Page 36 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine May-June 2022

Anniversary Special
36
PAINT&PANEL MAY / JUNE 2022
FROM TOP:
The original advertisement announcing the company move: The business has won many Paint & Panel awards over the years.
THE 40 PLUS CLUB
IT’S HEARTENING TO KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY LONG ESTABLISHED BUSINESSES OUT THERE THAT HAVE WEATHERED THE FINANCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL STORMS AND ARE STILL GOING STRONG TODAY.
W E ASKED THESE BUSINESS QUES- tions including how many ap- prentices they had trained, their best and worst times and who founded the business. We also asked what they thought was the single biggest change in the last 40 years and what the biggest change or challenge will be in the next five years. Michael Wilkinson went
the extra mile with his responses.
PETER WILKINSON & CO WA
ESTABLISHED 1959
FOUNDED BY Peter and Win Wilkinson, operated by their son Michael since 1989.
APPRENTICES Hundreds. The business has always had a focus on training. Many of those apprentices have gone on to run their own businesses.
BEST 5 YEARS Peter has always said the first five. No times manuals, no hourly rates, no parts margins (because there was very few parts available). You priced a repair job, did the job and got paid without argu- ments.
WORST 5 YEARS It has never been an easy industry to operate in but I think the hardest years for me has been the last five. We have seen the introduction of fixed price (target price) contracts be- tween repairers and work providers which has put enormous downward pres- sure on margins for us all. Attach to that the increase in technology and therefore the need to invest more and more in training and specialist tooling, all with- out the recognition of being a high tech, highly skilled industry.
BIGGEST CHANGES So many, but the one that sticks in my mind is the change from acrylic paints to two pack. No more lead poisoning, just isocyanate poisoning. There was so much excitement around
about this new technology - gloss straight off the gun; “No more buffing”; matches the original finish so much better.
Everyone went out and invested huge amounts of money in baking ovens and associated equipment. The tradespeo- ple had to be de-trained and then re- trained in using the new technology. There was a massive burden placed on the paint companies and their technical staff to manage the demand and roll out the new products in a controlled man- ner. It did allow us to produce a better quality product that did match the fac- tory finish so much better.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN NEXT 5 YEARS Staffing and skills. We have a massive shortage of skilled staff which is not being recog- nised or dealt with by any of the train- ing organisations. We are all gaining ac- cess to the OEM repair information which is great but then who is going to repair these vehicles going forward? We need to apply a lot of effort attracting young people or our industry is going to implode.