The Garage 353

Reduce ‘Key to Key’ Time by Choosing Adhesives to
REPAIR, REPLACE, REBUILD
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Body shops face significant obstacles to maximising efficiency, shrinking
key-to-key times, and keeping costs down in an economic climate that continues
squeezing margins. Julian Pateman, Key Account Manager for TEROSON®, discusses
how adhesives can help transform the vehicle maintenance and repair industry.
In today’s rapidly evolving vehicle
maintenance and repair landscape,
finding a versatile solution to reduce
labour times and free up the workforce
is more critical than ever. A simple
adhesive can lower key-to-key times
while maintaining original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) quality, to ensure body
shops keep their outstanding reputations.
Repair
For example, the traditional method of
dealing with bumper damage has been to
replace the bumper. However, if the body
shop can repair the damaged part with
an adhesive rather than replacing it, it
could save considerable time for both the
customer and the shop.
Did you know – due to global supply
chain issues – it could take anything up to
six months for a new bumper to arrive at a
body shop?
Those difficult wait times when acquiring
parts can significantly impact body shops
and customers. While vehicles are in the
shop, customers can spend considerable
time driving courtesy cars as part of their
insurance policy. However, the insurers
pass the supply costs onto the body shop,
squeezing the body shops’ margins.
Getting the customer back in their car
promptly using a robust and fast-curing
adhesive to mend a minor bump benefits
the body shop and their margins. It also
ensures customers can quickly be back
on the roads in the familiarity of their own
vehicle.
Henkel are already ahead of the game
in reference to sealants and surface
protection when it comes to health and
sustainability. For example, our latest
addition of Plastic Repair materials are
ME (micro emission) also many of the
TEROSON products address this, like the
water-based stone chip and underbody
protect and adhesives and sealants which
have no health & safety label warnings.
Thus, body shops can confidently protect
their workforce and help to hit their own
sustainability and VOC targets.
Replace
Of course, depending on the damage,
there may be more appropriate answers
than repairing the part. A body shop
may need to replace some of a vehicle’s
frame in the event of excessive damage
to a vehicle. However, the body shop
cannot take the decision lightly and must
consider various safety measures when
undertaking structural changes. Central to
those standards is the frame being impact
resistant after the replacement.
By using a suitable adhesive with a high
crash-safety solution, body shops can
ensure that a vehicle’s structure is held
together to safeguard any passengers in
the event of a collision. Not only that, but
the adhesive must maintain its robustness
when adhering to a wide range of materials.
Henkel structural adhesives 5055 and 5065
will bond to aluminium, steel and sheet
moulding compounds without primer.
At Henkel, we extensively test
TEROSON adhesives, including at extreme
temperatures ranging from -40°C to +80°C,
to ensure no vehicle is compromised when
replacement parts are installed with our
adhesives.
Bonding is highly effective when it comes
to joining different materials including boron
steel maintaining safety standards and
increasing vehicle stability. Bonded joints
are protected against the kind of corrosion
caused by environmental factors. Corrosion
may weaken the car body structure and
adversely affect driver safety.
Rebuild
When it comes to rebuilding, getting vehicle
standards as close to an OEM finish is the
key. Using adhesives, humans can now
replicate seams to the same standard as a
robot, for example car manufacturers are
now using liquid applied sound dampening
adhesives rather than bitumen pads. Which
can be replicated in the aftermarket using
9320 SF in conjunction with a wide stream
nozzle and a flat stream nozzle.
However, the finish does not mean
compromising on time. Based on an average
time of 120 minutes per repair, Henkel
estimates that using an adhesive can save
25% on the rebuild time.
SUMMARY
Repair, Replace, Rebuild
By understanding the specific pain points
faced in the vehicle maintenance and repair
industry, Henkel has leveraged its expertise
to provide a wealth of versatile, quality
solutions through our TEROSON brand.
Product simplicity in both set-up and
usage vastly reduces key-to-key times. In
most applications, is simply a matter of
choosing the right adhesive, nozzle and
applicating gun. From beginning to end,
the process makes for a better, more
efficient service with improved margin and
quality finishing to an original equipment
manufacturer standard.
Yet selecting the correct product can
be a challenge. At Henkel, we actively
collaborate with our customers, suppliers
and partners to find the best solution for
each customer. By sharing knowledge, we
hope to empower all clients in navigating
the challenge of making the right choice
with adhesives first time, every time.
THE GARAGE 15
15,News Teroson.indd 1 27/07/2023 12:26