PanelTalk Official Journal of the Collision Repair Association
September/October 2014
Christchurch Revisited • CRA / Suzuki Announcement CRA Mystery Shopper • Paint & Panel Live Report
PanelTalk 1
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2 PanelTalk
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PanelTalk Official Journal of the Collision Repair Association
September/October 2014
PanelTalk Official Journal of the Collision Repair Association
September/October 2014
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE COLLISION REPAIR ASSOCIATION PUBLISHER Collision Repair Association P.O. Box 9208 Waikato Mail Centre Hamilton 3240
IN THIS ISSUE
CRA Contacts
4
EDITOR Rex Crowther
Editorial
5
DESIGNER Rebecca Tune
CRA / Suzuki Announcement
7
CRA Mystery Shopper Programme
8
It’s Just My Opinion
11
Christchurch Revisited
12
Learning From The Lows
16
Paint And Panel Live
21
I-CAR SPS05 Instructor Training Day
24
Chairman’s Report
27
PHONE: (09) 360 8437 EMAIL: paneltalkmagazine@gmail.com
General Manager’s Report
28
CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Collision Repair Association Ph: 07-847 0216 Fax: 07-847 0217 Email: collision.repair@xtra.co.nz
Mito Scholarship
31
Apprentice Of The Year Nomination Form
34
MLO - Walter Zuber
37
Motor Sport - Bloodhound SSC
38
Axalta Industry Survey
40
CRA Conference - 2014
42
People, Products, Events
43
Regional Roundup
49
I-CAR Technical Pages
53
I-CAR Courses
56
I-CAR Bronze & Silver Recognition
60
PANELTALK MAGAZINE 362 Great North Road Arch Hill Auckland 0612 PO Box 32 362 Devonport Auckland 0744
COPYRIGHT No part of PanelTalk may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written permission of the publisher.
ISSN 0113-8685
EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER Views and opinions expressed in this issue of PanelTalk are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. ADVERTISING DISCLAIMER Claims and statements made in PanelTalk are not necessarily endorsed by the Collision Repair Association. While care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the advertisements, neither the association nor the editor accepts responsibility for them.
Christchurch Revisited • CRA / Suzuki Announcement CRA Mystery Shopper • Paint & Panel Live Report
Cover photograph by Megan Evans North
PanelTalk 3
NZ COLLISION REPAIR ASSOCIATION INC
CONTACTS for over
100 years
CRA National Office: 1st floor (above Firestone), 3 Lincoln Street, Frankton, Hamilton, PO Box 9208, Waikato Mail Centre, HAMILTON 3240 Ph: 07 847 0216 Fax: 07 847 0217 Email: collision.repair@xtra.co.nz Web: www.collisionrepair.co.nz
The New zealand Collision Repair Assiciation’s membership incorporates all types of businesses allied to automotive collision repair. The affairs of the Association are managed by the National executive, which consists of a chairperson and a person appointed from each branch of the Association.
CHAIRMAN: General Manager: Association Manager: OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR:
Alan le Noel Neil Pritchard 021 663 459 Adrienne Richardson 021 572 158 Erin McLean 07 847 0216
for over
100 years
alan@haurakipanel.co.nz neil@collisionrepair.co.nz adrienne@collisionrepair.co.nz erin@collisionrepair.co.nz
New membership enquiries should be directed to Erin McLean at the Collision Repair Assiciation National Office.
NORTHLAND
AUCKLAND
CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND
HAWKES BAY
National Executive Rep Carl Henty Louie Berkers Collision Repair Centre Ltd 161 Dent Street, WHANGAREI 0110 (09) 438 8997 (09) 438 8991 carl@louieberkers.co.nz National Executive Rep Brent Mackay A1 Autofinish 11 Crum Avenue, New Lynn Auckland 0600 (09) 827 8462 (09) 827 5751 a1-auto@xtra.co.nz National Executive Rep Lou Pilkington Taupo Smash Repairs PO Box 414, TAUPO 3351 (07) 378 7807 (07) 378 7857 tauposmash@xtra.co.nz National Executive Rep Chris Greaney City Collision Repairs 31 Leyland Street, Onekawa Napier 4110 (06) 843 8200 (06) 843 8538 chris@citycollision.co.nz
Chairman Tony Gordon Tony Gordon Panelbeaters 12-14 Finlayson Street, WHANGAREI 0110 Ph: (09) 438 1047 Fax: (09) 438 5739 tony.gordon@igrin.co.nz
Secretary Mike Verkuylen Wynn Fraser Paints PO Box 348, WHANGAREI 0140 (09) 438 1624 (09) 438 3740 mike@wynnfraser.co.nz
Chairman Tyler Schwalger Turners Panelbeating & Carpainting Ltd 147 Target Road, Wairau Valley Auckland 0627 (09) 444 7217 (09) 444 4926 tyler@turnerspanelbeating.co.nz
Secretary Margaret Watterson
Chairman Kris Browne Fleet Image NZ Ltd PO Box 364, TE AWAMUTU 3840 (07) 871 6780 (07) 871 6770 kris@fleetimage.co.nz
Secretary Andy Pryor Resene Automotive & Light Industrial 593 Te Rapa Road, Te Rapa HAMILTON 3200 (07) 849 7798 andy.pryor@rali.co.nz
Chairman Tim McDougal A & M Panel Repairs 2004 Ltd 12 Thames Street, Pandora NAPIER 4110 (06) 835 6267 (06) 835 0588 timampanel@xtra.co.nz
National Executive Rep Stephen Perrin Harts Body Shop PO Box 7137, Pioneer Highway PALMERSTON NORTH 4443 (06) 358 4098 (06) 359 5387 harts.body@xtra.co.nz
Chairman Aaron Hogg Larsen Collision Repairs Ltd PO Box 4371, WANGANUI 4541 (06) 345 3377 (06) 345 3204 admin@larsencollision.co.nz
Secretary Joan Perrin Harts Body Shop PO Box 7137, Pioneer Highway PALMERSTON NORTH 4443 (06) 358 4098 (06) 359 5387 harts.body@xtra.co.nz
WELLINGTON
National Executive Rep Tony Straugheir Hutt City Panel & Paint Ltd PO Box 30780, LOWER HUTT 5040 (04) 939 3625 (04) 939 3620 huttcitypanelpaint@paradise.net.nz
Chairman Gerard Bohan 121 Hokio Beach Road, LEVIN 5510 (027) 453 0838 t.bohan@xtra.co.nz
CANTERBURY WESTLAND
National Executive Rep Warren Flowerday Tandem Smash Repairs 1996 Ltd PO Box 10224, Phillipstown CHRISTCHURCH 8145 (03) 982 4862 (03) 982 4862 warren@tandemsmash.co.nz
Chairman Bryan Easton Super Finish Panel & Paint PO Box 7552, Sydenham CHRISTCHURCH 8240 (03) 365 2324 (03) 365 0408 repairs@superfinish.co.nz
Secretary Tristan Hosie 3M PO Box 27150, Marion Square WELLINGTON 6141 (04) 384 1243 (04) 384 5580 thosie@mmm.com Secretary Alistair Sheard PO Box 79071, Avonhead CHRISTCHURCH 8446 (03) 348 9326 (03) 343 1155 alistair@brlaccountants.co.nz
National Executive Rep Warren Burns Gordon Officer (1991) Ltd PO Box 1099, INVERCARGILL 9840 (03) 215 9081 (03) 215 8477 gordonofficer@xtra.co.nz
Chairman Ewan Hilston Parkside Panels (1990) Ltd PO Box 526, INVERCARGILL 9840 (03) 216 7771 (03) 216 3948 parkside.panels@xtra.co.nz
MANAWATU WANGANUI TARANAKI
OTAGO SOUTHLAND
4 PanelTalk
Secretary Steve de Graaf Harrow Motor Body Works Ltd 26 Wilkie Road, Kensington DUNEDIN 9012 (03) 455 1773 (03) 455 2746 harrows@xtra.co.nz
Editorial Welcome to our September/October issue, it seems incredible to think that four years have passed since I took up the reigns as editor/publisher of PanelTalk beginning with the September/October 2010 issue. What a great role this has turned out to be for a retirement one. I get to meet so many inspirational people here and abroad, and continue to be both inspired by the motivated people in the industry, as well as unfortunately being frustrated by the diehards who refuse to change.
Australian repairers and suppliers to discuss the differences and similarities in our markets. If you get the chance to attend this in 2016, you will find it very worthwhile in not only the presentations but also the networking opportunities that are invaluable.
Firmly planted in the ‘inspirational’ category are two Christchurch repairers featured in this issue. While they have every right to feel hard done by and bitter at what fate has dealt them, their tenacity and drive despite the odds is truly inspiring. Their challenges have been many but in my conversations with them, they kept referring to all of the others in the region who are still suffering as a result of the earthquakes and were almost embarrassed to talk about what they have been through. If you think you have had a rough few years in business, read ‘Christchurch Revisited’ and I am sure that for almost all of you, your problems will seem insignificant.
Rex Crowther
I am not making light of how difficult the industry has been and realise that this past year, perhaps more than any in the recent history of collision repair, has presented many challenges to a lot of repairers. With that in mind we feature a story of three different repairers in the States and their challenges and how they profited from their mistakes. With the ever-increasing demands for superior customer service, we have featured a snapshot of results from the CRA Mystery Shopper visits and some of these really surprised me. I seriously believe that this is a must read and I would encourage everyone to get involved in this very cost effective initiative. We also have a report on the Paint & Panel Live conference held in Sydney in August. This was an action packed day and it was good to catch up with
There is a lot of interesting content in our regular features, so I hope you enjoy it all. I welcome your comments and as always, please support our advertisers where ever possible.
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PanelTalk 5
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6 PanelTalk
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02-06-14 13:28 02-06-14 13:28
The Collision Repair Association is delighted to announce an agreement with Suzuki New Zealand to provide a network of Authorised Collision Repair Centres. Suzuki have joined a growing number of vehicle manufacturers who have recognised the CRA Structural Repair Centres as setting the standard for the industry. Using CRA’s SRCs provides the confidence of presentation levels, training and equipment. Rodney Brown – A/M service manager for Suzuki says: “Suzuki New Zealand Ltd is very pleased to have cemented our relationship with the Collision Repair Association and I-CAR NZ to ensure the owners of Suzuki vehicles have access to Structural Repair Centres, which we know are trained for the Suzuki product and have the correct equipment to ensure the on-going highest level of structural repair to their vehicles”.
Here is what some repairers think: “Good on the CRA getting alongside the manufacturers like this and good on Suzuki for recognising the value that CRA repairers offer” Brent Johnson Bridgeman Street Panelbeaters Ltd “I think it’s a great thing for the industry and the CRA. The fact that Suzuki recognises the value of
dealing with CRA SRCs is fantastic. It proves the value of training, equipment levels and customer service” Brent Sheppard Harvey Collision Repairs Ltd “There are times when repairers ask what the value in belonging to the CRA is. For me the Suzuki sign is a great example. It speaks volumes for the credibility of the organisation that Suzuki have bought in to our standards – well done us” Bryan Easton Superfinish Panel & Paint
I-CAR Suzuki Collision Repair Course update. The application for signage is available to all CRA SRCs who have a staff member who has completed the I-CAR Suzuki course. The current course has been updated from the original version to include recent models and a test, and for those who attended the course in 2012/2013, we will send a small update manual out and a test paper. The test needs to be passed before you are able to apply for signage. There will be a small cost of $25.00 (plus GST) for the manual and test, per person.
PanelTalk 7
The CRA Mystery Shopper Programme One Month Summary Report The Mystery Shopper initiative, established in late 2012, has proved popular with participants by helping them identify where they can improve customer relations. The customer experience is vital to the success of any business, and will become more and more so – just look at the recent IAG RFP and the strong focus it placed on this area. Therefore it is timely to look at some of the results. Harrow Motor Bodies in Dunedin have taken part for two years in a row and one of the owners, Steve De Graaf says while they considers their customer service to be very good, it pays not to get complacent. “Out of the two visits we’ve had, there has been a couple of areas where we have not scored that well,” says Steve. “Sometimes the score is for an area that does not concern us but there are always
a few areas where we realise that we have slipped slightly and we address those. For the money spent, the report that we receive is very comprehensive, covering many different facets of a potential customer’s experience”. Take the time to check out the results below, which are the result of 28 Mystery Shoppers in November 2013. It shows some interesting results especially under the ‘Greeting’ heading around introductions, under ‘Insurance’ with the offer of assistance with the claim process, all questions under ‘Add Ons’ and the poor results under ‘Bookings’ and ‘Follow Up’ where only four out of twenty eight participants contacted the customer to follow up on their enquiry.
One Month Summary Report November 2013 Phone 1. How many rings did it take to have the phone answered? 2. Was your call answered personally? 3. Was your call answered with an appropriate greeting? 4. Was there a staff member available to answer your enquiry? Presentation 5. Was the shop clearly signposted and easy to find from the road? 6. Were there available car parks that were easy to access? 7. Was there a CRA (Collision Repair Association) sign clearly visible? 8. Were only professional quality signs displayed? 9. Was the shop exterior presentable? 10. Was the shop easy to access? 11. Was the office / reception area clean and tidy? 12. Did the staff member you dealt with look presentable and neatly groomed? 13. Were all staff members identifiable by a name badge or company logo?
8 PanelTalk
Under 3 rings 24 4 - 8 rings 4 Yes 28 No 0 Yes 27 No 1 Yes 28 No 0 Yes 28 Yes 23
No No
0 5
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
28 28 28 28 24
No No No No No
0 0 0 0 3
Yes 28
No
0
Yes 17
No 11
Greeting 14. Were you greeted at the car? 15. Did the staff member use an appropriate greeting? 16. When you entered the business, were you welcomed with eye contact, greeting OR a smile within 1 minute? 17. Did the staff member introduce themselves? 18. Did the staff member ask your name? 19. Did the staff member smile and use eye contact? 20. Did the staff member ask / encourage you to look at the vehicle with them? Questioning 21. Did the staff member ask questions to ascertain what you required? 22. Did the staff member ask what timeframe you would like it completed in? 23. Did the staff member ask how you heard about their business? 24. Did the staff member mention they were a member of the CRA? 25. Did the staff member explain the benefits of being a CRA member? Insurance 26. Did the staff member ask if you were going to make an insurance claim? 27. Did the staff member ask who you were insured with? 28. Did the staff member offer to help you with your insurance claim OR explain how to go about making an insurance claim? Inspection 29. Did the staff member inspect the whole vehicle not just the area you pointed out? 30. Did the staff member take photos of your whole car, not just the effected areas? 31. Did the staff member use language you understand rather than technical jargon? 32. Did you feel you were given enough information to make an informed decision? Add Ons 33. Did the staff member offer any extra services to encourage you to make the booking? 34. Did the staff member give you a business card? 35. Were you asked for your contact details? 36. Were you thanked before you left the shop? Staff Member 37. Did the staff member genuinely want your business? 38. Did you find the staff member friendly? 39. Did you find the staff member knowledgeable? 40. Was the staff member focussed on you and your requirements, giving you their full attention?
Yes 5 Yes 28
No 17 No 0
Yes 26 Yes 9 Yes 12 Yes 27
No 2 No 19 No 16 No 1
Yes 26
No
2
Yes 27 Yes 7 Yes 5 Yes 1 Yes 12
No No No No No
1 21 23 27 16
Yes 25 Yes 19
No No
2 6
Yes 10
No 14
Yes 20 Yes 14 Yes 28
No 8 No 13 No 0
Yes 26
No
Yes Yes Yes Yes
No 18 No 15 No 4 No 2
10 13 23 26
2
Yes 25 Yes 28 Yes 27
No No No
3 0 1
Yes 28
No
0
Booking 41. Did the staff member attempt to make a booking for your repairs?
Yes
No 19
Follow Up 42. Did the staff member follow up your enquiry? 43. Within what timeframe did the staff member contact you?
Yes 4 No 23 Within 24 hrs 2 1 - 2 days 1 Longer than 2 days 1
8
PanelTalk 9
The CRA Mystery Shopper Programme One Month Summary Report
Conclusion It is surprising how few repairers attempted to make a booking at this initial contact, then even fewer followed up on the contact. Also, more than half of this sample did not offer to help with the potential client’s insurance claim. Surely this is the time to convince them not be steered to another repairer by their insurance company. The other surprising thing is that most did not even introduce themselves and only five out of twenty eight asked how the person heard about their business. These sorts of things are so simple and such an important part of establishing a personal relationship between the customer and you / your business.
If a company is serious about improving customer relations then participating in the mystery shopper programme seems like a no-brainer. Not only is it non-obtrusive and simple to organise, the cost of participating in this independent survey, carried out by Hoed Mystery Shopping New Zealand Ltd, is just $79. This includes a comprehensive report on the visit pinpointing strengths and weaknesses – vital information for any business looking to improve their customers’ experience.
FOR FINISHING FILLERS 10 PanelTalk
027 630 3691 info@u-pol.co.nz
U-POL.COM
It’s just my opinion
- Rex Crowther
After many years of repairer frustration at issues around parts quality, it is pleasing to see the PartsTrader rating system is starting to show results. The rating system is a direct result of the Parts Trader Advisory Group (PAG) and full credit to everyone involved for persevering to see it through. A number of repairers are reporting far less hassles now that they are can be more selective in choosing their supplier based on their rating. No one has reported to me that an insurer has insisted on the lowest price if the companies’ rating is low and this is a good thing. The biggest issue with PartsTrader has always been around quality and it would appear that the rating system is gradually addressing this. Perhaps, now is the time to address another anomaly in the PartsTrader system, that of high freight charges with no margin allowed for repairers. While some insurers recognise this as a cost of the part and pay a margin accordingly, the majority do not. A commonly held belief is that some recyclers reduce the cost of the part and make up for it by inflating the freight charges and this practice reduces the margin that the repairer receives. Whichever way you look at it, it is surely wrong that the repairers margin does not accurately reflect the price paid for the total cost of the parts received. As an example, it has often been reported that say $300 worth of parts will include a freight charge of approximately $100. The repairer gets his 20% markup on the parts only which is $60, but his outlay is $400 meaning his return for sourcing, ordering, checking and cleaning these parts is 15% out of which he invariably spends some time doing minor rectification. Another classic example is that of a recycled door that crosses the Cook Straight. The part may cost $150 but will have a $100 freight charge meaning that the repairer in most cases gets a 12% margin. Again though, for the smarter repairers, this issue is on the decline as more and more often they are sourcing their parts locally wherever possible and this is being accepted by insurers. This is demonstrating a new maturity around PartsTrader by both repairers and insurers and is a welcome
development, however, I still feel that it is appropriate for repairers to be allowed a margin on their total parts outlay; that is for the parts and the freight. Failure to recognise this anomaly penalises all repairers, but especially those outside of the major cities. In my opinion piece in the last issue I challenged repairers to tell us how they would operate if they were employed by an insurance company and were reviewing their company’s motor vehicle claims, repair remuneration models and preferred repairer networks. Everyone must be happy, as I did not receive one reply. Interestingly though, while researching something else, I came across this piece that I ran in my opinion piece back in the November/ December 2012 issue. Under the title “The remuneration model is broken” I said the following:“So what is the answer? In my opinion the introduction of a graded labour rate, agreed to upfront between the parties, is essential. This gives the insurance industry some scope in recognising investment in equipment, training and customer service. At the same time a realistic times manual (there are plenty available) that is agreed to by all parties needs to be introduced. Coupled with this would be agreed parts and outwork margins to allow a fair return to the repairer at a fair cost to the insurer”. So, they were my thoughts back at the end of 2012, and I have to say that it is disappointing that no-one felt strongly enough about the issue to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, to tell us how they would have done it. It can only mean two things, either no one reads the ‘It’s just my opinion’ piece in the magazine, or no-one could see a better alternative. I was hoping to get some interesting views to inspire debate around the best sustainable accident repair remuneration model for the New Zealand market, but I failed miserably. Even my good mate, CRA Past President and Life Member Doug Dean, a deep thinker who is well known for his penchant to write to let people know how things could be done better, failed to respond.
PanelTalk 11
Christchurch Revisited – Three Years On
Temporary repairs to the Andrews & Gilmore building Back in April 2011 we visited Christchurch to report on the effects of the recent earthquakes. Here is what we reported. “No matter how much you see on television or read in the newspapers, nothing can prepare you for the devastation in Christchurch. Whole communities are destroyed; streets once buzzing with activity now consist of empty houses already looking overgrown and dilapidated, with just one or two amongst them still habitable. The roads are all over the place and the drainage and sewer lines with them. It is hard to believe that areas like New Brighton will ever recover. Despite all of this, the resilience and upbeat attitude of the people we encountered during PanelTalk’s mid April visit was absolutely amazing. People who had lost so much were happy to share their stories but were quick to emphasise and sympathise with the plight of others who were much worse off. They all seemed grateful to have themselves, their families and staff alive and uninjured. As one repairer pointed out, the focus was on the number of fatalities, and rightly so, but the number of people who were severely injured, with many losing limbs
12 PanelTalk
or undergoing other severe trauma, is another untold horror story.” During that visit time and circumstances would not allow us to catch up with all repairers but we concluded our report by saying that no one in the region escaped unaffected in some way. So, some three and a half years later, is the region still affected and in what ways? The scene that greets you is still one of utter devastation. Despite all of the reporting, the television news coverage and contacts with locals, I was still shocked by what I saw. Most of the CBD has been leveled, but there are still buildings standing, complete with upturned tables and chairs, clothing still on racks and looking as they did immediately after the February 2011 earthquake. There are signs of activity, especially around the container centre where shops have sprouted up using converted containers in all sorts of imaginative ways. There are also a number of buildings that have been reopened, but one gets the feeling that this is predominantly a tourist centre not really frequented by the locals.
In suburbs such as New Brighton, one would assume that once an area has been ‘Red Zoned’ that it would just be flattened and converted to a grassed area for the meantime. But nothing is so simple, a number of houses were uninsured and the owners are in all probability, trying to find some compensation and their houses are still standing. So these areas are truly depressing to drive through, the roads are still there but with vegetation slowly taking over, making the areas look decidedly third world, eerie and uninhabitable. The reason for the visit was mainly to talk to the owners of two collision repair companies that have been particularly affected and still remain far from the businesses that they were pre earthquake.
on the viability of their business. So the decision was made to relocate the two businesses into one large site, which they were fortunate to locate midway between their two existing locations. This site, consisting of three separate buildings, was also damaged in the earthquake. The tenants moved out immediately after the quake and eventually relocated to the North Island, leaving the building vacant and needing repair like most of the buildings in the area.
The first that I visited was Super Finish Panel and Paint, a business that we reported on back in 2011. Here is what we said back then. “While they could not operate for five weeks, they were very fortunate to get a structural engineer to check their buildings and an engineering contractor to supply and install steel bracing right around the inside of the buildings. This meant the building was reclassified to a green sticker, which allowed them to reopen for business. Getting these key people and approvals through in such quick time enabled them to be back in business much earlier they were initially advised. Bryan is still awaiting confirmation that the buildings can be repaired. At best all of the floors will have to be replaced, and the offices, service rooms and storerooms all require major repairs. Bryan was very grateful for the government employment subsidy that enabled all staff to be paid while the facility was shut. While their insurer will eventually repay this it took the stress off by being available so soon. He is also very grateful for the support of his suppliers”. And here is what has happened since. It took two years before the building owner became completely disillusioned with the changing reports on the building and took an insurance payout and sold the buildings. He offered them to Bryan Easton, the business owner, but with no guarantee for their future the banks are not interested in using them for collateral. Around the same time, Bryan’s partner Adam Stevenson, who ran their other business, Elite Panel & Paint was also having issues around the two buildings occupied by this business. Both buildings were damaged, and while one that they owned was deemed repairable the other was earmarked for demolition, which was always going to put pressure
Super Finish and Elite’s temporary panelshop
Two of these adjacent buildings were suitable for the new combined operation and so a deal was struck. One building, the one that they did not require in the long term, was OK to occupy, along with part of the third building and so the two businesses could operate after a fashion, but with severe limitations due to the distance between the areas while the repairs were carried out. They began trading at this site in January 2013 but in Christchurch, such is the scale of the rebuild, everything happens extremely slowly. The building that would house their paintshop was the one that they could partly occupy, so after some repairs were carried out their new Junair spraybooth could be installed. A special build to allow campervans to be painted, it is a drive through to complement the planned workflow once the buildings are finished. Both Bryan and Adam are full of praise for Junair’s Peter Adam and his team who carried out the installation in challenging circumstances around the building’s reconstruction. At the time of PanelTalk’s visit in late July there was still a considerable amount of work to carry out before they can finally move into the new premises. But as a result of the uncertainty over the
PanelTalk 13
last three years, they both seem quite relaxed about the challenges of operating the way they are, with large distances to cover between the three buildings to oversee their joint operation. A big problem for them, and no doubt a number of other businesses affected by the earthquake, was the fact their business interruption policy was only for twelve months, despite the fact that it took two years before there was any certainty around their situation. This seems so wrong, as there was nothing that could be done to speed up their decision making; it was entirely in the hands of the authorities. This has meant that all of the relocation costs have had to be born by the business and to allow this to happen they have had to substantially increase their mortgages on their homes to fund the project. They have had to fit out their panelshop temporarily, including chassis machines and hoists, airlines and electric cabling and more. The offices had to be set up with a reception area, computers, phones and other office equipment, all the while knowing that it would all have to be moved again in the near future. In Bryan’s words, it has been a case of bills, bills and more bills. They are hopeful that they will be fully established in their new premises by Christmas, but Bryan is resigned to the fact that it will take them another five years before they are back to where they were prior to the earthquake. The second business that I visited was Andrews & Gilmore Collision Repair Centre, also a repairer that we reported on back in 2011. Here is what we said back then. “Due to their central city location they were inside the central cordon, so while their buildings suffered no real structural damage they were not allowed on the site for six weeks.
Their booth filters require changing every two weeks at present; such is the presence of dust in the air. Since the last visit Andrews & Gilmore have had a phenomenal run of disasters, beginning with two severe aftershocks close together in June 2011. The boundary walls on one side, which were reinforced concrete pillars and framing filled with bricks, moved dramatically during these quakes and it was discovered that the bricks had come loose and had to be removed and replaced with temporary timber framing and cladding. Then in August 2012, the council-owned building next door, which was badly damaged in the earthquake and was abandoned, was set alight by squatters who had taken up residence in there. This fire destroyed what was left of the building next door including Andrews & Gilmore’s adjoining wall. The council stated that they were not responsible, as they did not start the fire, and just put up corrugated iron roofing over the big gaps in the wall created by the fire. This has frustrated Roy as they had advised the council on numerous occasions that vagrants were occupying the building, but the council did nothing about it. Then, for what would be the final straw for most, they had a major booth fire in July 2013. Determined to carry on, Roy arranged to use the old booth at the former premises of Elite Panel & Paint while they had a new Junair booth installed. This was not without challenges as the loan booth was old and had obviously not had any maintenance for a while as Elite had moved on seven months prior, but they were very grateful to have the use of it, another example of how the industry helps one another in times of need.
Owner Roy Andrews is grateful for the support they received from their insurance company and bank and Roy stressed to others the importance of being fully insured. Although, as a number of repairers pointed out, even with full cover their losses will be large as business interruption does not allow for profit and the fact they were unavailable for their customers for six weeks. With their CBD location, it will be desolate around them for some time to come. Roy said nothing could prepare you for the work required to clean up and get operational again. The entire workshop was covered in around 30cm of liquefaction and no matter how many times you clean up, the resulting dust is back again in no time.
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Andrews & Gilmore - new spraybooth, note the new steel supports for the roof structure
another building and may finally, after all the they have been through, relocate the business. “We are still looking at repairing what we have but we have conflicting engineering reports and they can’t seem to agree on repair methods, as there appears to be no repair rule book,” he said. New earthquake building regulations provide yet another challenge to purchasing a building to relocate to. A commercial building needs an earthquake rating of 34% to be habitable but for bank funding requirements it will require a rating of 67% and the majority of buildings do not reach this rating level.
Andrews & Gilmore - removing block wall after the June 2011 aftershocks The new Junair booth had to be custom made to fit into its location, and here again Roy is full of praise for the Junair team. “We have had to strengthen the roof structure and this has impacted on the space available for the booth”, said Roy. “But the finished result is fantastic, it is early days but it looks as though our energy costs are down by over 50% when compared to our old booth”. Now, with the paintshop performing again, you would think it is only the boundary wall, damaged by the fire to the council building, that needs to be repaired so that they are finally back to where they were prior to the 2011 earthquake. This is not so, unfortunately, the rules have been changed and the reinstatement is not as straight forward as it seemed, so much so in fact, that Roy is looking at
As our conversation was winding up, hoping to leave on a lighter note, I enquired about Roy’s own home. With a smile he informed me that in the three years since the quake he has had five separate visits from various authorities but seems no closer to having it repaired than he was the day after the quake. So there you have it, I hope this gives the rest of the country some insight into what the people of Christchurch are going through, all of the people that I spoke to referred to many others with ongoing issues and were anxious not to come across complaining about their lot. I have been back to Christchurch five times since 2011 without being aware of the actual situation, and so I recommend that if you are there, take the time to have a look around so that you can appreciate the magnitude of the situation and the extreme difficulties that many in the region face.
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PanelTalk 15
Stretching the Limits Kevin Conner analyzed the problems afflicting his shop, and used them as a springboard to push the business to new levels.
LEARNING FROM THE LOWS Three shop owners explain how their biggest mistakes have led to their greatest successes. By BRyCE EVANS
I
t took Thomas Edison more than 1,000 attempts to create the first light bulb. Henry Ford went broke five separate times before Ford Motor Company hit its stride; the same goes for Walt Disney, who was once (now famously) fired by a newspaper because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel had his first book rejected 27 times before it was published. Vincent Van Gogh sold only one of his more than 800 paintings in his lifetime. Get the idea?
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august 2014
Failure is an inevitable and necessary part of success, building character, knowledge and life lessons that can’t be taught any other way than through experience. As Edison once told a reporter inquiring about his missteps, failure is all in how you look at it: “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” The same philosophy can—and should—be applied to a business. Three shop operators share their biggest mistakes, failures and missteps that helped shape their respective successful businesses.
LEARNING FROM THE LOWS
KILLING THE 8 – 5 MENTALITY
Kevin Conner
C
hange can be one of the biggest obstacles in running a family business, says Kevin Conner. Conner owns Conner Brothers Collision Centers along with his father, who started the business in 1976. “I was in the Marines, and not even that can prepare you for working with family,” he says with a laugh. Working alongside his brother and father, Conner helped grow the shop into a two-location business, which later opened a third facility now run by his brother. (The third shop runs under the same name but is owned and operated separately by Conner’s brother now.) Through the years, Conner has worked to help the business keep up with emerging trends, which he credits for much of the shops’ growth. In 2014, he and his father will open a third location—fourth overall for the brand. But, as Conner came to realize recently, constant growth and effective systems can sometimes lead to a true business killer: complacency. Conner had to find a way to kick his shops off cruise control. The experience has always been what we sell our customers. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I realized that experience wasn’t worth buying. Sometimes you’re too ingrained in a business to be able to take a step back; luckily, I was handed an opportunity to do that. Let’s take a step back for a second. Technology is a big part of our day-to-day 38
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in the shop. We do mobile estimating with tablets and the CCC System. We’re heavily active in our online presence. We’re not a DRP-heavy shop, so it’s always been imperative that we get out and do a lot of this grassroots marketing and grow organically through referrals. We started doing pay-per-click Internet ads in late 2013. With the service we used, we had a designated phone line that would record calls, so we could monitor how the campaign was working. The first time I listened to the recordings, I was horrified. It was absolutely mind-blowing to think of how painful it was. We were lethargic, just no energy. We were going through the motions and didn’t sound like the company I thought we were. I was panicked. We were losing 90 percent of these customers that were calling. Keep in mind that this was only for calls on that marketing campaign— maybe 10–15 percent of all calls over that period. It was enough, though, to recognize a real problem. I started looking around, and we had become a true 8–5 company; people punched in and punched out, and worried about little else. If they got an hour for lunch, they were out of the shop for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. The problem wasn’t our staff, though. We had good people. But we were so focused on our systems, on the processes we used, on the new tools and technol-
ogy—all these things that worked very well for us and made life easier—that we had become complacent. I hired an HR consultant to get her view, and it was the same. And, right away, I had her begin retraining our staff. We focused on creating systems for our customer interaction, processes that would allow our team to excel. We set up a method of follow-up with customers: If we do an estimate for you, and we don’t get the job right away, there should be a thank-you card put in the mail the next day. Less than 48 hours later, make a phone call. Ask about the repair, get them scheduled in. And that’s not counting already having explained what we can do for them when they’re in here. When we get the job, we keep them updated to the Nth degree. We use Auto Watch, email, text and social media to keep them up to date—or just a phone call when that’s what they prefer. When the repair’s complete, we send out a heavy-stock thank-you from the repairer and CSR, who mention the repair and thank them for the work. We’re getting everyone involved in it, and we’re trying to demonstrate that this is what’s important to the growth of our business. We’ve gotten out of that complacency period, and hopefully we keep everyone here. Either way, we’re moving in the right direction again.
CHRISTOPHER ROBBINS
CO-OWNER Conner Brothers Collision Centers Richmond and Midlothian, Va. SIZE: 24,000 (Richmond) and 16,000 (Midlothian) STAFF: 20 (each shop: 3 office personnel, 3–5 body techs; 1–2 painters, 2 detailers, 1 manager) AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 240 (total) ANNUAL REVENUE: $4 million (total)
AUGUST 2014
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WINNING THE SMALL BATTLES, LOSING THE WAR CO-OWNER Total Care Accident Repair Service Raynham, Mass. SIZE: 9,600 square feet STAFF: 15 (5 body techs, 2 office workers, 2 owners, 1 blueprinter, 1 prepper, 1 painter, 1 detailer, 1 “floater,” 1 parts person) AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 75 ANNUAL REVENUE: $2.7 million
Jack Lamborghini
O
COURTESY JACK LAMBORGHINI
ver the last 38 years, Jack Lamborghini has seen just about everything a shop owner can in the collision repair industry. He has an intimate knowledge of how national chains operate; after all, he served as the general manager for seven highperforming MAACO shops in the 1970s, along with owning an additional location. As a long-time industry consultant, he’s been in and out of some the largest and most successful shops in the country. In the late 1990s, he helped lead the acquisition team for the now-defunct Collision Team America. He’s run small independent facilities, and owns and operates one today, Total Care Accident Repair Service in Raynham, Mass. Yet, through it all, Lamborghini says the biggest lesson he learned was during his four-year hiatus from the collision industry in the mid 2000s. Sometimes, he says, you need to “step out of the forest to really appreciate how beautiful the trees are.” I woke up one day in 2002 at 49 years old, and just said I wasn’t going to do this anymore. I gave two months notice to the shop, and I quit. I was done with collision repair. Beat up, frustrated, tired, angry— pick a description and that was me. To that point, I’d dedicated my whole career to the industry,
but I wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Quitting wasn’t necessarily the mistake I made, though. It was simply the result of what I’d already done wrong. But let’s stick with that quitting part for now. I was running Wilburn Auto Body in Wilburn, Mass., and also facilitating 20 Groups at the time. I don’t have to tell anyone reading this that one of the largest, day-to-day issues we face today in the industr y is being completely compensated for repairs by insurance carriers. And I was the guy “fighting the good fight;” I went to work each day with my boxing gloves on, ready to take on each insurer and fight tooth and nail for ever y dime we were owed. We weren’t going to charge the customer, we weren’t going to ever use an aftermarket part, and I wasn’t going to give up until I won. Or until I fizzled out. I developed this mindset that the industry was heading in a bad direction, that industr y changes were happening for the worse. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to work to fix cars and help people get back to their lives; I didn’t want to come to work ever y day for a battle. So, I quit. I took nearly five years off. I decided to go into another industry
completely and purchased an embroidery franchise. I hated it, but it helped me come to a realization: Ever y industr y changes, ever y industr y has challenges, and that will always be the case. You can’t just quit and run away from those issues. T his is when I realized my mistake: I became consumed by the insurance battles, and lost sight of the big picture of what we’re doing in this industr y. I lost sight of what our business should be about, and what my role as an operator was. There are always going to be challenges in this industr y. We’ve gone through different ones in the past, and we’re going through one now. That doesn’t mean we should stop fighting the good fight, but we can’t drag customers or employees through the mud to win these daily dust-ups with insurers. Getting back into things at Total Car, I’ve realized that my job is to put my customers and my employees first. I need to do right by them in ever y decision I make, whether that’s battling over the pennies or pushing my own personal squabbles to the side. This is a great industr y, and I owe ever ything I have to it. It’s a mistake to let a handful of issues ruin that. AUGUST 2014
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LEARNING FROM THE LOWS
SCHEDULING SATISFACTION
Johnny Mock Jr.
J
ohnny Mock Jr. says he feels like he spent the majority of his career “trying to catch a tiger by the tail” in running his family’s collision business. Since he took over running day-to-day operations following his father’s heart attack in 1976, the business has grown substantially, emerging from its original 1,600-square-foot building, going through a number of additions and expansions to arrive where it is today in its 23,000-square-foot, $3 million-a-year state. Along the way, though, the road hasn’t always been smooth. “I’ve made enough mistakes to pay for six or seven doctrines,” he jokes. But the misstep that truly changed his shop the most happened just three years ago when Mock was faced with a problem that many would envy: too much work. The lessons he learned, he says, are what have helped make his shop a more customer-focused company. Hail storms can be big boons for a collision repair business, especially like the one we had three years ago on the Fourth of July. There were more damaged cars than you could know what to do with. But we had a brilliant idea of what to do with them—we were going to fix as many as we could, all of them that came to us. Now, it wasn’t a complete and 40
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total miscalculation of our capacity. At this point for our shop, we were a business all about numbers; I tracked them religiously, and, as a team, we focused on hitting them every day, week, month and year. It was what we were all about. We’d had storms before, we’d had rushes of work before, and we’d always found a way to handle it. I did the math, and figured if we worked our tails off, we could handle it again—for a big payday. Normally, we work on about 125 to 130 cars per month. That July we worked on well over 200, maybe closer to 250. We blew past sales records, and our net profit actually improved 7 percent. We got it done but it almost cost us more than we gained. We ran out of hoods—our entire region ran out of hoods for vehicles after the second week or so. Those jobs got delayed. We aren’t a PDR shop. We had to outsource a lot of that work, and too many times, sublets were discovered while there. More jobs got delayed. Customers were frustrated, even ones who’ve worked with us for years. It was so damn stressful that, if I were a drinker, a bottle of gin would’ve sounded pretty darn good each day. You can make money, and we did, but you get into a situation where
you have to ask, “Is this how I want to make money?” I’ve made lots of mistakes in running a business for more than 45 years, but this one changed our whole approach. First off, customers weren’t angry that their jobs were lengthy; they weren’t happy about that, but they were angry because we gave false expectations. We overpromised and underdelivered. We could never do that again. Second, that happened not because of the sublets and mistakes. Those were results, and they only arose because we didn’t schedule correctly and attempted to work way over capacity. And, third, because we were so busy, and because we had people pulling down so many jobs in the shop, we weren’t giving customers enough attention in resolving these issues. One of the first things we did was hire a full-time customer service representative whose only role is to deal directly with the customer at contact points—the phone, when they walk in, follow-ups. That frees up everyone else to do their jobs, and gives the customer far more attention. We also changed our approach to workflow, in that we try to optimize it, not exceed our capacity for it. Schedule smarter, not more. It’s not only improved our customer relationships, but also our team’s dynamic.
AUGUST 2014
This article is reproduced courtesy of Fenderbender Magazine
PanelTalk 19
COURTESY JOHNNY MOCK JR.
OWNER, Johnny Mock’s Auto Body Shop Turtle Creek, Pa. SIZE: 23,000 square feet STAFF: 22 (9 body techs, 4 painters, 2 detailers, 2 owners, 1 CSR, 1 office coordinator, 1 production manager, 1 office manager, 1 parts manager) AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 125–130 ANNUAL REVENUE: $3 million
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20 PanelTalk Call for a FREE spray booth energy cost assessment
Paint and Panel Live 14th August 2014
Profiting in the new Landscape Some 123 repairers and suppliers to the collision repair industry gathered in the ballroom at the Royal Randwick Raceway to hear a line up of twelve speakers with the emphasis on the connected car and profitability in the new landscape. First up was Susan Harris, CEO, Intelligent Transport Systems, who gave an enlightening presentation on the connected car. While she covered the truly self drive models that seem to dominate the conversations on this subject, her presentation centered on the use of devices that are available today and showed how they will be adapted in the very new future. Such things as you being aware of where your vehicle is at any given time, such as if it is stolen, signaling to the taxi that you are in your preferred route, updating your arrival time to others. In the near future your device may warn you of an approaching vehicle as you are reversing, warn you of traffic holdups or roadworks ahead, the list seems endless.
as it hits a slippery bit of road, it will signal to the vehicles behind that this has occurred and either the driver will be warned or perhaps the vehicle may react on it’s own. The technology is already here to allow the formation of a platoon of vehicles, say on the open road, you will just join or leave a convoy at any time. There is the opportunity to make much better use of the current infrastructure through the use of intelligent systems, such as traffic lights to change signal phases to allow traffic volumes to flow more freely. Imagine being advised where the nearest, cheapest fuel is available, or how about carparks, their location and number of vacant spaces. Vehicles will monitor their own systems and advise the dealership or manufacturer of any problems. There may come a time when a vehicle will have all of it’s parts microchips and in the event of an accident may automatically order these parts and book itself into a manufacturers service provider for repair.
Then she spoke about what is already in vehicles today, such as lane departure warning, the car in front’s behaviour, notification to manufacturer that the vehicle has been in an accident, service scheduling etc.
The insurance industry is looking closely at this technology as it will allow a drivers behavior to be monitored and this may become a factor in an insurance premium leading to a pay as you drive situation.
The current technology is radar, line of sight based, but this will change to wireless technology in the near future and this will open up a whole new field of connectivity.
An important step in all of this is ensuring that all manufacturers are on the same page as far as connectivity goes and this is already happening in Europe.
Vehicles will communicate with each other, letting each other know where they are and what they are doing, for example, a vehicle may activate it’s ABS
All of this is not good news for the collision repair industry, but Susan concluded her address by presenting some opportunities for repairers in
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retrofitting devices such as reversing cameras and things like a mobile eye that warns of an impending collision or of lane departure. These devices are available today and certainly present opportunities to reach new clients as well as upselling to your existing ones. Lesley Upham, from Thatcham in the UK, followed this theme with her presentation on the bodyshop of the future, an initiative that Thatcham is devoting considerable resource to currently. Both Lesley and Susan referred to the younger generations preference for public transport, they seem, unlike previous generations, to mostly have no love of the car. It seems that they prefer to remain connected through social media when traveling. This will have implications going forward for the whole motor vehicle industry. Another issue for the future is the fact that by 2030 around 80% of the worlds population will reside in cities, placing enormous stress on the infrastructure and demanding the use of public transport as the norm with the use of a private car the exception. Lesley spoke of the globalization of both the vehicle manufacturing and insurance industries and it’s implications for the collision repair industry in the future. She spoke of possibly an international standard providing best practice across the globe. The major vehicle manufacturers are now building on ten platforms only and next year they will build
30 million vehicles on variations of these ten platforms. They will also have global repair procedures for these vehicles. Already Thatcham’s PAS 125 is being developed into a national standard for across Britain and this could easily extend from there. The key for repairers is to return a vehicle back to it’s ‘original safety rating’ and this will be a continuing challenge for repairers. As an example of current technology and its impact on the collision repair industry today, Thatcham recently looked at recalibrating the self-parking sensors on a Honda. This procedure requires a flat unobstructed area some thirteen metres in length. This technology is becoming common in new vehicles already and repairers could be faced with this issue at any time and there will be very few body shops that will have an area such as this freely available today, let alone the equipment that may be required to carry out the task. Lesley believes that collision repair facilities will require the services of an IT specialist in the not too distant future. There is going to be a need for advanced technical skills and Thatcham is concerned that worldwide, the training institutions are already a long way off the pace. A large section of the ten presentations had a common theme around the importance of people within an organisation. The first presenter around this theme was Richard Sauerman, who calls himself the brand guy, who gave a lively and entertaining presentation called ‘Profit Starts With You’. Richard talked about Brand You, and encouraged the audience to listen to that voice in your head. He believes that technology has made people to be always busy; they are never really away from work. The world is now full of over choice and as an example he mentioned bread. When he was young there were two choices for bread, brown or white. Now there may be up to thirty choices on a supermarket shelf and he questions whether we really need so many choices in virtually everything.
The networking opportunities were a valuable part of the day
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Apparently, three out of four doctors visits by adults are stress related in some way and Richard believes this is because people are not managing their lives properly. They need to define their goals and understand just what success means to them
personally, then set a path to achieving it. Richard believes that while technology is rapidly changing, in fact, people don’t really change. He mentioned the computer and it’s development since the 1980s, then referred to the Dale Carnegie book titled ‘How to win friends and influence people’. This was written in 1936 but is still absolutely relevant and widely read today. He left the audience with the message that great customer service is making people (customers) feel better about themselves. If you can do that, they will return to your business. During another presentation, this time by David Chwyla and titled ‘Winning the game with a winning team’, the message was again about people. A company’s staff creates the wealth within the company, but interestingly, to most staff money is not the main reason that they work for a business. David surveyed his 50 staff to find out what attracted them to his business. Only two said money, the rest mentioned company culture and working conditions. His advice is to try to get your staff to achieve the best-balanced lifestyle that they possibly can. He finished his presentation with the advice that employers need to analyze their business and create a great company culture; they must not accept mediocrity with their staff. It is imperative to know what your work providers want, what your customers want and what your employees want. They must be totally transparent with their staff, share information about the company’s targets and reward employees when targets are reached. If staff do not know the score, how can they win the game. In an interestingly refreshing way to deliver a presentation, Gary Steel, pretended that the audience was a prospective work provider that he was making a pitch to. Play acted out complete with continual interruptions from the workshop, it finally dawns on the owner that there is an incredible amount of waste throughout his organisation and they need to change the way they do things drastically, if they are going to be a work providers repairer of choice. During his pitch he talks of only saving a minute an hour, but suddenly realises what that minute means in terms of cost and lost opportunity. It went like this;
Gary Steel assisted by Steve Formosa on the left, gave a unique presentation one hour represents $120, therefore one minute represents $2. But wait, there are eight hours in a day and he has seven staff, that is $2 times eight, equaling $16 multiplied by his seven staff means a loss of $112 a day, hey that’s $560 a week meaning that one lost minute an hour per man means a loss of $26880 per annum. He concluded his presentation walking off the stage, muttering about his employees moving cars around and how much could be gained by saving five minutes out of every hour and how easy that would be. Another interesting presentation was from Peter de Roo, the business development manager from E.E.M. International who gave a presentation on two-hour repairs. An area is set aside in the workshop for these rapid repairs, the client can wait in a waiting room equipped with broadband and coffee, so they can work while they wait. In Peter’s example there was a direct camera feed from the repair station to the waiting room so that the client can check on the progress of their repairs. In Peter’s home country, The Netherlands, 35% of the repair market is cosmetic damage only and this creates a great opportunity to gain new clients. This was a very full day, with plenty of time in the breaks and the drinks and nibbles session at the end of the day for networking, and by the constant hum in the room everyone certainly took advantage of these opportunities.
PanelTalk 23
Instructor Training Day CPIT Christchurch - 28th July 2014
Five I-CAR instructors under the tutorage of I-CAR's Robert Renwick gathered to learn about the new Steel Sectioning Qualification Test as well as doing the test themselves. They were Wayne Houghton, Marty Lane, Walter Zuber, Andy Trumper and Ritchie Brady. This full day event was promoted as a bit of a fun day and was designed as a study exercise for the instructors, as I-CAR was seeking their feedback on how the course should be organised, promoted, and administrated for New Zealand. However, it was apparent from the start of the day that the instructors all seemed very nervous about the actual test they were about to take part in. The nervousness was misplaced however, as all five passed with very credible marks. I-CAR NZ will be introducing this course fully in the New Year and it will definitely be part of the soon to be announced Platinum Recognition which will be the premium I-CAR individual level for structural repairers.
Course Overview A technician’s ability to properly perform sectioning procedures is important for many collision repairs. Understanding how vehicle systems respond in a collision is key to the safety of the vehicle and may impact the structural integrity, passenger safety, and even
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airbag timing. The ability of the technician to follow procedures is reflected in the cost and quality of the repair and, ultimately, in customer safety and satisfaction. The content in this course is aimed at collision repair professionals who have completed the current 10 weld I-CAR Welding Certification and offers a unique training experience for students at a weld testing facility where measuring, cutting, and welding is conducted on steel rails - similar to those of an actual vehicle repair. The SPS05 exercise provides the participant with a kit that includes a purpose built vehicle steel front rail, 2 heavy gauge replacement rails for sectioning, 1 light gauge panel for cutting an access window exercise, written repair method specifications for the exercise, a welding gauge, I-CAR gloves, ear plugs and safety glasses.
After successfully completing this course, participants will have proven their ability to: • Understand the critical nature of sectioning procedures, measuring and working with tolerances •
Verify that you are able to replace a structural component on a vehicle
This training can only accommodate a limited number of technicians and will be a full day event. The following is an outline of test procedures:
body repair manual. Students will also need to successfully cut an access window without damaging the inner reinforcement. The structural part must fit in a specially designed I-CAR fixture in order to pass the certification test. Welded parts must pass the three- dimensional measuring as well as meet minimum requirements for the weld specifications.
Course material sets
Instruction Students will be provided with instruction and best practices before beginning practice. This course offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their measuring, cutting, fit-up, and GMA (MIG) welding skills on steel structural parts.
Students not passing the test may reregister for the training and test on another date and pass in order to receive the certification. Students who successfully complete the SPS05 Steel Sectioning Qualification Test will automatically have their Welding Certification renewed for another five years.
Students will need to follow the instructions on the course-specific body repair manual and the instructor will coach students throughout the training.
Hands-on Practice
The instructors get their instructions
Students will have time to adjust and tune their welding machines before commencing any welding on the rail.
Skills Verification Test This hands-on training test measures students’ skills in cutting, removing spot welds and making offset repair joints, using plug, open butt joint, and butt joint with backing welds on steel structural parts. Working with two thicknesses of automotive grade steel – both 16-gauge and 22-gauge – students will need to measure and cut the rail at the locations specified in the course-specific
Into it PanelTalk 25
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From the chair CRA CHAIRMAN - Alan LeNoel Well, we are now over half way through the year and on the downward slide to Christmas and a new year. The challenges so far this year have come thick and fast with some repairers contemplating their future and some of those closing the doors. While this may seem extreme, we have been saying for a long time now that our industry has an oversupply of repairers and a declining number of vehicles to repair. If you read the last issue of PanelTalk you would have seen the IBIS Global Focus on Australia Report and you would know that my previous statement rings true as most of our market tends to follow Australia. One of the facts that stood out for me is that Australia has approximately 6173 people for every repair shop in the country. If you compare that to New Zealand we have about 3958 people for every repair shop. You do the math. As things across the ditch change, you can be sure that things here will follow. We must brace ourselves for the change to real time real money or average repair cost, as these seem to be the preferred methods of repair charges in Australia. If you don’t know and understand your shop recovery rate now then you had better get it sorted because not knowing this and understanding the true cost to run your business on an hourly basis will surely impact on your profit margin. We could be faced with consolidators coming into our market, doing deals with insurers even before they have a business set up. We need to look at what happens in Australia as our two largest work providers are based there and if it works there and saves them money then why can’t it work here? We must all keep an open mind to the changes that have been and also to the ones that are coming and make sure we are prepared. We could also ask ourselves why this is happening and what do I need to change in my business to put me ahead of the pack? Due to the release of the IAG contracts and new times schedule I thought I would get around to a few of the July Road Shows to gain some feedback from repairers. I was a little surprised at the lack of opinion either way out there as I think the new times and rates are a game changer for New Zealand.
Was it because you were all over the moon with the changes or was it because you have accepted the changes and are just getting on with it? At the CRA we welcome feedback, whether good, bad or ugly and the Road Shows are one of your chances to express your opinion so please get along and when there voice your opinion. I look forward to seeing you at the venues I manage to get to in the October round. It was great to read the PanelTalk article about Robert and Neil’s trip to I-CAR USA. I think for Robert to be recognised with the Chairman’s Award just goes to show the respect he has from his peers at I-CAR for the tireless and sometimes thankless job he has done for I-CAR New Zealand over his many years of involvement. Congratulations Robert, it was a very well deserved award. For those of you that don’t know the CRA have moved into the technological age with a Facebook page. Please make sure you go and have a look, as this is a medium where we can get information about our industry out to the masses. Like us and get your friends to like us as this will help to increase the public’s awareness of the CRA and what we stand for. We want our members to be the first port of call for the public when they have an accident and social media is another way to get the message out there. While there will be more challenges to come, I for one believe that we have an industry full of passionate people who strive every day to improve their businesses so that everyone involved in their business has a sustainable future. The future while challenging is still bright. My quote for this issue comes from the IBIS report in PanelTalk. “Change is inevitable… and sneaks up on you when you’re not looking”. Let get looking people!
PanelTalk 27
CRA General Manager’s Report By Neil Pritchard At our Auckland Conference in 2013, Wellington branch successfully sponsored a remit which was passed at the AGM. It reads “That the CRA NX to undertake a Case Study on the ever increasing Administration costs that our Industry is being asked to cover.” As a starting point we surveyed a sample selection of repairers and found that the numbers of
Official figures from the Department of Statistics who summarise tax returns in the collision repair sector show a median pre-tax profit of 1.5% - precious little reward for what is a high risk investment and, in monetary terms, not enough to hire an extra admin person. It looks to me as though the financial cost of administration increased steadily to a point in 2010 where we are no longer able to absorb any more. From then on the steadily increasing burden of administration tasks have been taken on by the owner / manager for no extra financial reward. There is plenty of profit in the industry. This chart comes from figures published by the Insurance Council (ICNZ) and it clearly shows that the insurance companies are doing very nicely out of motor insurance.
staff working in administration has increased from 24% to 26%. More importantly wages and salaries paid to administration staff and expressed as a percentage of the total payroll has increased alarmingly as you can see from this graph: You can see that there was a steady rise in admin wages through to 2010 where it has levelled off. I think this shows that not all costs attached to administration are financial. In many cases the actual work of administration falls to the business owner. Often the salary drawn reflects a notional one and takes little account of the hours worked. Talk to any repairer and you will hear of 12 hour days, weekend work and piles of quoting, invoicing and jobs to process. The “ever increasing administration costs” are often not monetary. They can be counted as stress, long hours of work, poor life work balance and personal relationships under pressure.
28 PanelTalk
Recent results from IAG and Suncorp show equally strong profits: Stuff.co.nz quotes “IAG New Zealand’s profit has leapt past $200 million before tax, up 56 per cent on the back of higher margins and a lower loss ratio.” (IAG has recently moved on their rates and schedule and the jury is out on how this will impact on individual repairers). Last year Suncorp reported Aug. 21 (BusinessDesk) – Suncorp Group, the owner of Vero New Zealand, has reported a 264 percent increase in
New Zealand earnings in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes and is optimistic of more as the economy recovers. Motor Vehicle Insurance is so profitable that NZ has two new entrants – YOUI a South African underwriter currently operating in Australia and Chubb Insurance from USA.
My conclusion is that administration costs – financial and other – are increasing and that the major stakeholders in our industry can afford to pay more. I wonder if there is anyone out there with a suggestion as to how we encourage them do to so?
Maybe not driverless – but it’s getting closer In spite of the many people who claim they would never give up on the pleasure of driving themselves, there is growing evidence that aspects of our motoring lives are already becoming automated. Data from JATO Dynamics reveals that increasing numbers of newly registered cars are now being sold with driverless technologies. Here are three significant trends: • Collision warning. In 2010 only 7% of new cars registered came with collision warning – a system that alerts a driver to a potential crash and prepares the car for an emergency braking situation. Last year, that number had risen to 36% of all new car registrations. • Automated parking. Similarly, the number of new cars registered which are now able to park themselves at the touch of a button increased from only 2% in 2010 to 12% in 2013. • Blind spot monitoring (up from 2% to 23%) and adaptive cruise control (up from 7% to 17%), which uses radar to maintain a safe distance from the car in front, are some of the other accessories which are now starting to appear in everyday cars. The UK Government has announced a £10m competition for cities to host driverless car trials, with fully autonomous vehicles likely to take to the streets from as early as January 2015.
Insurance Company Survey 2014
Coming soon……..
This year’s survey will be live for the month of October. It will be your chance to have your say on Insurance companies, how they are to deal with and changes they have made. Please bear the following in mind when you are completing the questions: • AMI will no longer be separate, and is now included as part of IAG. • Lumley will still be separate and you should “score” them on the way they are today – before any integration into IAG. • Several Insurers have made changes to rates and in some cases the way they assess claims. MTA members are also participating in the same survey. We are pleased with this development as it lessens the chance of any mixed messages and can truly be said to be an industry wide survey of repairers.
We are bringing you a simple survey tool so you can see how your customers rate you. This will be a very cost-effective solution which will also record any complaints. Watch out for details in the next issue of PanelTalk
Just to be clear………. We are still hearing from some members that the CRA “signed off” on recent changes made by IAG We had absolutely no input into the schedule, the rates or the selection process. IAG did engage with a group of repairers who assisted with industry feedback. They may or may not have been members of the CRA but either way the CRA has no knowledge of the scope or content of the discussions.
PanelTalk 29
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PanelTalk 2630 PanelTalk
! "
Clyde Cunningham Scholarship close to Owen’s heart
Paint refinisher Owen Ashton is a very busy man—he balances running the paint shop at Greenmeadows Spraypainters in Napier with being a single dad to two daughters, and he is also completing MITO’s First Line Management Programme! The 30-year-old was one of two graduates in the Hawke's Bay to be awarded the inaugural Clyde Cunningham QSM Memorial Scholarship, set up in honour of Clyde, a long-standing MITO employee who passed away last year. The scholarship has special meaning to Owen, because Clyde mentored him throughout his apprenticeship—in 2004 Owen completed his National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Refinishing) (Level 4). "I was probably about 17 when I met Clyde and he was great to deal with. He really helped me get through the apprenticeship," says Owen. Over the years, Clyde continued to be a regular fixture in the paint shop, working closely with several of Owen's apprentices.
The scholarship has enabled Owen to undertake a one-year National Certificate in Business (First Line Management) (Level 4). "The certificate will help me gain a better understanding of how management works. Like lots of people, it's my dream to one day own my own business,” says Owen. Owen's connection to his current employer goes a long way back: he started not long after leaving Taradale High School and, apart from three years in the Sunshine Coast, he's been there ever since. He's obviously made his mark—according to Greenmeadows Spraypainters owner Tony Carson, “Owen is one of the best automotive refinishers I know.” "He's really good with customers and staff, and he leads by example. He brings a lot of new skills and knowledge to the workshop, which is particularly helpful for the young guys.”
PanelTalk 31
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PanelTalk 31
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR REFINISHING CRA Golden Gun Award Nominations are being sought for eligible apprentices in the collision repair industry for this prestigious award. The presentation will take place at the CRA Annual Conference to be held in Paihia during May 2015. The winner receives $1,000 very generously donated by MITO together with the opportunity for a further MITO study scholarship and tools which are kindly donated by RJP Panel & Paint Supplies Limited, Christchurch. Nominations from employers close on Friday 31 October 2014. Please post all nominations to CRA National Office, PO Box 9208, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240, Attention Adrienne Richardson or fax to (07) 8470217 or email adrienne@ collisionrepair.co.nz. Apprentice Name (nominee):
________________________________________________________________________
Employer’s Name (nominator): ________________________________________________________________________ Date Employed:
________________________________________________________________________
Start Date of Training:
________________________________________________________________________
Company Name:
________________________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
Phone number:
0 - ____________________________ Email: 0 - _______________________________
Signature of Nominator:
______________________________________________ Date: ____________________
Entry criteria are outlined below: • The employer must be a member of the Collision Repair Association. • The MITO Annual Training fee must be paid. • Completed a minimum of 12 months in their MITO Training Agreement. • MITO apprentices that complete their Level 4 qualification in 2014 are eligible to enter for this award OR where they are still undertaking training need to have completed at least 75% of the credits required to achieve their Level 4 qualification. All applications must include the following additional information: • The employer is to supply a 300 word written statement with the application, outlining the reasons the nominee should be considered for this award. This is to be printed on company letterhead. • A handwritten personal statement from the apprentice, outlining why they chose a career in the collision repair industry, their career aspirations and how, as an award winner, they would contribute to encouraging others into the industry. Any other achievements or training, either work or non-work related, should also be highlighted. Finalists may have the opportunity to compete in the WorldSkills NZ Finals Competition where certain eligibility criteria are met.
34 PanelTalk
PanelTalk 33
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR COLLISION REPAIR CRA Golden Hammer Award Nominations are being sought for eligible apprentices in the collision repair industry for this prestigious award. The presentation will take place at the CRA Annual Conference to be held in Paihia during May 2015. The winner receives $1,000 very generously donated by MITO together with the opportunity for a further MITO study scholarship and tools which are kindly donated by RJP Panel & Paint Supplies Limited, Christchurch. Nominations from employers close on Friday 31 October 2014. Please post all nominations to CRA National Office, PO Box 9208, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240, Attention Adrienne Richardson or fax to (07) 8470217 or email adrienne@ collisionrepair.co.nz. Apprentice Name (nominee):
________________________________________________________________________
Employer’s Name (nominator): ________________________________________________________________________ Date Employed:
________________________________________________________________________
Start Date of Training:
________________________________________________________________________
Company Name:
________________________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
Phone number:
0 - ____________________________ Email: 0 - _______________________________
Signature of Nominator:
______________________________________________ Date: ____________________
Entry criteria are outlined below: • The employer must be a member of the Collision Repair Association. • The MITO Annual Training fee must be paid. • Completed a minimum of 12 months in their MITO Training Agreement. • MITO apprentices that complete their Level 4 qualification in 2014 are eligible to enter for this award OR where they are still undertaking training need to have completed at least 75% of the credits required to achieve their Level 4 qualification. All applications must include the following additional information: • The employer is to supply a 300 word written statement with the application, outlining the reasons the nominee should be considered for this award. This is to be printed on company letterhead. • A handwritten personal statement from the apprentice, outlining why they chose a career in the collision repair industry, their career aspirations and how, as an award winner, they would contribute to encouraging others into the industry. Any other achievements or training, either work or non-work related, should also be highlighted. Finalists may have the opportunity to compete in the WorldSkills NZ Finals Competition where certain eligibility criteria are met.
34 PanelTalk
PanelTalk 35
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36 PanelTalk 12 PanelTalk
MEMBERSHIP LIAISON - Walter Zuber
Hi everyone It has been stressful ten Weeks in the big smoke of Auckland finding my way around in the cluttered traffic and limited parking. On top of that, of course some shops were coping well with the changes and some not so well. Therefore the odd visit became a bit emotional and some shops have shut the door and moved on. By the time I was collecting the CRA signs the premises had been taken over by other repairers who are new entrants to business ownership. I would like to thank the Auckland Branch Executive for their hospitality and to those shop owners/managers that made my visits more pleasurable and shared some good stories. Aren’t we all looking back to the good old times - or were they good old times!? Well, so did I as I left my birth country in 1971 and went to work in Stockholm, Sweden for more experience in crash work (nothing to do with Swedish woman? Ed.). In that company every panelbeater had his own repair bay with mobile tool box, all the air tools and Mig Welders so there was no sharing with other staff. Every job was on contract unless there was no time schedule for the latest models. Already in those times every repair was painted wet on wet. I must admit some of the repairs I thought didn’t look that great and I was surprised how the big corporate company got away with this. But this was the standard in this country then, and the public accepted it. Well what I’m trying to say, are we forced to change to this!? And if yes, who is going to change the passionate car lovers in this country?
If you have purchased a swing on Trade Me then Bodyline Panelbeaters & Painters Manukau have the right Courtesy Car to get the bargain safely home. Bet they wouldn’t do this with their own car. Ever wondered what your Courtesy Car is used for?
After finishing Auckland I had a couple of weeks catching up doing welding tests. I was positively surprised how well the few apprentices did, taking on any advice and getting the test to a top pass. Their efforts with the 0.6 wire to achieve a very flat plug weld to minimise any grinding of the weld (down time) was outstanding. Obviously a bit of practise was carried out before the visit - well done, just a shame there aren’t many more good young guys signed up in this industry. With this - happy Hammer and Dolly, Spray and Dry MLO Boy Walter Zuber
PanelTalk 37
R R O O W M ’ S O T
ANDY GREEN’S 1,000MPH over 7.5 tonnes. The car is expected to be able to accelerate from 0 to 1,000 mph within 55 seconds, and from 500 to 1,000 mph within 17 seconds. The design is a mix of motorsport and aircraft technology with the front half being a carbon fibre monocoque like a racing car and the back half being a metallic framework and panels like an aircraft.
BLOODHOUND SSC Cockpit Completed
On Friday June 13 2014, the cockpit of Bloodhound SSC was unveiled in Bristol, UK. The cockpit is specially designed for Green, with a custom-made carbon fibre seat and pedals and buttons all fit to him exactly.
The cockpit of BLOODHOUND SSC, the 1,000mph (1,609km/h) Land Speed Racing car, was unveiled in Bristol, UK in June. The state-of-the-art carbon fibre monocoque has been tailored to the needs of driver Andy Green and will be his supersonic office during record attempts in the South African desert in 2015By and 2016. Dr Ian Pearson, BSc DSc(hc), Futurist, Futurizon Bloodhound SSC is the world's first 1000 mph Hand crafted by URTacross Groupa using five different (1,609 km/h) carisand it time will begin its land tracking speed record Dr Ian Pearson a full futurologist, and predicting developments wide range of technology, types of carbon fibre weave and two different resins, business, society, politics, and the environment. He is a Maths and Physics graduate, with a Doctor of Science campaign in South Africa in the summer of 2015. thefrom monocoque is described as "the strongesttransport safety degree. He has worked in numerous branches of engineering, aeronautics to cybernetics, sustainable toThe electronic cosmetics. His inventions include text messaging and the active contact lens. He was BT’s full-time current World Land Speed Record of 763 mph futurologist 1991 to 2007 is held by from Thrust SSC, which was driven by Andy and now works for Futurizon, a small futures institute. He writes, lectures and consults globally on all aspects of Green in 1997 and developed by Bloodhound's the technology-driven future. He has written several books in several languages, including ‘You Tomorrow’, and Project Director Richard Noble and his team. made over 500 TV and radio appearances. He is a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Fellow of Green the first break the the Worldwas Academy ofperson Art andto Science, the sound World Innovation Foundation, and the Royal Society of Arts. barrier on land and will drive the Bloodhound at its to them. When cars are able to connect to each other in CONNECTED top speed inCaRS 2015.
cOnnecTeD caR
What do we envisage for the Connected Car over the next ten years? I see this space developing into a fully The car is supersonic as it is designed to go faster personalised, virtual environment with intelligent automation, than the speed of relationship sound andbetween with its the slender body creating a totally new vehicle, the of approximately 14 m in length, and weighing in at driver, and the passenger. Cars used to be solitary machines. Not so anymore - some can now detect other vehicles around them and even “talk”
Ultra Paints Ltd
Ph: 09 525 0426 Fax 09 525 0428 38 PanelTalk 40 PanelTalk david.tout@ultrapaints.co.nz
this way, things can get truly exciting - they can coordinate braking and acceleration, hence distancing themselves automatically with lightning- fast reaction times. We could see a single stretch of road accommodating more cars safely, cell in themanagement history of motorsport." Theand monocoque automatic of lane changes, even more efficient use of roundabouts. In fact, fully self-driving cars will increase road capacity five-
OFFICE REVEALED has taken more than 10,000 hours to design and manufacture. Sandwiched between the layers of carbon fibre are three different thicknesses of aluminium honeycomb core (8, 12 and 20 mm), which provide additional strength. The structure weighs 200 kg and bolts directly to the metallic rear chassis carrying the jet, rocket and racing car engine. The carbon front section will have to endure peak aerodynamic loads of up to three tonnes per square metre at 1,000mph (1,609kph) as well the considerable forces generated by the front wheels and suspension. It will also carry ballistic armour to protect the driver should a stone be thrown up by the front wheels at very high speeds. The steering wheel was 3D printed in titanium, shaped to his hands and finger reach to give the absolute best ergonomic grip for Green. The wheel has buttons on the front control the EMCOM radio, airbrakes and parachutes, with triggers on the rear of the handgrips prime and fire the rockets The Bloodhound team has partnered with Graphite Additive Manufacturing in UK to provide 3D printed, carbon fibre reinforced laser sintered (SLS) parts such as ducts, covers and brackets as final components on the car. The sintered parts will have a temperature resistance of 170째C and be up to 400 mm in length in one piece. Graphite AM says that the carbon fibre filled SLS material it provides offers the highest stiffness-toweight ratio and strength-to-weight ratio of any 3Dprinted plastic available on the market. This makes these products ideal for the Bloodhound project, the most demanding applications in motorsport.
Ultra Paints Ltd
headed for a brighter future
PanelTalk 39
PanelTalk 41
AXALTA INDUSTRY SURVEY Late in 2013 Axalta commissioned ACA Research to carry out a quantitative research amongst collision repairers who are responsible for making decisions regarding automotive paint in Australian collision repair facilities. The responses from 228 decision makers throughout Australia were collected for this study
40 PanelTalk
from interviews that were conducted on the telephone between the 17th of December 2013 and 20th of January 2014. While it is an Australian industry survey, the results generally reflect the current situation in New Zealand.
AXALTA INDUSTRY SURVEY About ACA Research ACA Research is a full service market research consultancy with expertise in customised research and multi-client studies. The ACA Research executive team are full members of the AMSRS (Australian Market & Social Research Society).
PanelTalk 41
Well, it is that time of the year again to remind all regular conference goers and also time to encourage new attendees to book and secure flights for next years CRA Conference which is being held in Paihia. So it is with great pleasure that the Northland Branch is hosting the 2015 New Zealand Collision Repair Association annual conference. After enjoying our 101st annual conference this year, the committee got right down to business and started the initial planning. The venue is the Copthorne Hotel and Resort Bay of Islands with accommodation in house. Everything under one roof will allow plenty of scope to mix and mingle with members, sponsors and trade exhibitors. In choosing this year’s theme “Balancing Fun
THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BOOKING AIRFARES • • •
Optional activity afternoon on Thursday 7th May departing at 12.00pm Optional I-CAR NZ training course on Friday 8th May from 8.00am – 10.00am Official conference opening on Friday 8th May at 10.30am
With conference finishing on the Saturday night, you can travel home leisurely on Sunday or stay for an extra few days to enjoy the winterless north.
and Profit”, the organising committee recognises how important this is. This conference introduces a new concept of an optional activity afternoon which allows for either a 2 or 3 day duration. The programme still provides for an interesting array of speakers, our AGM, the ever popular bar room chats, an Awards evening on the Friday night and the popular Saturday evening dinner and band to dance the night away. The partners will once again be well looked after, while also allowing time to join delegates for some sessions. We are currently finalising all speakers for this great event, and all will be revealed in the next PanelTalk. Keep an eye out for this and register early.
Conference contacts: Adrienne Richardson
Phone: 021 572158 Email: adrienne@collisionrepair.co.nz
Neil Pritchard
Phone: 021 663459 Email: neil@collisionrepair.co.nz
Paihia – 7th to 9th May 2015 42 PanelTalk
PEOPLE
PRODUCTS
EVENTS
AkzoNobel Celebrates Partnership AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings hosted over fifty Acoat Selected members and key business partners from Australia and New Zealand at the 2014 Acoat Partnership Summit. Over the two day event, guests came together to share knowledge, success stories and network with peers, set against the backdrop of Melbourne’s cityscape.
Sikkens bodyshop echoed Brady’s views. “For me it’s the chance to sit down with other repairers away from the day-to-day workload and look over my business as a whole. The group workshops are a great chance to share ideas and take on board the ideas and concepts from repairers who have had similar challenges to me.”
On the first day, Adam Norman, National Services Manager, Australasia, AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings welcomed guests with a special showcase of the newly revitalised and globally aligned Acoat Partnership program. Later, guests enjoyed a comprehensive seminar program with special guest speakers Jason Trewin from I-CAR Australia and Gary Steele from Muradi LLP, UK as key highlights of the day.
Performance Benchmarking was another feature of the weekend available to Acoat members, where they worked with a business facilitator to review and analyse their financial data. Working through trends and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) assists in measuring a business and enables goal setting and the ability to formulate improvement strategies for further profitable growth.
The event, held at the Stamford Plaza Melbourne, provided an opportunity for bodyshop owners to take the time to work on their business, rather than in their business and engage with other bodyshop owners and the AkzoNobel team to share knowledge and find solutions to some of the challenges that our industry faces today. The day ended on a high note with a networking dinner held at the Sofitel Melbourne On Collins where guests enjoyed the magnificent views from the 35th floor and the company of their peers. AkzoNobel welcomed guests on the second day with two early bird sessions focussing on the future of cars and AkzoNobel’s state-of-the-art digital color technology. The Acoat Summit highlighted the importance of industry partnerships, a sustainable future and benchmarking performance. Later, Acoat members came together to review and analyse their business on a national scale in a closed session with the assistance of the AkzoNobel Acoat team and their specialist expertise.
There were many take away benefits from the Summit and will certainly result in improvements for members’ businesses. “From this particular Summit I came away with some specific changes which I have since implemented and are beginning to see the results already. Taking the time out to attend and review processes and how we plan our workload, well and truly pays for itself,” said Matt. “There is no doubting the importance that partnerships in our industry have in achieving a sustainable future. The Acoat Selected program offers a range of tailored business improvement tools to help bodyshops enhance their business performance and profitability,” said Adam Norman, National Services Manager, Australasia, AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings. “The Summit was a huge success, we have had a great deal of positive feedback and the tools members obtained will be integrated into their businesses to provide beneficial outcomes. Being an Acoat Selected member will enable sustainable growth for your business now and into the future,” said Adam.
Mark Brady, Managing Director of Mandurah Panel and Paint in Western Australia has been attending Acoat events for seven years and felt this was the best event to date. “Everything was run professionally which gives you confidence that what you are learning is going to be beneficial as it is coming from leading industry experts who have prepared valuable seminar topics. “Being able to share information and ideas with other members and business owners was a really strong component of the weekend” said Mark. Matt Cameron, Director of Whangaparaoa Collision Repairs in New Zealand, current Acoat member and
Kiwi's in Melbourne
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PEOPLE
PRODUCTS
EVENTS
Farecla in innovation overdrive There's a new team at Farecla's R&D department. They are ambitious and confident of creating some truly innovative products, reports Australasian Paint & Panel's Sam Street. David Pells is the technical director in charge of the new team and he is a relatively fresh face to Farecla himself. This team of research chemists has been drawn from different fields of expertise to work at Farecla headquarters in Ware, Hertfordshire. The idea is to bring fresh thinking to the industry to create 'step out' technologies that result in new innovations. Pells' background is in adhesives and coatings, the new chemists come from an oil and gas and cleaning and waxes background. By getting fresh ideas from chemists outside of the normal abrasives field of research they hope to avoid a blinkered approach which can hamper 'Eureka!' moments. Pells talks about changing the way compound components are put together at a chemical and molecular level. "What you don't know is just as important as what you do know," he says. "You learn more from failures than successes". On the shopping list for the lab is an electron microscope to strip away the secrets of abrasive particles. That will complement the particle size analyzer, which looks at the internal mechanics of each particle in a formula. This helps the chemists to determine the ideal size of each particle in a formula to maximise its performance. "You have to understand how each component in a formula interacts with every other ingredient. If it works - why is that and can it work even better? We want to find other means to change the shape of particles."
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The holy grail at Farecla is the operating window the time that tradespeople can work with the product - and widening that window. To achieve that, they will be harnessing disruptive technologies. I had to look this up; new ways of doing things that disrupt or overturn the traditional business methods and practices. For example, steam engines in the age of sail, and Internet in the age of post office mail. So this R&D team isn't looking for incremental improvements but huge leaps forward in the development of products and a widening of their applications. They certainly have the equipment to put formulas through their paces. As well as a spraybooth, there's a very nifty-looking custom-built polishing robot. Of course it not just as simple as coming up with a products that works - you then have to work out how the components of the product interact with outside elements involved in the process, such as pads and the ever-evolving array of paints on the market like ultra high solids, which are harder to polish. The goal is for ultra-efficient products that save customers time and money. "We know where we are in the marketplace and where we've got to go." says a determined Pells. We can't wait to see what the new team develops.
Farecla's new technical director David Pells
IMAGE DIRECT An imaging system developed specifically for the panelbeating industry. Taking images and storing them on your office computers has never been easier. Automatically sends images over your wireless network to a designated folder. See at a glance what images have or haven’t been taken. Assign images to the appropriate job or website periodically throughout the day.
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PEOPLE
PRODUCTS
EVENTS
Is this a message for our industry?
On May 31, 1927, the last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line. It was the first affordable automobile, due in part to the assembly line process developed by Henry Ford. It had 2.9-liter, 20-horsepower engine and could travel at speeds up to 45 miles per hour. It had a 10-gallon fuel tank and could run on kerosene, petrol, or ethanol, but it couldn't drive uphill if the tank was low, because there was no fuel pump; people got around this design flaw by driving up hills in reverse. Ford believed that "the man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed." The Model T cost $850 in 1909, and as efficiency in production increased, the price dropped. By 1927, you could get a Model T for $290. "I will build a car for the great multitude," said Ford. "It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired,
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after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one - and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."
Model T’s lined up at Woods & Co, Ford Motor Traders, Invercargill - Circa 1915
PEOPLE
PRODUCTS EVENTS people • products • events
Turners Panelbeating & Motor Car Painting - Drive In Trade Association (MTA)
JTAPE Customising Tape12mm X 10m
Customising tape has eight A number of people lengths of pre-cut fine linehad a lucky escape one Friday afternoon in allow late August when a vehicle crashed tape which can curved patterns to be of Turners Panelbeating in into the premises created whenAuckland. customising Glenfield, vehicles. For more had product A driver stopped out the front to ask for information phone directions but when he returned to his car something 0800 227 422 or visit happened that could have had very dire www.tradesaver.co.nz
consequences. For some reason he selected forward gear and accelerated into the panelshop, eventually coming to rest under the Car Bench chassis machine.
He actually took out the entire control leg of the Car Bench and the only reason that the vehicle on the chassis machine at the time did not topple off was the fact that the machine itself came to rest on top of the crashed vehicle. The incident prompted the call out of the fire and Ash and theservice, boys atbut T Afortunately Panelbeaters Te Aroha ambulance theindriver was test-driving their replacement courtesy car after the not seriously injured, but was taken by ambulance to recent storm passed through. hospital for observation and a check up. PanelTalk’s sympathies go to all repairers who suffered damage or flooding in the recent storms.
announces appointment of new Chief The incident has caused severe disruption to Turner's Executive productivity due to the fact that their Car Bench and
The Motor Trade Association (MTA) National President David one ofhas their weldersthe were destroyed, along with a to Storey announced appointment of Warwick Quinn number of other pieces of equipment. "All of the the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for MTA. damage is said covered bydelighted insurance but thethe disruption Mr Storey he was to secure services of to business hasbusiness been significant", said business such a seasoned professional. “We’re delighted Warwick has accepted this "Most role. Heimportant brings to MTA a is owner Tyler Schwalger. though wealth business experience and a proven track record the factof that no-one was injured, we were extremely of developing and positioning a membership organisation lucky as a fatality could have easily occurred". as an industry leader. Warwick’s extensive experience will assist MTA to deliver its vision to ‘Create Sustainable Business Advantage’ for its members,� Mr Storey says. Mr Quinn joins MTA with an impressive management career having held positions as CEO of Registered Master Builders Association and Master Build Services Ltd, General Manager Regulatory – Land Information New Zealand, Chief Crown Property Officer – Land Information New Zealand, Valuations Manager – Auckland City Council, and Regional Manager – Landcorp Property Limited. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead such a strong membership organisation,� Mr Quinn says. “MTA is a highly respected brand with a powerful voice in the motor industry of New Zealand and I believe the future for MTA and its members is very exciting.� Mr Quinn will commence in his new role with MTA in August 2014.
S7 PTI Welder from GYS TRAINING PROGRAM Fully Automatic Welding of High Strength Steels Manufactured in France
14,500 Amps Clamping force to 550 daN Approved by many car manufacturers
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www.dentman.co.nz or call Brent 027 240 6530
PanelTalk 45 PanelTalk 47
PEOPLE
PRODUCTS
EVENTS
SEMA 2014 "OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit." The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) launched its first iteration of the Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series at the SEMA Show in 2010, and with annual adjustments to the format and content, it has become one of the most comprehensive programs of collision-repair education being offered to the industry. This year, one of the most noticeable new developments to the SCRS program is the launch of the very first issue-specific, collision repair industry forum that will be featured Wednesday, November 5, entitled the "OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit." "There is really no topic more captivating of everyone's attention right now than the rapidly changing landscape of automobile technology, and how it is driving adaptation in the collision-repair marketplace," shared SCRS Chairman Ron Reichen. "It is a topic that has broad-reaching impact on everyone in the industry, and it was important to both SCRS and SEMA to develop a forum that would address the significant interest from all who are making the investment to join the industry in Las Vegas this fall."
"Every participant in this industry can benefit from better insight into how vehicles and materials are evolving, what that means in the repair process and what will be expected of those who are performing these repairs," added Schulenburg. "The future of our collision repair industry is highly-skilled professionals, working on highly sophisticated automobiles, that require the industry to embrace the necessary investments in training and equipment; but also relies on informed business owners who understand how to define for themselves what a sustainable and successful business model to support that investment looks like." For more information about SCRS' RDE series, and to register for the OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit and other RDE sessions, visit www.semashow.com/scrs.
"We are really excited about how this program has come together, and the unique nature of the participants," added SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. "We have speakers coming in from all over the world and participation from a wide variety of well-respected automakers, such as Ford, GM, Toyota, Tesla, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, but we will be hearing from representatives that we often don't have a chance to interface with." The panellists represent companies with rich histories of producing sophisticated structural designs and technological advancements, and will bring technical insight into the design, architecture and development of their vehicles, and how advancements in those areas intersect with the repair process. The discussion will be moderated by Jason Bartanen, director of industry technical relations for I-CAR, and one of the lead representatives from the training organisation involved in their work as an "OEM linking pin." The program will also include separate panel discussions with representatives from certified repair facilities, equipment suppliers, certifiers/auditors and special presentations from the aluminium and steel industries.
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MEMBERSHIP INFO NEW MEMBER Katiakti Panelworks & Carpainters Ltd – CNI
NEW ASSOCIATE Carcolours – Auckland Independent Compliance – Auckland
REGIONAL ROUNDUP Canterbury/Westland Branch Tis’ the season to have man flu. I have it now and am writing this with a new box of tissues next to me, and a wastepaper basket full of them at my feet. Touch wood, most of my staff have avoided it up until now. We all hate that call from the workers on Monday morning that they won’t be in cos they have the “flu”… seems funny how I can turn up to work feeling like crap but they can quite happily stay in bed and still get paid. Right, so that’s my rant about staff, really I love them all, I suppose its just a winter thing and I need to lighten up and realize that they will succumb to winter just as I have done.
discussion will follow.
So, back to the Canterbury branch. We have an evening bar room chat session coming up on the 28th of August, in much the same format as conference. We will have a range of topics to get the ball rolling and I hope those that come along will bring loads of ideas of their own and plenty of
It would seem that workloads here in Canterbury have remained pretty steady. Still, I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather coming; surely it can’t be too far away. Keep safe Bryan Easton
We will collate the responses from these break out groups and present them back to the next road show. The idea to repeat this format at a local level was born out of discussion at our branch executive meeting. It is great to have such a vibrant group of executive members, really keen to bring new ideas to the table, and run with them. Hopefully we get a good turnout. I know that those members that turn up and contribute will get loads out of it.
Central North Island Branch Wow we are already three quarters through 2014. It seems as if the dust is finally settling on the topic of the IAG RFP revue and emotions seem to be starting to reduce. As for the CNI members involved in the review, some are obviously happy and others that did not get a contract are still quite miffed as to why they have missed out. So what have these shops done to combat this, well one company in Hamilton decided that because they did not get the contract after being a long time loyal IAG repairer they have just closed the doors and sold their plant. Others have retrenched through reducing staff and also others are not going to take on any more apprentices. I guess the next six months will tell if these shops have a loyal clientele that will support them or will clients be led by the IAG call centre line of directing to the contracted repairers. Enough of that, the last round of roadshows were very well attended by CNI members with the Rotorua meeting having twenty eight attendees and Hamilton
sixty, well done guys. It is awesome to see members participating in these get togethers. We would like to welcome two new members to CNI committee, Brett Papesch from King Street Autobodys and Daryl McCoard of Smythe and McCoard in Cambridge. It is always good to have new blood on the committee bringing differing opinions and ideas. Winter is rapidly coming to an end, shops seem to be quite busy and may this continue into spring. Christmas is just around the corner and this year the committee would like to hold some form of function. We understand for some shops this has possibly been one of their hardest years in business so let’s try and finish on a brighter note by showing some solidarity and get together for a few malts and a greasy sausage roll. We will choose a venue and date and let you all know. I will finish with this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. “Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent” Tight mig wire, Lou Pilkington
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REGIONAL ROUNDUP Northland Branch Hi from Northland, Most shops report a reasonable workload and are dissecting the impact of the recent IAG changes on their businesses. Interesting to see a new entrant, YOUI, into the Insurance market and we hope this will bring benefits to consumers and repairers. The Northland Branch is running a radio campaign in our region promoting the benefits of using CRA Member Repairers and emphasising that customers have the right to choose their preferred repairer. The recent CRA Roadshow was well attended with good presentations and great open discussions. Our annual Stan Gurnell Memorial Dinner was also successful with 85 people registered, a fun night, good food and a perfect occasion to have some social time with our members, associated suppliers and work providers.
Our annual Golf Day is planned for Sunday 5th October – always a great day with the focus on fun. The committee is grateful for the support from our sponsors, making it a special day. Please support it. The Northland produced CRA Apprentice DVD is requiring a revamp so head office will organise the relevant changes. This is a very important tool that is used throughout the country to promote youth to our industry. We will be donating $5000.00 from our branch funds to assist with the changes. Remember to diary the 2015 CRA Conference in the Bay of Islands in May 7th to 9th. Why not take an extra few days off to explore this magnificent part of New Zealand. Best wishes from Northland CRA Committee
Wellington Branch Well winter has truly taken a grip of our area with the usual amount of freezing cold weather, arctic gales and torrential rain. I am always amused when we have our fantastic and much loved customer’s come in on the wettest, darkest days for assessment photos and then say, “I’m in a hurry, will you be long?” Nice!! I find these experiences are a good way of practising patience and calmness. Yeah right! The workload in our region seems to be a bit up and down, school holidays doesn’t help but over all things appear steady. From my own experience and talking with a number of you it seems we all share a common issue, among others, and that is the one of replacement vehicles/loan cars. They are the bane of our lives, we never seem to have enough, with more and more people asking, do you have a vehicle for me now!! before we have even seen the job, let alone completing an assessment and determining if it’s a total loss or having the claim accepted. Everyone seems to have their own particular way of dealing with this, some
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charge a daily rate, others a one off service fee. Whatever you do please make sure you let your client know the vehicle belongs to the repairer and is not supplied by the insurer. We are looking forward to the up and coming road show as we have a very special speaker lined up, we will be able to confirm this soon, not to be missed. The Wellington branch has seen a jump in its numbers recently with some new boys applying to join our club. Once final approval has been given by the national office, I’m looking forward to some new faces and maybe some fresh ideas. Hope this finds you all well. I know there are some (probably more than a few) who are a bit worried about the future due to recent developments throughout the industry, all I can say is, a positive attitude will get positive results, stay focused on your core strengths, customer service and quality, and don’t burn your bridges. That’s my 2 cents worth! Cheers, Tony Straugheir
REGIONAL ROUNDUP Otago/Southland Branch Now that the dust has settled with the introduction of the revised IAG work provider contracts we can now focus on our businesses once again, providing quality repairs and services. Now more than ever it is important to upskill our staff and ourselves, and replace equipment with more up to date computerised systems, to accept that cars are continuing to evolve. This means managing and monitoring of the time to complete repairs. I-CAR
courses in our region have been struggling to get sufficient numbers, and I would impress on you the value in attending these courses is paramount for your businesses continuing success. Workflows are steady, with Dunedin area experiencing higher than usual repair numbers due to recent snow. Cheers Warren Burns
Auckland Branch As I write this we are nearly at the end of August and the days are starting to get a bit longer, it’s also nice to see the mornings getting lighter, earlier. Workflows seem to have dropped off in Auckland a bit since the last school holidays, but hopefully we will see these pick up soon. As usual there are pockets that are busy but the talk around town still seems to be around the new IAG schedule and everyone just trying to get to grips with it. It will take a few months and I’m sure it is no different for the assessors as well. Recently I have been pondering about how the Auckland committee will shape up in the future. We have a few on the Auckland committee that have given so much over the years and would probably like to have a rest, give someone else a go maybe! The problem is that we don’t seem to have those “someone else’s” out there at the moment which is a real shame, especially as we have over 150 association shops in Auckland, so one would be forgiven for thinking that it should be easy to get ten good buggers to stand up and make a small difference. I, like pretty much all of the committee members around the country, probably don’t want to be on the committee for years and years, but when the area AGM’s come around and NO ONE else puts their
hands up, it makes it bloody hard! There is no free lunch and to be perfectly honest we don’t really want people to just make up the numbers, you do have to actually do something but it can be rewarding. So I would like all you Auckland members to open your minds a little and possibly put your hand up next time around and have a go! If you are unable to have a go then I would like to ask you all to at least support your committee when they organize events and meetings because it has been done to benefit all of you!! This leads me into us having to cancel our Trots night, which was a bit of a shame, but it obviously didn’t work for everyone and that’s how it goes sometimes. It was mentioned to me by someone that could not make it to this night that maybe this would be a good idea for a Christmas function, so I would love to hear from anyone else that thinks this would be a good idea as well! REMEMBER! We will be running the fishing competition on the first weekend of March so please keep this weekend free. If you do have any ideas or thoughts then they are always welcome so let me, or any of the committee know. I wish you all good health and good fortunes. Brent Mackay
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REGIONAL ROUNDUP Hawkes Bay Branch Hi all Not a lot has been happening here in the bay over the past month with work flows seeming to be reasonably consistent. The Hawkes Bay branch are holding a small catch up event this Friday at a local bar which is the first event in some time, so hopefully it is well accepted by our members. I have heard a few members commenting about the IAG schedule and rates lately and talking about how tough it was to make ends meet. The only real answer to that is to first look inside your business at what can be improved or streamlined in order to improve efficiency and speed up processes as there is no real external answer to this issue. The most important thing to me is to stay positive and open to ideas. I have recently had a local member spend the afternoon with myself and Roger to try and pickup ideas on how to improve his office procedures as his cost of administration is steadily increasing as his workload builds. I commend him for this, as it is hard to admit to someone you need help but you should never hesitate to ask. You will find most other members, whether they are your direct competitors or from out of town, are willing to help.
The most important thing to remember is we are all fighting the same battle for exactly the same reasons, so why not help each other? Another issue which needs to be clarified is the inverter spot welder issue. There seems to be confusion around the use of inverter spot welders on modern cars as it seems every repair spec you see involves the use of a mig welder and many prohibit the use of an inverter spot welder. It is incredibly frustrating to have a 30k welder in your shop gathering dust while the old mig welds up a storm. I have put this question to a few members from around the country and have found that from area to area specs seem to differ marginally, and have also been told there are alternative specs saying spot welders can be used. I myself have not seen these and Toyota and Mazda seem to be the ones whom most of these issue arise with. My understanding of the reasoning is that the repair specs are made for some tin pot shop in Zambia who has no equipment, our shops are not at this level anymore we are well above this and it would be good to have some clarity from manufacturers or I-CAR or even insurers around the use of inverter welders. Cheers Chris Greaney
Waterbourne Air Distribution System Infrared arches for booths and prep bays Fire suppressing system for booth, prep and tint rooms Odour Blaster for exhaust stacks
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Technical TECHNICAL REPORT REPORT
Carbon Fibre Why Does It Matter?
Roadwheels - A Potential for Disaster
Asking this question over the past couple of years, it after a man was killed in an accident on Auckland’s appears that many NZ collision repair facilities have southern motorway on 14 January 2010. at one time or another been faced with the embarrassment of a wheel becoming loose or even At the time of the accident a truck, recently serviced worse falling off after returning the vehicle to the by the company, was travelling south on the customer following a repair. Although this is not an motorway when its outer and inner left back wheels Carbon occurrence, fibre is being on many late-model vehicles and haswheels become a buzzword everyday it is used more common that you came off. One of the bounced across thein might think, wheels off answers cars and trucks motorway into the oncoming before about on the industry. Thisfalling article somewhen questions you may have been lanes wondering they are traveling at high speeds can lead to smashing through the windscreen of a bus travelling the use and repair of carbon fibre. devastating results. There are some special north. The passenger sitting in the front seat of the considerations that should be taken when removing bus was hit in the head and was taken to hospital and replacing vehicle road wheels. but later died from his injuries. Carbon fibre is only on high-end low production vehicles. I don’t work on high-end vehicles. Why should I worry carbon true that carbon fibreThe is only on high-end today, it doesn’t mean that company hadvehicles removed the left rear Who isabout at fault if a fibre? wheelWhile fallsit is off? won’t change in the very near future. Just take a minute to think back 15 years ago. Would you have ever thought wheels while fixing the guard just days that Ford would have an aluminium box and cab on a full-size pickup truck? Did you ever think that an everyday car Usually the cause is a failure to tighten the lug nuts beforenot. theBack accident. The Department oforLabour like a Honda Accord would have steel rated at 1,500 MPa? Probably then, aluminium-intensive UHSS securely on the wheel assembly. When a wheel investigation found the employee worked structures would have only been on high-end low production vehicles. Yet in that short time span ofwho 15 years, thison is is taken off a vehicle and put back on there is a the vehicle had no formal motor mechanic the current reality of the collision repair industry. standard procedure forsame tightening So now star think pattern of carbon fibre in that context.the Carbon fibre is relatively and new failed to the to automotive industry and is qualifications tighten the wheel nuts currently high-end low torque production vehicles. If history were to repeat as it often does, in a short lug nuts. being Thereused are on also standard pressures properly after fixingitself, the guard. time have periodtothe repair industry could be faced with repairs of everyday vehicles made of carbon fibre. At this that becollision used. However, on some occasions point you cannot either a vehicle sitting in a stall that no one has a clue how to repair or you can start wheels are put wait backuntil on there’s correctly and the results “The saddest thing is that the accident could very the process of learning about this new material so you will be prepared for the not-to-distant future. can be disastrous. Too little or too much torque can easily have been prevented. The company  should Where should we begin? cause a wheel to come off. The following media have filament had formal written procedures in place to let Let’s start with what is carbon fibre? Carbon fibre is a man-made or fibre that has a high-carbon content. release highlights the result for one NZ company. customers their truck wheelsfibre hadhas been The carbon content is typically between 92 - 99% carbon, which is one ofknow the reasons that carbon a grayishblack look. It is made into a variety of different cloths, weaves,removed or chopped There areshould also different weights and andfibres. refitted and have reminded qualitiesRepair of carbon fibre that can vary greatly and need to be chosen the requirements of thebefore part. The them tobased haveupon the wheel nuts checked it had Truck Company fined after loose fibres are combined with a resin material to make parts. This resin might be vinyl, vinyl-ester, epoxy, or one of many travelled the next 150 kilometres. This very basic wheel kills tourist other types of resin. Once the resins and fibres are cured, youstep havecould a composite part. Ina the end, carbon fibre is the have saved life,� Media Release 11 April buzzword for a specific kind of2011 composite that has amazing possibilities now and into the future (see Figure 1). Is carbon fibre just used for exterior panels? anditpeople in be control workplaces A Pukekohe haswill today fined Carbon fibrebased is not acompany material that only been be used for body“Employers and trim panels, will often used of anywhere steel must realise that they have a responsibility to take and aluminum are commonly used. Carbon fibre is being used to build the structure of the entire vehicle like the $5,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $68,582
REFINISH EXPERTS AT YOUR DOOR
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PanelTalk 53
Technical REPORT Roadwheels - A Potential for Disaster all practicable steps to make sure that the actions or inactions of their employees don’t cause harm. “In this instance it would have meant having a formal written check list in place, ensuring appropriate sign off procedures were in place, regularly supervising their employee’s work and ensuring that equipment used was in good working order.”
down the road it can continue to work itself loose. When this happens the wheel working backwards and forward against the posts can weaken the posts and snap one off. Once one post fails the others are subjected to more torque and soon the entire wheel will fall off.
How too much torque can cause a wheel failure: If a pneumatic wrench is used to tighten a lug nut on the stud and the setting is too high, or too much torque from a torque wrench is applied, this can cause the stud to be stretched. When the vehicle is driven in certain conditions the stud expands and contracts. If the stud is stretched under too much torque, the metal begins to weaken and the stud can snap. When one stud snaps the remaining studs then become loaded unevenly and can begin to fail causing the wheel to fall off the vehicle. The use of lubricants and anti-sizing compounds on the threads of the wheels studs or lug nuts can cause an even higher degree of over-torqueing. Fig 1
Fig 1
How too little torque can cause a wheel to fall off: If too little torque is applied to each lug nut the wheel will not be held in place correctly. If there is even a little movement, as the vehicle proceeds
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Fig 2
Paint thickness on mating surfaces: Another common cause of wheels coming off is too much paint thickness on the wheels or hubs mating surfaces. If the paint on these surfaces is too thick the joint will most likely fail even if torqued up correctly, as the paint will melt or burn off when the hubs or drums get hot from heavy braking, this then allows the wheel nuts to loosen. Paint thickness defects are most often caused by repainting the chassis, axle and wheels when refurbishing the vehicle. (A good rule to prevent this happening is to mask the mating surfaces so they remain unpainted.) Shown in Fig 2
Signs of Wheel Failure: Unfortunately the most common sign that the lug nuts are not tightened properly is the wheel coming off the vehicle. There are usually some shakes and vibrations but at high speeds there are only seconds from when these may be noticed until complete
Technical REPORT Roadwheels - A Potential for Disaster wheel failure. On rough pavement or in noisy conditions a driver may be completely unaware that the wheel is falling off.
The following are just a few incidents where a wheel coming off has resulted in death, injury or good luck: A man suffered chest injuries when two giant rear wheels from a truck and trailer unit came off and smashed into his car. The 57-year-old Te Puke man was injured in the accident on State Highway 2 in the Bay of Plenty. Australian police have praised a bus driver who managed to keep a bus carrying 80 school children on the road after its back wheels came off in the New South Wales Hunter region. It is estimated that ‘runaway’ wheels kill 8-10 people and injure many more each year in the UK. Investigators say the wheel came off a pickup truck then bounced across the westbound lanes and into the eastbound lanes, striking the SUV. The driver had to be cut out of the vehicle after the wheel hit his roof; he was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A woman was killed today when her car was hit by a tire that fell off another vehicle. She was driving northbound when the tire came flying across the median and right at her. The extensive damage to the victim’s white Nissan is shown in Fig 3.
Preventing this happening: Prevention of the wrong or lost clamping force is to have the wheel nuts re-torqued after a short driving distance. Although wheel separations are rare, they should be entirely preventable with re-torqueing. When installing new wheels you should re-torque the wheel lugs after driving the first 50 to 100 kilometres in case the clamping loads have changed
Fig 3 following the initial installation. This is necessary due to the possibility of metal compression / elongation or thermal stresses affecting the wheels as they are breaking in, as well as to verify the accuracy of the original installation. When rechecking torque value, wait for the wheels to cool to ambient temperature (never torque a hot wheel). Loosen and retighten to value, in sequence. Simply repeat the same torque procedure shown in Fig 4.
Fig 4 Wheel lug torque specifications are for clean threads that are free of dirt, grit, etc. If applying an anti-seize lubricant, it is important to note it can be applied only on the threads of nuts or bolts. The lubricant must not be used on either the hub or wheel mating surfaces. You can get the correct torque setting from your dealership or just enter your request on-line as there are plenty of sites giving this information.
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COURSES
2014
TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE IN THESE COURSES PLEASE REGISTER EARLY (ADH01) ADHESIVE BONDING - 1⁄2 day • Identify adhesive bonding material • Different equipment used for application • Attachment processes, adhesive only, weld bonding, rivetbonding • Two part adhesive bonding repairs • One part adhesive bonding repairs (ALT02) HYBRID ELECTRIC AND ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES – 1⁄2 day • Explain how to take safe measures when working on electric hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles • Understand high voltage issues with electric A/C systems • Identify new applications for hybrid technology and unique hybrid system features • Explain alternative fuel applications and concepts • Understand vehicle-specific applications from popular vehicle makers • Know how to properly care for an electric battery prior to and during the repair process • Identify the different types of alternative fuel vehicles currently on the market BRONZE/SILVER UPDATE – 1⁄2 day This half day update course is developed to keep Bronze and Silver level candidates informed on any new vehicle advancements or technology, along with trends or cautions they should be aware off for repairing current model vehicles. Attending this course will validate both the Bronze and Silver level certification for the 2014 year. CONFERENCE MEDLEY – 2 hours This two hour update will be a medley of different future trends and model specific repair methods our industry will be facing as new vehicle technology advances. It will also include updates on any new models as additions to the Holden, Hyundai and Suzuki Collision Repair Courses. (CRA01) CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND SURVIVAL IN COLLISION REPAIR – 1⁄2 day • Cost management • Customer relations and expectations • Monitoring the repair process • Preparing the estimate (DAM05) ALUMINIUM PANELS AND STRUCTURES DAMAGE ANALYSIS - 1⁄2 day • Understanding aluminium properties and characteristics • Assessing aluminium exterior body panel damage • Assessing aluminium structural damage • Discussing aluminium vehicle repair facilities
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(DAM06) STEERING AND SUSPENSION DAMAGE ANALYSIS - 1⁄2 day • Identifying steering and suspension system types • Understanding steering and suspension system part terminology • Understanding steering and suspension alignment angles • Diagnosing damage to steering and suspension systems (DAM11) RESTRAINTS SYSTEM DAMAGE ANALYSIS - 1⁄2 day Understanding the different types and how to identify damage in restraint systems is perhaps one of the most important considerations during a collision repair in order to ensure the vehicle will perform correctly again. This course looks at the many mechanical and electronic restraint systems now used by motor manufacturers and how these should be inspected following a collision along with cautions when working on or around them. (This redeveloped course replaces module 1 of DAM04) (DAM12) STEEL STRUCTURES DAMAGE ANALYSIS - 1⁄2 day Understanding vehicle design and energy transfer is important when preparing the estimate or repairing the vehicle. This course looks at the different body types and their characteristics along with identifying the visual indicators that can be used to identify damage. It also discusses what specific criteria are needed for determining if a part should be repaired or replaced. (FCR01) FUNDAMENTALS OF COLLISION REPAIR – 1⁄2 day Gain a good understanding of vehicle and part design, construction materials and manufacturing processes that affect collision repair. These critical issues impact how a vehicle routes collision energy and what the resulting damage is, apparent or hidden. The information will form the basis for properly analysing damage and performing structural repairs. (HOLDEN) HOLDEN COLLISION REPAIR COURSE - 1⁄2 day This course is a New Zealand Model Specific Tech Update and will overview many of the repair recommendations, including sectioning and weld methods for Holden’s current models. (HYUNDAI) HYUNDAI COLLISION REPAIR COURSE - 1⁄2 day This is the latest of the New Zealand Model Specific Tech Update courses and will overview 10 models from Hyundai’s current fleet. It will look at: • body spec’s • repair cautions and recommendations • sectioning, panel replacement and weld methods.
COURSES
2014
TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE IN THESE COURSES PLEASE REGISTER EARLY (MAZDA) MAZDA COLLISION REPAIR COURSE - 1⁄2 day This half day course will look at the new build geometry used by Mazda and how this can affect the way we assess damage and repair these vehicles. It also covers the welding recommendations, electronic awareness, and overviews model specific information. The course is complemented by having a Mazda 6 rolling body shell for visual awareness and includes how to navigate the Mazda Bodyshop Manuals CD, plus looks at the variety of information included on this CD. (REF03) COLOUR THEORY, APPLICATION, TINTING AND BLENDING – 6 hours • Lighting and the effect on colour matching • Effects of metallics and micas in refinish materials • Applying topcoats • Blending • Understanding colour movement and tinting (RTI01) RESEARCHING TECHNICAL INFORMATION – 1⁄2 day • New Zealand designed course • Understanding terminology • Navigating websites • Finding manufacturers’ data • Researching model specific repairs (SPS05) STRUCTURAL PARTS STEEL QUALIFICATION TEST – Hands on full day workshop This course offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their measuring, cutting, fit-up, and MIG welding skills on steel structural parts. The Steel Sectioning Qualification Test measures a participant’s skill in cutting, removing spot welds and making offset repair joints, using plug, open butt joint, and butt joint with backing welds on steel structural parts. Working with two thicknesses of automotive grade steel – both 16-gauge and 22-gauge – students will need to measure and cut the rail at the locations specified in the course-specific body repair manual. The structural part must fit in a specially designed I-CAR fixture in order to pass the qualification test. Requirements: Students who register for the Steel Sectioning Qualification Test are required to hold a current Automotive Steel MIG Welding Qualification. (SPS07) STEEL UNITISED STRUCTURES TECHNOLOGIES AND REPAIR – 1⁄2 day • Understanding unibody design technologies and construction • Identifying advanced high strength steel considerations
• Understanding structural part repair considerations • Replacing structural parts using weld bonding and MIG brazing • Identifying partial replacement considerations (SPS08) STEEL FULL-FRAME TECHNOLOGIES AND REPAIR – 1⁄2 day • Identifying trends in full-frame vehicle design and construction • Identifying issues related to full-frame repair • Repairing full-frame damage following vehicle makers procedures • Repairing unitised and hydroformed body damage following vehicle makers procedures (SPS09) BEST PRACTICES FOR HIGHSTRENGTH STEEL REPAIRS – 1⁄2 day This course opens with details on how I-CAR identified the best practice for understanding, locating and repairing HSS (High Strength Steel) and UHSS (Ultra High Strength Steel). It also has discussion with recommendations on where the vehicle should be anchored for realignment and the importance of developing a repair plan:• Understanding how UHSS parts can be removed • Different removal methods available along with the implications of heating these types of steels The second part of this course looks at the different methods for replacing these HSS and UHSS panels when repairing collision damage on today’s vehicle structures. These include:• A detailed overview of MIG brazing with considerations for making a strong weld • Self-piercing rivets video demonstration • STRSW (squeeze type resistance spot welding) • Weld bonding • The cautions with using MIG steel welding on these steels. (SPS10) REPLACEMENT OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES - 1⁄2 day This course addresses the issues we face when replacing complete panels, partial panels and parts of assemblies using OEM procedures at factory seams. It also looks at and gives solutions of what can be done when OEM procedures do not exist. It answers questions and gives you an understanding of why different weld methods are used during a repair and also looks at working with materials other than steel.
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COURSES
2014
TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE IN THESE COURSES PLEASE REGISTER EARLY
(SPS11) SECTIONING OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES - 1⁄2 day Gain a good understanding of vehicle and part design, construction materials and manufacturing processes that affect collision repair. These critical issues impact how a vehicle routes collision energy and what the resulting damage is, apparent or hidden. The information will form the basis for properly analysing damage and performing structural repairs (SSS01) STRUCTURAL STRAIGHTENING STEEL - 1⁄2 day This new course from I-CAR was developed so that repair facilities have a better understand of how the modern vehicle steel structures should be straightened. This course looks at identifying structural steel damage and developing a repair plan and understanding the importance of anchoring a vehicle correctly. It identifies anchoring and straightening equipment plus the considerations around straightening structural steel parts. (SUZUKI) SUZUKI COLLISION REPAIR COURSE – 1⁄2 day • Suzuki repair or not repair recommendations • Engineering and construction design • Identification of the different steels used • Welding recommendations • Sectioning methods and joint locations (TOYOTA) TOYOTA COLLISION REPAIR COURSE – 1⁄2 day This NZ model specific Collision Repair Course is delivered in two parts. The first is Commercial/Recreational, the second is Passenger vehicles. It looks at 23 models from the current Toyota fleet. These courses will be delivered as 2 hour programmes that overview the model specific repair recommendations for each model including the repair or not repair recommendations, welding methods, sectioning locations and any cautions from Toyota. (WCS01) STEEL GMA (MIG) WELDING – 4 hours • Covers the principles and techniques of Steel GMA (MIG) welding • Participants learn how to properly set up and tune a welding machine • Address safety issues • Perform proper welding techniques • Prepare metal surfaces, and identify and correct weld defects This prepares the participant for the plug, fillet, and butt joint with backing welds of the I-CAR Automotive Steel MIG Welding Qualification.
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(WCS04) SQUEEZE-TYPE RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING – 1⁄2 day • Squeeze-type resistance spot welding (STRSW) process • Using STRSW equipment • How resistance spot welds are made, visually inspected and destructively tested • Weld bonding process (WKR01) HAZARDOUS, MATERIALS, PERSONNEL SAFETY AND REFINISH SAFETY – 1⁄2 day • Workplace labelling requirements • Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) • Liability and responsibility for employers, employees, and suppliers • Precautionary measures and personal protection • Identification of critical situations and how to handle them
AUTOMOTIVE STEEL MIG WELDING QUALIFICATION: This validated qualification assessment allows participants to demonstrate their welding skills by measuring a technician’s ability to perform ten welds in both the vertical and overhead positions using 0.75mm and 1.6mm thickness steel coupons. The steel thickness and weld configurations reflect the joints most commonly used on today’s vehicles. To register for this qualification please contact I-CAR NZ for a registration form. The cost per person is $395.00 (+GST). For a 5 year renewal – the cost per person is $395.00 (+GST).
COURSE DATES BY REGION TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE IN THESE COURSES PLEASE REGISTER EARLY
I-CAR New Zealand announcement The final step after Silver is announced – I-CAR Platinum Following the I-CAR USA international recognition iniative, we are introducing Platinum for the New Zealand market. There will be 3 strands: • Platinum Recognition – Collision Repair • Platinum Recognition – Refinish • Platinum Recognition – Manager / Estimator Complete details will be available soon, but we can say that the Platinum Collision Repair will include the new SPS05 which is featured elsewhere in this issue and is a full day practical rail sectioning exercise. I-CAR New Zealand will also be soon announcing their Gold Class category for collision repair facilities.
The above courses provide a wide variety of topics and locations however with the increasing development of I-CAR model specific courses being generated; additional courses may be added to this schedule. If you require a specific course not detailed above please contact I-CAR NZ as if numbers dictate these can be provided. COSTINGS PER COURSE: Non CRA members 1⁄2 day courses - $366.85 (incl. GST) Full day courses - $586.50 (incl. GST) CRA members 1⁄2 day courses - $308.20 (incl. GST) Full day courses - $533.60 (incl. GST) PLEASE NOTE: Finalisation of these courses is still subject to sufficient numbers registering so travel and venues can be arranged. You can also register and pay by credit card on-line through the I-CAR NZ website (www.i-car.co.nz). PAYMENT METHODS: Post your cheque to: I-CAR NZ, PO Box 9208, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240. Ph: 07-8470218, Fax: 07-8470217 Pay by Direct Credit: I-CAR New Zealand Trust, ASB Bank. 12-3152-0180972-00 Pay by Credit Card: Phone I-CAR NZ on 07-8470218
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BRONZE RECOGNITION ACHIEVERS Congratulations to the following people who have achieved Bronze Recognition recently: Ben Donaldson Shayne Millan Kevin Flanagan Chris Bell Jason Bovis Kevin Yeo Nathaniel Ballantyne Iki Niuhulu Steve Lines Jarred Jaksic Tony McAlees Andrew Edmonds Lewis Rawiri Desmond Goodall Grant Castle Dylan Kahi Paul Bloxham André Cherry Brian Stewart Andrew Bolland Daniel Davis Adam Beaufoy Les Gibbons Adam Wilson Brian Matamua David Hughes Andre Jebbink Dylan Anderson Shawn Vlotman Jack Newman Zane Zinsli Brendon Collins Aaron Hunt Brett Papesch Tane Trafford Clint Hagan Dale Williams Richard Rollinson Nicholas Lee Salendra Raj
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Allan Kellett Panel & Paint Anthony Jakeman Panel & Paint Arawa Panel Beaters Ltd Autobody (2001) Panel & Paint Ballantyne Collision Repair Ballantyne Collision Repair Ballantyne Collision Repair Berry Panelbeaters (2012) Bodyline Panelbeaters & Painters Ltd Boss Panelbeaters 2000 Ltd Boss Panelbeaters 2000 Ltd Bush Road Panelbeaters Bush Road Panelbeaters By Accident Ltd Castle Panelbeating Limited Chapman Collision Repairs Ltd Crawford & Company CRS Panel & Paint Cunningham Lindsey NZ Ltd Ellis Collision Repair Exclusive Panel & Paint 1999 Fine Finish Panel & Paint Gibbon's Panel & Paint Ltd Greenpark Panel & Paint (1997) Hamilton Panel Works (1963) Hamilton Panel Works (1963) Hauraki Panel & Paint Birkenhead Hauraki Panel & Paint Birkenhead Hauraki Panel & Paint Birkenhead Hauraki Panel & Paint Glenfield Hugh Munro Panelbeaters Hussey Paint & Panel Ltd Kevey Collision Repairs 2008 King Street Auto Bodies Ltd Lumley General Insurance Makepeace & Henderson Manukau City Panelbeaters Matamata Panelworks (2000) Newmarket Panelbeaters Panel Zone Ltd
Joe McCarthy Prestige Autofinishes Paul Lawrence Prestige Collision Repairs Shane Graham Prima Panelbeaters 2006 Ltd Wayne Paul Queenstown Collision Centre Brent Harris R J Don Panelbeaters Bruce Nicholson R J Don Panelbeaters Cory Soares R J Don Panelbeaters Will Tucker R O Jones Panelbeaters (Northern) Ltd Daryl Morrison Ross White Panel & Paints Ltd Mark Riley Soanes Collision Repair Limited Oscar Kwon Specialised Panel & Paint Ltd Arno Grundling Takapuna Panelbeaters Ltd Martin Irvine Takapuna Panelbeaters Ltd Peter Lock Te Ngae Panelbeaters Gary Depina Terry Stevenson Panelbeaters Paul Downes Thames Panelbeaters Bruce Whittaker Transvisual Spraypainters Ltd Glen Gascoigne-Spittle Westlynn Panelbeaters Lewis Gillies Valley Road Panel & Paint
2014 Course Dates Auckland – North CRA01
22 October
Auckland – South DAM05 SPS07 SPS08 ADH01 DAM06 DAM11
Hamilton CRA01
8 October 8 October 15 October 15 October 29 October 29 October 23 October
Palmerston North TOYOTA
6 October
Christchurch CRA01
21 October
SILVER RECOGNITION ACHIEVERS SILVER RECOGNITION ACHIEVERS
Congratulations to the following people who havewho achieved Congratulations to the following people have Silver Recognition recently: achieved Silver Recognition recently:
Brent Johnston James Bracefield Karl Amundsen Sid Lochan James Bracefield Maletino Tusani
Brent Johnston Sid Lochan Colin West Maletino Tusani Andrew McNamara
Bridgman Street Panelbeaters Ltd Brown & Shipman (1969) Ltd Bay Panelbeaters Ltd Carpro Penrose Brown & Shipman Dornwell Panel & Paint Ltd
Bridgman Street Panelbeaters Ltd Carpro Penrose Colin West Panelbeaters Dornwell Panel & Paint Grant White Autobody
Andrew McNamara Grant White Autobody Ltd Martin Sinclair Harrow Motor Body Works Jeff Robson Hamilton PanelLtdWorks Dan Scott Orewa Panelbeaters Ltd Martin Sinclair Harrow Motor Body Ben Sheffield WarkworthWorks CollisionLtd Repairs Ltd
Dan Scott Ben Sheffield Stewart Bond
Orewa Panelbeaters Ltd Warkworth Collision Repairs Ltd Wayne Vercoe Panel & Paint Ltd
BRONZE AND SILVER VALIDATION PATH BRONZE AND SILVER VALIDATION PATH
I-CAR announces Bronze and Silver validation path. I-CAR courses last for 5 years. With this in mind the I-CAR and Silver validation path. I-CAR Newan Zealand now saying that you can take any expiryannounces of BronzeBronze and Silver recognition programmes has been issue.isQuite often students were being I-CAR courses last for 5 years. With this in mind the course to re-validate your Bronze or Silver recognition asked to re-sit a course previously taken and often did not see the value in that. expiry of Bronze and Silver recognition programmes has for another year. Given that they plan to introduce at I-CAR New Zealand is now saying that you can take any course to re-validate your Bronze or Silver been an issue. Quite often students were being asked to least one new model specific course each year it is recognition forpreviously another year. thatdid they to introduce at market least one newthis model specific to course each re-sit a course takenGiven and often notplan see the hoped the will see as preferable re-sitting to previously re-sitting taken. a course previously taken. value inyear that. it is hoped the market will see this as preferable a course
Talk all you want: There’s no substitute for action. New products, new ideas, new ways to profit—this is no empty promise. No hollow guarantee. This is the SEMA Show and this is where the action is.
TALK IS CHEAP. Registering for the 2014 SEMA Show is inexpensive.
REGISTER NOW: SEMAshow.com/PTM
EXHIBIT DAYS: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4–FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014 EDUCATION DAYS: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3–FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER | LAS VEGAS, NV
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Embroidered Pocket Patch These quality embroidered Pocket Patches can be purchased in any quantity. A great way to promote your company as a CRA member by adding these to your staff uniforms. Cost - $5.00 each (excl. GST). This special pricing offer is available until the end of November. All you need to do is phone: 07 847 0216 or email: erin@collisionrepair.co.nz and your order will be on the courier that day.
CRA Membership Group Scheme for Compliance (2014) In order to assist CRA members to comply with legislation Terry Blake (TB) and Dangerous Goods Compliance (DGC) offer a Nationwide Inspection schedule, Inspection visits are coordinated and scheduled on a yearly basis. Services offered by Terry Blake (TB) Hazardous Area Compliance Consultant, Testing and Certification Includes airflow and air quality testing, compressed air testing. Combustion certification, IQP certification and Electrical reinspections Services offered by Dangerous Goods Compliance (DGC) Location Test Certificates, Approved Handler Certificates, Stationary Container Certificates and HSNO Compliance training CONTACT: Terry Blake Ph: 0274 473382 Fax: 09 2763504 Email: terryblake@xtra.co.nz
Dangerous Goods Compliance Ph: 09 2575790 Fax: 09 257 5791 Email: aaron@dgcompliance.co.nz
Annual Schedule for both TB & DGC March / April Northland, North Shore, Northland Wellington, Horowhenua, Taranaki, May/ June South Auckland, Pukekohe, Manukau, Nelson Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury July /August West Auckland, Onehunga, Poverty Bay, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Manuwatu. Central North Island Sept/ Oct Coromandle, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Waikato, Otago, Southland, East & Auckland City
PLEASE BOOK AN ANNUAL INSPECTION FOR: Company Name Site Address Contact Person Phone
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Fax
Terry Blake - 027 4473 382 or Aaron - 09 257 5791
The Cutting Edge of Paint Refinishing The Fastest Ever Finishing System On average, the new G3 Premium System is 20% faster than the nearest competitor, a figure that rises to 25% faster on scratch resistant paint only. In addition, the majority of repairs can be completed in just one step*.
G3 Ultra Abrasive Compound offers unbeatable speed and quality of finish, permanently removing P1500 or finer sanding marks from all modern paint systems. Fastest ever cutting action – Unbeatable speed permanently remove P1500 or finer sanding marks Pe Permanent gloss finish – provides superb final finish shine in one step for the majority of jobs. Scratches are permanently removed leaving a superior gloss finish
“It’s almost too easy with G3 Ultra.” “Polishing is now a pleasure.” Norm Delaney, Goldsmith Panel & Paint
Superior emulsion system – Increased lubrication allows compound to work for longer without drying out Clean in use – Throw off is minimised with the surface residue kept lubricated for easy wipe off su Simple and easy to use – Forgiving performance makes excellent results achievable for operatives of all experience levels Silicone free, low VOC content and user safe Waterbased (non petroleum) formulation is safe in contact with skin
Showroom: 388 Church St, Penrose, Auckland
Shop Online www.wyatt.co.nz
Ph: 09 525 1000 PanelTalk 63
Acoat Selected: a sustainable approach to business improvement.
The Acoat Selected program delivers a tailored approach designed specifically to support continuous improvement in your bodyshop. Members have access to a variety of business improvement programs that combine powerful tools, products and a dedicated team exclusively focused on the delivery of our partnership program. Visit www.acoat.com.au
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