Relationships with suppliers can be a critical support for any repair business. But when they are dealing with change and innovation, this is when the qualities of a partnership, like the one Willmot Smash Repair Specialist enjoys with 3M, shine through.
Willmot Smash Repair Specialist in Cairns is a collision repair centre that despite some handsome growth will not compromise on two key traits: delivering consistency of quality to customers and a spirit to innovate.
“We’ve been through a lot of growth,” WSRS owner Wes Jenkins says.
“We just opened another facility and increased our non drivable facility. We’re a sizable company now, doing anywhere from 60 cars to 100 cars a week, depending on the mix, but definitely doing a lot of larger jobs. There’s about 40 of staff all up, so, a pretty dynamic little workshop.”
Community reputation
Part of that growth has been successful relationships and Wes is happy to give the testimonial for suppliers who share his values.
“I’ve owned the business up here 10 years and worked at Willmot Smash Repairs for 20 and we’ve always used 3M. Every product, if we can, we use 3M.”
One of his key business objectives is to deliver a consistency of service and repair to all his customers and this has helped him build a solid reputation in Far North Queensland. Part of this, he says is the consistency and quality of products that come into the workshop.
“Cairns is a small town, so quality is paramount,” Wes says.
“Being able to provide consistency to our staff members, it comes from good product; good sandpaper, good guns, good paint. It all adds up. If they’ve got a good product and good training, good people, and good company support, well it’s easy to keep the consistency.”
Innovation in the spray booth
One of the most recent changes Willmot Smash Repair Specialist has undergone, in partnership with 3M, is an overhaul of its spray paint system and the introduction of 3M’s Performance Spray Gun along with the PPS 2.0 Cup system and Fine Finish Nozzles
The 3M Performance Spray gun is designed to optimise the paint application process, including offering consistent paint application that gives fine atomisation and colour replication, reducing the likelihood of imperfections or the time spent needed on rework.
For Wes and his paint team, led by veteran spray painter ‘Sticks,’ one of the outstanding qualities of the 3M system is its ease of use. This becomes critical with four spray booths and a high turnover of jobs moving through the business.
“I think what the 3M gun has done is certainly created consistency across all painters. It’s just a very friendly gun to use, “ Wes says.
“They spray consistent every time. They’re easy to set up to get it put on. It’s very friendly to use with the 100 Line and I’d say that’s probably its biggest advantage for us.
“You don’t have to worry about wear in your tips because they’re replaceable.”
Efficiency and durability
Sticks echoes this sentiment and highlights the flexibility of the system that adds to its ease of use and spray-painting efficiency.
“You can use it for wet on wet, clear or base coat- all in one. You’ve just got to arrange the tips out to the size that is suited,” Sticks says. “We can move down a gauge to 1.2mm and use it for clear. We use a 1.4 for base coat.
“It’s consistent and user friendly, and it’s time saving. That’s one of the biggest things because every spray painter hates cleaning guns.”
The modular system with interchangeable nozzles offers easy changeover that simplifies cleaning, maintenance and can save replacement costs in the longer term.
“We’ll put these in the gun cleaner, wash them through and they wash out really well,” Wes says.
“But you don’t have that problem moving forward of not wanting to buy a new setup for your gun because it’s expensive. Whereas with these you can throw the air cap away and start again. The ability to refresh your gun all the time is unbelievable.”
Sticks is also quick to point out that with the right care this doesn’t convert into a high turnover, due to the durability of the Fine Finish Nozzles.
“I think people have it in their heads that you’ll chew through the disposable tips, and it is not that way at all. I did a test when we first got the gun, and I didn’t change a tip for two months. I painted a lot of cars through that, probably 150 colours and haven’t changed a tip,” he says.
Another of the advantages for workshops 3M aims is to deliver with the Paint System is the potential to lower paint consumption.
“With the PPS adapters, you can save as much as is possible,” Sticks says. “These guns definitely put the paint on the way it’s meant to go on, without splattering and you can use it upside down too.”
Business synergy
For Wes even incremental savings brought about through efficiency of process, time, energy or product savings can assist in the overall outcomes and profitability of the workshop.
“It always adds up, these little one per cents,” Wes says.
“The boys, strive to be efficient every day and it’s something we got drummed into us here. I think the product fits in with everything that we’re about and everything that we do here.”
The introduction of the system also came with plenty of back-up from 3M as the business transitioned.
“The support is unbelievable,” he says. “We promote innovation here. That’s something I’ve said to my boys all along.
“It’s an old mentality in this industry to say; ‘It’s working, I don’t want to change it,’ and I believe spray painting is probably the hardest to change. But we’ve got that culture of trying new things here. The boys are receptive to that. That’s just how we do things.”
“The whole crew, they’ve seen plenty of change. They’ve seen us go from, a little shop with eight staff, to what we have today; two major shops with 40 staff and a turnover of about $15 million a year.”
WSRS’s dynamic approach to change and innovation is one of the synergies that has further consolidated their relationship with 3M.
“They’re a premium product, and we’ve always wanted to align our sites ourselves with premium products,” Wes says.
“They’re always at the forefront of technology. And I’ve always wanted to align myself with people that are at the forefront and willing to change.
“I’ve always said, if there’s something that’s the latest and greatest, I want it in my shop. As a business owner, you want to know all about it and put it to the test.”
Speed, efficiency and finish in one package
The art of a quality repair lies in the ability to match the existing finish seamlessly, ensuring that repairs remain invisible to even the most critical observer. However, achieving this should not come at the expense of increased costs and labour. With the introduction of the Performance Spray Gun, 3M has revolutionised coating efficiency through its engineered plastic nozzles, which offers industry leading transfer efficiencies. The technology introduced in these HVLP atomising nozzles, which must be stressed are not disposable, but interchangeable, presents a significant cost-saving potential in paint materials because of the high transfer efficiency when settings are optimised for the coatings being applied. With the rising costs of paint and coatings in the Collision Repair Industry, investing in the 3M Performance Spray Gun can profoundly impact a Paint Shop’s bottom line. The industry-leading transfer efficiency of 78 per cent not only reduces material wastage, thereby lowering paint bills, but also minimises excess overspray, which leads to secondary benefits such as reduced booth maintenance and downtime, as filters and booth coatings require less frequent changes, ultimately resulting in less waste. The 3M Performance Spray Gun with HVLP nozzles offers the best opportunity to maximize every mix.
Alternatively, when it comes to applying challenging coatings, fine atomisation is critical and with the advent of new coating technologies advancements in spray gun technology has been critical to facilitate this need. The 3M Fine Finish Atomising nozzles are the latest technology introduced by 3M to enable accurate and efficient application of these critical coatings in high-production repair environments. The introduction of the 3M Fine Finish nozzles enhances the ability to spray critical coatings with improved atomisation, reducing stress for painters and minimising the chance of rework. These nozzles are specially engineered for finer atomisation, aiding in colour and effect reproduction for the most challenging coatings while maintaining high levels of efficiency and material usage. All this technology wraps up into driving down repair costs and decreasing booth cycle times.
However, not only is the technology optimised for application, but benefits are also immediately gained during the clean up stage with minimal solvent required to clean the nozzles. This helps reduce the occupational hazards for the painter which studies have shown cleaning of the spray gun shows significantly high levels of exposure for the painter and any worker nearby.
Together, the range of HVLP and Fine Finish Nozzles for the 3M Performance Spray Gun offers unprecedented levels of adaptability within the collision industry. This innovation helps achieve the highest quality standards and provides the opportunity to “Mix Less, Paint More.”