Autobody News: Pro Spot Equipment Allows Mountain View Auto's Techs More Time to Keep Hands on Repairs
Carlsbad, CA, March 27, 2018 (Newswire.com) - NOTE: This October SPS profile was originally published in print in September 2017, and published online in October 2017.
With 34 employees repairing an average of 232 vehicles monthly at its two facilities, Mountain View Auto Body in Wayne, NJ, knows it’s important to make the most of its 24,000 square feet of production space, where it also offers mechanical services, towing and storage for non-DRP customers.
The ease and use of Pro Spot's products, especially welders and dust-free sanders, have drastically reduced our cycle time and increased our CSI as well as increasing repair quality. Without the use of Pro Spot's machines, I don't think we'd be able to reach our outstanding touch time of 7.2 hours per vehicle on average for our largest DRP.
Mike Daniel, Body Shop Manager, Mountain View Auto Body Collision Center
One way the shop achieves this is by using equipment from Pro Spot.
Body shop manager Mike Daniel shared, “The first product we purchased from Pro Spot was an i5 Smart Spot Welder in 2013, and we haven’t looked back. The products are user-friendly, more than capable of completing the task at hand, and competitively priced.”
In the years since acquiring the i5, Mountain View has also purchased two i4 Spot Welders, two SP-5 three-torch Smart MIGs, and an AL-5 Aluminum Dent Repair Station with fume extraction, in addition to other products.
According to Daniel, “From Pro Spot’s Dustless Sanding System to the PR-5 Rivet Gun to our Aluminum Station, our technicians have more time to keep their hands on the car. Running around cleaning the shop or fumbling with multiple welders to get a job done became a thing of the past. Everything from Pro Spot was built with the shop in mind. Multiple torches on the SP-5 with the capability of quickly switching from aluminum to silicon bronze to steel, from MIG to TIG, give the tech valuable time back to truly diagnose and complete a repair properly, knowing they have the right tools.”
Using Pro Spot’s equipment has improved cycle time, CSI and repair quality at Mountain View Auto Body, plus the products required very little training, allowing technicians to focus on repairs.
“The ease and use of Pro Spot’s products, especially welders and dust-free sanders, have drastically reduced our cycle time and increased our CSI as well as increasing repair quality,” Daniel shared. “Without the use of Pro Spot’s machines, I don’t think we’d be able to reach our outstanding touch time of 7.2 hours per vehicle on average for our largest DRP.
“Pro Spot’s products are priced fairly, easy to use and quick to implement, so the break-even point is very quick. Additionally, the technicians can be trained to use the product within a day, using them on vehicles within hours. Implementation of the products was seamless with little-to-no learning curve. Our techs love Pro Spot—whenever they see the Pro Spot delivery van, they know they’re getting a tool that will make their job a little easier.”
Of course, every busy shop knows it’s bound to experience main- tenance issues with frequently used equipment, but Pro Spot’s customer service department excels at providing quick solutions.
“Nothing hurts a shop more than downtime without a particular piece of equipment, but this is what truly sets Pro Spot apart,” Daniel said. “One single call is usually all it takes to get a trained tech to the shop within a reasonable amount of time. Once onsite, they can usually determine the issue fairly quickly, and often have the answer on the truck.”
Les Daniel II established Mountain View Auto Body in 1957, repairing five cars weekly with one other employee as he built a reputation for his shop. Les Daniel III took over in 1980, expanding the shop to become one of the leading repair shops in the tri-state area and opening a second facility in October 2016.
Ensuring a high-quality repair is imperative at Mountain View, and the shop has ensured its ability to work on a wide variety of vehicles by obtaining OEM certification from Honda/Acura, Ford (including aluminum), Hyundai, GM, FCA, Nissan and Infiniti.
Daniel explained that his predominant concern in the industry is related to OEM requirements.
“We’ve already begun to see the paradigm shift as advanced safety systems become more prevalent,” he said. “Shops who don’t take OEM position statements seriously will not be able to provide safe and accurate repairs for their customers.
“Recently, on a 2012 Tacoma that was T-boned in the center post with both side curtain airbags deployed, our physical test of the seat belts showed they operated as designed. However, our pre-scan revealed that the seatbelt tensioner had blown and needed to be replaced. Not only, and most importantly, could this have endangered the occupants if it had been missed, but it could also have added days to the end of the repair, costing the insurance company rental days as well as delaying the return of the vehicle to the customer.”
Although Daniel encountered some reluctance from the insurer to pay for scans, he said he feels the insurance industry is becoming more receptive to shops’ requests that certain repairs be required to bring the vehicle back to OEM standards.
“I don’t believe that an insurer means ‘no’ when they say ‘I won’t pay for that’ – it just means ‘I don’t understand why you need to do that,’” he said. “After scanning a couple vehicles at no cost to the insurer, I was able to document that faults were occurring that didn’t result in a dash light, which could be dangerous to the occupants if not corrected. After teaching the insurance company why such scans were important to me and our shop, they were more than willing to pay for the scans.”
Mountain View Auto Body Collision Center
Wayne, NJ
(973) 694-1433
mtviewautobody.com
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 34
In Business Since: 1957
Number of Locations: Two
DRP Programs: 11
Combined Production Space: 24,000 square feet
Pro Spot International
(877) PRO-SPOT
Prospot.com
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Source: Autobody News
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