USI US Blog
THE IMPORTANCE OF PAINT ON A FORMULA 1
Less weight, more performance. We explain why in Formula 1, it’s vital to make the car as light as possible, while ensuring the reliability and integrity of its components.
Formula 1 is a very competitive sport, so saving even a single kilo can affect performance, reducing lap times by a few hundredths of a second. Therefore it is clear that in a race that can be won or lost by thousandths of a second, even reducing weight by one kilo can make the car significantly more competitive.
This year’s technical regulations mandate a minimum weight of 746 Kg. All teams try and get as close as possible to this figure, because the lighter the car the faster it is. Work is carried out in all areas when it comes to materials used, to keep weight down while not compromising safety and reliability. Over the years, weight saving has come from the type of materials used as well as the manufacturing process itself, with truly exceptional results.
Painting a road car usually involves between 2.5 and 3 kilos of paint, while a Formula 1 car requires just 1.5 kilos. Today, thanks to constant research in this area, the figure is getting even lower, so that the amount of paint required is really very small, which produces a clear weight saving. The paint not only affects the weight of the car, but also its aerodynamic drag coefficient (Cx.) Apart from being light, the paint must also be efficient at dispersing any dirt that gathers on the car surfaces such as wings and other aerodynamic elements, thus altering their profile and performance.
Partnership USI Italia by Scuderia AlphaTauri
At Scuderia AlphaTauri we are constantly carrying out research into the best technologies to make the paint process more efficient and very quick. To produce the totally original shiny and matte blue and white livery for the new AT01 for example, we use a type of spray booth called Chronotech, supplied by USI Italia. Matteo Melegatti, its Managing Director describes its paint system thus: “The system is powerful, efficient and flexible, the best in its field and the fact we are supplying Scuderia AlphaTauri only serves to reinforce our belief in this. USI Italia is proud to supply the team’s paint shop.”
“Present day Formula 1 calls for a constant reduction in lead times for production and it’s important to work with suppliers that provide us with the best possible technologies,” explained Roberto Azzani, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Industrial Director. “Painting our cars is an important part of the production process: the finish has to be of the highest standard and the work must be carried out to a very tight timeframe. We are pleased to be working with a company as experienced and competent as USI Italia to improve the quality and efficiency of the process, thus ensuring optimal performance at all times. Thanks to the effectiveness of their equipment, the team has definitely taken a significant step forward.”
The AT01 blue and white colour scheme has already attracted plenty of attention from the fans and has even been voted best livery of the year in a recent poll on the Formula 1 website, taking over 40% of the votes. The AT01 is ready to kickstart the new AlphaTauri era, beginning with the 2020 Formula 1 season’s opening round, the Austrian GP to be held at the Red Bull Ring on 5 July.
THE 4 STEPS TO EFFICIENT SCALLING
Just about every company can agree on one thing — more revenue is always a good thing. The only problem is that scaling revenue is challenging and scaling it efficiently--with minimal cost--is even harder.
Not all growth is created equal. Gaining more customers won’t benefit you much if you had to skyrocket your costs to do it. Scaling efficiently means increasing revenue with relatively little increase in cost.
The key to scaling efficiently is finding ways to optimize the resources you have to increase revenue with minimal cost. The internet has changed the way business is done.
However, with all this change comes difficulties. The internet has raised customer expectations. The increased communication and transparency that the internet allows means that customers expect hyper-personalization regardless of the size of the business. This may be possible for a small business with just a few clients, but personalization gets harder the bigger you get.
The 4 Steps to Scale
Scaling your business efficiently is like directing a symphony with a hundred different musicians. Every part of your company needs to be working harmoniously, communicating, and driving your company towards the same goal.
Efficient scaling comes down to having 4 things:
• The right information
• The right technology
• The right workflow
• The right team
INFORMATION
Efficient scaling requires strategic direction, which is built on the right data and information. It requires detailed customer data, competitor data, and metrics on every part of your revenue team to know what is working and what could be improved.
Wasted time and increased costs, make it difficult to quickly make the correct strategic decision. You need all of your data organized and in one place, and this is where having the right technology can help.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology is key to scaling efficiently. Having the right tools to automate daily tasks, collect and organize data, and help your teams communicate and make decisions is often the difference between a company that simply grows and one that scales.
Beware though, the wrong tools, or too many tools that don’t communicate with each other can end up costing you more time and money than they save. So, don’t just go out on a spending spree.
WORKFLOW
With new information, new technology, and a new plan, you will need a new process. The workflow that a team of 10 might use won’t work for a team of 100. Scaling requires streamlined organizations and efficient communication.
You will need to come up with a clear, organized workflow that clearly defines everyone’s role, and makes use of every tool at your disposal.
Take time to build these processes early. The longer you wait, the harder it is to shift the culture of your company.
TEAM
The last aspect of efficient scaling is having an excellent team. Improving your tools and processes will help, but if you don’t have a team that is trained and capable of taking advantage of those new changes, then you’ll be leaving profits on the table.
Everyone wants a team of all-stars, but more importantly, you need a team that works together and communicates excellently and efficiently.
Take time to invest in hiring the right people and training them to excel in their roles.
ENORMOUS MSO BELIEVES IN USI PAINT BOOTHS
When anyone has a technical question for No. 1 Collision regarding any piece of equipment from a car rack all the way to a paint booth, they ask Facilities and Equipment Manager Milford Cumberland is the person to ask. At the age of 66, he is the old wise man that holds the cards and is the information gatekeeper on every facility, as well as all of its training, tools and equipment.
One of Cumberland’s job at No. 1 is overseeing the acquisition, installation and ongoing maintenance for 18 USI Italia booths. It’s an enormous investment that keeps paying for itself over and over again, and as a result, Cumberland is likely North America’s #1 expert about these Italian-made high-end spray booths.
The No. 1 Collision Centre in Richmond, British Columbia invested $19 million in an impressive 70,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art location on two acres that is over the top in every way. “We call our facilities the superstars of the industry and our largest one definitely has that ‘wow’ factor,” Cumberland said. “Other shops and many of the OEMs request tours of this shop all the time and fly here from the U.S. and Europe just to see what we’re doing. When they see a dozen USI Chronotechs here set up side-by-side and full of high-end luxury vehicles, they are impressed, no doubt.”
If you walked into any of the No. 1 Collision locations, you’d find primarily Teslas, Land Rovers, Jaguars, Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, Audis, Volkswagens, MINIs, Ferraris, Maseratis and even a few Rolls Royces being repaired. Certified to work on this impressive assemblage of 10 OE certifications, No. 1 Collision works hard to stay current with the training and equipment required to make this list.
CEO Rob Walker and his brother COO Scott purchased a shop in 1993 and today No. 1 Collision repairs a total of more than 1,0000 cars every month. The Walker Group of Companies have built an impressive business that includes four collision centers in Canada and one in the U.S.
This MSO has invested approximately $1 million in its USI booths after acquiring their first one in 2009. When it comes to acquiring any tools, equipment or training, Walker isn’t afraid to pay for value,
“We learned rather quickly that trying to cut costs isn’t the best way to go,” Rob Walker said. When we started looking at paint booths, we realized that the European ones were superior and that USI was the best. Our Chronotechs are like BMWs while some of the others are more like KIAs. We will never buy another type of paint booth, because these have proven to be superior across the board. The technology is unmatched with incredible lighting, better air movement and sturdy construction.”
Cumberland agrees with Walker and is more than willing to expound on the capabilities and advantages of using USI booths, he said. “We are very impressed with the USI direct drive system and their powerful motors, and everything is tunable on-site. Some paint booths contain cheap components and in the end they’re nothing more than just cargo boxes with lights. A great booth is something you can install and then not worry about it for 20 years and that’s what we have with USI.”
Whenever he purchases anything, Cumberland makes certain that the support that is both accessible and accountable. “We made sure that the support from USI was going to be strong, and that was one of the many things we considered before acquiring the booths,” he said. “At the very beginning, all of the USI people gave me their phone numbers, which has turned out to be a real blessing. They’re very responsive and you can tell they love what they’re doing. When I call them, especially their tech people, they are more than willing to answer all of our questions. We can’t afford to be down at any time if we want to maintain our reputation. I tell people the sign says No. 1, not No. 2.”
“I always tell people that to succeed in this industry, you should never skimp on things such as air compressors and paint booths,” Cumberland said. “We’ve been very fortunate with USI and now they’re an integral part of everything we do here.”
When it comes to maintenance and upkeep, Cumberland has a huge calendar that tells him what to replace and when with every USI booth. “With 18 of these babies, we have to stay on top of it, so that they will perform at a high level all the time. With USI, we don’t have to replace the filters or the intake and exhaust cubes as frequently as we would with another brand, which gives us another advantage over the competition.”
.jpg)
PAINT BOOTH MAINTENANCE
Paint booths are one of the biggest investments that an owner or shop manager will make in his or her shop. It is also one of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in a collision repair shop.
Continuous usage can cause wear and tear on the booth if it’s not properly cared for.
Improper paint booth care can contribute to costly downtime, hazardous working conditions and increased cost of repairs. A poorly maintained paint booth also won’t yield the best results, which can lead to dissatisfied customers, add to your cycle time and take away from the bottom line. In order to keep your paint booth in excellent shape for as long as possible, proper and continuous maintenance is key.
MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
In order to ensure your booth continues to operate in peak condition, maintenance needs to occur on a regular basis. To establish a maintenance schedule, it is best to refer to the maintenance schedule provided by the booth manufacturer. The schedule should provide guidelines for how often to inspect, clean and replace key components of your booth, such as filters.
BOOTH CLEANING
The interior of the paint booth will collect overspray over time. For better quality finishes and safer working conditions, regularly clean the booth walls and floors. Maintaining the cleanliness of the floors and walls of the booth is important to keep dirt and dust out of the paint job — for better quality finishes and safer working conditions.
On a daily basis, the floors should be swept while the booth is in operation, unless it’s a completely grated floor. As needed, booth walls can be cleaned with a soft cloth dipped in a soapy water solution or weak detergent solution.
Booth protection products — such as floor paper and Booth Shield peelable booth coatings — are a simple way to protect your booth surfaces and prevent overspray buildup. Once soiled, these products can be quickly removed and reapplied. Another paint booth floor product that helps to trap dust and overspray is the Pig Grippy Mat. This durable, padded mat can be vacuumed daily to remove contaminants.
FILTER CHANGING
One of the critical tasks in your maintenance schedule is regular filter changing. Filters should be changed regularly to ensure your booth continues to run properly and to prevent damage to the fan and other booth components. Clogged filters will also slow down airflow, allowing dirt and dust to collect in the booth.
When determining how often to change your filters, look at your booth’s work hours, as workload may change from week to week or season to season. Depending on your booth and filter, exhaust filters should be replaced at around 50-100 work hours.
In addition to intake and exhaust filters, you may also have filters in your air heater or control panel. Make sure that you’ve identified all of the areas in your booth where you have filters and continually monitor and replace them as needed.
SERVICE AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
An easy way to stick to a regular maintenance schedule and ensure your booth stays in peak condition is to take advantage of preventative maintenance and service programs offered by paint booth manufacturers and your local distributor. These programs can be customized to your needs and may include just-in-time filter replenishment and replacement, booth cleaning, peelable booth coating application, complete diagnostic checks and emergency service.
Some programs also include weekend and after-hours service to fit within your shop’s schedule and reduce downtime. Preventative maintenance programs can save your business a significant amount of time, hassle and costly repairs down the road.
BEST PRACTICES
To improve the quality, efficiency and longevity of a paint booth, shops must follow industry best practices and adhere to the recommended maintenance schedule. An easy way to keep your booth clean is to prevent dirt and dust from your shop from entering the booth. Reducing the number of contaminants in your booth can result in higher quality paint jobs, less rework and increased filter life.
The following are a few tips that will help reduce contamination in your booth:
• Keep the product doors shut at all times, except when bringing in a vehicle or parts to be painted.
• Turn the booth on when bringing vehicles and parts into the booth.
• Make sure the vehicle is completely blown off and tacked before bringing it into the booth. Also, use a tack rag on the air hose before bringing it into the booth.
• Store necessities, such as tack rags and tape, in clean storage containers, like a magnetic storage box. This allows for the items to be within reach without collecting overspray.
• Limit traffic in and out of the booth during spraying. A rotating booth access table can be used to easily move premixed paint and other supplies between the mix room and paint booth.
• Do not sand inside the booth.
• Wear proper attire — including a painter suit, hood, mask and lint-free, nitrile gloves — at all times when inside the booth.
USI BOOTHS ALLOW SHOP TO PAINT ONE MORE CAR DAILY
With a product he can believe in and a distributor he can rely on, Owner James Aurora at Sonny’s Collision Specialists in Ozone Park, NY is happy with his four spray booths made by USI ITALIA and delighted with Centerline Spray Booths his jobber in Amityville, NY. These are relationships built on trust and accountability and one of the main reasons why Sonny’s two locations are hitting their numbers each and every week.
In addition to owning and operating Sonny’s, Aurora and his partner Jack Bonventre have Northside Auto Body in Poughkeepsie, NY, a 45-year-old business that also features two USI booths. It’s all about family when it comes to the two shops, with Bonventre’s son Anthony managing Northside and Aurora as a third-generation owner whose grandfather started the business in 1946.
Aurora’s UTI Chronotech booths are designed specifically to work with waterborne paint Sonny’s was the first shop to spray waterborne paint in the State of New York in 2007 for all the right reasons. “There were a lot of good reasons for us to switch to a waterborne product,” he said. “It’s obviously better for the environment, but it enables us to minimize waste, dial in better color matches with better coverage and quicker flash times,”
Two of Aurora’s best business decisions are the fact that he never signed up for a DRP and the acquisition of USI spray booths. “There have never been any questions about the quality and construction of the USI booths because fuggedaboutit. We got our first USI booth in 2001 that was more conventional and then another one in 2017 with all of the bells and whistles. We now have four USI booths total, with two at each location, and older model and a newer one and it works out well. That original booth is almost 20 years old and it’s still going strong. I call in Old Faithful!”
With the newer USI booth, Aurora and his painters use their EPS system to determine every parameter of every paint job. “The painters love it because it strips all of the guesswork out of the process,” he said. “Plus, with their turbines, we never have to worry about getting all of the water out of the paint. You won’t ever need any additional air flow with a USI booth, and you can take it to the bank.”
Depending on how much technology you want, there are three different configurations available, including DYNAMIC featuring DGTouch Lite control panel; ELITE featuring DGTouch control panel and SUPREMACY with DGTouch, EPS and DGT Manager software.
“We use every aspect of the software and love it,” Aurora said. “We can control the temperature; the lights and we know precisely how much power we’re using at any time. We get detailed reports that we can analyze and decide where we can improve and be more efficient.”
When Aurora began searching around for new booths nearly two decades ago, he was persuaded to go with USI for many reasons, including a cultural connection to the equipment. “Yes, I like the fact that they all are made in Italy. I’m Italian and I know from experience that Italy makes the best food, cars, music and art—and of course, paint booths!”
John Chiafair is the owner of Centerline Spray Booths, a company that represents USI and helps Aurora when called upon even though issues are few. He’s knows USI Chronotechs inside and outside and that’s why he loves recommending them, he said. He has seen a lot of shops in the New York area using USI’s DGTouch and DGT Manager to control everything completely. That means they receive precise data on their energy consumption in real-time for each job, including time reports for the single phases, operators and pieces.
Top-notch support and service from USI is a no-brainer for Aurora and his staffs at both Sonny’s Collision Specialists and Northside Auto Body and that’s why they expect it. “Back in the old days, the paint booth companies had zero customer service,” he said. “They would sell you the equipment and then told you good luck, knock yourself out. The support team at USI is amazing, they know their products inside and out and they’re passionate about it.
In the end, the numbers tell all and when Aurora looks at his, they have to smile. “We know that by using these booths, we are painting one more vehicle every day from each location. That’s more than 100 cars every year, which is outstanding.”
Looking back at his relationship with USI, Aurora gets that warm and fuzzy feeling. “I tell people that if you don’t have a good paint booth, you’re in trouble. Every car that comes in here has to go through a paint booth, so it’s a big deal. It’s a big part of our production and definitely one of the reasons why we’re still here after 74 years.”
MIKE'S AUTO BODY HAPPILY INHERITS USI BOOTH AT NEW LOCATION
When Mike's Auto Body, a Northern California Multi-Shop Operation with 16 locations, purchased an existing shop in Alameda, CA they were delighted. But, when they discovered that the shop was already using a USI Chronotech spray booth, they were even more excited.
Fixing cars to their pre-accident condition since 1972, Mike Rose and his family has built Mike’s Auto Body into an organization that is well known for being an outstanding business partner in every city where it serves the public.
Formerly known as Alameda Classic Collision Center, a restoration/collision shop that was opened in 2007 by CJ Miller, Mike's Auto Body acquired the business earlier this year. Taking over a body shop and instituting their company culture is not always an easy task, but Mike's Auto Body has been doing exactly that for many years. By stressing quality and retaining many of the existing employees at each location, the company has succeeded with every acquisition.
Having the right tools and equipment helps and that's why the shop's Manager Lester Branson values the shop's Chronotech paint booth, manufactured by USI North America. "We've been pleasantly surprised by how this booth performs and what it has enabled us to achieve," he said. "Its design is pretty amazing and the technology is second to none. When our painter starts the job, he knows the spray time and the curing time exactly and that has really helped our production and the shop's flow. We came in here and started using the booth immediately and haven't stopped since. We have had zero comebacks and been able to adhere to our company motto, 'Where Quality Counts!'"
With 13 employees operating out of a 13,000 sq. ft. facility, Mike's Auto Body in Alameda is repairing approximately 100 vehicles monthly as Branson learns the area and the market. "We anticipate growing every month, so we need to be able to accommodate the increased volume," he said. "That means we need to rely on the booth to hit those numbers month after month. It's going to be asked to perform without any issues on a daily basis and we're confident that it's going to handle the load, because it's well-built and designed to withstand heavy use."
Branson sees a great future for the new location and their USI Chronotech. "You just punch the parameters into the computer and it spells everything out for the painter," he said. "As our volume increases, we know that we can handle the work without sacrificing any of the quality we're known for. When it comes to a booth you just want to let it do its job, because there are so many other things going on here all the time. As our painter learns more about the booth and becomes even more comfortable using it on a daily basis, he will be even more effective and a valuable member of the team."
Head Painter Ismael Acosta is a new hire at Mike's Auto Body but has a total of 15 years of experience in the collision repair industry. He has used a wide range of different paint booths over the years and USI is at the very top of his list, he said. "This booth has made my life a lot easier in many ways, so that I can spend more time concentrating on other things," Acosta said. "I have only been using it for a short time, and I'm learning more about it every day. The application process and the curing process are totally different and they're saving us time."
Curing the cars with their USI paint booth has allowed Mike's Auto Body in Alameda to save significant time and helping to cut down on their cycle time. They have been operating at approximately 80-82 degrees but can do a max bake at up to 194 degrees if needed.
"The car comes out of the booth and we go right to re-assembly," Branson said. "We never have to use blowers, because the air movement in that booth is incredible. With other booths I've worked with in the past, we would sometimes have to wait a full day for the car to dry completely, but with the USI booth we're able to start working on it immediately. We haven't had to polish a car since day one and that's pretty incredible."
The shop's former Owner CJ Miller is happy to know that his business is now in good hands and part of that is the fact that they're using the USI booth he purchased in 2017. "I'm so happy that Mike's acquired Alameda Classic Collision and my employees feel the same," he said. "I've been in this business since I was 16, washing cars for my father, so it's been a great journey and now I am looking for my next opportunity. I'm confident that the shop will succeed, because they have the right people, tools and equipment to get it done."
BATTLE BORN AUTOBODY GOES FOR QUALITY AND LONGEVITY WITH USI ITALIA BOOTH
A former painter, Co-Owner Peter Sadabseng at Battle Born Autobody in Carson City, NV knows that if he wants to expand, he will need to use top tier equipment and products to achieve his lofty goals. A hands-on owner who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to succeed, Sadabseng acquired a USI North America drive through spray booth for a wide range of reasons and growing his business was a huge part of it.
"Every year, we grow more and we want to continue on that same path," Sadabseng said. "By acquiring this amazing booth from USI, we are moving in that direction. We have only used it for less than six months now, but we can already see that this is going to enable us to get to the next stage. It's all about excelling and working to get better all the time and providing a superior finished product that both our customers and the insurance companies will rave about."
After working at another shop in Carson City for several years, Sadabseng got his brother Phouvay and two other associates partnered to open up Battle Born Autobody in 2013, he said. "For many years, a good friend of mine Terry Layland kept telling us that we should open our own shop. So, when we finally decided to go ahead, he was happy to invest in the company. We also brought on Steven Olivas, a body man onboard, because I had worked with him before and knew he was very talented. All four of us are hands-on owners and that's why we step in whenever needed."
Battle Born Autobody is now repairing 35-40 cars weekly and flourishing in a small town with only 7-8 other collision shops in town. "I grew up here and know all of the other shops," he said. "We are competitors, but we also work together, because there is enough work to go around. To differentiate ourselves from the other shops, we have to stand out in the area of customer service. That's why we are able to receive a ton of 5-star reviews on social media and get a lot of referrals as a result."
For many years, working with the local new car dealerships in Carson City has helped to improve the bottom line at Battle Born. "We are very loyal to the dealerships, because they brought us a lot of business when we started. We do a significant amount of their lot work and repair cars that get damaged while being transported. They also refer us to their customers all the time and that's why we always come through for them, because without them we wouldn't be here."
When Sadabseng began looking around for a spray booth, he only seriously considered two companies, but after seeing the USI North America booths in action, it was an easy decision, he explained. "We called our paint distributor, and they told us about USI. We flew out to California, and once we saw a few demonstrations, we were immediately sold. We watched two painters painting a car together inside the USI Chronotech, one on each side of the vehicle, and not one drop of paint got on either of them. So, we could see that the air movement was incredible and that's why we never need blowers with this booth."
Battle Born is saving time and money with their USI booth, which makes it a win-win situation across the board for this busy shop. "We're saving time when it comes to baking these cars and that is going to really help us even more when we grow this business," Sadabseng said. "In addition, we are saving money on our gas bill with the Chronotech, which is huge. The efficiency of this booth is impressive and the support that we've receiving from USI is outstanding."
By using USI's online support system, the shop is able to stay up and running all the time and rolling along at a steady rate. "We have only had to use it once or twice and each time the solution was easy and straightforward," he said. "Instead of waiting for someone to come here and figure it out, they helped us online and ten minutes later we were back up and running."
Phouvay, the shop's head painter has quickly embraced every feature of their new USI booth, including the Easy Paint System (EPS) that automates every aspect of each paint job. "He loves it," Peter said. "The EPS controls the entire painting process, so we don't have to guess. Once we enter the information, the system goes for the most efficient process with each vehicle, saving us time, money and product. Phouvay started using it immediately and wouldn't want to do it any other way now. As the collision industry changes, we need to be on the cutting-edge to stay competitive and grow and our new USI booth is doing exactly that."
.jpg)
MAACO STEPS OUT OF THE BOX WITH ITS FIRST USI ITALIA PAINT BOOTH
Operations Manager Joe Naulty oversees four MAACO locations in Central Florida for Frank Furino. They plan to open at least two more centers in the central part of the state and to provide top quality paint services to their customers. To accommodate this expansion, Naulty and his team acquired a USI North America Chronotech spray booth for its location in Rockledge back in May and are already huge fans of the company and its products.
Naulty knows the paint world well, after working as a Representative for 16 years for DuPont (now Axalta) and covering a huge territory that included everything east of the Mississippi and Puerto Rico. He has worked in the MAACO chain for many years as a manager before getting hired to his current position roughly two years ago. Over the years, Naulty has seen literally every type of spray booth in existence, so when he started looking for a new one, he knew what he wanted.
"I've sprayed in every type of booth you could dream of--you name it," Naulty said. "Whether it is a downdraft, cross draft, semi-down, blow-up booth, homemade with curtain walls--I've been there and done it. I trained painters for many years in all kinds of booths and I can safely say that USI North America makes the finest booths on the market. It's unlike anything I've ever seen!"
When he was working for DuPont, Naulty trained a lot of paint technicians at new MAACO locations, which gave him a good look at the operation and its strengths, he said. "I ended up working for Frank my #1 customer and I haven't looked back since," he said. "At MAACO, we do a lot of spot work and get our fair share of full paint jobs and once they see our quality, they come back. When they get into collisions, they bring their cars to us and with a large customer base, we're busy the majority of the time."
After taking proposals from several booth companies, they chose USI North America for several reasons, primarily quality and cleanliness, Naulty said. "This is by far the best booth we've ever used at any of our locations and I would put it up against any other booth in the state without a doubt. The paint jobs we're getting are by far the best I've ever seen. If there is any dirt in that booth, it's coming off my painters, because it can't get in through the outside. That saves us money and time and the finished product is spectacular. When the customers come here to pick up their vehicles, it's fun to watch their ex<x>pressions."
Installing the USI Chronotech in a small 5,000 sq. ft. facility looked daunting at the outset, but by designing the booth to fit within a limited space with some smart engineering and help from the USI team, everything came together rather nicely. "A typical MAACO location is normally 10,000 sq. ft., so this was a challenge from the beginning," Naulty said. "It was a unique situation, but we got it done and it works beautifully now. Our goal here was to be able to focus more on painting newer, higher quality cars and doing the collision work and that's exactly what we're doing with this amazing USI spray booth. We're filtering all of that type of work here and it's working out well.
"With other paint booths, you get a lot of vibration and when the paint builds up on the fans, it starts falling off into the booth and on the cars," Naulty said. "Every little piece of dirt falls into wet paint. But, with this USI booth, all of the mechanical moving parts are separate, so that all that enters the booth is air from the top. There are no belts, so the electric motors are connected directly to turbines, so there's no slippage or vibration. There are four bag filters outside and more filters in the floor that protects our investment. This booth provides us with so many levels of filtration--nothing ever enters that booth that we don't want in there."
One of the great benefits of the way the booth operates is the fact that Naulty does not have any problems with emissions, he explained. "We don't have little paint particulates flying out of our stack, which is instrumental. We've got five other retail businesses on this lot, so we can't afford to have things like overspray and paint smell out in the air. No one can believe that we're painting cars here at this location, because everything is captured with the filtration and through engineering."
Naulty has made a lot of sage decisions in his career, but purchasing a booth made by USI North America is right at the top of his list. "We're painting several cars every day out of our Chronotech and if we do our job right, everything goes seamlessly. We're now considering USI booths for our new locations after seeing this one performing so incredibly well."
5S WORKPLACE ORGANIZATION METHOD
WHAT IS IT?
5S was developed in Japan and was identified as one of the techniques that enabled Just in Time manufacturing.
Basically, 5S describes how to organize and lay out a space for maximum efficiency and effectiveness by identifying, sorting and storing the items used, and maintaining the area and items to help sustain the newly organized areas.
The basis for 5S lies in “Kaizen”, or the process of continuous improvement. Every process you perform can be improved upon, and the resulting gains will translate into the end product.
There are five 5S phases. They can be translated from the Japanese as "Sort", "Set in order", "Shine", "Standardize", and "Sustain".
Central to its success is the focus placed on waste, in all its forms. By minimizing wasted movements, wasted space, wasted time, waste in general, quality and efficiency will improve.
Working on a car is similar to 5S. You have to use all five of the basic principles: sort, set, shine, sustain and standardize. A neat, well-organized environment is more conducive to performing quality work than an unorganized one. It also is better for morale, and will net you higher CSI scores, and ultimately higher profitability.
Don't be afraid of 5S, embrace it. Your business and your customers will be much better off for doing so.
What does 5S stand for?
1. SORT: Separate out what is needed for the operations and remove the unneeded components.
2. SET: Set in order, or organize the work area. Make it easy to find what is needed. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
3. SHINE: Clean the work area. Make it shine.
4. STANDARIZE: Establish schedules and methods of performing the normal tasks of the operation in general, cleaning and sorting.
5. SUSTAIN: Implement programs to sustain the gains through involvement of all employees from every level.
Let's break down each of these 5S basics and get an idea of what they mean in a collision shop setting.
SORT
Do you have a few extra sheet metal pieces lying around that you know as soon as you toss them you will need them? The same ones you have thought that same thing about for the past five years? Most shops do.
Go through your entire shop, and get rid of all the stuff that you don't need and don't use.
Look at what you need to perform your service. You are going to gain lots of extra room by doing this without adding on to your building. Take this step seriously because it will affect all the others that follow. Keep only what you truly need and use.
SET
In this step, you will begin to organize the shop for maximum workflow. You need to organize the entire shop area, and put it in its proper place.
Work stalls, departmental areas, tool storage areas, even where the brooms are kept, should all be designated and marked. This step will take a little time, and a lot of involvement by your people. When equipment is used, it needs to be returned to the proper place, and be in the same condition it was found in before being used.
Simply lining the floor to clearly delineate work space will create less chaos and improve workflow. You can take this step to the extreme if you want. Remember, these methods are not only for the shop, but for the office as well.
SHINE
The floors, walls, equipment, spray booth, virtually everything must be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis. You have to initiate a culture of clean that everyone in the shop is involved in and buys into.
It is a body shop, and body shops generate dirt. It is possible, however, to minimize the mess by being aware of your surroundings and by making an effort to keep things clean.
Initially, you may have to keep on top of the worst offenders, but with some words of encouragement you can generally make sure everyone knows you want and expect them to respect the shop and keep it clean. If needed, set up a reward system to get everybody to buy in.
STANDARIZE
From the front office to the wash bay, every process you do in every department and facet of your shop should be outlined and written on paper.
Create a standard inventory list for your allied materials: sandpaper, glues, primers, masking papers, etc. so that everyone is using the same products to repair your customer's cars.
Your quality will be much easier to maintain if everyone is using the same repair process and same set of materials. Dropped-off vehicles should have a standard process that is followed by the office staff on every occasion.
Every person in the repair process should have a job. Again, you can take this step as far as your imagination can take you by outlining even the smallest and seemingly most insignificant process. I would suggest at the very least you:
• Outline the standard paper workflow in your office from estimate to repair completion.
• Outline the workflow in the shop from the way work is handed out to the final clean up, including quality control inspections at regular intervals.
SUSTAIN
Once all of your improvements have been put into place, they have to be maintained and stay in place.
The key to success here is to take small steps in several of the other processes, and add to them once they have become part of the daily routine for your people.
.jpg)
USI BOOTHS HELP FLORIDA SHOP TO SAVE TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY.
Rich Lendino is the head painter at Martin's Collision Center in Sanford, FL, a company that also owns and operates its sister location, Sanford Body & Paint. In many ways, Lendino was born to be a painter and knew early on it was the right path for him to take.
"I painted my first car, a Ford Escort, when I was 13 years-old and after that I was hooked," he said. "My dad was an insurance adjustor in New York where I'm originally from, and we spent a lot of time together out on the road, visiting shops. I started working at a shop as a cleanup guy and then one day a painter didn't show up for work, so I got my chance. They had me doing cut-ins and then after a few weeks they stuck me in the booth and said go at it and I haven't stopped painting since."
When Lendino started in the industry 23 years ago, there were a lot of veteran painters out there, but now many of them have retired and there aren't enough new people to fill the void, he said. "If you're a young person and want a great career, this can be it, because you can make good money and a decent painter will always be employable. We have people here who started out as drivers and preppers and now they're painters. My advice is to develop an eye for detail; stick with it and be passionate about whatever you're doing and you will succeed. Get the training from the old school guys the way I did. You can spend hours and hours in a classroom, but the best way to learn is by doing it yourself in the booth with a good teacher and that's why I'm a huge believer in hands-on training."
Lendino played an integral role in finding his company's new booth when their former booth was ready to be retired. "When I first got here, we had a few older booths, but the owner Dave told me that we were going to be getting new booths within two years," he said. "Sure enough, about two years later, he asked me to start calling booth companies and talk to all of the manufacturers. We met with the reps and went to local shops to see each booth in action. USI North America has a great reputation for making the ultimate spray booth, and we were immediately impressed by their durability and construction, not to mention all of their high-tech features."
At a shop that fixes more than 150 vehicles every month, Lendino needed more than just one booth, he needed a system and USI helped him to fulfill all of his specific needs, Lendino said. "USI allowed me to setup the booths the way I wanted them, including the lighting packages and several other features that are ideal for our production process. One of our USI booths is a Chronotech (14' x 30'), so I can fit dualies and larger trucks in there with an upgraded lighting package including corner lights. My other booth is a double booth (26' x 27') where we can do even larger jobs. We have a curtain in the double booth, which means that we're never limited by space, because we can paint three cars at the same time if we're really busy."
USI North America's EPS System is saving Lendino a lot of time, which is so important to any high-production shop," he said. "Per vehicle, we're saving roughly 25 minutes every cycle, which is definitely significant. Essentially, you enter the job's parameters in the system and it tells you the best way to paint the car."
In Florida, one of the most humid states in the country, a booth's airflow is vital, especially for a shop that sprays a waterborne product. "I hate those standup blowers and I'm so happy that we don't ever need them with our USI booths," Lendino said. "A lot of other booth manufacturers want all these fans and blowers all around, and all they do is really just spread dust throughout the booth. The great thing about these booths is that they accelerate the cure cycle and it cures the paint through proper airflow, which is all you need with water. It allows me to get the cars in and out of the booth faster and I never have to worry about whether they're dry or not--it's not even an issue."
Backed by strong support and customer service from USI North America, Lendino knows that when he encounters any issues, he will get prompt and precise answers every time. "Chris is our technical guy and he has the ability to diagnose any problem remotely, which is a big deal. He can get into our system and diagnose the situation without having to come here. He can guide me through things and educate us and get us back and running right away. If there's an issue that we can't solve that way, they send me the parts the next day and we never miss a beat."
MSO BELIEVES IN USI ITALIA SPRAY BOOTHS FOR THE THIRD TIME
When you get a piece of equipment that allows you to excel, you stick with it and attain more if you can. And that's why Carubba Collision in New York recently acquired its third USI Italia spray booth after acquiring its original two booths starting back in 2017. This MSO has been relying on its USI booths at its West Syracuse and Utica locations for more than a year now with great results, and that's why the company purchased its third booth for its Olean location recently.
With 18 locations spread out across New York from Buffalo to Syracuse and including Oneonta, Amsterdam, Elmira, Utica and beyond, Carubba Collision has been serving the collision repair needs of the Empire State for more than 60 years. Established in 1955, Joe Carubba’s father started the business, and today it is the largest MSO in New York as it enters its third generation.
After its first two USI booths proved themselves time and time again, Carubba added its third booth to tap into all of the product's myriad advantages. It all starts with the world's fastest painting cycle, with the shortest flash-off and curing times on the planet. Designed specifically to be used with waterborne products, USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time, energy and money while painting more cars with precision performance.
By featuring shorter curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by USI's patented Turbofan system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional, according to Carubba's Assistant to the President/CEO Randy Pinkowski. With USI's exclusive air recirculation system Carubba is getting fantastic results and will never need additional gadgets in their booth, such as blowers, IRT or compressed air heating systems.
Carubba appreciates all of the cutting-edge technology that is in every USI spray booth and happy to be tapping into it with his third booth. The entire painting process is controlled and fully automated through USI's patented Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out of the process, because with every cycle, the EPS suggests the most efficient process with each vehicle in real-time and enables Pinkowski's crew to obtain the highest quality results in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
One of the main reasons why Pinkowski purchased his third USI booth was the fact that the company provided the same top-notch support and follow-up that he received after acquiring his first two booths. “The people at USI were very knowledgeable and willing to do anything to help us with the first two booths, so purchasing this third one was a very easy decision," he said. "We knew what we were getting and that made it a no-brainer." Pinkowski now relies on his newest USI spray booth every day and is confident that they will be called upon to handle heavy loads as time goes on, as well as making his shops more profitable, just like what the first two have achieved.
“Right now, we’re using these spray booths to save time and money," he said. "We save time because we're painting the vehicles more quickly and we never get comebacks because the quality is exceptional. In addition, we use less energy, and our painters are comfortable using these booths.
Our USI booths outperform all of the other booths we own, mainly because of the way they work.
This means that we get more productive hours out of them while improving cycle time and increasing our profitability.” Currently, Pinkowski has two painters at each of his three locations that are using the USI Italia spray booths. "Even our new painters were able to get a feel for these USI booths quickly and have mastered the ins and outs of them fast," he said. "I’m fairly certain that none of our painters had used this type of booth before. It was all new to them – how it worked and what it does differently – but they adapted very easily.
At this point, we’ve done three hands-on training sessions with USI, in which the painters actually get to paint something and learn the process from start to finish. The first time, they worked on a bumper and then once they gained some confidence, they got to do complete jobs.”
Pinkowski is impressed with the team at USI and has undoubtedly benefitted from his relationship with USI personnel. “Their communication was amazing and it made the entire process easy."
The contractors that USI brought in to assemble our third booth all did a wonderful job and exceeded all of our expectations. They were on time with everything and very detail-oriented.
The communication was phenomenal, so we knew what was going on before it was going to happen, which isn't always the case with other suppliers.”
.jpg)
LESTER GLENN COLLISION CENTER
Lester Glenn Collison Center’s 33,000 square-foot facility in Toms River, NJ has been serving collision repair needs since 1956. Affiliated with nine OEM car lines, and producing approximately $5 million worth of business a year, Lester Glenn has seen the incredible benefits of having a USI Italia Spray Booth.
“About seven years ago, we reached out to a couple companies for a spray booth,” explains Collision Center Manager Dan Paganelli. “USI showed up, and out all of the proposals and all the meetings, they showed the most professionalism. They walked us through what we could have, what we could do and why we should do it. We felt very comfortable; the meeting was focused on what the booth was capable of, and how it would fit into what we wanted to do for the future.”
Paganelli described the difficulties the painters at his shop were having with waterborne paint drying on cars, and with the help of USI’s team, the new spray booth revolutionized the way they did business.
“We were one of the first shops to incorporate this new booth style that had a superior heating capability. We removed all the blowers, and USI showed us how to use this new technology. It amps up the drying temperature, the air movement is great over the vehicle and with increased heat, the drying time is faster.
“The service from USI was so helpful we actually became a one of the shops in the area that taught people how to not use blowers, which are very cumbersome – they get in the way, and they take more time than the way we were now doing things. One of our paint reps came in and asked us to show them what we were doing and how to do it. We were showing everybody how to use the booth, and they were very impressed.”
At Lester Glenn, Paganelli’s painters utilize the spray booth, and their double-heated press deck, every day, clocking over 320 hours every week, with the goal to soon be 500 hours. Additionally, the shop is in the process of installing a second spray booth, and Paganelli is excited to see how it continues to improve business.
“Something I really love is their new computer system. They can go in there overnight and upload any additional information that we need, or perform any upgrades to the booth. Any troubleshooting, they can do it from New Jersey or Italy – even when we’re closed. [USI’s] service has been above average, and that’s hard to find with an outside contractor. In this industry, with spray booths, that’s very, very difficult to find. They’re really standing behind their product line, which we appreciate.”
Since the installation of the first USI Italia spray booth, Paganelli says his employees have really valued the simplicity of the booth, as well as the longevity it has provided to the company over the course of a long day.
“Our painters really love the drying capabilities, and just the overall ease of operation. It’s really simple to maintain and great to work with. For the amount we use it, it’s a workhorse – and that’s what you need. You need reliability. You need to know that it’s working from seven in the morning until five at night – and that’s what it does.”
In regard to training associated with the booth, Paganelli says USI’s team came out to the shop to go over the different capabilities of the system.
Additionally, he’s benefitted from the expertise of USI’s representatives.
“The drying of the paint – they gave us a ton of input in that respect, and that has just catapulted us. It has saved us a lot of cycle time in the booths, and that was huge for us. There’s no barometer for how much that has helped us – it’s increased our business one car per day at the very least.
“USI’s input was also very instrumental in the layout of the shop, and that was a great advantage to us.
For Paganelli and Lester Glenn, it’s the reliability of the USI Italia spray booths – as well as the USI representatives - that have proven to be the biggest benefits.
“It’s comforting to know that someone’s at the other end of the phone. I feel comfortable knowing I have someone I can depend on. We’ve never had a problem with lighting, mechanicals, running the booth. It’s been very reliable. If I need to reach out to them for service needs, I know they’ll help me.”
In the future, Paganelli is confident that adding a second USI spray booth will only continue to bolster their business.
“The installation of the second booth will allow us to bring on another full-time painter, which I think can increase our paint capacity from 320 to well over 500 hours a week. That alone can increase our total sales for the month by 30 percent. Over a year’s time, we think it can push us well over that $5 million mark – that’s how much of an advantage it’ll be.
“USI is so straightforward. There’s no bells and whistles. The booth moves a lot of air, it moves it consistently – there’s no failure, no lag – that’s what you want: Longevity, consistency, and the ability to bake the cars properly to OEM standard.”
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
JIM'S AUTO BODY
Jim's Auto Body Believes in its USI Italia for All the Right Reasons, with three locations in Northern California's East Bay, has built a strong reputation for embracing the finest tools, processes and equipment to repair more than 600 vehicles every month. By recently acquiring a USI Italia spray booth and integrating it into its production processes, Jim's is already saving time, money and energy while producing a high-quality finished product every time.
In 1962, Jim Maltbie was only 19, but he opened his own shop called Jim’s Auto Body, Inc. in Port Chicago, California right out of high school. Six months later, he moved the shop to Concord, California and began to expand the business at a steady rate. A born leader, Jim became known for breaking the mold and embracing new concepts about fixing cars. His reputation grew to the point where other collision repair professionals asked him for advice as he also mentored many of the body shop owners who went onto to success throughout the Bay Area.
With the demand for quality auto body work in Contra Costa County growing at a rapid rate in the 1970s and 1980s, Jim Maltbie opened his second shop in Antioch, California in 1986 and in 1992, he opened his third location in Walnut Creek, California. Jim Maltbie passed away several years ago and today, his wife Karen Cox runs the show, managing 99 employees and garnering top reviews for its exemplary work.
Using state-of-the-art equipment and consistently updating technical training for his staff, Jim's Auto Body is still thriving while hundreds of other Bay Area shops have come and gone. Operations Manager Darren Maltbie is looking at the bottom line with his USI booth and more than pleased with the results, he expalined. "Depending on the situation, we are now painting one or two more cars every day using the USI booth and the numbers are going up. The air movement with this booth is amazing and we can clearly see that it enables us to cut down on our cycle times. We can also speed up the process if we need to, like when we're jammed and trying to get out some cars, or bumpers or whatever we're painting. We never need to use blowers, because the system will provide more air when it's needed. Also, the paint cycle time with the USI booth is shorter, with our other booths, it takes roughly 80-90 minutes to get the job done, with the USI Chronotech we have been able to cut 20-25 minutes depending on what we're painting, so the time savings is evident. We're saving a ton of time and energy right there"
By running 24 paint cycles five days a week with a paint crew consisting of three refinish technicians and seven preppers, Jim's relies on its USI Italia booth more all the time. "Our Head Painter Osvaldo Perez has learned the ins and outs of working with the booth's EPS System that gives him the most efficient way of painting each vehicle in real-time and automatically controlling the airflow and everything else. The EPS allows us to do the job in the shortest time possible, so we are saving energy. It's like a microwave oven, you just set the parameters and then the painter can concentrate more on things like spraying and getting a precise color match."
After finding out about USI Italia and learning about their line of quality spray booths, Maltbie contacted the company and introduced them to their local rep. "Our local USI rep Rob Dolezal showed us what the booth can do and we were immediately impressed," he said. "We visited a shop in San Francisco that is using a USI booth and saw it in action. It's so advanced and well-built and has so many great features--I was pretty much sold right away."
USI Italia's Stefano Moretto played an integral role at Jim's Auto Body when it came to properly training Maltbie's crew, he said. “We know that with the USI Italia booth, we don't need to do anything manually anymore. Stefano clearly explained the different programs and now our main painter Ozzie has really taken and run with it. Once our other painters start using it more and more, I'm confident that they will become comfortable with it and embrace the technology. They can do a better job using USI Italia's EPS System and save time by increasing productivity and efficiency."
Saving energy, cutting down on his cycle times and producing a quality product consistently, is a huge deal for a large, busy shop and that's why Maltbie is relying more on his USI Italia spray booth. "We paint a lot of sheet metal here, and with this system, we can bake the heck of it with Chronotech and do it fast," he said. "Our other booths can't even come close to that."
Maintenance is also easy with his USI booth, Maltbie said. "We have our guys come in Saturday and wash down the booth and the booth is constantly monitoring all the filters, letting us know when they need to be changed, so that the air circulation is not being compromised. Our USI booth doesn't need a lot of maintenance, which is huge for our paint department."
Darren Maltbie and the shop Owner's Karen Cox saw a great value in the USI Italia booth and are happy that they purchased it. "If we are going to stay ahead of the game in this business, we need to get the best products and equipment to do it, so investing in this equipment is a very smart move for us now and in the future."
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
KIM'S AUTO BODY SET UP FOR THE FUTURE WITH ITS USI BOOTH
Proactive body shop owners think about tomorrow and the next day rather than being stuck in yesterday or the day before. They consider the big picture and prepare for their next strategic move in the ever-changing world of collision repair. They are entrepreneurs instead of being technicians or managers and that's why they pursue things like training, education and top-tier equipment that will enable them to do a better job than the shop down the street.
In this case, James Kim, the owner at Kim's Auto Body in Santa Clara, CA acquired a USI Italia spray booth in order to be ready for when his business reaches its pinnacle. With his shop growing exponentially every year, Kim is doing everything he can to adapt and continue to provide an exemplary finished product. USI Italia is playing a major role as he pursues his goals, as he anticipates $3 million in sales this year out of a 12,000 square foot facility with a team of 10 employees.
Kim, 36, had no plans to take over the family's shop, but when his late father Keene got cancer, he had to step in and begin running the business back in 2006. It was a trial by fire scenario, but by working hard and learning from wherever he could, he was able to grow sales 500% in the first 5 years.
Part of his plan was to obtain the finest equipment and tools available in the collision repair industry and train his crew about how to use them efficiently, Kim said. "I'm not afraid to invest in the best equipment out there on the market, because I know it will pay off over time. When I was first introduced to the USI Italia spray booths and saw the Chronotech, it was definitely something different. It was definitely a more advanced booth built with a lot of modern technology. So, we sat down with Rob Dolezal, from Last Call Marketing and he outlined all of the booth's features for us. We were very impressed by its capabilities that we decided to move forward with them."
After integrating the USI booth into his production, Kim could quickly see the myriad benefits associated with the booth and how it would make the lives of his painter and prepper easier overall. "Our painter was a little reluctant at first, because he is a veteran painter and was comfortable with our old booth," Kim said. "But once he realized the booth was able to cure our water based paint without blowers he was sold. We are using PPG Envirobase and with the airflow and EPS system we are able to cure base coats and clear coats really efficiently"
As the shop starts getting busier, Kim said that he will be able to paint 1-2 more cars every day by using their USI booth. "When our anticipated growth continues and we ramp up, I'm more than confident that this booth will help us with our cycle times without sacrificing any quality. Our Chronotech's EPS System with its touch screen is so state-of-the-art that we are still learning all of its capabilities and finding out better ways to utilize it."
By working closely with the people from USI Italia, Kim's painter and prepper, who is also a second painter when needed, are getting better at using the booth. "Stefano Moretto from USI has made us all believers," Kim said. "He knows more about paint booths and airflow than anyone I know. Going to the USI from our old booth was like going from a flip phone to an iPhone. There’s no going back”
Kim is now poised and prepared for when his car count goes up, because he now has USI Italia and its support team watching his back, he said. "Their virtual support helps us for when we have questions, especially if we want to customize the different recipes for various applications. We're connected to the Internet and the experts at USI are right there when we need them. A piece of any high-quality equipment comes with great support and USI is surely no exception. I look forward to working with them and using the booth to reach our new potential"
.jpg)
F. LOFRANO & SONS EMBRACES USI
A third-generation business that opened back in 1974 has grown to five locations, with four in San Francisco and one in Marin County. F. Lofrano & Son was founded by Tony Lofrano after he learned the collision repair industry from his father Frank and today, Tony's sons Aaron and Josh manage locations for this family's multiple shop organization.
Area Manager Josh Lofrano started working for the business full-time right out of high school. By embracing the finest equipment, tools and processes, F. Lofrano & Son has been able to flourish in a very competitive city and establish a strong reputation for doing quality work.
Two years ago, Lofrano & Son bought a USI Italia after performing their due diligence and research first. "We heard about a new spray booth that was made in Italy and when we saw it in action, we were very impressed." Aaron said. "We spent one full day watching them paint cars in the USI booth. We were pretty shocked when we saw the amount of airflow and impressed by all of its features. So we decided to order one and by the end of the year, we will have our second one in another one of our locations."
Currently, San Francisco's Mission District is the home of their Chronotech USI Italia spray booth. "It's in our overflow facility now, but later this year it will become a full-service shop," Lofrano said. "We're painting almost 500 vehicles every month, so we need a spray booth that won't break down for whatever reason."
When it comes to acquiring any new piece of equipment it has to fulfill three requirements, Josh said. "It has to improve our efficiency; make sense financially and fit into our production seamlessly before we even consider anything. We also value things like training and support, because we want to make sure that any vendor we're working with is responsive and that they can give us the right training so that our painters will be able to use it effectively, in this case."
Since the use of waterborne paint is mandated in California, Lofrano & Son wanted a booth that could best accommodate this product, Lofrano said. "We spray PPG Envirobase and our USI booth is ideal for curing the waterborne paints. The heat is recycled throughout the booth, so we can bake these cars rapidly and start working on them outside of the booth more quickly. We never have to use hand dryers ever. The temperature in the booth can ramp up very fast, when these cars come out of the booth, they look incredible and our customers are often surprised by how good they look."
Another reason why Lofrano & Son is enamored with their USI Italia booth is the way it saves energy and improves the company's bottom line. "We estimate that by using this booth, we're cutting our usage by half overall. Just with the energy savings, we know that our Chronotech is going to pay for itself rather quickly."
The time savings associated with their USI Italia booth is also a big plus for Josh Lofrano and his crew. "We are saving a minimum of 15 minutes per car and reducing flash times between coats, which means that we can paint at least one more vehicle every day that comes out to an additional 260 cars annually, which is obviously significant."
The head painter at Lofrano & Son's Mission location Carlos Nino has learned how to use the USI Italia's EPS System, thanks to training provided by the manufacturer. ‘After some excellent training, Carlos is getting very good at it" Lofrano said. "All of our other eight painters and 16 preppers have gone through the training as well and used it and they all love it as well."
Their USI Italia booth hasn't encountered any issues since Lofrano & Son purchased a Chronotech two years ago, but if they do they know they're in good hands. "USI provides virtual support, so if and when something goes wrong, we can get feedback from them rapidly, Josh explained."In a busy shop environment, time is money and we can't be waiting around for a tech to come here to fix any issues that might exist. Things can happen from time to time, and when they do, we need a web-based system like this for a prompt response."
As Lofrano & Son enters a period of expansion in a very competitive market, top-tier equipment that performs well on a consistent basis will give his company a distinct advantage, Josh said. "Buying a USI Italia is one of the smartest investments we've ever made. We'll still be using these spray booths 25 years from now, which is what you want with any piece of equipment we acquire."
.jpg)
FIX AUTO WATSONVILLE ARE ALL-IN WITH USI ITALIA
Mike Garland learned the business from his father Ken, who learned it from Russell, his father. Mike, 43, is continuing the family legacy and taking it to an entire different level by owning and operating four Fix Auto shops in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Salinas. By carefully vetting any piece of equipment, tool or product before acquiring it, Mike is making all the right moves and this year he's planning to hit his best numbers to-date.
After honing his skills at several body shops in the Monterey Coast area, Mike began working for Watsonville Auto Body. He was making big money as a painter and eventually the shop's owner decided to sell the business to Mike in 2002. In 2006, he became affiliated with Fix Auto and now he has three additional shops also within the network.
All of Garland's four stores are different based on regional demographics, but with the support of Fix Auto and with a business slogan that states "go big or go home", he's hitting on all cylinders. "Getting involved with Fix Auto was a really smart move, because they've helped us in so many ways," he said. "I knew that consolidation was on the way, so I aligned myself with the best company I could. I thought I was a pretty good operator, but when I joined Fix Auto, I realized I need to ramp up my game. I looked at them for several years before I made the move and I'm sure happy I did."
Another recent decision that Garland made after much consideration was his purchase of three USI Italia spray booths, one in Santa Cruz, and two accompanied with prep stations in his Watsonville location.
Garland wanted to improve the efficiencies in his paint department and initially thought that he would need two new paint booths in his Watsonville shop to accommodate his production, he said. So, he began checking out every booth he could find before deciding that USI Italia was his best option.
"I spent two full years researching and checking out every spray booth on the market," he said. "I went to SEMA and talked to everyone and asked a lot of questions. It was a long process, but buying a booth is a big investment, so it was worth it."
After meeting several times with the people at USI Italia and seeing the Chronotech in action, Mike was ready to pull the trigger. "They kept telling me that one USI booth would do the work of two and eventually I could see it was true and it blew my mind," he said. "We invested in their prep stations as well, another good decision, because my guys can work so much faster and effectively now."
After one month, Mike could clearly see that his Chronotechs were more than capable as they seamlessly became an integral part of his production. "We did more than $400,000 out of just one of our USI booths and I was shocked, to be honest. It all comes down to the the airflow; we never need blowers ever. Our painters are working fewer hours and producing an incredible product each and every time."
The virtual support provided by USI Italia hasn't been required often and one time it did work perfectly and automatically, Garland said. "One day, they called us to tell us that there was something they needed to fix in our booth in Santa Cruz and I wasn't even there at the time. They solved the issue within 45 minutes without charging us anything, and we were back up and running right away. It was so easy and they did it all online, which is a huge timesaver, especially when we're busy. We can't afford to wait 2-3 days, which was the case with our former paint booth, because we were always waiting for their people to show up."
After just one day of training, Garland's painters were able to jump into the booth and go right to work, he said. "It's very simple, because the EPS System does a lot of the work. If we stick to the program, we can't go wrong. You can't paint every car the same way. It's a huge benefit because my painters are working less and doing more."
Garland is also impressed by the Chronotech's construction and durability. "The whole booth is built with quality," he said. "If you look at the hinges and the way the walls are interlinked together, you can see it. With other booths, the panels clip together, but this booth exceeds anything else in the market. I know, because I've seen them all and there isn't anything like a USI Italia booth."
NORTH EAST SHOW 2017
Come and visit us at the AASP Northeast Trade Show!! We will be pleased to inform you in detail about the NEW SPRAYBOOTH TECHNOLOGY. See you there. March 16-18 at the Meadowlands. Booth # 327
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
PRODUCTION BOTTLENECK
A Process Bottleneck is when a flow gets impaired or even stop completely. It happens because of a lack of capacity (out-of-date equipment, scarce resources, people) to handle all tasks in the information/production flow. Bottlenecks usually result in a stall in production, an increase in resource idle time and/or pressure from customers.
Most times, it’s easy to spot your shop’s biggest bottleneck, and many times, as mentioned earlier in this article, you’ll find it in front of the paint booth.The paint booth is a great example of a physical bottleneck. Mostly every repair needs to visit the paint booth. The paint booth is a bottleneck because it can only accommodate a finite number of repairs on a certain day. There is a minimum time that one full paint cycle takes. In other words, from the doors opening and loading a vehicle, to doors opening again and unloading the previous vehicle and loading a new vehicle takes a set amount of time. If there are only eight hours in your workday, then you can only have a set amount of booth cycles. So if you want to deliver 10 vehicles per day, but your paint booth can only accommodate five, then you can only deliver five.
FIXING A BOTTLENECK
Since we’re on the paint booth topic, what can you do to try to fix or alleviate that constraint or bottleneck?
Depending on space, funds and need, you could decide to purchase another paint booth and begin to run two paint booths instead of one. That should double your capacity in that area. If that’s out of the question, there are a few additional things you can do.
Keep in mind that the paint booth is for painting. How many other things are you doing in your booth? The booth is not for repairing, priming, sanding or even masking. You need to try to get your booth cycle down to the shortest possible time.
How long is your current booth cycle, and how many booth cycles per day are you getting? You need to find out. You may be able to squeeze an additional booth cycle or more per day out by using the booth simply for what it’s intended for and what can’t be done anywhere else, i.e. painting. Ideally, you should have a vehicle masked and ready to be pulled into the booth, and the colors mixed, checked and ready to go as soon as the previous bake cycle is done.
Speaking of that previous bake cycle, as soon as it ends, undo the masking only enough for you to be able to safely pull the vehicle out of the booth and close the doors behind you. Full unmasking and disposal of paper and car covers should occur outside the booth after the job is inspected and denibbed where needed.
BATCHING
Another great way to get more vehicles through your booth is to batch different jobs together. How can you fit six vehicles in the booth? Simple: take them apart when you can and batch parts runs together. It equals one booth cycle, but several vehicles through the booth as one. Schedule bumper-only jobs so you can fit five or six or more bumpers in the booth at once.
Any vehicles that are just bumper jobs or already have the parts off the vehicle should be painted in batches. This would be the only way to beat the system and paint more vehicles than the booth will physically allow in a day.
Don’t be afraid to stuff the booth; I’ve seen six or more bumpers put into a single batch with no problems. Initially, there may be push-back in aggressive batching, but everyone will soon see the benefits in easing the bottleneck at the booth.
You can also ease the bottleneck by sending resources from other departments. Can someone in a less busy department come and help sand, prime or mask to keep the painter painting in the booth? Is the painter using the proper materials for the weather conditions? Or are the wrong products for these weather conditions taking a long time to dry and giving us longer booth cycles? Are things drying too fast, causing quality problems? Or too slow, causing extended time?
FRAME MACHINE
Another easily identifiable bottleneck is the frame machine.
The frame machine is not a parking space or a welding jig. Get the vehicle up there, secure it, measure it, correct it and get the vehicle down from it as quickly as possible. There is no reason, if you did things right, for the car to stay up there. Have a process, do it right and get off of there. Break the habit and you’ll see the bottleneck ease.
Sometimes shops will have too many frame machines taking up unnecessary space. When a frame department is inefficient, you need more frame machines. When a paint shop is inefficient, you need more paint booths, and when a shop is inefficient, you need more space. I’ve seen six-plus A techs work from two frame machines with no problem whatsoever.
PEOPLE
There can be various bottlenecks, some natural like the frame machines and the paint booths and some human like everyone who works in the business. That’s right, a bottleneck can be a person, too.
The point is that each position in the line is important and interdependent upon one another. The estimator can’t write five estimates if the CSR can’t get him five folders. The production manager can’t dispatch five cars if the estimator can’t get him five folders. The body tech can’t fix five cars if the production manager can’t get him five cars and on and on and on until the folder lands on the office manager’s desk. If the detailer washed five cars today and the office manager could only close three, what good was it? We’re only done on the production end when the folder is closed and we get paid. So, from the first position to the final position, they’re all equally important, and your success is tied to the people behind you and in front of you in the line.
.jpg)
SEMA SHOW 2016
Come and visit us at the SEMA SHOW in Las Vegas, booth 11367. We will be pleased to inform you in detail about the NEW SPRAYBOOTH TECHNOLOGY.
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
CARUBBA COLLISION
With 19 locations spread out across New York State, Carubba Collision has been serving the people of New York’s collision repair needs for over 60 years. Established in 1955, Mr. Carubba’s father started the business. In the early 80s when he passed away, the business turned into two separate businesses, with two brothers – Joe and Samuel – branching off. Though western-New York based, there are 17 locations all throughout New York – from Syracuse to Oneonta to Amsterdam to Elmira to Utica and beyond.
Recently, Randy Pinkowski (Chief Safety Officer/VP of Equipment Procurement and Maintenance) got into contact with Stefano Morreto at USI to put obtain two brand new spray booths – one in the West Syracuse location and one in the Utica location.
“I met Stefano at the NORTHEAST® trade show while I was searching for a booth company,” Pinkowski noted. “He did a really great job explaining what the booth did, and he followed through on every single thing they said they were going to do, which is hard to find in a sub-contractor. All of the expectations were met, for sure.
Pinkowski said he was most impressed by Moretto’s sales pitch, in addition to the cost of the two booths.
“The cost was certainly in line with what we were looking for, and the booths either performed or outperformed other booths we had looked at – and for less money! He also offered up to us a great idea of using a basement-type booth, instead of digging a pit, and that worked out extremely well.”
Pinkowski’s spray booths have been up and running for just about six months now, and is confident that the booths will not only get their use as time goes on, but also make the businesses more profitable.
“Right now, we’re using the spray booths multiple times per day. Our hope is that both locations get to the point in the next year that they’re repairing 200 cars a month – maybe upwards of 300 cars a month, so those booths will definitely get their usage.
“The expectation is that the USI booth outperforms, mainly because of the way the booth works. I think we should be able to get more productive hours out of it, which will improve cycle time and increase our profitability.”
Carubba’s has also taken advantage of USI’s hands-on training that comes along with the purchase of the spray booth.
“USI provided training and the individuals working at the store had no complaints about the operation, and made several comments about the overall ease of operation. We also did some cross-training with other folks who don’t have this booth, and there was definitely jealousy that they don’t have the USI booth. Painters are unique individuals – they know what they like and what they want, and they’re not afraid to express it, and I think that alone speaks volumes about the quality of the product.”
Currently, Pinkowski says about four painters at each location are using the USI spray booth, and as new hires to the company, the ins and outs of the booth were new to them, but they’ve been quick to adapt.
“I’m fairly certain none of them had used this type of booth before. It was all new to them – how it worked, what it does differently – but they’ve adapted very easily. We’ve done two training sessions with USI, and these are hands-on training sessions where the painters actually get to paint something.
“The USI person comes in, just like traditional training should be, shows them what to do, and then they get to do it. The first time, they worked on a bumper that was never going to be on the car. Then, once they gained some confidence, they got to do real jobs.”
Pinkowski has been impressed with the team at USI, and has undoubtedly benefitted from his relationship with USI personnel.
“For ease of communication, we did everything right through Stefano, but there were other people – contractors that came in to do booth assembly – they all did a wonderful job. They were on time with everything, very detail-oriented. The communication was phenomenal. We knew what was going on before it was going to happen, which doesn’t always happen with other suppliers. He exceeded every expectation that we had.”
Overall, Pinkowski has high expectations for his USI Italia spray booth, and is confident it will help his painters and his business.
“Our painters should definitely be able to paint faster, which will benefit us and the painters. I think it’s going to reduce our cycle time, allow us to return vehicles to our guests faster and just make us more profitable.”
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
NORTHEAST SHOW 2016
Come and visit us at the AASP Northeast Trade Show!! We will be pleased to inform you in detail about the NEW SPRAYBOOTH TECHNOLOGY. See you there. March 16-18 at the Meadowlands. Booth # 327
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
GABE'S COLLISION
When Jeff Mucciarelli—the owner of Gabe’s Collision, with three locations near Buffalo, NY—purchases any piece of equipment, he wants to see it in person before he becomes an adopter. That’s exactly how Mucciarelli, a second generation shop owner, discovered his first USI paint booth. After that, he became a believer. “Almost 11 years ago, I went to the NACE Show in Vegas and all
of the paint booth companies were there,” Mucciarelli explained. “It was right before we were about to
open our second Gabe’s Collision and I wanted to do things differently with this new location. There was a lot of talk about waterborne at that time and I wanted to see the best of the best. I felt that the only way I could do that is to fly to a place where they had them all lined up and I could go through all of them. I remember there must have been 12 there to look at, so it took some time.” The USI booth stood out from the rest of the pack, he said, and from then on, it was a no-brainer.
“When I saw that USI booth, with all of those motors and propellers and saw how it was built, I got excited,”
Mucciarelli said. “Right away, I could see that these booths were really head and shoulders above the rest.”
Walking through that USI booth also gave Mucciarelli more ideas about how to improve his business. “There were a lot of new things that I wanted to do put into practice at the second Gabe’s Collision Center that I was afraid to do then in our existing location because I didn’t
want to ruin the business,” he said. “We were doing great, but I had all these ideas about parts and equipment and how I would set up the shop to make it flow better. So I put to use all these crazy thoughts I had in my head in our second location and it worked. Getting that first USI paint booth was a big part of that evolution.” Mucciarelli is a second-generation shop owner who was born into the business, he explained.
“While most kids were out playing after school, my mother used to drop me off at the shop just to keep
my father company. It was a oneman shop and he did it all. I actually started playing around with cars when I was probably around 10–12 years old. When the time
came, I went off to college, but I always worked with him whenever I could because I loved it.” Working with his father has been great, and even though he’s 82, Gabe Mucciarelli still comes into work regularly. “I love the man, and he has always been very supportive,
but he was always very skeptical and dead against some
of my changes, but he eventually let me do them anyway. And they worked, because we used to be a
corner garage and now we have three locations that fix 500-plus cars every month. Not many fathers would have allowed their sons to take such a risk, but he did.”
Now, all of Mucciarelli’s three locations have full-scale downdraft drive-through USI booths with two finishing decks and two sanding decks in each facility. “The finishing decks are full baking downdraft, so essentially, we can paint three cars at once in each location,” he said. “The USI booths allow us to paint two additional
cars every day, which really helps us with our insurance partners, too.” By using the USI booths, Gabe’s Collision is saving time and money. “Yes, we’ve probably cut a half a day off our cycle time with these booths. It means a lot when you’re trying to hit a fourday cycle time. If you’re at a 4.2 and it drops you to a 3.7 then it puts you in a great place with certain insurance carriers. If we can stay under that 4.0 number, that’s our goal.”
In addition to his USI booths, Mucciarelli also values the company’s support and training. “It was very easy to learn, and each time we got a new booth from USI,
our guys picked it up fast,” he said. “They were painting cars the day right after the training. Also, if we ever have a question or need feedback, their tech support is
wonderful. We pick up the phone and it’s done. And if we need service, their people are incredible. The support is definitely exceptional.” If he had to open those three shops again, would he put USI equipment in each one? “Guaranteed. If the industry warrants a
fourth Gabe’s Collision, then I’ll open a fourth Gabe’s Collision, and you can bet that USI will be right there with us. Dad is no longer skeptical because he has
seen these booths in action and believes in them--just like me!”
AUTOCRAFT COLLISION REPAIR
Auto Craft Collision Repair started as one single shop in Waterman, Kansas. It didn’t take long for the business to expand, and now with six locations – Wabash, East Wichita, Ridge Road, West Kellogg, Downtown Wichita and Junction City – Auto Craft has become a Kansas staple. In serving the people in their market for over 40 years, Auto Craft is also known in the area for their USI spray booths – which they’ve had for almost 20 years – that help in improving both their efficiency and quality. “In 1999, we were building our then second location, and AutoBody Equipment Solutions suggested we take a look at the USI paint booths before we went with anything else,” shares JR Sartain, owner/vice president of Auto Craft Collision. It was the promise of better efficiency that first led us to choose a USI spray booth. We currently have six USI booths, and the oldest was installed around 1999/2000.” Since incorporating the USI spray booths into their facilities, Sartain has noted a number of vast improvements that benefit the shops – and their over 125 employees – on a daily basis.
“We first saw improvements from the booth with faster production times. We’ve also saved money on our utilities – some savings in our natural gas and electricity were substantial.” Across all of Auto Craft’s locations, Sartain mentioned that the spray booths are utilized daily – roughly 10 hours a day, five days a week, with 12 employees working on them for automotive refinish.
With any new equipment comes training, and Saratain’s team utilized training that was facilitated by the provider. Additionally, he says, “ongoing training from USI has been flawless.” “We use AutoBody Equipment Solutions. Danny Sommerhauser and his team have been very easy to work with. USI monitors the booths online, and they’re always there if we ever need anything boothrelated.” As a USI customer, Sartain has seen a number of benefits both in his shop, and in working with USI personnel. “We are definitely more efficient. And the staff really cares about you and your business.”
Additionally, in his longstanding relationship with USI, Sartain can personally attest to the durability, efficiency and longevity of his USI spray booths, and the ways they’ve helped to enhance his business. “We have a full maintenance team that changes filters on intervals based on how many hours they’ve been used. But we’ve had little to no major breakdowns at all.” Moving forward, Sartain is excited to see the countless ways his USI spray booths will continue to make his business more efficient, while also making sure they remain on top of the latest industry-wide technology. “My hope is that we continue to become even more efficient, and USI can help us adapt as we face new styles of coating moving into the future.”
COLE COLLISION CENTER
While many body shop owners all over the country are looking closely at the incredible USI line of paint
booths, one shop owner is all-in with this 40-year-old company and their cutting-edge booths, mixing rooms
and prep decks. With a total of seven USI booths in all of his four locations, John Cole, the owner of Cole’s
Collision Center in upstate New York, isn’t just a customer, but is also a huge advocate for these booths and how they have helped his production in countless ways. As a veteran of the collision industry who started working for a shop at age 16, John Cole, now 51, began thinking seriously about opening his own shop back in 2006. With the help of his father and a handful of great friends, Cole renovated an old building and converted it into a state-of-the-art collision center facility. With previous experience managing a high-volume collision center at a local dealership, Cole knew what it would take to get his collision center operating at a high level. Cole’s approach was to first get some key employees, a few DRPs and the finest equipment available on the market and that’s exactly what he did when he opened Cole’s Collision Center of Colonie in 2007.
In just a short time, the shop was one of the most successful collision repairers in the region and Cole
was looking to expand. From there, he opened three
more locations—in Ballston Spa and Wilton in 2007 and another shop in Clifton Park in 2012. Recently, he relocated Cole’s Collision Center of Colonie to a new, modern facility and this year he will be celebrating
10 years in business. Cole knows exactly how his USI
paint booths have helped him to be successful, crediting their amazing features, including cycle inversion dynamic dampers, online customer assistance, humidity-based temperature regulation, warm-up operations and a function that automatically regulates
the booth’s air volume. But that is technical jargon and probably confusing to many people. What’s most important to Cole and his paint crew is that his USI booths do the job the right way time and time again
and with outstanding results, while saving time, energy and money. Cole is no newbie when he comes to paint booths and their capabilities, so when he decided to acquire USI booths, it was surely not an impulse buy. “I have probably sprayed in every paint booth out there and I’ve never seen a booth perform like a USI,” he said. “They’re incredible and the air movement is
unmatched. The motors they put in these fans—they’re like the blades on a helicopter—amazing.” “We love the waterborne feature of the USI booths because we spray
waterborne in all of our locations,” Cole said. “With these booths, we’re getting the shortest flash-off and curing times in the industry, bar none. You push a button and it ramps up to cure the waterborne more quickly, which is wonderful. With these booths, you don’t need any additional fans or blowers in your booth
to cure these cars. Plus, it saves us a ton on energy and we’re keeping contaminants out of the paint.” With USI’s Easy Paint System (EPS), the booth can set the working
rhythm and parameters of the job, instead of it being performed by the painter. “It’s actually a button on
the iPad that we use in conjunction with the booth and it’s a totally automated function,” Cole said. “It gives
you the proper temperature, fan speed, duration, purge and proper bake and all you do is simply follow the instructions. It’s like a microwave oven - you push the button and it tells you what to do. You really don’t have to even think about it. Our painters love it!” Cole is also enamored with USI’s DGT Manager for its reporting capabilities, he said. “They give you total control with this feature, so that we can constantly have access to all of the information available about our energy consumption in real-time for each job, including time reports for the single cycles, operators and pieces. This way, we’re not guessing; we’re knowing.” Training for the USI spray booths was prompt and thorough, according to Cole. “The people from USI came in here and taught our painters how to use it right away and then they come back about a month later, and
re-train them and that’s where they really fine-tune their skills. USI has been great with training and support. If you have a shop anywhere near upstate NY and want to see a USI spray booth in action, is Cole
willing to oblige? “Absolutely,” he said. “I love these booths and I tell people they’re the best out there, so
sure—call us and we’d be happy to let you see how they work.”
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
SEMA SHOW 2015
Come and visit us at the SEMA SHOW in Las Vegas, booth 11367. We will be pleased to inform you in detail about the NEW SPRAYBOOTH TECHNOLOGY. November 03-06.
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
AUTOPROMOTEC 2015
Request your invitation and visit us at the show, we will be glad to inform you about our last technology.
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.
NORTHEAST SHOW 2015
Come and visit us at the AASP Northeast Trade Show!! Booth 327, right beside Sherwin Williams.
We will be pleased to inform you in detail about the NEW SPRAYBOOTH TECHNOLOGY. See you there. March 20-22 at the Meadowlands.
USI REFINISH TECHNOLOGY,
Our products save shops money, time and energy and that's why we're one
of the premier manufacturers of spray booths in the world today.
USI Italia spray booths are carefully engineered, thoroughly tested and manufactured
to lead the market for these following reasons:
1. World's Fastest Painting Cycle: With the shortest flash-off and curing times on
the planet. You will never need additional tools in your booth such as blowers of any
kind, IR or compressed air heating systems with a USI Italia booth. By featuring shorter
curing times with the highest flow available anywhere provided by our exclusive turbofan
system, the energy savings are huge and the results are exceptional.
2. Standardized Quality Results: With a USI Italia spray booth, you can rely on the same
excellent results time and time again. Before we introduce a new model to the public,
strenuous testing with a select system of controls is conducted, ensuring that it will
perform at a high level in any shop environment. With all of the latest cutting-edge
products and components working together, the entire painting process is controlled
and fully automated through our Easy Paint System. It takes all of the guesswork out
of the process, because with every cycle, our E.P.S. suggests the most efficient process
with each vehicle in real-time and enables your crew to obtain the highest quality results
in the shortest time at the lowest cost overall.
3. Economy and Superior Technology: Especially ideal for waterborne products,
USI Italia spray booths are durable and reliable while saving collision repairers time,
energy and money by painting more cars with precision performance. Painters love USI
Italia booths because the finished product is exemplary and while enabling them to paint
more cars every day by tapping into our advanced technology.