Page 91 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
WELL WORTH A MENTION
IT IS, AS THEY SAY, A ‘HIGHLANDER’ SITUATION − THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WINNER IN EACH CATEGORY. HOWEVER, EVERY YEAR THERE ARE SHOPS THAT WERE PIPPED AT THE POST AND MIGHT HAVE WON IN A DIFFERENT YEAR − AND WILL LIKELY WIN IN THE COMING YEARS.
the elite – they need to have T a good digital presence and decent kerb appeal for the judges to scope them out. There were a number of excellent businesses we vis- ited virtually this year but here are four that really stood out of the crowd and
could easily be winners next year.
BERT BENNETT PANEL CENTRE WA
Bert Bennett has worked wonders since we last visited in person for judging. This is a huge, volume shop across two adjacent sites. Second generation owner Bert Ben- nett was literally born on the premises al- though there’s now a workshop where the
HE SHOPS SELECTED FOR
family’s former home was. Like Gabba Col- lision in Queensland Bennett has gone for a ‘funky’ rebrand - and it doesn’t have a car in it. Bennet’s 11 year old son is the design- er and was paid handsomely for it – $50.
The shop runs a colour coded magnet system. The large magnets are for sublet work such as mechanical and wheel alignment which get slapped on the car to make sure nothing gets missed. While it sounds very analogue this is a visual reminder for the team who also use 1Q1 and iBodyshop. Tired eyes might miss an alert on the screen but big visual remind- ers like this are a belt and braces solu- tion, and a clever one. Bennet’s also has bright orange ‘rapid’ cones for cars that needtobeinandoutinaday.
The shop employs a full time plastic re- pairer which has opened up other revenue steams - as well as bumpers Bennett’s can fix anything plastic like canoes for in- stance. The two workshops used to be completely separate which made work- flow clunky with having to drive between them. Now there is a massive parts stor- age area between them and the whole paint and panel workshop has logical and seamless flow. We’ll definitely be by in 2021 so we can see what other improve- ments have been made.
judging are already among
ABOVE: Bert Bennett (left) when we visited the business a few years ago.
2020 NEARLY WINNERS
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