Page 59 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

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SAM STREET
It’s like a mini Zagame – which is
about the highest praise one can give. The brothers haven’t just raised the bar they’ve pushed it through the roof.
Even the most obsessively fastidious car owner would feel at ease entrusting their pride and joy to this facility.
JUDGE POWELL
What can I say! I could make many
comments about this facility like – “maybe I should have had my wrist
reconstruction done here instead of hospital”. An immaculate repair facility with custom-made cabinets to accommodate all tools and equipment as well as a broom in every closet – just in case anyone dares to let dust fall on the floor tiles.
And, there are no tools in this workshop, apart from the stuff currently in the dudes’ hands.
“We don’t have tools in the shop, or equipment,” explains Les. “Instead, we’ve got everything in an external se- cure lockup, so we’re not tripping over our MIG welders and dust extractors, all our charging bays and extension cords, all the filtration systems.”
He’s serious: if technicians need so much as an extension cord, they pop into the lockup and bring it to the job. The effect on the workshop is startling.
The minimalist ethos continues with the airlines, as the regulator, air and compressor setup for the spraybooths are all installed outside.
“We just pull the hoses inside and it’s dust free,” says Les. “There’s only a cou- ple of exposed airline in the shop.We’ve got everything hidden away pretty well.”
Two preparation bays use down- draught, with dustless extraction sys- tems and curtains that block them off from the rest of the shop.
“We prime in here, and we actually choose to rub in here as well,” he says.
Instead of a measuring system, the Khabbaz are using a unified jig.
“I grew up on jigging systems, and I love ‘em,” says Les. “I have used meas- uring systems, and it’s easy to see if it’s close enough, but with jigging sys- tems you can’t move onto the next point unless you get the current point exactly correct.”
There’s also aluminium repair facili- ties, in which Les likes to repair doors and panels using infrared.
But, like anyone with a taste of show- manship, Les left the best bit til last: the Moonwalk.
“And here is our piece de resistance, PPG’s Moonwalk system,” he grins “We’re the only ones who have it, and it’s the first unit that’s operational. We’ve put it in behind glass doors. And it works an absolute treat.”
As far as Les is concerned, the hype about PPG’s brand-spankin’ colour mix- ing machine is all true. “It’s a perfect colour match,” he says. “It’s a comput- erised robotic mixing machine. We do the spectro, we choose the job, it picks the colour, and even with 100ml it’ll do 13 tinters. You hit the go button and you
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Ultra modern reception area, woe betide anyone who messes up that floor – they have a lot of ‘mops’. Above: Team Finishline certainly can’t complain about working conditions.
U
come back, it’s all mixed for you. It pours it to within 0.001 of a gram, so accuracy is incredible.
It’s plain to see these guys are se- rious. There’s very close to nothing
in the business that hasn’t been pored over, thought about and opti- mised. No doubt, these gentleman can run a profitable business. But they’re clearly not in it for the money.
Ray, says: “Our philosophy is – and always has been – if we can
give the customer a superior ex- perience, and take away the has-
sle, they’ll then recommend us to others. The other aspect is about creat- ing the recommendation profile, so when you go back to our mission it’s about customer centricity. Our cus- tomers are our future.”
JUDGES’ COMMENTS