Autobody News: PA's Glass & Sons Collision Finds Similar Values, High Service Level With BASF Paint Line

Carlsbad, CA, December 12, 2017 (Newswire.com) - NOTE: This October SPS profile was originally published in print in September 2017, and published online in October 2017. 

Family values and customer service are the cornerstones upon which Glass & Sons Collision in Reading, PA, has built its reputation and its business.

BASF has been truly top notch! Their sales team, marketing department and tech support… everyone I've dealt with at the company has been extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We had issues with our prior product that we could never get resolved, but BASF is great at providing the assistance we need to get the job done. I am so happy we made the switch. I just wish we had done it sooner!

Trevor Glass, General Manager, Glass & Sons Collision

In 1999, Charles Glass decided to apply his 23 years’ worth of collision repair experience, acquired while working for a dealership, to his own pursuit of going into business for himself. Thus, he founded the family-owned-and-operated facility, naming it Glass & Sons Collision with the hope that his progeny would one day join him in his new venture. Now, his son, Trevor Glass, serves as the shop’s General Manager, while his daughter and son-in-law also work in the shop.

“My sister and I both started working at the shop a few years after it opened, once we finished school,” Trevor Glass explained. “Each of us has a son and daughter, and we hope that they will also have roles in the business someday.”

In 2015, when Glass & Sons Collision started buying supplies from Zimmerman’s Auto Supply, a company with similar family values, their jobber introduced the shop to BASF’s R-M® Onyx HD waterborne paint system.

Pleased with the fact that BASF also valued the importance of family, Glass noted, “They provide a very high level of service, and the customer support and their product lines are awesome! This industry requires a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, and to thrive, a shop has to evolve with the industry’s changes and keep looking to the future. BASF encapsulates all of that and offers a really great product.”

Designed to reduce overall processing time by providing faster spray and dry times, BASF’s Onyx HD waterborne system improves throughput, lowering labor rates as a result, without sacrificing the high quality needed to keep customers happy. Onyx HD can be applied in 3.2 minutes with a flash-off time of just 8.4 minutes, and BASF promises independent facilities the same level of reliability experienced by OEMs. Formulated to smoothly integrate with existing spray equipment, the low-VOC Onyx HD allows shops to remain compliant as well as competitive.

Although the paint previously used by Glass & Sons Collision was also a good product, Glass notes that BASF’s R-M Onyx HD gets the same job done with less material, which is hugely beneficial. The biggest difference he has noticed, though, comes in the form of customer support.

“BASF has been truly top notch!” he stated. “Their sales team, marketing department and tech support… everyone I’ve dealt with at the company has been extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We had issues with our prior product that we could never get resolved, but BASF is great at providing the assistance we need to get the job done. I am so happy we made the switch. I just wish we had done it sooner!”

Additionally, the conversion pro-cess was stress-free thanks to the support BASF provided, as well as the assistance the shop received from Zimmerman’s.

“Once the decision was made, we did not rush,” Glass said. “We gave ourselves a month to plan and prepare. BASF and Zimmerman’s provided two full weeks of onsite training, and then they visited the shop weekly to ensure things were running smoothly. They really made the transition so easy.”

Another factor that aided the conversion was receiving 100 percent buy-in from his employees. 

“Our technicians were really excited when we told them we were going to switch, and they are even happier using the product,” Glass reported.

The shop’s 28 employees repair an average of 225 vehicles each month using some of the industry’s best equipment, including four Car-O-Liner frame racks, two Pro-Spot spot welders, and aluminum repair equipment. Glass & Sons Collision has established its reputation by providing a high level of customer service. They offer drive-thru estimating, towing services for their customers, free pickup and delivery, as well as automated status updates via text and email in order to keep customers apprised of their vehicle’s current status in the repair process.

Glass & Sons Collision is aluminum-certified and I-CAR Gold certified as Glass strives to keep up with industry trends, such as the influx of new materials being used in vehicles and the need to acquire OEM training and certifications. Glass has also noticed that there appears to be an increase in total losses.

“It seems like cars are becoming more disposable,” Glass said. “They are being built for safety, but not with repairs in mind.”

Beyond the business of repairing vehicles, Glass & Sons Collision keeps the environment and their community as part of their family values. In addition to spraying with BASF’s R-M Onyx HD waterborne paints, the shop recycles all cardboard and metal, plus it is lit with 100 percent LED lights. Glass & Sons Collision sponsors a local high school girls’ summer basketball league and is heavily involved with Moment of Peace Adventures, which provides an opportunity for disabled and terminally ill children to go hunting.

Glass & Sons Collision
Location: Reading, PA
(610) 610-478-9007
www.glassandsons.com

Company At A Glance...
Type:  Collision Repair
Facility Employees:  28
In Business Since:  1999
Number of Locations:  One
DRP Programs:  10
Combined Production Space: 27,500 square feet​

BASF
Customer Care
(800) 825-3000
[email protected]
Color and Technical
(800) 758-2273
[email protected]
www.refinish.basf.us/distributor_locator.html

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Source: Autobody News