Autobody News: MO Collision Center Loves Mobile Environmental Solutions

Carlsbad, CA, August 29, 2017 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​Josh Simitjis is the reconditioning manager at Frank Leta Acura Body Shop, with two locations in the St. Louis, MO, area. Specializing in minor collision repairs, Simitjis and his small crew performs primarily PDR, wheel repair, light panel damage, scratch repair, bumper repair and bumper replacement on roughly 60 cars every month. 

The business has been growing exponentially by filling a needed role in its region and doing quality work quickly and affordably. A major part of their success was the acquisition of a paint booth from Mobile Environmental Solutions of Montgomery, TX, the leading provider of portable paint booths in the United States.

When we saw the booth, we were amazed, to be honest. Everything they had told us was true. It sets up easy and it breaks down quickly and that was one of the major things that really impressed us.

Josh Simitjis, reconditioning manager

 When things really started to ramp up at Frank Leta Acura Body Shop, Simitjis realized he needed to make a change. "After being here for four years, we started running out of room," he said. "With just one oversized bay in a 2,500 sq. ft. facility, we were running into production constraints. At one point we were having to turn work away, which of course made none of us happy."

Simitjis was intrigued when he heard about the mobile paint booths made by Mobile Environmental Solutions, but he wanted to perform his due diligence and do a little research before making any decisions, he said. "We looked at the Mobile Environmental Solutions' Facebook page and contacted one of their reps. We watched a tutorial video and we were definitely very impressed, but we wanted to see the booth in action ourselves."

To achieve this, Simitjis and his service manager drove all the way to Indianapolis to see another body shop using the inflatable booth. "It was a four-hour drive one-way, but the trip was worth it," he said. "When we saw the booth, we were amazed, to be honest. Everything they had told us was true. It sets up easy and it breaks down quickly and that was one of the major things that really impressed us."

Now that Frank Leta Acura Body Shop has been using the mobile booth in every operation since last October, they're happy that it's part of their daily production. "It has made us so much more efficient and we can see it in the numbers," he said. "By using this booth, we've doubled our revenues and are growing every month. It has already paid for itself. We did three times more business this year in February than we did last February and we can credit much of that to this mobile booth. It's like having another little additional shop and we love it. We can have it up and operable in five minutes and it breaks down just as quickly. We set it up in the morning and break it down at the end of the day. We use it in our parking lot, which means we're not giving up any shop space to use it." 

Half of the workload at Frank Leta Acura Body Shop's two locations is customer-pay, with the other half derived from the dealership's used fleet, Simitjis explained. "Our customer-pay work is growing every month now because we are going after it through more advertising and marketing. The quality of our work has also gone up, thanks to our mobile booth. We have zero problems with dirt and dust and no issues with overspray. The booth blows any overspray toward the door and goes through some filters before exiting."

Maintaining the mobile booth is simple and drama-free, so Simitjis and his crews don't have to slow down when meeting their crazy deadlines, he said. "We have a huge tarp on the floor in the booth and we just leave it there, even when we break it down. We pull it out of there every month and wash it and that's how we keep it clean, but really there is very little maintenance required."

When he does have any questions about the booth, Simitjis can call the people at Mobile Environmental Solutions and get a prompt response every time. "They always get back to us same day and we have done some three-way phone calls to keep my crew in the loop," he said. "I give their customer service 10 out of 10 stars. The support is excellent and the product does what it is supposed to, so we are seriously thinking about getting another one for our satellite location." 

Simitjis wasn't sold on a mobile paint booth from Mobile Environmental Solutions until he drove eight hours round trip to see it himself. But now he is glad that he did. "Now I am definitely a believer, because this booth has helped me to produce a better-finished product and it's so easy to use, it's unbelievable," he said. "We love it, and that's why we're seriously thinking about getting another one for our other location."

Frank Leta Acura Body Shop 
St. Louis, MO
(314) 243-9210
frankletaacura.com

Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair 
Facility Employees: Four
In Business Since: 2000
Number of Locations: 2
Combined Production Size: 9,000 square feet 

Mobile Environmental Solutions
Montgomery, TX 
mobileenvironmentalsolutions.com

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Source: Autobody News