Niverville Autobody
📍 Niverville, Manitoba
Ferd Klassen recently upgraded his 40-year-old DeVilbiss booth to a top-of-the-line Ultra® XP1 Paint Booth from Global Finishing Solutions® (GFS).
Please introduce your business and tell us your story: Niverville Autobody has been in business since the late seventies, and since its conception, we had been operating with the same DeVilbiss crossdraft paint booth. I started here in 1988 and bought the operation 20 years later. About five to eight years ago, our company started growing more significantly. We’re up to 12 employees now in a small community of about 5000.
What services do you offer and how many jobs do you usually perform? We provide auto glass and collision repair services to Niverville, Winnipeg and Manitoba. With our new paint booth, we perform four cycles a day and are able to push out five extra cars per week, without adding any employees!
Why did you decide to purchase new equipment? I knew that we were not taking advantage of the technology that is out there as in terms of paint finishing materials. We were not getting the number of booth cycles we wanted, and we had poor cycle times with our old booth. We were in the process of debating another expansion and knew that our old paint booth was a huge bottleneck. When we decided on the building expansion, we took that as an opportunity to upgrade our paint booth.
How did you decide on GFS equipment? We started researching spray booths, and GFS was a top contender from the beginning. We then consulted with Dean Marino at Dormer Finishing Systems, who made the process as painless as possible. Dean and the team at Dormer were an excellent resource for us, with their extensive product knowledge and requirement information. From the initial conversations and research to the cleanliness and final delivery, everything was professional and on time. It was an unbelievable experience!
On top of the excellent distributor support, a big reason we decided on a GFS paint booth was because we will have guaranteed access to parts for 10 years. We also liked that GFS manufactures and distributes everything in one place (in Osseo, Wisconsin) — it made the decision that much easier.
What GFS equipment did you purchase and how has it benefited your business? We purchased an Ultra XP1 Paint Booth and debated on whether one would be enough. But we adopted a lot of lean processes, and our booth has been a great addition. We quickly realized how efficient and effective our spray booth can be — our paint booth is no longer a bottleneck. We’re seeing all of our expectations being met very quickly. It has been one of the best decision we have ever made.
Recently, I was giving a tour of our 13,000-square-foot shop to local chamber members who aren’t involved in the refinish world and described our new GFS booth as a Lexus — a truly high-grade, high-technology booth. It’s everything I expected and more.
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