Australia often relies on the innovation of automotive technology from far flung places, so there is nothing like having those experts on hand to explain the latest innovations.
Exhibiting at the Collision Repair Expo is a major investment in time and resources, but the returns come in the form of high exposure to eager businesses and the opportunity to showcase the best that automotive innovation has on offer.
Long a fixture at the Collision Repair Expo, the SAPE Group is not only a major exhibitor but again took up the key role of principle sponsor to the show.
The massive SAPE Group stand, strategically placed near the entrance to the Collision Repair Expo, was one of the highlights of the diverse event and the biggest they have mounted yet.
The SAPE Group aimed to showcase the best on offer in collision repair and drew experts from around the globe to showcase a range of cutting-edge equipment and materials.
SAPE Group CEO Paul McMartin says the diverse offering of innovative products showcased SAPE’s unwavering dedication to excellence within the industry.
McMartin said the multiple presentations and sections, all with easy access and experts on hand, allowed visitors to the SAPE stand to celebrate innovation and excellence in the industry.
The Weilander + Schill Workbay WS Arena Plus was just one of the show pieces of the stand. Integrated with other key equipment, it offered the potential for increased bodyshop efficiency including with the increased demands of new automotive materials, such as working with aluminium and carbon fibre.
The system comes equipped with protective spark curtains and special daylight lighting that meets the industry requirement of 1000 lumens at one metre height.
Weilander + Schill product manager Stefan Knappe said the flexibility it adds to a workshop gives it the capacity to work with aluminium in a multipurpose booth without having to build a dedicated space solely for a new material, often impractical in an existing business or any location where space is at a premium., But critically it allows the workshop to do that work safely with key preventative equipment for any ignitions.
“The special extractor unit means they can work on aluminium, clean the space and then work of steel without any danger of ignition that can come from working with both materials,” Knappe says. “The unit also has a special spark filter that ensures the safety of the workspace.”
These safety requirements are now mandated by a range of European OEMs potentially giving the well-equipped workshop the capacity to work on a range of cars including VW, Audi’s and Porsche.
SAPE Group’s Tony Maher who has more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, said the cutting-edge equipment meant a business could meet the increasing sophistication of the industry.
“This investment unlocks so much potential in the workshop,” Maher said.
Elsewhere, sophisticated coatings solutions where on display at the consumables stand, including a delegation from German company Vosschemie showing off Carsystem with live demonstrations of repairs.
“My father met Ray McMartin (Father of SAPE Group Director Paul McMartin) more than forty years ago and the partnership is still going strong,” Vosschemie head of automotive Maximilian Voss says.
“They were both family businesses, so it was a very good fit.”
Another partnership for SAPE group on display was HB BODY, leading supplier of coatings and automotive repair solutions in Europe and across the world.
The company, originally founded in Thessaloniki, Greece had its paint mixing technology on display and along with a range of top-level coatings.
Consistency is one of the major strengths of the technology, offering dependability for the workshop, HB Body’s Christos Demertzis explained.
“One of the most important things is ensuring batch consistency,” Demertzis says.
“Imagine if you are dealing with 90 pigments and only one of them is slightly off, the result can be a disaster.”
This is why experts at HB BODY and other suppliers for the SAPE Group want to ensure they are providing the highest quality and services to equip the modern repair workshop. Other highlights of the stand included renowned brands such as Spanesi, Celette, Gys, Jollift, Irt, Kamatec, Drester, Scangrip, and Carbon Plus along with consumables stand like Juice, Por-15, Sika, Roar, Cam and Scangrip.
For more information go to www.sape.com.au