PROFIT BOOSTER
Plastic Profit Repair, not replace, and reap the rewards By Barett Poley and Erin McLaughlin
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John Wilburn of Polyvance demonstrates the company’s Nitro Fuzer plastic welding rig. The manufacturers of plastic repair tools note that shops can reduce cycle time and realize higher profits by leveraging the currently available technology.
lastic repair has come of age, according to some of the people closest to the field. The tools that are available now allow technicians to repair many plastic components rather than replacing them. In turn, the manufacturers of these systems say this will help both profitability and cycle time. Kurt Lammon is the President of Polyvance, one of the companies providing solutions in this area. He discussed just some of the many benefits of plastic repair in a recent interview with Collision Repair magazine. Plastic repair, according to Lammon, is the future. He believes the tools and techniques should be readily embraced by every part of the auto claims economy.
“There are advantages for all members of the collision repair ecosystem including consumers, bodyshops, insurers, OEMs, technicians, as well as the planet,” he says. “Polyvance, formerly Urethane Supply Company, was established in 1981 to provide plastic repair and refinishing products for the collision repair industry. During the 1980s, the business pioneered a repair method for polyurethane bumpers. I and my brother Keith took over the company from its founder, Jim Sparks, in 1995. Some of the products we have created since then for bumper repair and refinishing include the FiberFlex universal welding rod, Bumper & Cladding Coat Adhesion Primer, and the Nitro Fuzer nitrogen welding system, introduced in 2006.” June 2017 collision Repair 39