THE VOICE OF THE AFRICAN COLLISION REPAIR INDUSTRY

The Axalta Academy, a state-of-the-art global training platform for refinish professionals, has launched globally in 15 languages to empower refinishers to maintain and to improve their specialised competencies with top-class training. The platform adjusts to the way in which they work, and is backed by Axalta’s unrivalled, industry-leading expertise.

This versatile putty, mud, goo, whatever your slang term, is an essential product that helps us return a crushed vehicle to its glory. It can be perfect for scratches, dents and even for treating rust perforations.  Here are some best practises and tips for applying this miracle of modern science.

Ford has been an also-ran for the past few years in terms of its exports of built-up vehicles into Africa. Even this year its sales of the new Ranger have been disappointing. Then, unexpectedly last November, it sold 924 units into Africa to top the list of local manufacturers and distributors.

GM and Honda have announced the start of production at their 50/50 joint venture production facility, Fuel Cell System Manufacturing (FCSM) – the first large-scale manufacturing joint venture to build commercialised hydrogen fuel cells. GM and Honda share in the belief that hydrogen and fuel cell technology play a big role in meeting zero-emission needs.

How is AI being used and applied in the auto body world? It’s largely centred around “computer vision,” which is a computer analysing images and then taking that, along with other inputs, to help with writing an estimate or determining if a car is a total loss.

Toyota Motor Corp, has ceased production indefinitely in four of its Japanese factories. This follows a recent suspension of vehicle shipments globally due to the discovery of flawed safety testing. The Japanese government is looking into allegations that the company falsely passed safety tests on certain car models for over 30 years.

Pothole-related breakdowns are at a five-year high with new data showing that spending on road maintenance has almost halved in a little over a decade. Data shows that the worst area for potholes in the UK is Northumberland with over 180 000 reported over four years.

The rise of artificial intelligence has brought significant changes to many industries, leading to both challenges and opportunities in the job market. As AI continues to evolve, it has led to layoffs in some white-collar sectors while opening new avenues in others, including the collision repair trade.

The Glasurit 100 Line revolutionises panel repair with its shorter spray and flash-off times, boosting efficiency to new heights. This line ensures faster basecoat processes, enhancing productivity without compromising on quality.

The value segment in refinish is on the increase with a Real Research survey showing it now has 56% of the local market that is incredibly price conscious in this economy, but still looking for quality coatings. The SA repair industry is incredibly unique, and this survey proves that.

Value brands now account for roughly over 50% of the market share. PPG has launched Quickline® which is an easy-to-use solvent borne basecoat system for two and three repairs that also delivers consistently good colour matches for all major car makes.

The first graduation from a joint pilot project between Hollard Insurance and C3 Auto Body Repair Academy has taken place. They developed it around the training parameters that currently exist in the industry and this new focus is proving very successful.

The lunacy that is the towing arena in South Africa come under scrutiny from an insider. What are the loopholes being exploited? Where will this lead to in the long term? Perhaps by understanding the ugly truth we can make a way forward.

For the first time in four years the Geneva international show for automotive designers finally took off. Praise for BYD, MG Motor, Lucid, Renault, Dacia (also Renault) and a whole raft of support from owners of gloriously rare vehicles for making this a special event. Where was everyone else?

The new Octoral PF345 Rapid Surfacer utilises cutting-edge technology to eliminate the need for spray booth usage. This helps to maintain cost-effectiveness and improve efficiency with air-drying power. Removing the 30-minute bake cycle frees up the spray booth for additional work, furthering efficiency goals.

Right now, there is a circulating survey where they are asking CRA membership to define procurement source for alternate parts purchased in the vehicle repair cycle from both parts and paint supply concerns involved in the aftermarket transaction on each quotation. Why is the insurance industry still interfering?

By constantly reinventing themselves Mix & Match have been able to deliver on their promises which is the cornerstone of their ongoing success. The business has successfully transitioned to the convenience of a click-of-button service and keep pace with additional savings in both time and money for their client base.

Passion is a gift given to us. It is an amazing tool to drive us forward and inspire others in a positive trajectory. It is the cousin of integrity, excellence, and humility. Let’s work together with those who are already changing our nation one person at a time.

What is a fair price to pay for paintwork in collision repair? How can you determine this fairly and accurately? PaintWizz has the answer, and is a local product, conceived by two body shop owners who understand the business backwards. Take away guess work and increase your bottom line.

This year’s WorldSkills 2024 was a very close contest, held at the BASF Refinish Competence Centre (RCC) in Midrand. Kai Pietersen, from False Bay College is this year’s winner and will represent South Africa in Lyon, France, in September this year.

With the constant and rapid increase in the cost of diesel fuel, the case for a change to an LPG gas fired heating system is on the increase. Celette South Africa are the importers of specialist LPG burners. Improve your body shop activity by increasing workflow and save on costs.

After 22 years in Durban central, Tunzi Automotive Suppliers have made a move up to Pinetown, but their contact details stay the same. The company have built up a great reputation for service and back-up technical service.

Sagola understand their client’s needs. They have worked closely across the world with major refinish brands to determine each of their requirements. This enables their guns to deliver faster atomisation with an ultra-fine and a smooth loading with the material being used.

Paint and body shops are little by little adapting their work processes to new technologies to get better results in their repairs. Nanotechnology is a way for research and development labs to experiment with the design and manipulation of matter, at the atom or molecular level, with industrial purposes.

Preparing vehicles with ADAS seems a little bit like the Wild West these days, particularly in the realm of paint and coatings. It is critical that refinishers follow OEM guidelines and recommendations when repairing vehicles with ADAS. Even so, grey areas can remain.

Mercedes-Benz are able to shoot 1 000 images per second with their Ultrashort X-ray technology, during a crash test. With over 900 crash tests done a year by them, they take safety very seriously and have now opened up a whole new world for repair unseen until now.

Hurricane Equipment’s training facility situated in Centurion garnered significant attention as industry professionals congregated for their quarterly SAEFAR meetings and to explore the company’s extensive range of products tailored for the collision repair sector.

A record entry was seen at this years’ “Passion for Speed” historic Formula One contingent. It was a memorable meeting with a packed race card that started before 8 am and continued well into the evening at Zwarkops Raceway, Pretoria.

Roger Houghton’s fascination with Ford began in his early years, in the 1950s and ’60s, due to his interest in cars in general, and motorsport in particular. A long journey and passion for the brand has ensued.

WhatsApp Business integration within Panel Beater Directory offers a powerful tool for shops to enhance customer communications, streamline their operations, and even boost marketing efforts. Here’s how to unlock its full potential.

Suzuki, the Japanese carmaker said it had reached an agreement with SkyDrive to make “flying cars”. The companies will use a Suzuki Group factory in central Japan to make electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and aim to begin production by around spring next year

Leading European safety accreditor Euro NCAP has flagged the possibility that bigger and heavier cars are compromising safety for other road users and potentially leading to worse crashes.

Sustainability used to be a buzzword that appeared in annual reports. It now translates into robust, transformative business models that reside at the core of operations, aligns fully with strategy, and ensures marketplace differentiation. If there was any doubt that shift had taken place, the tale of the tape clearly tells the story.

As a result of over three years of research and development by expert body shop owners, the PaintWizz system can accurately calculate the paint volumes required to coat specific vehicle parts in line with actual repair operations. This system will deliver a much more modernised form of quoting for paint repairs.

The state of the motor industry in South Africa was spotlighted at the annual media get-together and the market situation was explained as well as the challenges in parts availability due to South Africa’s port problems. Despite this, Toyota will continue to advance and feature many new drivetrain derivatives.

PPG has launched PPG DP7000 Air-Dry Primer and a range of dedicated ancillaries across automotive refinish markets. The availability of these energy saving products doesn’t ask you to choose between sustainability or quality and performance, but offers energy savings, speed and easy-to-use products with a superior finish.

Sagola announced new opportunities through a national distribution footprint supported by Sherwin-Williams appointed distributors and their multiple other partnerships in and around South Africa. They have experienced a marked increase with the popular DeBeer and Octoral refinish systems, and now have decided to include the Sagola range into their customer offerings.

In a breakthrough moment for automotive refinishing in South Africa, BASF Coatings Services, is set to launch its highly anticipated Glasurit 100 Line. This cutting-edge product range promises to redefine industry standards, offering advanced technology and superior quality finishes. It is also gearing up to provide extensive training.

The INDASA Group have launched a new professional mixing system, designed to transform paint application in the body shop. The INDASA Mixing System (IMS) marks the company’s inaugural entry into the spray booth. It is designed with efficiency in mind and optimises material flow and ensures consistent paint transfer.

Research in the US has shown that emission savings from battery electric vehicles might be overestimated. It seems that for some or other reason EV owners drive less than they did when driving a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE). A factor affecting drivers of BEVs is a lack of a reliable charging infrastructure.

Panelbeater Directory, is a one-stop information system for all things panel beating. They have proudly helped countless panel shops across South Africa connect with new customers and achieve their business goals over the last decade. They have also developed three new directories.

With the matt finish trend still very popular with car manufacturers and car owners alike, Spies Hecker has created a process for its best-in-class Permacron® Matt Clear System, based on Axalta technology, to repair these notoriously tricky finishes. Matt finishes are growing in popularity with a range of gloss levels.

In the collision repair industry, destructive weld testing is a crucial quality control procedure, carrying significant weight, for body shop managers and technicians, as it directly impacts the safety and structural integrity of repaired vehicles. It’s about ensuring that the weld settings and techniques are up to par before they’re applied.

Familiarising yourself with the variety of materials used will be critical for shops with no particular vehicle material likely to dominate. It will become more challenging to repair any car that comes into the shop. Repairers will have to familiarise themselves with OEM repair procedures and the variety materials used.

Electrification and digitalisation are leading to a steady increase in the need for critical metals in the global vehicle car parc. Moreover, only a small proportion of the metals are currently recycled from end-of-life vehicles. The most sought after are dysprosium, neodymium, manganese and niobium are of great economic importance.

The last three years have been tough, and the immediate future looks tough, too. The global automotive industry is bursting with innovation, heightened by the dualled rate of new product introduction. This affects almost every aspect of the vehicle, where only the cheapest will escape the changes.; an unprecedented time.

The team at GAV have recently introduced a new 5000 series of blowing guns with a lever to allow for airflow adjustment. It is easy to handle thanks to the ergonomic grip and soft touch material inserts. This helps reduce fatigue and hand injuries caused by repetitive movements for the end-user.

With increasing numbers of vehicles being electric or battery electric vehicles we need to rethink our shop layouts so that anyone in any part of the operation will have at least 20 or 30 second run to the nearest exit. Perhaps even moving out towards large open flat space.

The ultra-high performance hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle platform – EVRh – has been developed to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen (H2) powered powertrain systems through implementation in a high- performance vehicle application. The EVRh combines WAE’s extensive vehicle and powertrain engineering experience alongside for end users to have zero tailpipe emissions driving.

Psychological and psychosocial hazards are factors that can lead to increased levels of stress and discomfort in the workplace. These can have serious repercussions on employees’ mental health. Psychosocial conditions can be less evident and trickier to identify.

Much of the motor industry is yet to start to adapt to the challenges ahead and the implications remain unquantified on repair capacity, training and skills, the cost, and the lifetime sustainability of BEVs. Despite this, the motor insurance industry is already seeing BEV’s performing differently in the market.

In an era marked by a widening gap in skills and talent within the collision repair industry, a challenge emerges in attracting the necessary workforce to cope with the escalating evolution of vehicle technology and a surge in collision claims. The skills shortage is expected to continue in the future.

The testing and performance protocols used in the Euro NCAP are regularly updated to reflect technological advancements in vehicles to ensure they represent the latest and highest safety standards. Emphasis is placed on the responsiveness of active safety equipment such as RADAR and LiDAR technology for vulnerable road users.

A lot of the scepticism was generated by people who did not understand the technology. They feared ICE cars and trucks would kill pedestrians, and there were not enough places to buy gasoline. The same scepticism is being cast on battery electric vehicles (BEV) during the 21st century.

The use of adhesives has increased dramatically in recent times, and it’s changed vehicle construction, improving strength and durability but how to ensure it remains that way even after collision repairs? With the correct understanding and application during vehicle repair, it is a relatively easy material to work with.

Various stakeholders met to form a collaborative approach to the rampant increases being seen in vehicle salvage rates across South Africa. Once again it’s the customer who is left high and dry with these very low write-off rates implemented. It’s a short term view of business for all.