Smart expansion with Car-O-Liner

SMART repairs offer added value to both customers and insurers, as well as improving your bottom line. But, what about applying this to expanding the body shop and investing in new capital equipment? Normally, you would consider equipment as full units, with associated costs really adding up. Car-O-Liner has come up with a concept that reverses that thinking.
Julie Thomas from Car-O-Liner Australia puts forward a different way of considering this. “Any panel shop operator can streamline their body shops while saving on capital investment using multiple speed systems. How? By taking advantage of our master/slave concept.”
This concept allows the user to install various Speed benches, with a complete or several complete units (with draw aligner and accessories), and complement these with other basic Speed platforms, as required. Ideally, Thomas added: “Every third Speed can be the master, with the other platforms acting as slaves to these units.”
Thomas explains: “For instance, if you install six Speed units in your shop, only two of these need to be the masters. The others can be extra platforms (slaves) supporting the master units, with their draw aligners and clamping accessories.
“And this improves the bottom line cost of purchasing and installing these platforms. Again, using the above example, we take the total cost of two masters and four slaves, divide this by six bays, and your cost per bay is significantly reduced.”
Achieving more efficiency in a smash repair shop requires minor repairs to follow the following steps: diagnose, setup, repair/point-to-point measuring, parts replacement, preparation for painting, painting, re-assembly, final inspection and delivery. On the other hand, medium to heavy repairs should follow the following steps: diagnose/preparation, set-up, structural repair, outer panels, surface treatment, re-assembly, wheel alignment, final inspection and delivery.
Speed is ideal for small to medium repairs, including cosmetic repairs. Using Speed, all repair and service operations can be done quickly and effectively in a single setup. It is ergonomic and user-friendly, with hardly any set-up time and 360 degrees of accessibility to vehicle.
With the master speed platform, all repairs and service operations can be performed quickly and effectively using a single setup. The extra speed platforms are fully compatible with a Car-O-Liner standard clamping system. Lightweight and small in size, the units are highly robust (using the new high strength steels). All Speed units are compatible with the Car-O-Liner Car-O-Vision computerized measuring system for quick diagnosis and repair.
“We are offering special pricing for multiple equipment purchases, including the digital measuring system. As well, a range of accessories is available to extend work capabilities, whilst saving the need for expenditure on complete systems,” said Thomas.