Page 64 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

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BEST LARGE SHOP – NORTHERN TERRITORY
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020
JUDGES’ COMMENTS
ABOVE: Spacious prep area — it’s NT, it’s spacious pretty much everywhere.
Australian Federal Police and we do the emergency vehicles in the Northern Ter- ritory. We do Toll Transport, and a lot of transporters for Indigenous communi- ties that have been brought in either by ferry or by truck."
It’s not all work vehicles though, the business is also BMW and Porsche ap- proved and we all know how particular those brands are.
Obviously, a lot of the repair jobs that come into the Fergusons’ workshop suf- fer a little more wear-and-tear than your average inner city bodyshop. Cars need to weather serious off-road conditions - and often need to be ready well before parts are available from the south.
"It's a delicate balance between com- municating with and educating custom- ers who are affected by parts delays," says Sierra. "Locally, they don't hold a lot of parts, except for Toyota, who have by far the largest stock available. It's a nightmare."
Where possible, Craig and the work- shop team are happy to handle repairs
SHOP STATS
in-house, which can speed up turna- round significantly.
"We don't do as much repair as we probably could to get a faster turna- round." admits Sierra. "Obviously, if the insurance company wants to re- place something, they want to replace something. But if we can repair it and it doesn't need to be replaced, we can get it in the workflow and get it done faster. A lot of our community-based vehicles, ambulances and vehicles like that need to get back on the road quickly."
In order to get those cars back to customers as quickly as possible each
of the panelbeaters have their own mi- ni-hoist in their workbay, and there's a modular hoist in the centre of the workshop.
"Everyone has a hoist available with- out having to wait for it," says Sierra "And, we have infrared arms within the prep bays, which all have curtains be- tween them, so we can do spot work. There are rails forward and across each bay, and the curtains lift. We're not lim- ited by space."
"In our Masterbooth, we actually have an infrared arch, which have been genu- inely amazing," says Sierra. "Life-chang- ing in regards to productivity."
SIZE: 3 buildings 1310m2
STAFF: 17
TYPE OF WORK: All types
OTHER SERVICES: Boat, motorbike, kitchen glass and surface painting
APPROX CARS PER WEEK: 45 OEM BADGES: BMW, Mini, Porsche
SAM STREET
A large, well organised, highly
professional business. So glad we were able to venture to NT for the first
time this year and find this pearl of a shop. Serious volumes despite the parts challenges and OEM approved to boot.
JUDGE POWELL
An extremely well presented repair facility with all the right tools, equipment and highly trained staff to
cater for those big Northern Territory hits, which also include big chassis hits.