Erie-LaSalle Body Shops principals Bob, Jim and Jay Gottfred, announced the addition of a third location in the Chicago market. Erie-LaSalle is a family owned and operated multi-shop repair center founded in 1934.

Erie-LaSalle’s new facility is located in the River West neighborhood of downtown Chicago. It will be the first shop in the United States to employ the Symach European repair process. This process integrates precise scheduling, repair planning, state-of-the-art repair and refinish procedures, enhanced by patented gas catalytic [Drytoronic] robotic drying.

The 12,000 s/f shop plans on producing 65 vehicles per week which will be fully automated with the Symach Fixline system consisting of a conveyer-type production process and five robots. These robots drastically reduce drying times of all substrates, body filler, primer, paint and clear, guaranteeing rapid cycle delivery time and a flawless finish. In addition to the Fixline system, a dedicated “FixStation” will be employed to be able to complete three to five smaller express repairs per day. This can offer customers one-day service.

“This is the first body shop we are implementing in [the] U.S. market,” said Osvaldo Bergaglio. “I have personally projected the shop considering efficiency, quality, volume of production and aesthetic design, my international team will install and will do training for four or five weeks to all the staff and managers of the new shop, giving Bob, Jim and Jay the guarantee of success.”

Bob Gottfred added, “We have always prided ourselves in being a leader in the latest technology in our industry. When we decided to open another repair facility we wanted to offer our clients and insurance repair partners something better –something no one else had offered, providing the very finest in service, speed and accuracy. We feel both our internal [employee team] and external customers deserve the very best. We have dedicated ourselves to invest more to give more.”