Hemet Collision Center draws much of its business by referral from the dealerships (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and Chevrolet) but the DRP side of the business is also growing with work from Farmers and State Farm. The average ticket has been increasing, currently running about $1,500. The business has a tow department which does police work and AAA tows, and is also responsible for the larger than average number of heavy hits that the shop works on.

 

From high school jock to tech

 

The shop employs a manager, six technicians, four helpers, three estimators and one parts person. The five-man paint department puts about 10 cars a day through the booth, where they spray the new Sikkens AutoBase Plus® from Akzo Nobel.

Hemet Collision technicians are paid on flagged hours, and the shop has an active apprenticeship program in which the techs pay their apprentice helpers. "We have what we call a 'build your own body man' program," Root explained, which means we hire the right people and teach them the right way to do the job."

Teaching is one of the things Blair does well. "Spending time showing the correct way to do something. like spraying or sanding, is so important. It's explaining what the right way is, and showing what happens if you do it the wrong way. "Putting your hand on the spray gun while the guy you're training is moving it, and then subtly correcting him and moving the gun in the right direction, helps him feel it. That feeling stays with you. "When one of my guys gets the feeling,' I can see it in his eyes. When he feels it, he knows it and when he knows it, he can go back to it everytime he works on a job."

"Dude, you're the man"

"The better my guys feel about their ability to their jobs," said Blair, " the better they feel about themselves, and that makes them valuable employees. "I love it when I can tell one of my guys, 'Dude, you're the man!' It shows everyone's hard work is paying off.

Blair agrees. "Kurt and I see eye-to-eye on procedures and how to write comprehensive estimates. We get our heads together on every estimate to make sure we don't miss anything and leave money on the table. This ensures we'll do the repair in the 'best interest of the vehicle,' which really is in the best interest of the customer insurance company and the shop."

Extreme conditions for painting

 

Hemet is not the easiest place to do collision repair. Blair explains, "A front will move in for a few days bringing with it sunshine and 30 to 40 degree temperatures. Then some-thing warmer will blow in and it will be 80 degrees and rainy. Temperatures can top 115 degrees in summer. Add the thunderstorms and high humidity in July and August to the mix and you have a hard time keeping the spray booth cool enough so the paint will flow and the topcoat will dry. Oh, and don't forget the wind. With the Santa Ana winds blowing, we have to take every precaution possible to make sure nothing shows up in the finish."

Hemet Collision designed its paint shop with these extremes in mind. 'When it's cold, they accelerate drying with heat lamps for things not done in the booth, such as prep, priming and parts jambing. "We have heating and air conditioning in the paint shop so we can knock the chill out of the air or break the heat. 'Whatever needs to be done to adapt to the weather that day."

Akzo helps with VOC regs

Blair, who when he isn't working can be found driving his dune buggy - actually a Class 10 off-road racer - in the desert,. has seen some big changes over his 27 years in the business. These include the move to basecoat/clearcoat technologies and the introduction of low VOC paint products to meet California's Rule 1151.

"We're in 1151,which has the most extreme VOC regulations in the country. We've been guinea pigs out here. It's been over a 10-year learning curve for us."

Blair noted the lack of formal recordkeeping when the first VOC rules were implemented. That, combined with using new primers, topcoats and HVLP guns, meant the shop had to change the way were doing things and get additional training. "Now that we're proficient in painting with low VOC products, we can take a painter who isn't familiar with the products and get him up and running in just two or three days."

"All along, Akzo Nobel has been there for us and kept us on the forefront of technology and training.. This works for us because I'm very methodical in my approach and believe in doing things by the book. I originally turned to Sikkens 12 years ago for the color match and color documentation. Akzo Nobel is different; they create products that work for VOC rules. They have proved themselves as a company that stays up with the times and isn't afraid to spend money on R&D to create new products."

Shops tests new Sikkens paints

"That's why we like being a test shop for new Sikkens products. I like to be the first to get my hands on the product. We have a lot of fun testing the products, and we 4cnow when they report our comments to the lab that we're making a valuable contribution to the final product."