What started out as a paint shop upgrade has evolved into a next level project at Woodriff Preferred Auto in Maroochydore, Queensland.
Joe Woodriff says he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted at the outset:
“I was going to move our detailing department and basically build around the old two booths – I had never thought of removing them and in my mind it was going to be great.
“The ThermoFlo team planted some seeds of a radical design before I went on leave overseas. At first I thought they were crazy. It involved a whole redesign of the existing paint shop. When I’d thought about it with a clear head it all made so much sense.
“David and Nigel opened my eyes to something totally different – they are all about solutions, the right ones for our business. They challenged me so hard to think outside the square.
“Once we committed to this, my mind started racing. I decided if we’re doing this then we’re blowing it out of the park. I saw a gap in their market when I wanted to see their technology in action in Australia. My commitment is to maintain extremely high standards of care so that they can bring in prospective customers. It will be clinical – we have a great culture here and being the demo site with showroom painting we will deliver superior customer experiences and raise our quality standards to the highest level,” he said.
The huge 8.5m x 4.5m Show Booth will sit between admin and refinish departments and clients will be able to watch the techs in action. There’s a state of the art paint laboratory where batch colour matching will take place and each of the three spray booths has its own ‘activation room’ that contains reducers, clears and hardeners. There’s a colour matching area with natural light and booths two and three work on ThermoFlo's innovative rail system.
ThermoFlo's David Weatherall said: “We’re not in the business of just selling spray booths - we sell business solutions and more efficient ways of working. You don’t get paid to move cars or for denibbing - so eliminate what you don’t get paid for. Our booths are highly productive with a short 20 minute bake cycle that run efficiently on LPG.”
Now that Woodriffs has begun the build, they’ve set their sites on the Paint & Panel national best large shop award in 2021, having clinched the title for Queensland last year – from the sounds of things they are in with a
really good chance.