Plastfix Industries is proud to announce the appointment of Michael LoPrete as its Vice President of Operations North America. The role will see Michael working from his USA base to set up North American Operations and engage with the collision repair industry to promote the company’s unique speciality tools, materials and certified training programs.
As a global leader in the collision repair industry managing 50,000 automotive plastic repairs per annum and growing, servicing the two largest MSOs in Australia and New Zealand, Plastfix has diverted over 660 tonnes of automotive plastic parts from landfill by restoring suited damaged plastic parts such as bumpers and headlights.
Plastfix, a leading innovator in plastic repair, working collaboratively with various industry, government and community projects, has developed its own custom designed and registered 3D printed hand tools made specifically for plastic repairs. This includes metal finishing files, advanced welding material and a line of mesh abrasives specifically designed to excel on plastic parts.
The tools and materials are supported by Plastfix’s in‐house certified plastic restoration video training library. It is the largest in the world, with over 100 titles providing Estimators, Managers and Technicians knowledge on all matters of automotive plastic repairs developed at their state-of-the-art Digital Training Studio by industry expert and Director of Training John Morrissey.
LoPrete brings 20 years of collision repair industry experience to Plastfix Industries working with repairers, distributors and OEMs at sister company Tradiebot as well as the Ford Motor Company, AkzoNobel, Transtar Autobody Technologies, BASF and Hedson Technologies. To support the industry, he is an active participant in Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and a member of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) as well as the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce
Association (CIECA). He earned a B.A. from Albion College and an MBA and MSc from Indiana University.
Mario Dimovski, Founder and CEO said: “This is an exciting period for Plastfix as we get to showcase our speciality IP to the North American collision repair industry. Not unlike many businesses the COVID‐19 restrictions impacted our service business dramatically. We were fortunate to retain all staff across Australia, New Zealand and the USA with the support of government stimulus packages and maximised the downtime to assess our market position, which led to the decision to take the Plastfix Repair Process to market with the release of our specialty products and online training.”
LoPrete and the team will work across the industry, from Individual Shop to MSO to Banner Group to OEM to Insurance, promoting the Plastfix Repair Process as the collision industry standard for the repair and restoration of plastic parts.
Michael LoPrete said: “It is very exciting to join the team at Plastfix Industries. Something as simple as repairing a damaged plastic bumper is often skipped in the interest of perceived expediency and quality. Yet a properly repaired bumper is significantly more likely to be the right fit in re‐assembly, costs measurably less than purchasing a replacement part and reduces cycle time. All that is needed is the right combination of process, training, equipment and supplies. When a plastic part must be scrapped, Plastfix is committed to finding ways to convert it to a raw material that it can be turned in to another useful product.”
LoPrete has hit the ground running in 2021 and there are several exciting developments already underway for Plastfix with the launch of its North American business, securing key partnerships with a leading industry training and significant MSOs.