Page 49 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

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JUDGES’ COMMENTS
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
SAM STREET
I love Jason’s laser focus and sound
business instincts. Great kerb appeal, really well planned out and planning for the burgeoning van market is very smart.
JUDGE POWELL
This is a new large high-volume quality
repair facility catering for repairs across a wide spectrum. Jason has taken a quantum leap from the old Taren Point
workshop. Good luck for the future.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Contemporary design gives great kerb appeal and a big car park; plenty of room in this workshop; Jason Hornby.
Customers enter through a pair of glass doors, and walk across a tiled floor to the corporate but warm reception area. Once arrived, a customer service representa- tive will escort the client to the lounge, where tea, coffee and refreshments are readily available. Workstations are avail- able for visitors to continue work (read: trawling eBay) while waiting. And, if they’ve got to attend a zoom meeting, pri- vate meeting rooms are on hand.
An area of Callaghan’s that’s benefited from a degree of automation is the car- wash, the 30-metre high roof of which was only recently erected. “We do up to 50 cars a week, and it’s already paid for itself,” says Hornby. “It’s allowed us to get more cars out at the end of the day, and deliver on time.”
When he employed a detailer who ap- proached the job by hand, a customer would have to wait 45 minutes to get
their car back clean. But, since he in- stalled the carwash, the whole process is over and done-with in eight.
“The way I look at it is that on any given day I’m handing over 10 cars. Usually, one of those cars you’re push- ing to get it to the customer at the end of the day,” he says. “And you ain’t gonna wash it by hand in eight minutes.”
Plus, it’s already highly cost-efficient, using recycled water stored in a pit be- low the washing bay. “It works out at a dollar a wash for me, which is pretty cheap,” he says.
This partially-mechanised system doesn’t run itself, however. Like any shop, it depends on the oversight of skilled tech- nicians. “At Callaghan, we’ve put in place a four-tiered setup,” Jason explains. “I’ve got an estimator, I’ve got a parts desk and a fleet desk, and, for the time being, I’ve taken over the general manager’s role.”
To keep the people filling those roles happy, there’s a large lunchroom that’s been redesigned to adhere to physical distancing rules.
“They’re not going offsite, because eve- rything’s pretty-much here,” Hornby says.
Space constraints have always been top of mind for Hornby, particularly when designing work bays for his technicians and because of the layout of the old shop. Each bay, for instance, has 1.8m of work- ing space in the area surrounding the car. “I’ve made my base one-and-a-half cars wide,” he explains. “Instead of cramping cars in, I’ve made sure there’s enough space to put our toolboxes or our storage units to the side of the car and not en- croach on someone else’s workspace.” And of course the bays are large enough for Transits and Sprinters.
For specialist jobs, Callaghans has its own aluminium room, built to JLR spec- ifications, with both a front- and side- entry, and a vacuum at the back. “There’s a really high roof, so if I’ve got a Range Rover Sport, I can still get it in,” he says. “And, I’ve also filtered this room so i can use it as either a booth or an alu- minium room. So, if it’s a disabled car, we can drive it straight in the front.”
SHOP STATS
SIZE: 2100m2
STAFF: 22
TYPE OF REPAIR: All types.
NO OF CARS PER WEEK: 50
OEM APPROVALS: Subaru, Lexus, Toyota OTHER SERVICES: Wheel repairs