Successfully designinga new bodyshop.

Basic management know-how.

Spies Hecker – simply closer.

Building a new bodyshop or converting an

existing one demands a considerable input

of capital. It is also a risky business as

it always means a long-term commitment.

The design phase therefore requires close

examination and a full understanding of

what is involved and must never be under-

taken in a hurry.

This brochure focuses on the design of a

new car paintshop or combined bodyshop/

paintshop. When extending or converting

existing premises, every situation will

always be different, so general advice is of

little use. Nevertheless, you may find useful

suggestions in this brochure.

Commercial vehicle paintshops and other

large-scale painting installations usually

have specific requirements of their own that

necessitate consultation with experts from

the outset.

Selecting the site.

Choosing the right site is the most impor-

tant decision after opting to build a new

paintshop an/or bodyshop in the first

place.

1. Criteria – market analysis:• Size of catchment area

• Size of population

• Vehicle density

• Registration figures

• Maintenance and repair needs per vehicle

• Existing competitors and their services

• Local market trends

2.Criteria – site analysis:• Traffic access: Can the customer reach the workshop quickly and conveniently?

Car customers are willing to accept a 15 to 30-minute trip for servicing, commercial vehicle customers 1 hour.

How well is the site served with motorways, major roads and public transport?

• Visibility: Is the workshop identifiable from all unobstructed directions?

• Traffic flow: traffic congestion, commuter route?

• Neighbourhood /surroundings:Where is the workshop located? Proximity to residential areas, dealerships /

dealership parks, commercial parks or crowd-pullers like supermarkets or home improvement /DIY stores, etc.

• Development plan /building obligations:What building regulations affect the site? Buildings permitted,

type of construction, building height, façade design, possible vehicle access, site boundaries, etc.

• Proximity to places of residence /employment

• Climatic conditions: prevailing wind direction

(so that annoyance to neighbours can be ruled out from the outset)

• Ground: geology, load-bearing capacity, water table, contamination from previous uses

• Environmental obligations: landscaping, surface water, plans to modify the site and compensatory measures, etc.

• Laws, rules and regulations: at local, regional and national levels

• The factor of time: Demolition necessary, site ready for immediate development?

• Costs: site, building, tax rate, ancillary costs or requirements, environment, etc.

3.Criteria – business strategy:• Defining the customer profile:

– Private customers

– Dealerships

– Industrial enterprises (contracted coating work)

– Insurers

• Future use strategy:

– Repairs, refinish, car trade, parts sales

– Business activities: cars, trucks, industrial coatings

– Concentration on a single marque, franchise, independent workshop

• Deciding on the growth target: Increasing share of the market, possibility of extending the workshop?

• Future business activity: On what scale can the services be extended to other areas that promise

high yield in the future, such as bodywork, parts sales, industrial coating, etc.?

• Use of equipment and technology in future workshop: E.g. VOC legislation demands the use of

advanced spray booth, application and paint technologies.

• Co-investors: Are there companies that will help to finance construction (e.g. workshop plus office premises)?

How to plan a new bodyshop.

The following steps are recommended:

1. Noting down your own ideas with drawings.

2. Consulting a Spies Hecker planning specialist.

3. Finalising the plans with the architect,

equipment manufacturer, public authorities, etc.

The first step in deciding on the site is to

analyse the location. The future bodyshop

should, naturally, have as many customers

as possible with easy access in its vicinity.

The quality of the site is crucial to the suc-

cess or failure of the business as correc-

tion is not usually possible at a later date.

Of course, the choice of site is closely tied

to the type of shop and the envisaged

business strategy.

Market analysis.

Ascertaining the existing market potential

is necessary to determine the size of the

business and the volume of sales in the

coming years. The market analysis entails a

sensible combination of local data, statis-

tics, empirical values and forecast trends.

The market should be analysed whenever

medium-size to large workshops are being

planned.

Starting points foroptimum design.

2.Desired refinish facility asa starting point.

In this case, the calculation is performed the

other way around. Starting with the painting

area (number of spray booths), it is possible

to calculate the number of required pre-

paration stations and hence the possible

throughput of vehicles.

This procedure is mainly applied by smaller

businesses that have a clear idea of their

future business size.

There are two starting points for optimum

bodyshop design.

1. Market analysis asa starting point.

Businesses that conduct a market analysis

beforehand refer to the anticipated poten-

tial of vehicles requiring refinishing and

design the bodyshop accordingly.

The results of the market analysis will help:

1. Determine vehicle throughput and

sales targets

2. Define the painting area

(number of spray booths, etc.)

3. Define the number of staff required

• Number of workstations in the

panel repair area

• Number of workstations in the

preparation area

• Number of workstations in the

paintshop

• Number of workstations in the

finish area

• Number of workstations in

administration

By drawing up a flow chart, you organise

trouble-free vehicle throughput from order

acceptance through to delivery.

Workflow.

Vehicle reception

Panel repair

Preparation

Painting

Finish

Valeting

Here is an example of a workflow plan

for paintshop and combined bodyshop/

paintshop.

Determining the amount of requiredfloorspace in the paintshop.

The minimum size of the paintshop depends

on the expected sales, painting capacity,

number of employees, and the booth facility.

The key variables given in the following table

are rough values derived from experience.

These may vary according to the operating

procedure or business strategy.

The details of throughput / capacity assume

the application of Spies Hecker products and

adherence to the prescribed flash-off and

drying instructions and the surface area

processed in an average medium-size job

(3-4 parts/job).

Size of workstation.

There are, of course, empirical values for the

optimum size of the individual workstations.

The most important ones are contained in

the following table.

Businesssize

Small 5-6 units 3-4 1 2-3 1 combi booth 300-400 m2

Small 1 combi boothto medium 11-13 units 6-8 2-4 5-7 & 500-700 m2

1 separate oven

Medium 2 combi boothsto large 16-19 units 9-12 3-6 8-11 & 700-900 m2

1 separate oven

2 combi boothsLarge 22-26 units 12-16 4-8 11-15 & 1,000-1,200 m2

2 separate ovens

Maximumthroughput capacity(per working day= 7.5 hours)*1

Number ofworkstationsin preparationzone

Number ofemployees(excluding officeand admin.)*2

Spray boothFloor space(excluding officeand restrooms)

Rules of thumb:

Preparation:

2 workstations per productive employee,

3-4 preparation areas per booth unit

Finish zone:

should be equal to 25-50% of

the preparation area

*1 The average rate of capacity utilisation is 70-80% (annually).

*2 For staff holidays, further training and sick leave, 20-30% more staff has to be assumed, depending on business size and structure.This means 2-3 extra staff per 10 employees.

Number ofvehiclestations infinish zone

Workstation Width x length (average)

Panel repair 3.5-4.0 x 7.0 mDepends on equipment selected

Body parts store with rack system Depends on size of business

Straightening and measuring station 5.0 x 7.0 m (minimum size)

Paintshop Width x length x height (average)

Spray booth Standard 4.0 x 7.0 x 3.0 / 3.5 m

Enlarged 4.0 / 4.5 x 8.0 x 3.0 / 3.5 m

Oven 1 vehicle station 3.0 x 7.0 / 8.0 x 3.0 m

2 vehicle stations 5.0 x 7.0 / 8.0 x 3.0 m

Equipment room Depends on equipment

Preparation area 3.5 x 6.0 m

Finish area 3.5 x 6.0 m

Mixing room Depends on the number of mixing machines /units to be accommodated

Paint preparation room Depends on the equipment / units to be accommodated

Paint store Depends on the substances being stored and(complying with regulations on on the legislation in the country in questioncombustible liquids)

Waste collection station Depends on the equipment / collection boxesto be accommodated

Customer zone, offices, staff rooms Depends on the client’s wishes

The vehicles undergoing refinishing should

pass through the paintshop without having

to manoeuvre or queue outside the spray

booth.

The room sequence chart, defining the

arrangement of the rooms and the necessary

connections, is therefore indispensable to

the design of a new paintshop.

Individual assistance for your company.

To this end, you can access special advice

from Spies Hecker. Under Colors Unlimited

International, Spies Hecker offers further

modules that support you in the design of your

own customised bodyshop. Should you be

interested, contact your Spies Hecker adviser.

These examples give you a rough impression

of how designs can vary. As each bodyshop

design is based on a number of different

conditions and priorities, it must also be

tailored to the special needs of the business.

Examples of floor plans.

• It is advisable to drive the dried vehicle

out of the rear of the oven so that it can

be reassembled in the immediately

adjacent finish area (separation of dirty

from clean areas).

• If possible, a permanent place should

be allocated for spot repairs so that not

all refinishing work has to take place in

the booth. At the same time, such spot

repair zones make it possible to carry out

small jobs faster.

Like the finish area, the spot repair zone

should be located in a clean area. It should

also be possible to drive cars in and out

quickly.

• The staff rooms should be located close

to the workshop area.

• There should be sufficient parking and

storage space outside the building.

Illustrated on the following pages are three

bodyshop plans. They differ in size because

of their different booth configurations.

• Bodyshop with one combi booth

• Bodyshop with one combi booth and

one separate oven

• Bodyshop with two combi booths and

two separate ovens

During planning, the following points

should be borne in mind:

• As little unproductive space as possible,

i.e. standing space; as little space for

manoeuvring as possible.

• The estimating area should be close to

the offices.

• Preparation areas – ideally, there should

be a vehicle lane in the middle with the

workstations on the left and right of it,

each workstation should be equipped

so that the vehicle does not have to be

moved again until it is painted.

Detailed floor plan.

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28 m

Officereception,7 x 7.5 m

46 m

Restrooms

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1. Bodyshop with one combi booth.

4 m

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Foreman’s office,6.5 x 3.5 m

Combi booth

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Spies Hecker GmbHHorbeller Strasse 1750858 Köln, GermanyTel.: +49 2234 6019-3630Fax: +49 2234 6019-3880www.spieshecker.com