Page 91 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Nov-Dec 2021

BEST COUNTRY REPAIRER VIC
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.A
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COMPLETE BODY CRAFT
WE HEAD DEEP INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE AND NOT FAR FROM THE BORDER TO MEET THIS COUNTRY ALL ROUNDER.
LEFT: Smart exterior BELOW: Go team.
C COMPLETE BODY CRAFT combines old fashioned cus- tomer relations with the lat- est training, equipment and
21st century branding.
Chris and Fiona Bourke celebrated the
business’s 21st anniversary this year. They started from scratch with just two staff in another premises down the road. Today there are 19 staff including five apprentices. As office manager Gillian Robson says: “For a small town we have a pretty big offering.”
The business has allocated areas with the workshop for car and workshop for truck repairs side by side. Another large shed at the rear of the complex houses a spray booth which also includes the de- tailing area. There’s a separate office block with customer facilities, a meeting room and kitchen.
They’ve developed their own work- shop management system in house which uses Outlook calendar which synchs with everyone involved in ad- ministration. All the notes pertinent to the repair are shared so that everyone has access to the same information at
the same time which provides stream- lined customer service. All interactions are recorded so the admin team are well aware of previous customer inter- actions and needs.
The car team repairs up to 20 vehicles a week. On the truck side they offer light repairs and undertake a lot of rebrand- ing and put through around five trucks per week as well as being an NTI ap- proved truck repairer. Complete Body Craft runs three tow trucks including a heavy haulage truck. The recent addi- tion of a new shed and additional Seetal spray booth will allow them to service even more of the needs of their varied customers which includes painting for a local metal fabrication company.
Space is not an issue for Complete Body Craft - their holding yard is enor- mous with many e-salvage vehicles held on site for auctioneers like Manheims and Pickles. The exterior of the work- shop is very smart and corporate with their slogan ‘refinishing Australia’s fu- ture’ alongside the logo.
When we visited the car workshop it had a boat, a small truck and some cars
in various stages of repair. There are spacious and very neat consumable rooms and well organised storage. Com- plete Body Craft also repairs trailers, horse floats and sandblasts pretty much anything. Inside the car paint shop there are two spray booths with a roomy paint mixing room. In the truck workshop there is a huge Lowbake truck booth and the truck repair area.
If you want to succeed in the country then have to get involved with the local community. The business sponsors many local sports clubs and various or- ganisations including the agricultural show. They proactively engage with ca- reers advisors in local schools – hence the high apprentice count. They also take part in I-CAR and PPG training to stay up to date with the latest repair methods.
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