Awards 2005 Shops on the move

AWARDS 2005

Shops on the move

Every year our judging program takes us to shops that about to blossom through growth. This is usually by reorganising the space they've got or new building. What ever the planned move is, it is obvious that we've arrived too early. In this section we acknowledge excellent shops that are on the move - in the belief that next year they may become winners. Last year Stud Park Panels was one of our shops on the move and this year won the best small shop in Victoria.

Fawkner Body repairs, Fawkner, Victoria
Fawkner Body Repairs is a big shop with an even bigger future. Seven years ago the building was occupied by the Suzuki dealership in Sydney Road, Fawkner, a Melbourne suburb. Then it was taken over and redeveloped into a smash repair facility by Paul Sprunt who, at that stage, had more than 20 years of repairing behind him.
18 months ago Sprunt decided to reorganise his shop's layout and equipment, and to promote it to work providers. He called in business development manager, John Cuast, who had been filling in as general manager of the Australian Accident Repair Network (AARN) before Brian Parsons was appointed to the position permanently. While Sprunt concentrated on rebuilding the shop and reception, Caust went to the market to promote what he considered an exceptional repairer.
When Paint & Panel visited Fawkner in July, the shop was still in the stage of rebuilding. When finished, it will have the ideal horseshoe shaped work cycle, superb customer and business meeting facilities, GIO, RACV and Lumleys insurance badging, and Datadot. Fawkner's 'control room' is worth a special mention. Paul Sprunt's idea, it is glass sided room elevated to give a view of every part of the shop at the one time.

Autobody Prestige, Keysborough, Victoria
What happens when two IAG assessors, who are young and bright, decide to start their own bodyshop? This is the background of Autobody Prestige in the Melbourne suburb of Keysborough. It was opened by Paul Catling and Wayne Bernhard last January, in a well positioned new building. They chose Autorobot bench and floor racks for alignment, two Lowbake booths either side of a full downdraft Lowbake prep area, PPG Deltron paint and Festo dustless dry sanding. A Hirani 250 inveter welder is on order along with Shark electronic measuring.
Although the shop is just out of the delivery ward it is getting business. Two big Toyota dealerships send their work to Autobody Prestige and so does a bus maker that needs fibreglass panels painted before fitting them.
The boys are hard at it drumming up business but the shop is humming along with a staff of six. This time next year we expect to see more staff and a lot of regular work going to it as insurers and car badges finds these are people with a unique and valuable view of the repair business.

Phil Munday Panel Works, Kilsyth, Victoria
Paint & Panel covered the opening of Phil Munday's shop in Melbourne's Kilsyth earlier in the year. When we visited it again on our judging tour we found the shop full of work and plenty booked in. Phil was away but the shop was in the capable hands of manager Andy Harrop. The reception and quality control is handled by Kellie Leach who we rank as one of the industry's best customer relations people.
The Mt Dandenong Road shop is virtually finished now but the company has other expansion plans. It owns a nearby building that it used as a stop-gap during the construction of the new shop. There is a strong possibility that it will be set up as a smart repair and paintless dent removal centre. Since Munday's customer base brings a lot of small jobs on cars that need to be back on the road quickly (the shop repairs a lot of police cars) a smart repair shop could be a winner.

Hower Crash Repairs, Lonsdale, South Australia
Last year we visited Hower Crash in Adelaide and told its story in "shops on the move".
This year we hardly recognised it. It certainly had moved forward. Reception was where the panel shop had been but was still unfinished. The shop equipment now comprises two Monarch spray booths, two Globaljigs plus flat racks, a prep bay in the making, IRT curing, Prinz spot and mig welding, and Festool dustless sanding. There are seven free loan cars. It runs Flexi Quote. Yet for all this, the shop employs only seven technicians plus Brett Hower and his wife Natalie in administration.
This shop is still very much on the move. By the time we visit next year it will probably be up to speed as a top Adelaide shop, but to judge it this year would have been premature.
Hower is one shop that likes IAG online tendering. It relies on web quoting for a majority of its jobs. IAG non-drivers are allocated to Hower because it is a silver repairer. It also does Allianz work, and word of mouth is building its reputation as well.

Doolans Crash Repairs, Garbutt, Townsville
Peter Doolan bought this 25 year old Townsville repair business from his parents three years ago and almost immediately was able to buy the site too. Because it was his own property he set about updating the reception and equipment. The shop now has a Dataliner (drive-on gold Medallion model) with laser measuring. He runs both Glasurit and Debeer paint systems, Rupes and Festo dust extraction for dry sanding, and an Aussie spray booth.
Doolans was a busy shop running out of room when the building next door came up for lease. Right now Doolans uses it for disassembly and car storage but there are plans to develop the two buildings so that one can be devoted to repairs and the other to painting. Expansion would also provide a needed a prep bay.
As is, Doolans has strong support from several local dealers and gets most of its insurance work from Suncorp and AAMI.

Douglas & Miller Motor Body Repairs, Currajong, Townsville
Townsville based Douglas & Miller has an interesting history. Partners David Douglas and David Miller bought the business 10 years ago from their respective fathers who were also partners. In its early days the shop employed 18 panel beaters but sent its painting work to a nearby shop that only painted. Nowadays the shop has 14 employees and carries out repairs from start to finish ? but still favours beaters of which they are six, including the two partners.
Like many city shops, room Douglas & Miller has run short of room. Into the current space they have fitted a Monarch booth and two fast track bays, an Auto robot bench plus some floor pulling, a range of welders including a new inverter from Car-o-liner, PPG paint and in-house plastic repairs.
The company recently acquired the building next door and is currently clearing it to provide dedicated disassembly and assembly and detailing. Then the whole shop will flow much better.

Miami Smash Repairs, Miami, Queensland
Not content to have one of the most attractive smash repair business facades and reception areas in Australia, Miami smash Repair owner Jamie McHugh is about to annex the former cold storage building he bought next door to reorganise and expand his shop. With his flair for building design and his ability to run a shop with 33 employees, Miami will be a strong contender for a best shop award next year.
It's hard to believe that softly spoken McHugh is a champion dirt track V8 car racer. Trophies adorn his meeting room and crowd shelves in the workshop. Nor it is obvious that he would have bought full control of the shop from his brother three years ago to go it alone in the challenging business of smash repairs.
The shop itself will benefit significantly from the additional space. Although it has a dedicated down-draft six bay prep room second to none, repairs and alignment will be reorganised for better work flow. The shop has been BMW factory approved for 15 years and acknowledges an association with local BMW dealer Bruce Lynton by putting its name on one of the building housing the BMW dedicated spray booth.

Swains Motor Body Repairs Slacks Creek, Queensland
With 34 employees and one of the bigger repair shop floor areas in Queensland, Swains plans to double its Slacks Creek facility in the next 12 months. A scale model of the new shop sits in manager Rick Stone's office. It encompasses the vacant block next door which Swains has owned for some time and used for parking. The new building will still provide the parking space by taking it under ground. It will also virtually double the work space and give Swains the opportunity to set up an ideal work flow where the cars keep moving forward.
Swains is a strong believer in training. It has no less than 11 apprentices supervised by a senior technician. The shop runs on a teams structure in the paint and panel areas.