The switch to water-based paint required special drying equipment, so Latuff Brothers invested in the JunAIR QADs system with variable-frequency-drive controllers. The system creates turbulence in the booth and strong air movement. With the water-based paint and the new dryer system in place, paint-booth cycle time was reduced by 30 minutes. These changes allowed the shop to remove their third paint booth resulting in more cars serviced annually with one less paint booth.

    After switching cold turkey, the car count went down for a couple of weeks, but once the painters adjusted to the procedures it went back up and increased. “It was really no different than switching brands of paint,” said Latuff.
    Latuff Brothers now finishes 11% more cars, using 33% less energy—a savings of 1.25 million kWh of electricity. The company has also reduced waste by 38% (over 1,000 pounds of hazardous waste per year) and VOC emissions by 43% (3,000 pounds per year). By reducing waste and preventing pollution, Latuff Brothers saves approximately $17,000 annually, a definite win-win.
    This achievement brought with it the the Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention as the shop reduced VOCs by 50% and hazardous air pollution were reduced by 95% on basecoat.
    On converting to waterborne, “owners and painters need to realize that the success of the transition can’t be based on a few cars. This is not an indicative sample. One investment that we have to consider is enough time to adapt to the new techniques,” continued Latuff.

The future
“Our business will see different types of changes in the future,” explained Latuff. “One of the changes will be in ownership of the business as the next generation, Will and Robert, take over the business from Peter and Michael.
    Latuff Brothers will see an increase in  annual budget and allocate funds to ongoing employee training and capital investments in equipment to remain of the cutting edge for repairing ever more complex vehicles. The supply chain will become more transparent to all partners as technology catches up with the industry and repetitive data entry and the necessity for the use of multiple software products for different functions, i.e. estimating, ordering, documentation, accounting, communication, become interfaced with each other.”

In conclusion
With four generations of family-owned experience, Latuff Brothers is the choice customers trust to restore the integrity of their vehicles. “Our company believes in providing consumers with complete care, a lifetime warranty on all repairs, and protecting the environment for generations to come,” Latuff concluded.