Page 81 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Nov-Dec 2021

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Panelshop is spacious and well equipped with large mezzanine for storage.
FOUNDED: 1969
SIZE: 2600m2
STAFF:15
TYPE OF WORK: All
OTHER SERVICES: Ceramic coating, wheel and boat repairs, caravans & trailers
APPROX CARS PER WEEK: 25 OEM BADGES: Subaru, GM
ing with Chewbacca, while the prep bay and booths are adorned with C3P0 and R2D2. He has also added another spray booth since our last visit.
Dan has been working with a business coach and has now also signed up his production manager to be coached which will mean that he will be able to spend more time working on the busi- ness instead of in it. “If you don’t make that time then you will just stand still or go backwards,” he says.
There’s a strong emphasis on job re- cording and employee performance with iBodyshop. An Octoral paint user he em- ploys its liquid recording to monitor wastage and measure profit on each job.
As a founding member of Car Craft NSW he says that joining the group has brought in new revenue streams and better buying power.
The business has serviced Blacktown council for some years and Dan decided to target some more councils and aim for contracts with the police. “Tendering is a new world and it’s a lot of work, a lot of admin but it’s been worth it and we won Fairfield council and the work is be- ginning to come on stream now.”
With a 4.8 Google rating, the business enjoys exceptional customer satisfaction expressed across multiple platforms.
JUDGES’ COMMENTS
JUDGE POWELL
With sound advice Dan is rearranging
and redesigning this older third generation repair facility with all the
right tools and equipment. The design and appearance of the business leaves no doubt that Dan will continue to maintain the high standard of repairs.
U
SHOP STATS
toilets. “We’ve gone for a minimalistic look,” says Dan. The outside of the building was next on the list but Dan is waiting, like most of the rest of the country, for some business as usual conditions.
As Dan zoomed us into workshop he said that not much had changed since we last visited, but in fact there were many notable improvements. The panel shop, which is a rectangle, now has well defined clear zones and is much tidier and well ordered for it and helped the flow between paint and panel.
Structural repair takes place on the left with three large Chief benches and strip and fit is on the right. The parts area is well ordered and next to that is a well lit inspection area for quality control checks.
L&M has been affected by the pan- demic, particularly the latest lockdown. Many of the surrounding LGAs were at the epicentre of the outbreak and people booked in for repairs with parts ordered, stayed at home. The business has never sought to be part of an insurer network and instead is pursuing affiliations with OEMs. It is already part of the GM Certi- fied Collision Network and an approved Subaru repairer and is in talks with some other OEMS.
Dan immediately decided to diversify to keep the team busy. He has taken a healthy chunk of restoration work and marketed the service through Facebook and Instagram and also through spon- sorships. L&M sponsors The Sydney Dis- trict Four Wheel Drive Club which sends them a lot of the structural work they specialise in. They also sponsor the HSV Owners Club NSW. “The car clubs have been really good for us,” he says.
It’s a great service to offer just now as the collectible market, especially Fords and Holdens, has gone ballistic over the last couple of years. People who can’t af- ford the real McCoy are also going for replicas and the L&M crew is there to help with these too.
Dan has also spent time marketing a rim repair service which has brought in a lot of customers .
In between the panel and paint shop equipment storage area is vastly improved too. The mezzanine in
the panel shop is also being cleared out and rearranged for better efficiencies.
The paint shop is an homage to Star Wars with a graffiti-style mural on the paint mixing room of grandad Bill driv-