Trained to Win
Training can teach your staff to be more productive, more loyal and more responsive to customers – making your shop more profitable and your job much easier. Why, then, do collision repair shop owners – and other American business owners – commit such little money to such a big issue?
A Not-So-Sticky Subject: Adhesives
When ancient Egyptians boiled animal hides to make glue, they had no idea how far modern chemistry would take adhesives. Today, two-component epoxy, urethane and acrylic glues are being used as structural panel bonding adhesives – and OEMs have given their stamps of approval.
The Shop in the Middle of Nowhere: Tyler, Pa.
Cataldo’s Collision Service
Door Skin Installation: A Bonding Experience
While some OEMs have been bonding door skins for more than eight years, the repair is just now becoming an accepted practice in body shops. In fact, with the products and procedures available today, technicians can duplicate the same type of adhesive bonding that’s being used on door skin panels from the OEMs.
Taking the Pain Out of Glass
These days, automotive glass serves a bigger purpose than simply keeping bugs out of a driver’s teeth. Some passenger-side airbags depend on the windshield to act as an integral part of the system. With such a critical repair at hand, proper glass replacement is of the utmost importance — but isn’t nearly as complex as you might think.
The Heat Is On: Infrared Equipment
Since the average body shop paints an entire vehicle just 10 percent of the time, it makes sense to focus your energy — and that of your curing system — on only the areas refinished. How? Infrared equipment can be applied just where and when you need it, helping to increase your shop’s efficiency
Halfway Around the World in One Article
After BodyShop Business’ roving reporter Mike Lawrence returned from his two-day, 17-country whirlwind trip – in which he studied collision repair markets around the globe – he determined that while each country’s market is unique, it also sounds strangely familiar.
Fill In The Blanks: Correctly Using Fillers
Today, fewer panels are repaired and more are replaced. Likewise, gone are the days when shops used entire 5-gallon pails of body filler weekly to avoid doing metal work. While today’s fillers are used in smaller volumes, a wider variety of styles can provide just what you need — if you know how they work, which to choose and how to use them properly.
The Dirt … On Dirt
Is contamination in your paint jobs a common occurrence? It shouldn’t be. If you identify all the potential sources of contamination, you’ll find that painting isn’t such a dirty job after all.
More Than a Metal Box: Today’s Spraybooths have Evolved into More than Simple Square Boxes
Because all the high-tech options can be hard to choose from, it’s important to know which ones best suit your shop and your budget. If you spend wisely now, you can avoid paying dearly — in redos and unexpected bills — later.