A centralized bodywork for the Saint-Christophe group

The Saint-Christophe Lorraine group has inaugurated a car village near Nancy last July. The distributor has chosen to install a centralized bodywork, with the help of its partners Spies Hecker and Weinmann.

The distribution groups have taken over their bodywork activity. The group Saint-Christophe Lorraineheaded by Francis Bartholomé, has installed a centralized body shop in its new car village of Maxéville, a suburb of Nancy. On the 40,000 m2 site, which includes the Ford, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover and Volvo brands, the body shop covers 1,500 m2. Designed to accommodate the models of the five brands, it has a specific space to process aluminium and the necessary Atex equipment. The technicians have therefore received specific training to carry out repairs on this material, which is increasingly present on vehicles.

<strong style="color: #1f8cad; text-align: justify;">Outils connectés</strong>

In terms of training, all employees are authorised to work on electric vehicles. The establishment has a workshop manager and six painters. They work with the products Spies Heckerthe group's brand name Axaltaand use the brand's new connected spectrophotometer. This tool is now being used in the most structured workshops due to improvements in measurement accuracy. Thus, the device transmits its results directly to the shade search software, which compares them with the 200,000 formulas listed in the brand's database. The winning combination is automatically transmitted to the connected balance in the body shop paint laboratory. All that remains for the painter is to prepare his mixture.
The creation of a new bodywork could have been an opportunity to change paint suppliers for the distribution group, which was not the case, as Yannick Henry, after-sales manager of Saint-Christophe, explains. "We have been using the brand's products for more than twenty years and the personalized support it provides us is flawless. We generally hold four meetings a year with our specialist Spies Hecker during which we study together the levers to be put into action, sales monitoring, profitability projections and of course, when the brand launches a new range, it organises on-site training for our bodybuilders and on-site support, which greatly optimises their daily experience. To complete this operation, the workshop also uses the concept One Day Repair developed by Weinmann.

<strong style="color: #1f8cad; text-align: justify;">70 véhicules hebdomadaires</strong>

The contribution of the five concessions grouped on the site generates an average flow of 70 vehicles per week in the bodywork. Of these, 70% of repairs are quick repairs. A majority is done during the day, thanks to the products of the paint manufacturer and the organization set up. The site has a cabin that can accommodate a utility vehicle and an area One Day Repair. Developed by the French Weinmanncompany, this cab can accommodate up to six elements of two different vehicles simultaneously. The objective is to accelerate repairs by optimizing the establishment's productivity. A must for all high-performance body shops.

 

Publication: Frédéric Marty - Auto-infos.fr

<i class="fa fa-chevron-up"></i>