PPG:Pacific Collision CentersFullerton, CA

DUPONT:Body Works Collision CenterMurietta, CA

PRO-SPRAY:Unique Auto BodySouth Jordan, UT

MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL:Precision Body Shop & DetailColma, CA

INSIDE

SHOWCASEShop and Product

SPECIAL INSERT / TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND TESTIMONIALSwww.autobodynews.com

2 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Steve Vettel, owner of Pacific CollisionCenters, with six locations located infive Southern California counties,learned the collision business by work-ing at the dealership level for manyyears, and gleaned much knowledgefrom that perspective.

Since then, Vettel’s shops haveflourished and consistently generatedrave reviews, while establishing a rep-utation for embracing the latest tech-nology and operating on the cuttingedge. His relationship with PPG, hispaint supplier for more than a decade,

is one of the reasons why Pacific Colli-sion has hit impressive numbers, evenduring a recession.

Together, Pacific’s six locations re-pairs an average of approximately 500cars monthly, operating out a total of140,000 combined square footage andemploying 100 people, including 25paint crew members, Vettel told Auto-body News.

At his peak, Vettel said he was re-pairing 750 cars per month, but the re-cession dropped his numbers, just likeeveryone else’s in the country. “Somuch has changed within the last 18months that we don’t know wherewe’re headed right now. The larger op-erations will survive and a lot of thesmaller independents will be closing orgetting absorbed by the larger chains.That’s the reality of it, so we need toprepare for these developments if wewant to survive and stay profitability.”

One of the things Vettel calls a“smart move” involves his 12-year rela-tionship with PPG. “They’ve helped usin so many ways,” he said. “We’ve usedtheir assistance on how to dial in ourprocesses and we’ve tapped into theirknowledge and experience time andagain. PPG is a great supplier, becausethey have a good product, Envirobase®High Performance, but they also help us

on so many different levels.”“It’s a product that’s easy to use

and that’s one of the biggest benefitsof using PPG’s products,” Vettel said.“Over the 12 years, we’ve reallylearned to appreciate everything aboutPPG, including the process, which isstreamlined; the simplicity of the mix-ing and the color matching and theease of application. And it was easyto teach our people about the product,which is a time savings, obviously. It’sa very user-friendly product.”

Vettel started using PPG water-borne for a full nine months before themandate in his counties took effect.“We’ve been using it for two years, sowe’re completely comfortable with itby now. My philosophy was that I did-n’t want to be on the bleeding edge, butI certainly wanted to be on the cuttingedge. We wanted to convert before itwas mandated, just so we could workout the kinks, and that’s what we did.”

Vettel’s path to becoming an ownerof six locations is somewhat unique. “Istarted out as a dealer auditor forChrysler Corporation right out of col-lege. My job essentially was to auditdealerships for profitability and it wasvery interesting to find out the bodyshops were busy and generated a fairamount of revenue, but they were neverprofitable on paper. I would sit downwith these dealership principals, andthey would always tell me that youcan’t make money in the body collisionindustry. It was a very educational ex-perience.”

Vettel discovered that the dealer-ship’s collision facilities were success-ful, but were always saddled by all ofthe fixed operations associated withselling new cars. “The rent, the insur-ance, the advertising--all went to thebody shop’s expenses, so the ownersviewed the collision aspect of theircompany as a loser, but they were actu-ally making money.”

After seeing this again and again,Vettel decided to go out on his own.“This can’t be this difficult, I thought.So, in 1987, I opened a small body shopin Huntington Beach with just twotechs. And that was the genesis of mycareer in collision repair.”

When each new location opened,Vettel worked there until he knew itwas time to open another one. “I am a

very hands-on guy. Every time I openeda new store, I was the one working withthe techs and training them myself. I’dget the model running in the back, andthen I’d be the person writing the esti-mates and pushing the production. Theentire time, I’d be growing my man-agers. When we were stable at the lo-cation, I’d start looking around for

another area or opportunity. That’s howI was able to grow.”

Jim Downey is the senior PPG re-gional manager who oversees half ofSouthern California and Hawaii. In thepast few years, he’s been involved inhelping more than 600 body shops toconvert to PPG waterborne, includingVettel’s six locations.

Vettel was an early adopter andmade the changeover to waterborne onelocation at a time, Downey said. “SteveVettel is probably one of the most as-tute businessmen I know in this indus-try. He’s always on top of the newesttrend. He’s got an incredible back-ground and he was able to foresee theeconomic crunch before others did andthat’s why he’s surviving while a lot ofother shops are struggling and don’t seeany relief in sight.”

Twice a month, Vettel, his man-agers and Auto Color Specialists, hislocal PPG distributor, conduct a con-ference call to stay in touch, discuss is-sues and monitor things likeprofitability and how they can do a bet-ter job, Downey said.

“Every once in awhile, we’ll par-ticipate in the conference calls to findout what Steve’s shops are doing and toexplore how we can make their liveseasier. Feedback from the shop man-agers is very important and beingproactive is the key.Anticipating ratherthan reacting is a smarter way to go, be-cause when you have six locations,

there is a ton of moving parts.”In the early days of waterborne,

Vettel tested several other paints beforedeciding on PPG’s product. “Steve eval-uated another product specifically, test-ing our product and a competitor’s forthree months to see which would givehim the highest quality. In the end, hecontinued working with us, and Stevesaid he avoided a grave mistake bysticking with us. We proved ourselvesto him and that was all he needed.”

Downey believes that customersappreciate the greening of the industryin using waterborne paint and thatbody shops can leverage that approvalto get more business, he said. “InSouthern California, people are veryaware of the green movement, becausethe media is always talking about it.They’re very informed about what’sgoing on with the environment aroundhere, so they do care. Will people grav-itate toward shops that will be greener?Based on my experience, yes, so we allwin.”

Where will Vettel and Pacific Col-lision Centers be in five years? “We’reoperating in what’s been referred to as

the ‘New Normal’ in collision repair. Ithink today’s business environment re-quires you to have the ability to changeand adapt quickly and that requires avery fluid five-year plan. I wish I couldpinpoint where we’re headed, but Ican’t. I believe there will be a certainamount of attrition in the collision re-pair business. It’s an uncertain time inthis industry, right now, but we’ll knowa lot more in the next 12-18 months.”

Pacific Collision Centers1621 Orangethorpe AvenueFullerton, California 92831(714) 888-9000www.pacificcollision.com

Shop and Product Showcase

Pacific Collision Centers Says Relationship with PPG a “Wise Move”

Pacific Collision Centers has six shops located infive Southern California counties

Pacific Collision Centers stresses professionalismand uses all of the latest techniques, products andequipment to repair an average of 500 cars monthly

All of the Pacific Collision Centers use PPG water-borne to paint every vehicle that comes throughthe doors

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Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 3

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Shop and Product Showcase

Precision Body Shop & Detail, withtwo locations in Colma and San Rafael,CA, has grown rapidly, with more andmore cars coming through everymonth. Having lots of work can be ablessing or a curse, because organiza-tional and production bottlenecks canarise in minutes within a busy work en-vironment.

Precision has not only survived,but thrived during a recession. Theygive a lot of credit to Mitchell Interna-tional Inc. and the decision to adopttheir market-leading busi-ness management systems.

Precision Body Shop &Detail was started 10 yearsago with just three employ-ees detailing cars primarilyfor new car dealershipsthroughout the Bay Area. In2004, Precision’s dealer-ships started inquiring aboutdoing minor body work ontheir fleets and the companyjumped at the opportunity.

“We started out doing primarilypaint, panel and hanging bumpers to gowith our detailing for dealerships,”Caprini said. “Then, we realized weshould do it all. So, starting in ’06, webegan pursuing all forms of collisionrepair and it’s been a great businessmodel for us.”

Caprini and his partner Lou Han-han have tapped into their comple-mentary skills to create a company thatmakes a profit and is poised for expan-sion.

“I’m more of a numbers personand a production process guy and Louis very connected to the car dealershipsin this area, so we make a very effec-tive team. On top of that, we have anexcellent crew. They’ve definitely

played a major role in our success,”Caprini said.

Today, Precision does nearly $4million in sales annually and employs59 people working out of two locationstotaling 22,000-sq.-ft. The Colma loca-tion will be expanding with an addi-tional adjacent 6,000-sq.-ft of spacewithin the year.

Precision’s relationship withMitchell has been highly beneficial forcontrolling and monitoring the com-pany’s production flow.

“You can’t store 120 cars everymonth in your head. You’re going tolose track of where each vehicle is inthe repair process, if you can’t accu-rately keep this information in one lo-cation that you can access and altereasily. That’s what the Mitchell’s Re-pairCenter brought to our business andit’s proven to be invaluable,” Caprinisaid.

Precision initially purchased theUltramate Estimate program thenadded RepairCenter last year, and theshop has already seen some significantimprovement on several fronts.

“We’ve used their RepairCenternow for about seven months and it’sbeen a great experience. They help usmanage the entire day-to-day repairprocess and give us real-time controland analysis of everything we do. It’squickly become a big part of our livesaround here and it’s provided us with ashop’s single integrated access point.That’s maybe the most important thing.Every tech, painter and estimator ac-cesses identical updated information,so we’re all on the same page all thetime,” he said.

According to Mitchell, “The Re-pairCenter is the collision repair in-dustry’s first single shop workspaceto manage the repair, the customerand the business—and just about

everything in between. Repair-Center’s repair and opportunity man-agement capabilities help shops tocapture more business, identify work-flow bottlenecks and improve func-tionality.”

When Precision added MitchellRepairCenter in order to access all ofthe program’s additional features theshop wanted to incorporate, it provedto be a wise decision. Caprini feels thatthe RepairCenter is indispensible to hisoperation.

“It’s been a huge part of every-thing we’re doing here,” Caprini said.“I look at it a minimum of 6–10 timesevery day. It’s our lifeline and we loveit because it’s always on. The most im-portant things it does for us are by act-ing as a virtual real-time whiteboard;the parts management and vendor man-agement aspects are also very impor-tant, because it helps us to effectivelyorder, receive and track parts. By mak-ing our daily lives easier, Mitchell has

allowed us to concentrate on otherthings—like acquiring new businessand cutting our cycle times.”

One of the main benefits Capriniappreciates about Mitchell includes thetraining his shop received when theyconverted to RepairCenter.

“Mitchell’s trainer came here forthree full days and made an extremelyprofessional presentation. He waseasy to work with as he trained ourentire front office staff. He answeredall our questions while he was hereon-site, and was available for follow-up questions for several weeks after-ward. We can call them anytime andthey’re quick to get back to us. If weever have an issue, they’re right thereto help us and that’s so important.”

A series of how-to videos pro-

duced by Mitchell also provided Preci-sion with valuable ongoing education.

“Their videos are excellent. Youcan get a grasp of what they’re doingquickly and easily. We refer them tothem all the time and our estimator andoffice manager don’t have to deal withthat whiteboard ever again, becauseeverything is right there on the Re-pairCenter. Their lives are easier nowthanks to Mitchell,” he said.

Three months ago, Precision alsoadded Mitchell’s Shop Clock, addingfurther track ability to its shop.

“Now we’re able to see how longit takes take to do each job. If a repairtakes 10 hours, for example, I can seewhere we’re at right there on the com-puter screen. If we’re ahead or behindon any repair, we can make changes onthe fly, because the Shop Clock featurekeeps us current and allows us to an-ticipate what we need to do to get itdone within the allotted hours.”

“Our cycle times are much im-

proved and we’re able to better man-age our shop overall. We’re doing 25%more work, yet we haven’t had to hireanyone new. Our efficiency is up andour productivity is the best it’s been.So, we’re feeling more confident aboutpursuing more business, because weknow we can do it and do it well. In-stead of spending all our time dealingwith problems, we’re producing greatwork and Mitchell has played a signif-icant role in our success.”

Precision Body Shop & Detail245 Collins AvenueColma, California 94014

2nd location: 623 Irwin StreetSan Rafael, California 94901(650) 992-9775

California Shop Credits Mitchell’s Ultramate and RepairCenter for Managing Growth

Precision Body Shop & Detail Co-owners AnthonyCaprini (left) and his partner Lou Hanhan attributeimproved production to adopting Mitchell’s Repair-Center system.

Precision’s Body Prep Techs (from left) Robert Lucero, ManuelLucero and Alejandro Perez.

The detailing crew at Precision processes approximately 300 vehicles per month.

4 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Shop and Product Showcase

DougAlbin, owner of Body Works Col-lision Center in Murietta, California,knows paint. He’s been painting carssince he was in high school and hasowned a body shop for nearly a decade,so he knows what he’s talking aboutwhen it comes to paint and paintingsystems.

Body Works Collision Center oper-ates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop,generates $250,000 per month in sales,and performs 65–70 repairs monthly.The company employs 12–15 peopledepending on workload and seasonalspikes in business. Body Works spe-cializes in repairing Toyotas, Hondas,Acuras and Mazdas, but they’ll workon any non-exotic vehicle on the road.

Albin, 41, has been in the bodyshop business for his entire life, as amaster tech and a painter. He’s a sec-ond-generation shop owner whoworked every summer with his father’sbody shop while in high school and also

completed training to be a masterpainter shortly thereafter.

“My dad’s shop was called Albin’sClassic Cars in Newport Beach, and heworked restoring high-end expensivecars,” Albin said. “It was a great edu-cation, because I was allowed to step inand work on different types of vehicles.Some people are born to follow theirparents’ career path and I gravitated to-ward the body business from day one.”

By doing rather than simply dele-gating every aspect of collision repairover the years, Albin has a unique andinvaluable perspective of how to run abody shop from top-to-bottom andfront-to-back.

“I know how to hang a bumper andpaint a car, so I know what’s expected.Natural progression in this industrydoesn’t really exist anymore. Manybody shop operators don’t have thoseabilities. As a result, there’s a growingseparation between the front office and

the back shop in a lot of shop environ-ments. I’ve learned every aspect of thisbusiness hands-on and that’s undoubt-edly been a big part of our success.”

After working with the same paintvendor for nine years, Albin made achange to DuPont™ Cromax Pro®when he ran into problems with hislong-standing paint vendor during hisswitchover to waterborne last year.DuPont stepped in to deliver a systemfeaturing their Cromax Pro® water-borne product. And the results are ex-emplary, Albin said. He’s savingmoney, matching every color, reducingwaste, and producing more vehicles inless time than ever before.Albin was al-most instantly enamored with CromaxPro’s exceptional coverage ability.

“When our conversion to water-borne began, there was an issue withour original paint company, so we in-quired about other vendors and DuPontstood out in a big way. They came to

the shop and sprayed a car and we wereinstantly impressed. Our original ven-dor’s paint was requiring 3–4 coats pervehicle and it was taking us way toolong. With Cromax Pro, we can paint acar in a maximum of two coats withouta flash and in many cases we’re doingthe job with just one coat. Their wet-on-wet procedure makes our lives so mucheasier,” said Albin.

“With DuPont’s waterborne prod-uct, we quickly discovered that everycolor has one-coat coverage capabilityand that’s never happened before everin this industry, I believe. They told usit would happen and we were a bitskeptical. Then they showed us theywere right and we were very impressed.I went from painting three cars daily to12 vehicles with the change to CromaxPro®.”

Albin says he has saved a signifi-cant amount of money and time sincehe signed on with DuPont, but the over-

all quality of the finished product iswhat he values over everything else.

“We’re producing more finishedcars more quickly now since weswitched to DuPont. The products, theirsystem and the support people whohelped us so much—they offered us thecomplete package and we’re happy wemade the move. It’s costing us less now,

but it’s not all about the money. Theperformance of the paint system ismore critical and the quality of the fin-ished product is the top priority.”

Increased productivity is one of themajor reasons whyAlbin’s so enthusedabout DuPont’s Cromax Pro®.

“Time is money in any businessand anything that will save time is in-valuable to my operation. I have onepainter who works with four helpersand they get all of the cars done fast andefficiently, with a perfect uniform paintcolor and optimum coverage every timewithout fail.”

Another one of the benefits Albincited about Cromax Pro® is the accuracyof the computerized color-matching

system.“It’s incredible. Color matching

was always an issue with our formersystem. It didn’t provide matchingfor certain types of vehicles, butDuPont climbed to the top of our listwhen we got a chance to use it. It’sextremely user-friendly and my crew

adapted to it right away.”Albin’s customer service approach

is fairly simple.“Our main customer service goal is

to do the repair right the first time,which means that the vehicle is re-turned back to the manufacturers’ stan-dards and nothing less,” he said.

“We don’t cut corners; we never

take short cuts and we avoid comebacksas a result.”

DuPont’s NewAccounts SpecialistKevin Harrington was pleased whenAlbin adopted Cromax Pro®, after beenworking with another vendor for sev-eral years.

“Doug is what I call a raving fanfor Cromax Pro® . He went from doing3–4 coats per car to approximately1.5–2 coats, without a flash when heswitched. He saw a spike in his pro-ductivity right away and he was usingless paint, so the savings were immedi-ately evident.”

Harrington has converted hundredsof body shops to the DuPont CromaxPro® system throughout Southern Cali-

fornia during the rush to change to wa-terborne last year, and he normallywitnesses a rapid learning curve whenshops are first exposed to his productsand his system.

“It’s a relatively simple processand most painters can adapt quickly,”Harrington said.

Murietta Shop Goes to DuPont™ Cromax® Pro for One-Coat Coverage

Body Works Collision Center operates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop, generates $250,000 per month insales and performs 65–70 repairs monthly.

Body Works Collision Center is a second-generation shop that stresses quality and customer service.

Body Works is now painting more vehicles in less time since adopting DuPont’s Cromax Pro and its matchingsystem (right).

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Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 5

Shop and Product Showcase

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If you don’t know SEO from [a] CEO,and PPC could be a new type of paint,or if ‘organic search’ sounds prettymuch like a hunt for fresh but pricyvegetables, you might want to pay

some close atten-tion to Auto BodyGuru. Don’t be em-barassed if you lackinternet skills. In-stead take a littlewhile to understandwhat you might beleaving on the table,by ignoring the po-tential benefits toyour business.Body shops needto know how to fixcars while navigat-ing around the

many obstacles that can get in the wayof doing a good job while still makinga profit. That’s why it makes sense tounderstand the benefits of using a com-pany like Auto Body Guru to figure outthe proper ways to position yourself onthe Internet and get results.

“Body shop owners know how torun their businesses, but when it comesto Internet marketing, they will admitthey need assistance,” Rony Mirza-ians, the founder and owner of AutoBody Guru explained.

“Would you hire a body tech to cre-ate your Web site and then optimize itfor search? I don’t think you would.The best thing a body shop owner needsto know is what he or she doesn’t know.Delegate your online marketing to anexpert and you’ll succeed. Do it part-time or hire a hobbyist to do it, andyou’re setting yourself up for failure.”

Most body shop owners will admitthat they just don’t have sufficient timeto do marketing.And that’s whyMirza-ians knows the game plan when itcomes to getting shops customers viaonline, he said.

“Our job is to educate the bodyshops about how to leverage theirpresence online. A shop can have abeautiful Web site with all the bellsand whistles, but if no one can find it,what good is it? The bottom line isthat the phone needs to ring. You canhave an award-winning site, but ifyou’re not attracting customers, whocares?

Auto Body Guru is associatedwith all the big names in the WorldWide Web, Mirzaians said. “We part-ner with Google, Yahoo! and bing andare Google Adwords Certified Part-ners, Yahoo Ambassador ProgramMembers and MSN AdExcellenceMembers. These Certifications allowus to provide the best Pay Per Clickmanagement and setup options to ourclients. The partnership with Google,Yahoo! and bing as trusted dataproviders allows us to provide en-hanced Local Search (SEO) and mapsoptimization services.”

“These are the worldwide power-houses of search and we have great re-lationships with all of them,” Mirzaianssaid. “I tell shops that we’re working

with the leaders, so if they’ll give me atleast 2-3 months to help them, they’llstart to see tangible results.”

Auto Body Guru can help bodyshops to wean themselves off the costlyyellow pages and jump into the onlineworld at a very reasonable rate, Mirza-ians said. “The yellow pages are dying,because people are now using theircomputers, cell phones and GPS de-vices to find businesses. We can sign ashop up quickly and affordably, with-out contracts, setup fees and per clickcharges. 65% of users search online forauto body services and that number willincrease each year, we believe.”

One of the main advantages of on-line marketing allows shops to attractcustomers from a wider geographicalrange, Mirzaians said. “The great thingabout the auto body business is that

your core service requires you to com-municate with your customers consis-tently. This means you are notrestricted to one distinct location likethe traditional brick and mortar busi-ness. In fact, it’s not unusual for autobody companies to service a 50+ mileradius. This extended service radiusmeans you potentially have a largerpool of customers to capture. PPC(Pay Per Click) Marketing is the per-fect method to instantly tap into thatpool of customers. Especially since itallows you to geographically targetyour specific area so that your ads willbe displayed to customers online.”

Auto body customers usually havea sense of urgency when they are look-ing for repair services online, Marza-

ians said. “In a typical scenario, theauto body customer is likely to be doinga search on the side of the road on theirphone or at home after an accident sothey can quickly get their car back onthe road. The most powerful real estatefor auto body companies is in the firstpage of Google, next to the map andcomplemented by sponsored links formaximum online exposure.”

Being patient while building anonline presence is key to his program’ssuccess, Mizraians said. “With anymarketing campaign you’ll have togive PPC at least a month to properlytest its effectiveness. Start with a smallcampaign and a modest budget to buildand test the campaign. Be prepared tospend time and learn from the resultsyou find with each different ad andmake changes on weak campaigns.”

Body shops have embraced thesearch expertise implemented by AutoBody Guru, getting outstanding resultssince signing withABG. One of Mirza-ians’ first customers was his father,who has owned American Eagle AutoBody in Los Angeles for 12 years. Infact, one of the main reasons why Ronygot into the Internet marketing field ini-tially was to help his dad in generatingleads for his shop, he said.

“In ’07-’08, when the economystarted to limp along, my father cameto me and asked me to help him withhis marketing. Like many other shops,he had no idea where to start. So, I de-signed a Web site for him ratherquickly, to get him in the major searchengines, primarily Google and Yahoo.In our first month, my father’s shop gotthree new jobs from being on the firstpage of Google next to the map, whichequaled $14,000 in revenue. Since then,he’s experienced a consistent response.Unlike the yellow pages, his Internetmarketing efforts have paid for them-selves and now they generate a profitevery month.”

Rooben Mirzaians has experiencedan ongoing improvement in his busi-ness via the Internet since he startedwith his son’s program 2.5 years ago.Now he knows exactly how many leadshe gets each month from the SEO heand Rony strategized, he said.

“It does work,” the seniorMirzaianssaid. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries andthey’ve lead to a considerable amount ofrepair jobs.We used the yellow pages formany years and it was very expensive.The Web site and the search approachgets the phone ringing, and then it’s ourjob to get them to come here. Once theyalso see our feedback online, people willdrive from all corners of L.A. County tocome here. Once they feel confident andsecure about us, they don’t mind travel-ing to get their cars fixed.”

Joe Merdkanian, owner ofEurasian Coach Works in West Holly-wood, recently contracted with ABGand he’s already seen some significantactivity based on the search strategiesthey devised for his shop, he said.“We’ve been with ABG for a fewmonths and we’re still tweaking andlearning the program. They put myWebsite together and it was so fast I wasamazed.

Auto Body Guru Helps Body Shops One Click at a Time

The Auto Body Guru crew includes (from left) Senior Sales Executive Jonathan Johnson, Sales ExecutiveIgnacio Juarez, Operations Manager/Social Media Expert Nikki Pope, Owner Rony Mirzaians, Director ofSearch & Pay Per Click Young Chu, Customer Service Manager Frank Perez, Sales Executive Josh Shipley,Local Search & Google Maps Tech Gary B. and Social Media Manager Lilit K.

Body Shop OwnerRouben Mirzaianshas experienced anongoing improvementin his business viathe Internet sincehe signed on withhis Rony’s programwith Auto Body Guru.

6 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

Shop and Product Showcase

Utah’s Unique Auto Body Voluntarily Picks Pro-Spray’s H2O WaterborneJeremyWeller, owner of Unique AutoBody, started painting cars in his early20’s, and he’s now 39, so he knowswhat he’s talking about with paint.Weller’s two shops in the Salt LakeCity area in Utah paint an average of10–12 vehicles daily, so he needs apaint system that provides accuratecolor matching with consistent qualitythroughout. After a decade of beingwith another paint company, Wellermade the switch to Pro-Spray’s water-borne product—and it’s decision he’sextremely enthused about.

“We’re getting exceptional colormatches with Pro-Spray that we could-n’t achieve before,” Weller said. “Wedidn’t feel like we were getting all ofthem 100% with our former paint sup-plier, so we started looking around.Getting away from the solvent as ourmain paint was a key move too.”

Unique Auto Body has now beenusing the Pro-Spray waterborne prod-uct for a year and a half and the newpaint is already a welcome productionpartner.

Pro-Spray’s color matching capa-bilities has alleviated stress in both hislocations, Weller said. “I don’t have toworry about showing a customer a carin the right light anymore. These dead-on color matches have built a sense ofsecurity with my painters, because wecan now match these colors every sin-gle time.”

Unique Auto Body’s two locationsemploy 25 people, including four sea-soned painters who know the scorewhen it comes to producing cars at arapid rate. Weller saw that his paintersinitially bucked the change to the Pro-Spray H2OWaterborne paint, but werequickly onboard and using the newpaint enthusiastically.

“They saw the benefits and that’swhat motivated them,” Weller said. “Ifwe can get a better finished product, it’sa big plus. Painters are very focused ondoing the best job they can, and if a cer-

tain type of paint will help them dothat—they’re excited.”

Both shops still use solvent-basedpaint for older vehicles, but everynewer car that comes through thedoors is painted with Pro-Spray H2OWaterborne, Weller stated. “We’reusing very little solvent right now and

we’re going to phase it out eventually.It’s a convenience issue right now, butwe’ve had such a great experiencewith the waterborne paint that wewant to use it to be as our sole paint.”

The changeover to waterbornemet with some hesitation amongst his

painters initially, butin the end Pro-Spraywon them over, Wellersaid. “Painters arecreatures of habit.They were a little stub-born and reluctant tochange, but in the endit’s been better for

them, because now they don’t have tobreathe in all that solvent all the time.You can smell that solvent 100 yardsaway and you can’t even tell that thiswaterborne is in the room most of thetime. It’s a huge bonus for my painters,because they’re now happier and if Ican provide a safer working andcleaner environment for them, it’s agreat thing.”

Weller didn’t switch over to water-borne because he had to in order to ad-here to local laws, because Utah doesn’trequire the use of waterborne paint. So,why did he do it?

“The color matching aspect of thePro-Spray initially attracted us to theproduct, because we saw that thematches were so superior and that the

depth and the intensity of the finishedproduct looked so amazing that it be-came a no-brainer.”

Eventually, Unique Auto Bodyembraced the Pro-Spray H2O Water-borne for its earth-friendly aspects aswell, Weller said. “We figured that ifwe can get proactive in this thing, why

not? We’re getting better results, so ifwe can help the environment at thesame time, let’s do it.”

Has the conversion to waterbornehelped his business overall, AutobodyNews asked Weller. “Yes, I hear ourcustomers commenting about the wa-terborne all the time. People in this areaare into being green and we promotethe fact that we use the waterborne. Ifwe can position ourselves in a betterlight by using the Pro-Spray product,it’s well worth it. There are only a hand-ful of body shops using waterborne inthe Salt Lake Valley right now andwe’re proud to be one of them.”

Pro-Spray’s Western Regional USSales Manager, Paul Reid, has seenmore shops switching to waterborne inareas where the laws haven’t yet re-quired them to change over to lowVOCs yet.

“It’s a new movement that we’reseeing more and more,” Reid ex-plained. “I’ve converted at least 50body shops outside of regulated areas

within the last year orso, and I’m starting tohear that more shopswant to convert all thetime. Green is a hugeissue and it’s going toget bigger, becauseshops can get bettercolor matches from our

products and the finished paint jobs aresuperior overall.”

According to the company’s Website, Pro-Spray® H2O WaterborneBasecoat consists of 70 pigment-rich,shake-and-pour toners formulated usingadvanced European technology to de-liver quick coverage, precise colormatch, superior metallic orientation,

easy blending and fast dry times, sav-ing body shops time and money.

Pro-Spray waterborne paint is partof a complete line of low VOC auto-motive surface preparation products,undercoats, primers, clear coats, thin-ners, activators and ancillary productsbacked by user-friendly color formulasoftware, technical support and water-borne conversion, color theory andpainter refinishing training.

Weller’s painters were trained byPro-Spray’s experts and were using theH2O Pro-SprayWaterborne within oneweek. “Jim Wallace was the technicalrepresentative from Pro-Spray and hecame down here and took us through allof the steps in a very clear and logicalprocess. Paul Reid was also very in-volved in the training. We were up andrunning right away and they keptchecking in with us to help us further. Ifwe had questions, they were right thereto provide answers. They made thetransition problem-free and that was ahuge plus.”

Weller had to invest approximately$4,000 in equipment as part of thechangeover to waterborne, but he sees itas a modest expenditure that will rap-idly pay for itself. “We had to purchasesome new fans for improved air move-ment and then my painters had to buynew guns, but other than that, that’s allwe had to do. For what we’ve achievedhere, this was a very small investment.”

Reid is happy every time when hesees that a new one of his customers hasstepped up to make the sage move towaterborne.

“Jeremy is a former painter, so heknew what he was getting with thePro-Spray H2O Waterborne product.He’s also a very hands-on owner, so hegot right in there with his painters.

“... more shops [outside of regulated areas] want to convert allthe time. Green is a huge issue and it’s going to get bigger, be-

cause shops can get better color matches”—Paul Reid of Pro-Spray

Unique Auto Body embraced Pro-Spray’s H20 Waterborne product to ac-cess its color-matching capabilities

Between its two locations in the Salt Lake City area of Utah, Unique AutoBody paints an average of 10–12 cars daily

Quickly and fairly easily, Unique’s painters were upand running with Pro-Spray’s H2O Waterbornepaint

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Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 7

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LKQ operates from nearly 300 facili-ties nationwide and surpassed $2 bil-lion revenue in 2009. It’s an enormouscompany that could potentially burnmany unneccesary thousands of dol-lars on fuel and electricity everymonth. But, by staying ahead of thegame in its pursuit of ultimate green-ness and sustainability in parts recy-cling, LKQ has quickly become aleader in re-using, remanufacturingand recycling everything it can whileusing fewer of the world’s natural re-sources in the process.

LKQ is a recognized leader in re-cycled auto parts and uses environ-

mentally friendly business practicesand while recycling 492,000 vehicleslast year. That is equivalent to recy-cling about 540,000 tons of steel,47,000 tons of aluminum, and 13,000tons of copper, according to the com-pany’s web site. Through its opera-tions, LKQ helped to reducegreenhouse gas emissions by over890,000 tons, which is about the sameas the annual emissions of a city ofabout 82,200 people.

“In addition, LKQ recentlypartnered with the Arbor Day Foun-dation to give its customers and any-one else interested in helping theenvironment an additional way to begreen in the company’s LKQ GetGreen promotion, which ran fromApril 22 to June 30 of this year. To-gether with its customers, LKQ wasable to plant a forest at the conclu-sion of the program.”

Paul Shaw is LKQ’s Central Re-gion Vice-President, overseeing Col-orado, South Dakota, Nebraska,Western Iowa, Western and SouthernMissouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas,Northern and Western Louisiana.

Autobody News recently talked atlength with him about the latest devel-opments in his region. One of his re-sponsibilities is to see LKQ and

Keystone become greener, as part of anongoing, proactive journey for theworld’s number one auto parts recy-cler.

Shaw’s job is a huge undertakingas he oversees 34 LKQ and Keystonerecycling salvage yard locations, twowheel plants and six bumper recy-cling facilities. More than $300 mil-lion in annual sales comes out of hisregion, making it a significant part ofthe overall LKQ picture, which con-sists of nearly 300 facilities nation-wide.

In the newest facility in Houston,Shaw oversees a mega-warehouse that

acts as anLKQ after-market facil-ity, a bumpermanufactur-ing facilityand a full re-cycling facil-ity all underone roof.

ABN: Fuel conservation is an ob-vious step to improve greenness. Whatare you doing to make your trucksmore fuel-efficient overall?

Shaw: The first thing we do is up-date our fleet regularly. A majority ofour newer trucks are equipped withidle shutdowns, depending on eachstate’s requirements.

For example, in Texas we havelaws that only allow 10–15 minutes ofidle time. Cutting down on idle timecan save a good deal of fuel while ben-

efiting the environment. Texas is start-ing to implement many of the laws thathave been in effect in California foryears, so that helps us to stay on top ofthings and keep things in perspective.

We also mandate our employees, evenin areas where we do not have thoselaws, that they shut up their vehicles.We started implementing that severalyears ago when fuel went up to $3–4per gallon. That can re-ally start to sting whenyou consider how muchfuel we use as a com-pany.

One way we are try-ing to be more fuel-effi-cient is by re-using fuelon the Keystone side.Were-use all of the fuel thatwe pull from recycledvehicles and use it atmany of our locations.

This has been verycost effective for us and in some caseshas provided enough recycled fuel tosupply the entire fleet in certain mar-kets. We feel that if we can run on free(recycled fuel), we will obviously gothat route because it not only benefitsour company, but also the environ-ment.

ABN: What other methods areyou using with your vehicles to savefuel?

Shaw: We changed all of ourforklifts to electric, and all of the newforklifts we put into our newest facil-ities are all-electric. We also buy gas-powered forklifts where we can, sothat we can re-use our recycled gas inthose forklifts while saving propane.We’re also always updating our oldervehicles to get better mileage. A lot

of our old box trucks didn’thave the proper wind deflec-tors on the front, so we addedthose to many of the oldtrucks. Then, we started ana-lyzing gear ratios on many ofour semis and the drive trainsthey use. You can change outthe ratio of a semi and save$20,000–30,000 annually infuel just by altering the ratioof a tractor trailer.

ABN: Have you altered yourdistribution strategies over the years tosave more fuel that way?

Shaw: We are constantly lookingat our truck routes to save on fuel andto cut back on our trucks crossing

paths. We started doing this severalyears back when fuel prices were skyhigh. It made us stop and take a longlook at our truck routes. We put a GPSsystem on each truck for a week at a

time to map out each route. We thencompiled the data to show the mostcost effective routes and to ensure thatour trucks were not crossing pathswhen they did not need to. The nextstep we took was to combine LKQ andKeystone routes where it made sense.With the information from the GPSand the combination of LKQ and Key-stone routes, we were able to change60% of our routes to be more cost ef-fective and fuel efficient in Dallasalone. Our ultimate goal is to not havemore than one truck going to the samelocation.

ABN: Adaptability and constantchange seems to be the norm in pursu-ing the newest technologies to achievecomplete greenness.

Shaw: Absolutely. Technologyis a rapidly evolving industry. Whatwe did last year is already outdatedtoday. My regional managers meetoften to discuss the changes in tech-nology and ways to make our re-gion more green. By staying on topof the newest technology advances,we can use that to our advantage tobenefit our company and the envi-ronment as a hole. One of our mostrecent advances is the opening ofour first green warehouse in Wi-chita, Kansas. Some of our cost ef-fective areas of that warehouseinclude the heating system, sky-lights, motion sensor T5 lights, andthe ventilation system. The energycosts associated with this ware-house are exceptional.

LKQ is Fueling Smarter to Expand its “State of Greenness”

LKQ’s enormous warehouse in Houston, Texas has received multiple accoladesfor being a mega-green facility

Storing recycled fuels extracted from salvaged vehiclesfor re-use is an integral part of the whole green plan atLKQ

LKQ makes being green a priority, by leading the way in re-using,remanufacturing and recycling 492,000 vehicles annually

Shop and Product Showcase

8 AUTOBODY NEWS | Shop and Product Showcase

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Imagine it has just rained. There arepuddles on the ground, and everythingis coated with droplets of water. On acool, overcast day with no wind, thatwater will take quite a bit of time to dis-appear. Now imagine the clouds partand the sun emerges. Those puddleswill evaporate faster, right? Now whatif a stiff breeze kicks up. That waterwill be gone pretty quickly. Everyoneknows if it’s hot and windy, a puddle ofwater will be evaporated a lot fasterthan if it’s cool and still. This is thesame principle that gets applied when

we’re talking about curing and dryingthe latest in advanced waterbornepaints.

Naturally though, things get a bitmore complicated when we’re talkingabout drying paint under very con-trolled conditions, such as those on anautomated finishing line, or in an auto-motive body shop. Modern coatings areincredible examples of chemical engi-neering. They can be designed to with-stand the harshest of conditions, whilemaintaining their desired appearancemuch longer than coatings of the past.However, in order to achieve the bestpossible results with these coatings andmaximize their effectiveness, they needto be applied under very specific envi-ronmental conditions. This is where themodern paint booth comes in.

Modern paint booths contain moretechnology than most people would ex-pect. Gone are the days of the simple‘big metal box’. New paint booths aredesigned to provide not only a betterpainting environment, but also a moreefficient working space for the painters.Things like automated temperature con-trol and shadow-free lighting make thepainters’ job easier than ever. Yet thereis no one individual factor that can besingled out as the key to working withwaterborne paints. It’s the combinationof several technologies that allows youto effectively spray and cure most wa-terborne paints with maximum results.

Going back to our ‘rain and puddle’analogy, the two things that are ab-

solutely essential when we’re dealingwith waterborne paints are heat and air-flow. Granted, you CAN cure water-borne paints without extra heat oraccelerated airflow, but it’s inevitablygoing to take much longer. This is notsomething most modern businesses are‘okay’ with. After all, why spend moretime when you can spend less? This iswhy it’s so important to make sure thatyour booth is set up properly for water-borne.

First, let’s talk about heat. Thereare two basic types of paint boothheaters: Indirect-fired and Direct-fired.With an indirect-fired air heater, the gasburner is built inside a large metal drumwithin the heat unit. The burner heatsthe drum, and as the air moves over thedrum it becomes hot before it is forcedin to the cabin. The inherent ineffi-ciency in this design is the drum itself.Since the drum needs to be heated firstbefore the air can be heated, indirect-fired heat units take much longer tocome up to optimum temperature whencompared to the direct-fired variants.

Direct-fired heaters utilize a muchsimpler and more effective heat-trans-fer design. In these types of heaters, theburner is placed directly in the path ofthe moving air. This allows for nearly100% of the heat generated by theburner to be transferred directly in tothe air. The result is much better heat-

rise, and lower gas consumption overthe duration of the paint process. Di-rect-fired heaters are generally acceptedas the more effective and efficientchoice for modern paint booths, espe-cially when dealing with waterbornepaints.

The second part of the heat issue iscontrol over the temperature itself.Every coating has unique curing anddrying properties. Different paints canrequire a higher temperature for less

time, or a lower temperature for moretime, or even different temperaturesover the course of one cure cycle. Thesetemperature variances can be a night-mare for the painter if they have to doeverything manually. This is why somepaint booth manufacturers have devel-oped pre-programmed control panelsthat are specifically designed to auto-mate the drying cycle. Some of themore advanced control panels are pro-grammed for specific brands and mod-els of coatings. This programmingsimplifies the operation of the booth byallowing the user to push a single but-ton to begin the cure cycle, and thebooth does the rest. Automatically con-trolling the temperature of the air basedon the pre-determined times in the curecycle. This allows for the fastest dryingtimes by using the best possible curecycle for that specific paint, and givesmuch better consistency with each fin-ished product.

Next, we’ll look at airflow in thepaint booth. While simply increasingthe CFM of air moving through thebooth does give some improvement inthe drying times, the key thing to re-member here is that we don’t necessar-ily just want MORE airflow, but whatwe do want is SMARTER airflow.What we mean by smarter airflow ismore control over the airflow in thecabin. This is accomplished in twoways: with variable frequency drivesand with an accelerated airflow system.

Variable frequency drives (VFD’s)are electrical control units that are inte-grated in to the heat units to provide en-hanced control over the motors. VFD’sregulate the flow of electricity to themotors, and allow the motors to run atany speed, from 1% to 100%. Typically,electric paint booth motors only oper-ate at 100% speed, which requires me-chanical dampers in order to control theairflow generated by the fans attachedto the motors. By utilizing VFD’s, themotors can be adjusted to any speed inorder to control the airflow, which dras-tically reduces energy consumptionsince the motors are only spinning asfast as they need to at any given time.This control over the motor speed al-lows virtually infinite adjustments tothe air speed in the booth, allowing theoperator to customize the air movementfor optimum performance.

Accelerated airflow systems arevery common in modern auto bodyshops, and are becoming more preva-lent in industrial applications as water-borne coatings become more popular.These devices can come in several dif-ferent forms, including hand-held com-pressed air blowers, simple fans, ormore advanced booth-mounted airblowers. Regardless of the type of ac-celerator equipment, the concept re-mains the same: increased airflow onthe painted surfaces. There are two rea-sons that this increased airflow is im-portant: Heat stratification andlow-pressure micro-climate.

First, let’s explain heat stratifica-tion. This is basically a fancy word for‘layering’. We all know that warm airrises, and that in any paint booth, the airnear the ceiling will be warmer than theair near the floor. This causes the uppersurfaces of the painted object to dryfaster than the lower surfaces. Acceler-ated airflow systems are designed tomix up the airflow in the booth andforce more air on to the painted sur-

faces. While some systems focus air onspecific spots for smaller jobs, the moreadvanced systems will turn the wholebooth in to one big convection oven.This allows for the heat to be distrib-uted over the entire painted object, andprovides much more even and consis-tent curing results.

Next, when we say ‘low-pressuremicro-climate,’we’re not talking aboutthe weather. This refers to the way theair moves over the surface of an object.As air moves over an object in a linearway, even at high speeds, there is a bar-rier of slow-moving air between the fastmoving air stream and the painted sur-face. This barrier or ‘micro-climate’ is alow-pressure area that acts as a buffer,preventing the water or solvents in thepaint from being drawn out, thereforeslowing the drying process.

Understanding the Basics of the Waterborne Paint BoothShop and Product Showcase

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 9

by Ed Attanasio

An essential piece of equipment canmake or break any company. If a bodyshop has problems with a lift or a paint

gun, it can slow down their productionsignificantly. That’s why Rod Salas,owner of an airbag mobile servicecompany in Southern California,knows that his scanners have to workon every service call or he’ll lose timeand of course, money. That’s also whyhe said he’s happy to use scannersmade byAutoland Scientech, a world-wide leader in diagnostic tools since1990.

Salas, 46, has been working in theairbag industry since 2000, and in2003 he started Airbag Tech inDowney, CA, servicing all of Los An-geles County. It’s a small companywith two vans and several on-call part-time employees, including his son RodJr., 20, but the company is busy evenin a recession, he told Autobody News.

Half of Airbag Tech’s clients arecollision repair companies and most ofthe time the body shops Salas worksfor require either troubleshooting or di-agnostics to re-set airbag lights beforethey can complete the repair and returnthe vehicle to the customer, he said.Car dealers and individuals who findhim on the Internet make up the re-mainder of his business, Salas said.

In the beginning, body shops in

L.A. weren’t getting involved with in-stalling airbag systems, Salas said.“They would call me and say can wedo an installation or come in to seewhat this vehicle needs. We would

give them a list and they would buy theparts, so they could make some money.And then we’d come back and do thework. Now, to make more money,body shops are doing their own instal-lations themselves, but sometimes theymake mistakes. That’s when they callme and I’ll either service the airbag,perform troubleshooting and/or do thediagnostics to find the problem andclear the light.”

It’s always about the light, Salasexplained.” 99% of the time the lightis on and they don’t know why. Mostof the time it’s the last thing they’vedone and they’re in a rush to get thevehicle ready for the customer. So, Iget down there as fast as possible,half-hour to 45 minutes most of thetime, to check those codes and dowhatever I need to do to get the jobdone. That’s why I have the Au-toland scanners, because they workwell for almost all of the cars we en-counter.”

Salas was initially introduced toAutoland’s scanners a decade ago, hesaid. “When I started working for anairbag company ten years ago, Ibegan to use one of Autoland’s scan-ners and I learned how to use it very

quickly. The technology was a lot dif-ferent back then and it was a littleblack scanner that would just read thecodes. We had to look up the codesand figure out what the problem was.

“So, when I started my own busi-ness, I invested in all Autoland scan-ners,” Salas said “First I had theiSCAN and then later I got the iSCANII. Ease-of-use and great coverage—those are probably the best thingsabout these scanners. I have someother companies’ scanners, but they’reonly for backup purposes. I use theiSCAN II for pretty much all the cars Idiagnose. When it comes to Honda,Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo andBMW, the iSCAN II is the only one Iwill bring with me to the customer’sshop.”

Was his investment in his Au-toland scanners a good one, we askedSalas. “They’ve paid for themselvesmany times over by now, definitely. Itcost us roughly $6,000 for the iSCANand the package that comes with it, butit also includes a great warranty andsoftware updates as long as we havethe device.”

Salas is obviously enamored withhis iSCAN scanner, a tool that he canuse to make money on a daily basis,but he also values the thorough supportthatAutoland offers him, so that he can

make sure his device will work welleven under heavy usage, he said.

“They can train you how to usethese scanners over the phone. One ofmy part-time guys learned how to op-

erate the scanners in less than one day.It was a very simple step-by-stepprocess and they make it very easy tounderstand. Also, I can get my iSCANII updates downloaded directly overthe phone every 3-4 months free forthree years. The support offered byAutoland is very good and we’renever worried about getting stuck outin the field without one.

Richard Zenteno, the MarketingDirector for theAmericas forAutolandScientech U.S.A., said he has recentlyseen a movement throughout the coun-try in which body shops are usingcompanies such as Airbag Tech toclearing codes and servicing theirairbags.And many shops are also buy-ing Autoland scanners themselves todo all their diagnostics in-house, hesaid, to retain more control of the re-pair and capture more revenue in theprocess.

Autoland Scientech was founded20 years ago, developing engine ana-lyzers initially, Zenteno said. “We’vebeen doing something right in thisbusiness for two decades to be aroundthis long.We’re leaders in this area andour excellent reputation is the result ofhard work.”

Zenteno has seen body shopsthrive in the world of diagnostics byembracing his company’s line of scan-

ners, he said. “The iSCAN II is a multimake scan tool that offers comprehen-sive coverage ranging from engine,transmission, ABS and most impor-tantly airbags.

Mobile Airbag Company Relies on Autoland Scanners

Rod Salas relies on his iSCAN II to run Airbag Tech, his LA County-based mobile airbag repair andservice company

The software in with Autoland Scientech’s iSCANII system supports 40 OEM manufacturers

Shop and Product Showcase

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Shop and Product Showcase

Italy makes amazing race cars (Fer-rari), top-tier watches (Bulgari) andluxurious shoes (Gucci) and they alsomake some of the finest air compres-sors on the planet, respected by autobody and mechanical shops through-out the world.

Mattei’s General Manager JayHedges knows air compressors insideand out after two decades in the indus-try. He’s been with Mattei for nearlythree years, overseeing North Ameri-can Operations for the company thatdeveloped the first rotary vane com-pressor in 1958.

For nearly a century, Mattei’s ma-chines have been in use worldwide forindustrial and automotive applications.Body shops throughout North Americahave embraced the company’s rotaryvane compressors because they’re moreefficient and durable than comparableproducts on the market, Hedges said.

Mattei was founded in 1919,when a young Italian Army Engineernamed EneaMattei, started exploringthe compressed air industry, an indus-try that hadn’t even been fully bornyet. In 1934, he invented the world’sfirst portable air compressor and aftermany years of growth and technologi-cal advances, his namesake companybecome a leader in the world of com-pressed air technology.

Hedges cited several reasons forMattei’s success worldwide: “We de-veloped the technology, so we’re in agood position. Recent patents generatedby our research & development depart-ment are evidence of our drive to con-tinually exploit proprietary vanetechnology and advantages. Collisionrepair facilities benefit from the per-formance and efficiencies of our rotaryvane compressors versus traditional ro-tary screw compressor systems. With afocus on both current and future com-pressor models, Mattei will reducemaintenance and energy costs while de-livering ever increasing efficiencies.”

Mattei’s compressors are sold inthe U.S. exclusively through distribu-tors and a handful of re-sellers, such asKeystone Automotive and a network of200 independent distributors through-out the country. Big collision chainsthat currently use Mattei’s compres-sors include Caliber Collision andCook’s Collision, Hedges told us.

“Big collision chains are attractedto these rotary vane compressors be-cause they can save a lot of moneythrough the machine’s ability to con-serve energy and the low maintenancerequired. Large companies want a reli-able compressor, that when routinemaintenance is performed by qualifiedtechs it will not cause unscheduleddowntime. Any equipment failurecosts you money, but when your com-pressor is down you are essentiallyshut down. It’s obviously critical foroperational consistency. It’s rare for acompressed air user to have 100%back-up air compressors at the ready.Therefore, corporations can’t toleratea compressor failing. Whether you’re

fixing 50 or 500 cars monthly, thecompressors in any size shop must bereliable because if they go down, itwill obviously affect their production.”

Cubic feet per minute (CFM) isthe key power rating when it comes tocompressors and Mattei’s rotary vanecompressors lead the industry in thatregard. “More air with less energy;that’s our reputation and we are proudof that. Our machines produce moreCFM per horse power than any otherrotary or piston compressor on themarket. This is one reason why ourcompressors are great, because theyrepresent a value for body shop ownersand that’s why they’ve been a big suc-cess in the collision industry as awhole.”

Mattei’s rotary vane compressorsare more efficient than screw rotarycompressors and deliver 90%mechan-ical efficiency, according to Hedges.“As the speed decreases, the compres-sor’s efficiency increases, offeringstraight-line energy savings,” he said.“And they’re more durable, becauseour vane compressors are designed forlow speeds and long life and backed bya revolutionary 10-year warranty. Ourvanes are designed for 100,000 hoursof service without bearing changes orrebuilding an airend, twice the life ofmost rotary screw compressors. Theyjust don’t break down, because theyfeature direct drive and in-line opera-tion, while using fewer moving parts.”

Mattei’s Optima Series is ideal forhigh-volume body shops, according toHedges. “The variable speed feature ishighly coveted by collision repaircompanies because they will optimizeenergy savings for collision facilitieswith varying levels of plant air de-mand. One of the best things aboutMattei’s vane technology is that thismachine has no ball or roller type bear-ings because there is no thrust loading.Thrust bearings are subject to B-10and L-10 design life considerationsand the thrust forces deteriorate thosebearings making them the most-com-mon parts to fail in rotary screw com-pressors. This is a big deal.”

Dan Wittenberg is the generalmanager of Keystone Automotive in

St. Cloud, Minnesota. He has seen aspike in popularity of Mattei’s rotarycompressors within the last few years,and he tells us why: “We’re seeingmore body shops in our region makingthe transition to using waterbornepaint, and these Mattei rotary air com-pressors are ideal for waterborne, be-cause they provide more airflow. Plus,they’re greener overall when com-pared to piston-type compressors.They will shut down automaticallywhen demand for air drops so it won’tpump air all the time. A smaller shoprequiring intermittent usage is a perfectapplication for a Mattei rotary com-pressor.

“It’s easy to operate and maintainand the new computer-based rotaryvanes are on the technology’s leadingedge,” Wittenberg said. “The threemajor advantages of the Mattei rotaryvane compressors over the rotaryscrews are: 1) They cost less to oper-ate, because the motors will run less.With the cost of electricity, this is a bigdeal for a body shop watching its bot-tom line and 2) Durability—the rotaryvane compressor will last longer and itcan handle any amount of usage youcan throw at it. 3) They’re quieter thanany other compressor on the market.You can stand right next to this ma-chine and have a conversation, whichis a breath of fresh air, that’s for sure.”

Wittenberg and Keystone per-formed extensive product researchwhile looking for a better air compres-sor and he discovered that Mattei’s ro-tary compressor is the best on themarket, he said.

“We always do our homework be-fore we take on a new product, and theMattei was a no-brainer. Keystone hasbeen researching products for 85 yearsin this industry, so we know what ourcustomers want. The Mattei rotary isin the big leagues and the package isvery reasonable, so we’re excited to becarrying them.”

The extensive support and hands-on service provided by Mattei is an-other big plus of working with aleader,Wittenberg said. “The customerservice is exceptional. When we callMattei for any reason, we get a well-trained individual on the phone and thefollow-up is the best we’ve encoun-tered.

Mattei: Over Seventy-five Years of Compressor Leadership

Mattei’s General Manager Jay Hedges showing body shop owners the company’s products attheir Collision Repair Compressed Air Training Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Shop and Product Showcase | AUTOBODY NEWS 11

Shop and Product Showcase

Bob Birkhauser, owner of AEGISTools International, has 34 years expe-rience in the automotive glass industry,as a second-generation owner/opera-tor/product developer whose fatherstarted an auto car glass specialist com-pany 48 years ago.

“My parents started their auto glassbusiness in 1961 and I became anS.O.B. (Son of the Boss) after I gradu-ated from University of Wisconsin in1975,” Birkhauser said. “My dadwanted me to commit to the familybusiness, so he made me sign a five-year commitment agreement. I neverlooked back or hesitated for a minute.”

In 1982, Birkhauserinvented the firstAEGIS windshieldrepair system forAuto Glass Special-ists, Inc., to be usedin his family’s chainof auto glass installa-tion centers head-quartered Madison,Wisconsin.“In the earlier daysof this industry,windshield repairwas an emerging

service available primarily from repair-only franchises. Viewed as a seriousthreat to the auto glass replacement in-dustry, windshield repair reduced the de-mand for replacement and directedreferrals away from replacement shops.”

Never slowed by a challenge, theBirkhauser family decided to offer re-pair as an additional service, but neededhigh-quality tools without franchisefees. Within a short time, the AEGISwindshield repair system was designed,tested and awarded two patents.

Over the years, AEGIS designed in-novative glass installation tools and re-finements to the windshield repairsystem. In 2005, the Birkhausers soldthe Auto Glass Specialists installationcenters to Belron North America but re-tainedAEGIS Tools International, whichis now a separate corporation.

“AEGIS Tools International Inc. is asmall, family-run business still located inMadison,” Birkhauser said. “AEGIS toolsand equipment are sold worldwidethrough a network of distributors and ourWeb site. Our specialties are in custom-configured windshield repair kits andtools tomake glass installations safer andmore efficient. Constantly innovating, astaff engineer brings new ideas from con-cept to design, while a talented group ofcustomer/field testers assist us in makingour tools themostwell-designed in the in-dustry. Most of our components aremadein the Upper Midwest and assembled atand shipped from our Madison produc-tion facility.”

In 1990, Birkhauser became presi-dent of AEGIS Tools and assumedcomplete control of the company whenhis father retired several years later. Thecompany is flourishing today, withseven employees and selling more than1,000 repair windshield kits annually,he explained.

It’s a worldwide business today,Birkhauser said. “Half of our business isinternational right now. We’re currentlyselling to 50 countries and growing this

rapidly expanding market,to shops and wholesale dis-tributors in South and Cen-tral America, France,Germany, Netherlands andsections of EasternEurope.”

AEGIS Tools sellsprimarily windshield tools,repair kits and related com-ponents. Since opening itsdoors more than threedecades ago, AEGIS hassold its products to morethan 17,000 auto glassshops, Birkhauser said.

AEGIS Tools has designed many ofthe most popular auto glass repair sys-tems in themarket today, Birkhauser said.

“Auto glass techs from all over theworld provide us with valuable feed-back, telling us what products wantmanufactured and how these tools can

be designed or re-designed in order tomake their jobs easier,” he said. “We tapinto our customers’extensive knowledgeregularly and it makes for better tools.”

AEGISTool’s windshield repair sys-tems are the company’s largest sellers,

Birkhauser said, popular with auto glassshops, collision repair facilities, new cardealerships and wholesale distributors.

The company’s newest leadingproduct is the patented dry vacuum-hy-draulic pressure system forAEGISwind-shield repair, featuring the QuikSilverTechnology, which allows repairs in aslittle as five minutes, Birkhauser ex-plained. Dry vacuum allows all moisture

and air to be evacuated from the break,while hydraulic pressure forces resincompletely and quickly into the break.

One of Birkhauser’s main goals ishelping auto glass companies doing abetter quality job by using superior

products and bettering ef-ficiently, ergonomics andoverall safety, he said.

Even with bettertools and training in 2009,there are still a wide rangeof safety and quality is-sues in this industryBirkhauser said.

“I would guess that80 percent of the same types of mistakeshappen when auto glass work is per-formed,” he said. “Some errors are small,but others are significant, but we don’thave any sympathy for companies whotake shortcuts using inferiormaterials andengaging in unsafe practices. If you vio-late the standards, you’re running a riskof giving the customer an unsafe prod-uct.”

AEGIS Tools Innovates Windshield Repair Systems Worldwide

AEGIS Tool’s staff assembles one of the company’s patented windshieldinstallation tools.

AEGIS Tools headquarters is located in Madison, Wisconsin.

AEGIS Tools OwnerBob Birkhausergrew up withinhis family’s autospecialist business,starting in 1961.

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