Converting all eight shops
Capital outlays due to the waterborne conversion cost about $160,000 enterprise-wide. It was about $10,000 per booth on average for materials and labor to do the upgrades. Holmes shops have a minimum of two booths each. Most of the costs were split between installing Garmat-type fan systems, their control panels, bracing, electrical, and labor. These fans are inserted through the top of the booth, through the upper air plenum, not unlike a big ceiling fan, but they had to be braced. Cross beams are sometimes needed to support these units.

Holmes went with Garmat fans throughout “because it was a proven product, and we could at least standardize that.” Because the booths are not identical, some fabrication was necessary to get them all retrofitted for waterborne. These modifications would not have been necessary if they were continuing to spray solvent.

There hasn’t been any need to supplement heat. Waterborne tends to react more to air movement than to heat in the booth. They still need heat, of course, because the last step in the repair the application of the clear coat is the reverse. It doesn’t necessarily need air but it does need heat to cure.
Paintless dent repair is done in conjunction with regular repair.

Primers are still catalyzed —- that hasn’t changed, since only the basecoat is waterborne. All the paint companies are using waterborne at the factory.

 
The transition began in October of 06 in our Riverside location. The process was proofed or “beta-d” around February 07, after which Homes kicked off the rest of the locations and rolled out about one location every three to four weeks. The installation of the fan systems was staggered, so installation followed right behind the roll out of the new product.

Holmes innovates new systems
Holmes uses Akzo Sikkens Autowave in all its shops, buying direct from Akzo. Akzo’s Technical support staff set up a team of people who came and trained its staff. Tom Holmes was an innovator who went on a tour of Germany in the late 70s early 80s, at a time when no one here was using that kind of paint system. Everything was premixed or color matched from a jobber. He made contact with a distributor in Pennsylvania, who sent him a mixing bench in a big crate and a boatload of toners and other materials. Holmes had to read the cans to figure out how to set it up. At least the instructions were written in English.
Tom Holmes noticed that his painters were using the old system whenever they could. Finally he came in on a weekend and threw out the old system completely and a new process was born. They have maintained a long-term relationship with Akzo since the early 80s, with a brief hiatus with another supplier that didn’t work well.

Says Morris, “The Sikkens warehouse receives orders and one of their service consultants comes by every two weeks to help us manage our inventory. They have technical services as well. If we have a new painter, or one that needs additional training, they’ll help us with that to improve productivity and quality. They also have business services consultants to help streamline operations or help you manage different aspects of your business. They’re almost like a nonpaid employee at the shop.”

When asked about other upgrades, Morris said “we didn’t have to replace the compressors but we definitely needed new guns. Akzo came to us and recommended equipment with a specific configuration.  We ended up buying from SATA with specific needle and tip configurations to atomize the new product. The company ended up buying the guns, but we expect our painters to supply their own personal gun equipment so the company-purchased equipment was reimbursed by the painters getting the guns. That’s always been our policy and it’s pretty common in the industry.