When it comes to assisting shops with the conversion to waterborne basecoats, FinishMaster is perhaps the most experienced in the country.
“WaterMasters, our brand for waterborne conversion, has helped convert 453 collision repair centers in California alone, and an additional 84 others nationally,” said Herb Butler, national waterborne project manager for the Indiana-based company.
“WaterMasters represents the experience and processes we’ve developed through more than 500 conversions and the passion our team members have for showing collision repair shops the opportunities attached to waterborne conversion,” Butler said.
FinishMaster, the company behind WaterMasters, began in 1968 as a single distributor of automotive paints, said Mike Sheedy, vice president of sales for the company’s Northwest region. Today it is the largest player in that field, with more than 175 sales outlets and more than 1,500 employees in 29 states, he said.
Sheedy said the company has evolved from its early days, when shops expected little of jobbers other than to deliver product.
“Today, we try to really understand the profit centers within the collision shop and work hard to deliver solutions to help shops become more profitable,” he said. “If the shop, jobber and paint manufacturer are not working together to understand each other’s businesses, we will all end up going it alone, and that puts all of our survival at risk.
“The industry needs healthy and profitable shops, jobbers, and paint manufacturers. We have recognized this for a long time and work hard to meet and exceed the expectations of our shops and vendors.”
FinishMaster offers a full line of products from three paint manufacturers-–BASF, DuPont, and PPG–-as well as a wide variety of paint, body, and equipment products, Sheedy said.
“We also provides a large menu of value-added services that include online ordering, managed customer inventory, certified technical representatives, financial analysis, process assessment, and waterborne conversion, just to name a few,” he said.
With the deadline for waterborne conversion in some California markets arriving this fall, it’s a topic that has been on the minds of shops there for some time, Butler said.
“We have converted about 72 percent of our customer shops in the two Northern California (air quality) districts, and the rest have been scheduled, and it is our plan to complete this well prior to the enforcement date of October 1,” he said.
“It is inevitable that there will be a rush to conversion in the last month, and WaterMasters is prepared to offer conversion to shops in need.”
But Butler and Sheedy said they also have seen a lot of interest in conversion to waterborne by shops throughout the country.
“It’s all about taking advantage of the opportunity to be a market leader and differentiate themselves from their competition, the opportunity to support a ‘green’ marketing program, the opportunity to enhance productivity and profits, and the opportunity to stay out in front of regulations,” Butler said.
“All of this is possible to accomplish just by converting to waterborne,” he said. “But the window for most of these opportunities is narrow. Several air quality regulators around the country are reviewing the success of waterborne products in California and Canada, and are considering adopting regulations that would require the use of waterborne basecoats.”
Butler said good preparation is the key to making the conversion a smooth one.
“FinishMaster helps eliminate this hurdle by completing a detailed ‘waterborne-ready’ assessment of our customer locations,” he said. “All the recommendations we make for equipment upgrade, process enhancement, product changes, and comprehensive training will result in a smooth and successful conversion.”
But assisting with waterborne conversions is only one aspect of what FinishMaster is doing to help its shop customers, Sheedy said. It has been a leader, for example, in the development of technology to help shops track product purchase and use, and in offering online ordering through its www.PBEconnection.com website.
In fact, BASF, which has long offered online ordering for its customers through a Web site, recently announced it is transitioning some of its www.bodyshopmall.com customers to FinishMaster's online ordering Web site, Sheedy said.
“One of our strategies for growth has been to help our customers grow their businesses and to provide them with services that make doing business with FinishMaster easier and more profitable for them,” he said.
“I think well-run, progressive shops understand our role in the industry and in their businesses,” he said. “The pressures of our current economy have forced us all to look more closely at each other’s businesses and the need for us all to be profitable. It can’t be a one-way street. In the long run, we would all lose.”
Sheedy said he believes the current economic challenges will most likely continue through this year. But his advice for shops is similar to what has helped fuel FinishMaster’s own growth and success.
“Keep investing in your people and in your infrastructure, and be careful not to make decisions for a short-term profit that will have a negative impact on your long-term goals,” he said. “In other words, don’t be short-sighted. Ask yourself where you want to be in one year, three years, five years and even 10 years. It is important to realize that the decisions you make today will determine the outcome tomorrow.”
