Aftermarket November 2022

I n a world where additional income streams are a must, why turn away crash and body repairs when you have the skills in-house to action many of these jobs? With the right kit and support you can create a new business opportunity for yourself. If you are a garage looking to exploit the body repair opportunity, you first need to work out your way in, and what you are going to need. Steve Smith, National Sales Manager ART, Mirka UK, discussed the entry points and processes to help workshops maximise the opportunities for body repair: “Mobile dust extraction systems are a good place to start as they are cost-effective and do a good job in reducing dust in the workshop. They also reduce energy usage because they only draw electricity when they are in use, which can lead to significant savings when compared with the cost of running a central vacuum system. “This is enhanced by dust-free sanding. The more dust produced the more there is to clean up and there is an increased risk of contamination of the paint work. This could potentially lead to work having to be redone and an 48 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2022 CRASH AND BODY REPAIR www.aftermarketonline.net Body repairs is an area where you can look to generate more work increase in valeting costs. On the flipside, if it is implemented there is an 80-90% reduction in the dust which leads to a decrease in valeting cost and the risk of contamination. Mirka’s Abranet range of abrasives combined with our sanding tools reduces the amount of harmful sanding dust in the air which can affect the health of employees and be detrimental to a job, helping to increase productivity and profitability to improve bottom- line results.” Main thrusts Support for workshops is also part of the equation according to Steve: “In addition, at Mirka we are always looking at ways we can help businesses. One of the main thrusts of what we do is to conduct a regular physical audit of the operation by our team of experienced technical experts, who work with the business to see if it is getting the most out of the products it is using. The audits and the documentation then enable us to show where cost savings can be made, which then leads to an action plan being agreed upon and implemented. The action plan covers TAKING ON A NEW INCOME STREAM