Autobody News: Florida Collision Facility Relies on DeBeer® Refinish WaterBase 900+ Series
CARLSBAD, Calif., January 9, 2018 (Newswire.com) - NOTE: This October SPS profile was originally published in print in September 2017, and published online in October 2017.
The son of a Cuban refugee who immigrated to the United States in 1968 to escape communism and offer his family an opportunity at a better life, Nivio Diaz, the second-generation owner of D’Professional Collision Center in Hialeah, Florida, is always trying to make his business better.
It comes down to performance, training, support and profitability, and with DeBeer Refinish, we're getting all of that and more.
Nivio Diaz, Owner of D'Professional Collision Center
To achieve this, he is always looking for the best ways to repair today’s cars to OE standards. One of those ways includes his use of DeBeer® Refinish WaterBase 900+ Series, a product that has allowed him to succeed in a highly competitive market.
In Florida, if you spray a waterborne paint, you are unique — using this type of paint is not currently the norm there. While many collision repairers throughout the Southeast have recently stepped up to help the planet by changing over to low VOC or waterborne products, Diaz has been using waterborne for years with great results.
Always intrigued by cars, even as a young child, Diaz has taken his father’s shop that opened in 1983 and turned it into a Class A collision repair facility that repairs approximately 200 cars every month.
“Over time we have established best practices, which means we never have to rush the work in order to stay on schedule,” he said. “We’re proud of the awards and recognition we’ve received for excelling in customer service and repair quality as reported by our partners and customers.”
When he isn’t running a busy shop, Diaz is an avid cyclist who logs almost 500 miles of riding every week without exception, and sponsors his own team that has competed in hundreds of cities worldwide. He admits that his love for the sport is extreme, but that he is equally dedicated to his business. Part of that is investing in himself, his shop and his crew, Diaz said.
“We credit much of our success to the fact that we continually reinvest our profits back into the shop whenever we can,” he said. “Our customers have relied on D’Professional for over 34 years to accurately diagnose the condition of their vehicles and trust in our capability to complete original equipment-specified repairs using in-house equipment with certified technicians.”
After visiting other shops using the DeBeer Refinish system, Diaz decided to switch to DeBeer Refinish from another waterborne product five years ago.
“When we decided to research the DeBeer Refinish waterborne product, we liked everything it offered, especially when measuring profitability,” he said. “We also wanted to be a more planet-friendly company without skimping on the quality, and we can do that with the WaterBase 900+ Series. Waterborne is a much cleaner paint and our painters are comfortable with it, so we’re in a very good place with DeBeer Refinish.”
If you’re not familiar with the DeBeer Refinish WaterBase 900+ Series, it is one of the most user-friendly coating systems currently on the market, featuring high-opacity mixing colors to quickly create amazing solid, metallic, xirallics and pearl colors — something that Diaz and his two painters are enamored with.
“These new cars were all originally painted with waterborne, and the DeBeer Refinish brand system enables us to match those factory finishes time after time,” Diaz said. “When our customers come here to pick up their vehicles, they’re thrilled. So we’re as happy as can be with DeBeer Refinish’s waterborne system, and are pleased to be spraying it.”
The DeBeer Refinish WaterBase 900+ Series allows his paint crew to work efficiently and get the work done on time, thereby improving their cycle time.
After using a waterborne product and seeing how it behaves in different scenarios with a wide range of vehicles and colors, Diaz can say without hesitation that waterborne will trump solvent every time.
“For us, it’s the only way to go,” he said. “It’s so much cleaner, doesn’t have the smell and there is zero waste. We don’t ever get things such as dye back and shrinkage. DeBeer Refinish has a very streamlined family of products. We like that too, because they have fewer toners and clearcoats to deal with.”
When it comes to any product, Diaz wants four things that any shop should expect.
“It comes down to performance, training, support and profitability, and with DeBeer Refinish, we’re getting all of that and more,” he said. “It’s not all about price all the time, although we are saving quite a bit. The support from the DeBeer Refinish team is excellent too, but to be honest we rarely need to contact them, because the product and the system are so good.”
Hoping to retire in a few years, there is little chance that D’Professional Collision Center will become a third-generation business, Diaz said.
“I have four daughters and none of them have expressed interest, so I would like to sell the shop to my employees when the time comes,” he said. “But, I still enjoy what I’m doing and I like the challenge, so I am not going anywhere at least for the immediate future.”
D'Professional Collision Center
Hialeah, FL
(305) 825-1323
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 32
In Business Since: 1983
Number of Locations: One
DRP Programs: One
Combined Production Space: 14,000 square feet
DeBeer® Refinish
A Valspar®Automotive Brand
600 Nova Drive, SE
Massillon, OH 44646
(800) 321-0672
www.de-beer.com
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Source: Autobody News
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