Customers in need of repairing their vehicle go directly to a workshop. The Acceptor, on arrival of the customer, carries out a visual examination of the damage done to the car and informs the customer whilst annotating the works to be done on the M 7.5.3 “work sheet”.
The customer may request a formal estimate that is processed by the Acceptor with all the detailed items of expenditure. The same form is signed by both the Acceptor and the customer for acceptance and is attached to the “work sheet”. In that case the signature of the Acceptor is an evidence of review of the offer and of the contract.
In case the customer does not request the estimate, the issue of the work sheet represents the acceptance of the estimate and the authorisation to begin the works (in the case of insurance companies: authorisation to carry out servicing, in case of group of companies: authorisation via email to carry out servicing).
The workshop may draw up agreements with dealers of used cars or with managers of groups of companies. In that case, upon arrival of the car, the purchaser sends an authorisation sheet where the car details are normally registered as well as the price to be applied to the servicing.
Note that all checks on the servicing are defined on the control sheet M 7.5.0 in the body shop.
Changes
Changes to what is estimated on the work sheet may occur during the servicing, in particular after highlighting damage that was not detected during the phase of acceptance. In such cases the Acceptor calls the customer to communicate the changes in the servicing to be carried out and consequently in the estimate. It is the responsibility of the Acceptor to report the resolution of the alteration on the reference job order .
Planning the works.
The M 7.5.3 “work sheet” filled out in every part (page 1), is put in the respective car. The operators, when they have finished the job assigned to them, go to the Head of the shop and/or to the Commercial Manager who indicates the car to start working on. The operator takes the work sheet, verifies the type of servicing to be carried out and verifies its nature directly on the car.
Execution of sheet metal works
The sheet metal operations consist in repairing damage to the body that may include the replacement of spare parts or repair. Such indications are reported on M 7.5.3 “work sheet”.
The sheet metal department has a jig bench and a manual from which to get the correct measures for any type of car. The Acceptor is responsible for the updating of such manual; he makes sure the updated sheets are filed directly in the manual available at the body shop.
The staff carrying out the servicing have such experience and training to allow the performance of the job. It is under the responsibility of the RSQ to keep the staff sheets that give evidence of the updated defined requisites.
For all particular cases operators may ask the RSQ for all the descriptive documentation of the body shop regarding the brands being processed. The same RSQ also sees to seeking all the information about manuals available at various body shops or directly at the head offices.
Checks on cars
Once the servicing is over it is the responsibility of the Head of the shop who has carried out the servicing to report all the details about the checks carried out on the job sheet and in particular:
Completeness of the works carried out;
Visual check on the works carried out;
Check on the jig bench (where necessary)
The operator ticks the items on the work sheet, writes down the result and the signs it to release the car for the next phases according to the plan.
It is also the responsibility of the operator to report the dates on which he has worked on the car as well as the working hours through the use of the badge.
Execution of painting works
The painting operators verify all the operations to be carried out on the work sheet. In order to carry out the painting process correctly, the following operations must be performed in sequence:
Check of the colour to be applied and availability in the storage unit;
Masking;
Preparation of the parts to be painted;
Preparation of the Eurox;
Preparation of the base and application;
Preparation of the paint and application;
Preparation of the transparency;
Use of infrared arc
Polishing.
Check of the colour to be applied and availability of the paint in the storage unit
Before starting the preparation, it is the responsibility of the operator in charge of the car processing to verify the colour code and the availability of the paint. Should the paint be missing, he promptly informs the head of the workshop/ Acceptor who take action in order to provide the missing material and eventually assign another car to the operator.
Masking
Masks are prearranged by using paper or plastic films to be put on the areas that are not involved in the painting process. Masks are also arranged inside the body close to the joints, in order to avoid that the paint or the base are applied on those areas. It is the responsibility of the operator to ensure their correct application during the painting process.
Preparation of the areas to be painted
The operator proceeds with plastering the car and then sanding it till the surface to be painted becomes smooth. It is the responsibility of the operator to ensure the correct application of the filler before moving on to the next phases.
Preparation and application of Eurox
Eurox (anti-rust product) is applied only if during the phase of preparation of the car the metal sheet is visible (total absence of paint). It is the responsibility of the operator to verify such aspect and to require the preparation and then to apply Eurox.
Preparation of the base and application
The operator, aided if need be by the Head of the workshop, asks the preparer for the quantity and the type of base to be prepared. The base is applied to the part to be painted with the appropriate pistol available in the cabin of paint preparation. At the end of the application it is the responsibility of the operator to clean the pistol and to put it back to the appropriate location.
Preparation of the paint and application
The operator in charge communicates the quantity and the code of the paint to be prepared.
The preparer checks the colour master codes to be taken as a reference point on the manual and, together with the Head of the workshop, by standing close to the car, chooses the colour master that is the closest to the actual colour.
The preparer recalls the colours of the chosen colour master on the paint preparation scale and visualises the sequence, the quantities and the codes of the paints to be weighed.
At the end of such operation, the preparer shakes the prepared paint until the evenness of the colour is obtained and hands it over to the operator in charge of the painting.
The car is then taken to the oven (set by the manufacturer at a temperature of 25-30°C) and then the paint is applied manually with the use of the pistol. The operator applies the paint until the area to be painted is completely coated and waits about 10 minutes between one layer and the other. During the phase of paint application the operator checks:
Lack of colour unevenness
Lack of impurities on the area involved in the painting process
The prepared paints are then recorded on the WINCAR “Record of Paints use” in order to ensure the tracing back of the paints used and to do the final accounting for the costs of materials used. Concerning expiry date of the paints and their storage, the body shop, when they issue the (written) formal request for paints to the supplier/distributor of paints, they also ask to provide all the necessary information to decode the bar code in order to obtain the paints expiry date clearly.
Preparation and application of the transparency
The operator, aided if need be by the Head of the body shop asks the preparer for the quantity and the type of transparency to be prepared. The transparency is applied to the part to be painted with the appropriate pistol.
Use of the infrared arc
During the phase of application of base, paint and transparency, should it be necessary to reduce the waiting time, the operator in charge may use the infrared arc by programming the system and, in particular, he:
Recalls the phase he is carrying out on the car (base, paint, transparency)
Sets the part of the car affected by the painting process on the programme of oven management
Starts the infrared arc and waits for completion of the drying cycle
Before moving on to the next phase (application of extra layer of base, paint and transparency) the operator waits until the area has cooled off.
Such operation may be carried out only with the use of RM paints.
Polishing
Polishing is performed by carrying out the following phases:
Wipe a special type of paper in order to remove paint spots
Application of abrasive paste and grinding with appropriate equipment
Application of polisher to remove marks
Such phases are performed in sequence until the painted surface becomes polished and free from any impurities, drops, marks, etc…
The Head of the body shop records the result of the visual check on the work sheet as evidence of the compliance with the painting process (putting ticks and the signature for check made)
Final check and car delivery
The Head of the body shop/ the commercial officer carry out a final visual check on all cars in order to make sure that the works done are good and complete before delivering the car and they record this final check on the work sheet (ticks for positive result and final check).
Validation of the painting process
The validation of the process is carried out just once on all the products used by the body shop to paint and is repeated only in case of variations to the productive process or if any new paints are used; it is carried out according to the following modes:
a)visual check for colour correspondence – this is carried out by the painter, by RSQ and the Acceptor who express an opinion of acceptability towards the master colour defined for that hue. The check has a positive result if 2 checks out of 3 express a judgement of acceptability.
b)Adhesion test – this is carried out by making 10 cuts horizontally, 10 vertically on a surface of about 1 square cm, in order to obtain 100 small squares of about 1 square mm. You stick the tape to the area and then strap. The test has a positive result if not even a small square peels off.
c)S.Andrew’s cross – this is carried out by making two slanted cuts crossing in the middle (thus forming the shape of S. Andrew’s cross). You stick the sellotape to the point where the two cuts meet and then strap. Only a peel of maximum 2 mm from the intersection point is acceptable.
Customer property
By customer property we mean all those cars taken to the body shop; therefore, everything that has been mentioned above is applicable to customer property.
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Identification and traceability
One car at a time is processed on the bench. The spare parts disassembled from the cars being repaired are left close to the benches. When that is not feasible, the spare parts are labelled with the number of the car plate.
The traceability is guaranteed thanks to the correct filing of the work sheets and of the documentation concerning the customer and the works to be carried out.
