables.

Our tools are constructed from the highest grade materials available, and are built tough to last year after year. Our easy to order on-line store offers prompt delivery throughout Africa, accepts both EFT and credit card payments, and is ready and waiting to serve you.

www.guerilladentsystems.co.za

DENT PRO-PORTABLE DENT PULLER

Call us on

076 142 7263 082 452 6631 www.panelprotech.co.za

TEKNIKLOTH® A Tekniklean Product

WIPES AWAY SURFACE CONTAMINATION Teknikloth®- high-tech lint free surface cleaners are an absolute must for all paint shops. They provide less wastage and linting than other systems of preparation. Suitable for use on both water based and solvent based systems.

Photo supplied by Primo Panel and Paint Pinetown

Unique properties include: Lint Free

No scratched or damaged paintwork

Does not break up in any known solvent

Strong wet strength Excellent absorption

We have been supplying the industry for the past 18 years.

NEW DISTRIBUTORS WELCOME. Call 031 579 3688

for your nearest distributor.

Email: sales@tekniklean.co.za or joanne@tekniklean.co.za AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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AFRICAN PANORAMA - HEROIC FAILURES

he publisher now gives you part two of his personal summit rear view on accomplishing the ripe old age of three score years and ten. In 1969 my life changed in a big way. I left the family all behind and stumbling out of a Boeing rear door onto the tarmac at Jan Smuts airport in Johannesburg. Armed with a brand new wife, changes came thick and fast.

We arrived early in September and our digs was in Yeoville at the Peace Haven Hotel, which was more like a rest home for old horses.

Within a week I was propositioned with two jobs, one as a technical service officer at Plascon and another at a company called Dulux. I started work at Dulux for the princely sum of R220 a month while feeling my way through a barrage of change in a brave new world.

Commercial life started with waiting in bus queues and trundling back and forwards to Alberton in the back of a bus.

Many people say that South Africa holds few prospects for success.

Well for me it was to become the opposite. Within a year I was promoted to a full blown company representative. After learning what could go wrong in paint making – which is often just about everything generally – and dealing with both Iscor and other major institutions, it showed me that technical know-how could show or lead me to new heights in my paint career.

But the normal trials and tribulations were ever present for in a moment of desperation my starting salary was way too low, as I was training other company personnel who knew absolutely nothing technically but were earning double my salary. The bleating and noise from myself got the attention of the Dulux management, who sent me off to do a two-year marketing diploma at Wits. It was then that a precious moment took place that further changed my existence.

Seated amongst a bunch of students all nearly 10 years younger than myself, the teacher blurted out: “You are today what you have been thinking about today for the last 10 years.” Then he asked me in a class full of intense onlookers “What are you Ian Groat?” to which I replied: “I’m nothing.” His reply of: “When are you going to get off your arse and do something with your life?” really started me off on a forward trail of blind ambition.

Within a year I had started with a partner, Graham, a company called Calbrook Colours, and we were busy importing exotic pearl and candy apple paint products from the US. It was in this venture, which was commercially quite successful, that I discovered two things.

Firstly, that a 49% shareholder in any company is the lowest form of human life and secondly, that a partnership can often be the worst ship that ever sailed.

Between all the business scraps and foundation laying the emergence of a new type of paint, 2K systems, was unfolding and a small company called Standox approached me to represent them in South Africa to which I strongly said no to – because Dulux had helped me with a business education. Here was mistake number one 90

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in motion. After a further two years of wasted time I managed to convince my supply management that we needed to respond to the changing market conditions. The Glasurit brand was born to SA in the mid-seventies. Leading from the front I went off to Europe to get training modules to train around 250 spray painters with my own facilities on how to handle the new technologies that lay ahead with colour matching and special production techniques.

Looking back we became ridiculously obssessed with changing the repair process and standards of the company’s one hundred or so customers. My belief that the changes in upgrading repairs would see some collective good going forwards.

Comprehending business being carried out in central down town Johannesburg held many surprises. Some of my retail competitors, who had no accounts with my principle supplier, were key opposition for nearly a decade. Quite where they got their supplies from was unknown and in some cases presumably it was ‘knocked-off ’ stock.

Trading on that type of uneven playing field was yet another curve in the road to rolling the dice forward. My key supplier decided to play a few devious tricks by awarding another dealer larger discounts and also showing no remorse for constant stock outs and an inability to supply orders on time.

Business was tough in the final days of apartheid in the grim and threadbare world of refinish supply. Things were looking bleak. Two huge court cases with my supplier for acting in bad faith were also having a negative effect on long term sustainability for our small business. So the English expression of ‘He who tries his best goes down the road just like the rest’ was ringing in my ears. This five-year experience of a big business slow death became a bit too much one particular day so I went off to see the now demised Dulux company to arrange a negotiated settlement to become a magazine publisher and exit the paint sales business forever.

After a brief but intense meeting I had to go off to settle the bank overdraft of R1.3 million, take half a million loan on my house and finally stand in front of the Judge in the Court to be told the conditions of a liquidation sale. It’s a sort of slow process of humiliation and shame – being ruined at 55 is not for sissies – and even worse: the prospect of living on beans on toast for the next six months does skew your line of sight just a little ...

That said the flickering glow of yet another new life with Automotive Refinisher continued to pull me through it all. There are, in my opinion, no winners or losers in life – there is only life. So it was with downgraded ambition that we all moved forwards to try and come back from those desperate times mentioned above. Right then it felt like – after selling R100 million worth of refinish paint that it was a major defeat that had almost engulfed me. But it was just the beginning of a brand new chapter.

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Enjoy the recognition you deserve.

We thank you for providing us with the opportunity to introduce our dynamic service offerings and present to you a vision for simplicity, success and sustainability.

The CRA has evolved as an organisation with passion, understanding and the will to provide results to our esteemed members from the basis of being a voice to the auto body collision industry. We employ consultants and are associated with people suitably qualified in all aspects of collision repair and related business management skills with high integrity and willing to offer their support to ensuring the success of your facilities.

Our objectives are issues the proactive body shop owner does not really have the time to concentrate on to ensure the optimisation of their business. The constant changes in the law, support in compliance with statutory requirements, relationship mentoring with government and insurers on selection criteria with regards to financial allowances on mark-up and labour rates as well as aiding consumer choice on service expectation. Further hereto our aim is to provide technical support and training on advancements in collision repair techniques and new equipment investment advice.

To date the CRA has achieved significant change with benefits and are on the road to create market awareness which in the short term will emulate consumer appreciation not previously evident in our local market.

Our mission will ensure via procedural compliance that our forum will enforce a code of conduct that covers consumer protection, work force motivation and job security and ultimately peace of mind to business owners on secure, and beneficial return on investment. We have also concluded annual inflationary labour rate increases with a major insurer

including labour rate allowances above the rate which individual repairers would normally be able to achieve independently and thus extended as a financial benefit to approved members. This will be protracted via further meetings to almost all the other major insurers in the short term.

As with any Association annual membership fees are payable to cover administration costs and our membership is based on grading status. Further hereto our membership is extended to equipment and service related suppliers whom have a similar vision of business ethic.

These include at present paint suppliers, a BEEE accreditation agency, an authorised health and safety compliance consultant, quoting and business management software suppliers and high end workshop equipment suppliers. This will also result in better service, support and preferential rates on association.

We provide an on-line E Procure business data profile of members to support recognition for independent role players in every area of activity in the collision repair industry. The platform will provide assistance to work providers and consumers with accident damaged vehicles to make educated decisions in allowing the most professional repairer the opportunity of refurbishment within acceptable time frames and in line with warranty reinstatement protocols.

In conclusion we trust you can see the benefit of belonging to our Association and look forward to the synergy we can create by our providing valued service and more importantly ensuring your enthusiasm and input is shared with other members at organised events of our approved panel.

JOIN THE CRA AND GET THE RECOGNITION YOU DESERVE!

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Call us on 0861 726 272 or Visit www.crasa.org.za