SHOP: H&V Collision Center LOCATION: Kingston, N.Y. SIZE: 20,000 square feet STAFF: 26 AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 125 ANNUAL REVENUE: $3.9 million
1. Unique Community Marketing
A key element that sets H&V Collision Center apart from its competitors is the business’s creative marketing. H&V often gives back to the community, and the philanthropy has the added benefit of building the MSO’s brand throughout Upstate New York’s eastern corridor. For example, in April, H&V gained recognition for the Easter party it threw in Albany, N.Y., which brightened the holiday for roughly 60 youths associated with local Boys & Girls Clubs. Occasionally, such events are held at H&V locations.
While assistant vice president Richard Tanchyk notes that H&V mainly takes part in charitable endeavors out of a sense of civic duty, he acknowledges that such events also help the MSO “send a message out about who we are.”
2. Multiple Overhead Doors
When H&V took over its Kingston facility a few years back, the MSO’s management found itself with an old, roughly 9,000-square-foot building that used to house a hardware store. During a 2015 construction process that more than doubled the size of that facility, H&V added overhead doors on all sides of the building except in the front where offices are located.
Tanchyk says the addition of the doors has made for improved flow throughout the shop floor.
3. Zero Emissions Paint Booth
H&V’s website notes the great lengths the MSO goes to in order to have an environmentally safe shop environment. That’s especially apparent at the Kingston location, which has a pair of SAICOZERO zero emissions spray booths. Tanchyk says H&V is one of just a few New York shops to own the zero emissions booths, which, despite their initial cost―nearly three times what a typical downdraft booth costs―are extremely energy efficient, burning at roughly seven times fewer BTUs than a typical downdraft booth, according to Tanchyk.
“From an emissions perspective, zero emissions are the standard,” he says.
4. Tool Vending Machine
H&V’s Kingston location serves as a test site for a Würth Group vending machine, which, due to Würth’s “Vending in Partnership” program, provides the New York shop with streamlined inventory management and cost control on roughly 80 different shop and material supplies.
H&V’s technicians are given an ID number, which they use to access the vending machine. Along with that number, techs are also required to enter the RO number for the job they’re working on. The machine dispenses materials similar to a traditional food vending machine, but H&V also uses it to manage inventory with notifications for items that are vended, which are itemized in automated reports showing the tech’s ID, the RO number and the cost per vend.
Tanchyk says the vending machine not only keeps supplies secure, but it also controls wasted products.
Have an outstanding shop or know of one? Send a few photos and a brief description to [email protected] and we might feature it here.