STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME
It is no surprise in the business of body repair to see the trade’s leading examples are privately owned and operated. The Winclo operation based in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal is no exception. The company operations director, Brett Winter, has throughout his 30-year professional panelbeating career always kept an eye on future trends. That is why the company have expanded their business operations to three stand-alone rectification body shops. One is for major body repairs with a wall full of manufacturer approvals. They have introduced a second small area repair shop and finally their own assessment centre which runs with a host of new equipment from his long-term supplier, Ronnie Pillay from Celette SA.
The company foundation can be tracked back to Stanger where Brett’s father, Ken Winter worked for many years. Brett saw a major development in Ballito as the target for a move some three years ago to meet quality demands in the pinnacle area of repair.
The design and build-up of the new shop featured two new Celette spray booths which have been converted to become gas fired units. This is a considerable saving on the company’s diesel cost. The company also have special Jaguar Land Rover VS6755 approved welding technology. The list just goes on, with a full two deck preparation zone and a fast-drying infra-red unit for paint imperfections. The 3 000 sq m shop also features flow line production with a total of some 60 skilled operating staff on board.
Brett is adamant that with the Celette Bench and the new Naja measuring package they can focus on zero reject work being produced. He says that that is the key objective of their business.
After the new shop had gained a great production rhythm, Brett moved to cater for small area repair. It is obviously quite clear that vehicle metal technology today is complex to repair and impact denting and plastic parts suffer in accident damage. They require a different type of faster throughput, so they added another new spray booth, a mobile flatting system and the PPG refinish system, which has super-fast formula retrieval. This has seen improved spray-painting cycles. Brett went on to say that the final new spot repair included the special Flat Liner dent pulling technology that can produce up to five spot repairs in a day.
Brett’s easy-going character hides a couple of impressive beliefs. “You can’t jump around and change suppliers constantly – especially if they are delivering great aftersales service. You need the best equipment and a reliable team to support you to stay ahead of ever-changing scenarios being seen in repair.
“The input and professional guidance on offer from Ronnie from Celette SA, has worked miracles for me over the years. The PPG team have also given the company solid support with excellent product and quality. This is what keeps Winclo Panelbeaters ahead of the pack in this business,” Brett concluded.
