Power Smash powers on

Shop Profile

Power Smash powers on

Mittagong's newest shop is a far cry from the stereotype country smash repairer. Its technology and workflow would show most city shops a clean pear of heels.
Steve Power's reason for becoming a smash repairer in Mittagong in the Southern Highlands of NSW is that he and his wife's car broke down there and they just stayed. There was probably more to it than that, but the fact is that the Powers have been repairing cars for 34 years in Mittagong. For most of that time it was in the main street, in partnership with the Subaru and Mazda dealership. Then two years ago they decided to build a new shop and become an independent business. That took them just out of town to a new industrial estate where they supervised the constuction of a panel shop bearing the name Power Smash Repairs & Alliance Towing Mittagong. In November of last year the shop was opened by the NSW Legislative Assembly Member for the Southern Highlands, Peta Seaton.
Having the opportunity of building from the ground up was quite a challenge, Steve Power says. It is one thing to dream about a shop and quite another to bring those dreams together in reality. Some of the shop's features came from experience, some from suppliers' and NRMA suggestions and some from an information gathering trip with Spies Hecker. For instance, the open bins that store parts destined to go back on a car were inspired by a repairer in Holland. NRMA's "Road Show" assisted in the placement of equipment and workflow.
Probably the most striking feature of the shop is the spray booth set-up. Made by Joe Marino's DS National, there are two ovens with a mixing room in the centre ‘ a conventional arrangement. But where these differ is that the ovens are drive-through via roller doors in the rear of the building where cars can either wait in the yard or go into washing. Heating in the ovens is a computer controlled, direct flame system which uses less energy by directing the heated air only on to the work to be baked.
The mixing room is lit and ventilated to an unprecedented standard. Even the paint formula computer has the keyboard and mouse in one room, while the drive and screen are viewed through a window in an adjacent smaller room. This is to totally remove the danger of igniting volatile fumes with a computer spark.
Both sides of the mixing room look into the booths via glass panels. The booths themselves have sunken dry floors, providing a level entrance from the shop.
The workflow follows the ideal horse-shoe track where cars are assessed, and disassembled near the front doorway and are prepped and painted near the rear door ‘ with the added choice of going through the booths into the rear yard if congestion threatens.
The front of the building houses reception and accounts downstairs with offices and amenities upstairs.
The shop runs 15 staff, including the Powers: Steve, Cindy and daughter Rhiann. There are two painters (plus three apprentices), five beaters (plus one apprentice) which includes a foreman who does some parts and quoting work, two in office/reception and currently a striper/fitter on trial.
The paint of choice ‘ and has been for more than 10 years ‘ is Spies Hecker. Power Smash recently switched to VQS for quoting so that the system could encompass the towing division which runs two trucks. It also moved to the BMS system to run the shop. Steve Power says that not all employees liked BMS a first but it is now being accepted.
"The amount of information and number of reports that the system can generate is excellent, but you have to have time to analyse it all," he says.
Confronted with new systems and a new shop running close to maximum staff numbers for a small shop has forced Steve Power to work on his business rather than in it ‘ as he used to do before the move. He believes it runs more smoothly as a result, and will get better as his systems bed down and he spends more time exploiting them.
Other essential pieces of equipment include two Cartar movable scissor lifts, a set of Miracle System tools, Rupes dustless sanding mobile units, infra red portable three head curing lights and Car-o-liner big and small benches. Car-o-liner also supplied a silicone/bronze welder. The other welder is a Pro Spot from Terry Dickey's stable of equipment.