Until recently, collision repairers have been stuck with a seam sealing process where there has only been one option – 1K technology. However, the arrival of SEM Products’ high-tech selection of Dual-Mix 2K Seam Sealers has instantly opened up valuable and easily accessible cycle-time and efficiency gains, says Greg Tunks, MVP Business Solutions Manager ANZ. “Twenty-four hours is a long time in modern repair cycle-time. However, this is the sort of extended period that repairers had to accept due to the typical curing time of 1K seam sealers. SEM Products now offer a tremendous alternative that cuts seam sealer curing time to around 10 minutes. This flows directly on to dramatically slash cycle-time and workshop efficiency. The beauty is that it’s used in exactly the same way as 1K technology but you get the benefits of 2K performance.”
1K vs 2K is no contest
“We thoroughly researched and compared the two technologies and found using Dual-Mix 2K Seam Sealers is an absolute no-brainer. Watching technicians use the products allowed us to monitor the efficiency and cycle-time differences across a range of applications. There is a choice of four Dual-Mix 2K Seam Sealers and what they give you is speed. You simply apply them and after around 10 minutes it’s cured and ready to go. Instead of having to be super careful when fitting up a job, panel beaters can get the job done with the confidence that the sealer is cured and they won’t accidently mark or smudge it. That gives you greater efficiency and reduced cycle-time. Interestingly, once technicians used 2K technology, they were so impressed they swore they would never go back to using 1K products.”
24-hour head start
“These days, many vehicles have seam sealer that remains visible after the repair, such as in spare wheel wells, boot spaces, roof turret rails, exterior panel seals on commercial vans, etc. In the past, using a 1K sealer typically meant putting most of these jobs on hold for around 24 hours. Therefore, the vehicle takes up valuable workshop space and the technician has to move to another job. With Dual-Mix 2K Seam Sealers, the technician applies the sealer and 10 minutes later it’s cured and they can continue with the job until it’s finished which is proven as the most efficient way to work. Best of all, the vehicle can be ready to return to the customer around 24 hours or more earlier. Given key-to-key cycle-time is one of the main criteria insurance companies use to measure collision centre performance, it’s a factor that going to make them just as happy as the customer. Finally, when it comes to cost, the efficiency gains of switching to Dual-Mix 2K Seam Sealers far outweigh the extra cost per job.”
MVP Business Solutions aims to help customers improve performance across the full spectrum of business activities, in order to enhance profitability.
More information at: mvp.anz@ppg.com.