SEMA News—September 2012
NEW PRODUCTS
By Steve Campbell
Tools & Equipment Products
The Parts That Do the Work
It is almost a given that anyone involved in the automotive specialty-equipment industry is a tool fanatic. Enthusiasts, technicians, retailers, executives—everybody has an appreciation for a tool or a piece of equipment that improves quality or makes a job easier or quicker.
Dozens of new tools were introduced at the 2011 SEMA Show. We’ve consolidated them on the following pages, including photos and contact information for each. We’ve also compiled commentaries from a few industry professionals about where various segments of the tools & equipment category are headed.
Even if you’re not a wrench-turning gearhead, there’s bound to be something here that will capture your interest. Enjoy!
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Ingersoll Rand |
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Technology continues to bring more electronics into vehicles, and it also drives smaller, more compact vehicles. That has implications for the tool and equipment industry, particularly in the area of diagnostics. It’s also driving manufacturers to make smaller, more compact tools to get into tight spaces. The most significant change for our business has been the shift from air tools to cordless tools. A great example is the new W7150 high-torque ½-inch cordless impactool that we recently launched. That tool performs shoulder to shoulder with our best-in-class air impactool. The challenge in this market right now is that vehicles require much less service than they ever have. I don’t see that changing over the next couple of years, so it’s important to continue to deliver innovative products to make the shop owners’ and technicians’ jobs easier, more efficient and more profitable, which is where our development efforts are focused. We’re also focused on helping shop owners save money by designing tools that use less air and by designing air compressors that are more efficient, such as rotary screw air compressors.
— Nathan Schmid |
Most companies getting into powdercoating want to spray a variety of colors as well as apply a powdercoating to difficult geometries. With the OptiFlex2 powdercoating applicator, Gema introduced advancements in the electronics and pneumatics. These improvements allow the applicator to achieve greater precision and reliability so that the user can efficiently apply challenging powders, such as pearlescent, translucent or metallic.
As businesses rebound from the recession, many manufacturers will feel more confident about their industries and therefore be willing to invest in new capital machinery. People are looking for
—Jeff Hale |
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General Tools |
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General Tools & Instruments |
Liquid Wrench |
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Liquid Wrench
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EWP Global Inc. |
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Runner-Up |
Save A Battery/Granite Digital
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The challenge is going to be to find ways to repair vehicles quicker, allowing technicians to be more profitable with their time. It all comes down to efficiency. If you have the right tools and equipment, you can get eight cars out in a day instead of just five. Diagnostics is a big part of it, but there has really been nothing on the market that has helped technicians to improve things, such as suspension component replacement. That’s why I feel that our mobile hydraulic press is a major new development. That type of product makes it much more beneficial to invest in tools, because the return is seen immediately through time-savings.
—Chad Schley |
A good wall system with full extension capabilities allows you to store a vast array of parts in the drawers and shelves, while heavier items can be stored on roll-out trays. For smaller parts, shallow-depth, eye-height cabinets allow parts to be stored in right-sized drawers, and drawer-dividing accessories create compartments that exactly fit items being stored. Labeling options let you correctly identify each compartment with an inventory number, SKU or barcode. The upshot of using high-density modular drawer storage is a maximized use of overall available floor space. Consider what your company is paying for every square foot of storage space. Since three to four shelf units have about the same storage capacity as one cabinet, a switch to drawer cabinet storage can reduce needed square footage by as much as 100% to 400%. And space equals money.
—Tim Vaughan |
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Malco Products Inc. |
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Stone River Gear LLC |
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Save A Battery/Granite Digital
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Garage Equipment Supply |
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Lista International Corp. |
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Hillco Fastener Warehouse Inc. |
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Most of the fabrics and textiles being used in today’s vehicles are jaw-dropping beautiful but can be difficult to maintain or clean. Our air/liquid cleaning tool, Tornador, has made a drastic change in how professionals in the automotive reconditioning industry handle their jobs—reducing the time required to do a vehicle interior while doing an even better job. Our tool has a non-destructive approach to solving many of these challenges. With the introduction and choices of high-performance affordable air compressors, pneumatic tools are becoming more commonplace items in shops, and more efficient compressors allow a new age of air-driven tools. Retailers should show their products through demonstrations and detailed instructions. Find new ways to expand on what your tools can do, and don’t leave it up to the user to figure out the best way to use your product. Think of multi-task attachments or other areas to make your tools more versatile—units that are complete with all the tools for the task at hand. A majority of do-it-yourself users and those who are starting businesses can be educated or offered work stations and tool packages that meet their needs, whether for paint and body, mechanical, upholstery, graphics or restoration.
—Dennis Dehn |
Tool and equipment retailers need to have a better understanding of the new tools available that help make shops more productive and solve problems for consumers. Ongoing product training as well as attending the SEMA Show each year and making an effort to tour the Ideas Alive: Featuring the New Products Showcase should be a must for any automotive retailer. We should also listen closely to the needs of our customers. From tool design and function to customer service and logistics, providing a full-circle customer experience creates the long-term relationships we desire for our Uni-Dolly automotive dolly systems. Opportunities exist for manufacturers using newer, lighter and stronger raw materials. The biggest hurdle to overcome is creating unique marketing communications that focus on branding the quality and performance of precision tools that perform time and again and are warranted for a much longer period through the manufacturer as compared to any lower-cost alternatives. Foreign tool manufacturers offering “like products” at a much lower price point get the attention of re-sellers and end-users based on price alone rather than quality fit and finish, service and warranty. Buyers need to think about the long-term cost benefits of quality-built tools that provide lifetime value and performance.
—Keith Cooksey |
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Runner-Up |
AirHoseRepairKit.com
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Ratch-Cut/Die-Nut/Sandboss (Manufactured by H.T. Mould Inc.) |
Ratch-Cut/Die-Nut/Sandboss (Manufactured by H.T. Mould Inc.) |
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Feed Master Inc.
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Master Air Tool Ltd. Co. |
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Plews & Edelmann
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Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. |
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Nice Pak Products Inc. |
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Dry sanding in very fine grits has always created the biggest challenge. Clogging leads to short paper life and less productivity. The biggest recent advance in Kovax’s coated abrasives is dry lubricant coating technology, which we sometimes also call anti-clogging coating. It has been so improved that it can effectively minimize clogging even at a finish equivalent to P3000+. It also prevents deep scratches by exposing only the tip of the abrasive stone a little at a time. Shops can improve their efficiency and reduce consumable costs and usage while still delivering a quality finish to the consumer by converting most wet sanding to dry; converting pressure sensitive adhesive backings to hook-and-loop type; using vacuum during sanding for efficiency and a healthier working environment; and using products that are suitable for the job rather than the cheapest.
—Sammy Yu |
Our company has focused primarily on small touchups and finishes for aftermarket repairs and installations. Our vFan portable airbrush system can be used with a shop air hose or a pressurized can with non-VOC propellants. The best part about it is that you can control the amount of paint you’re using, so you reduce or eliminate waste, overspray and runs. With our focus on all the different EPA concerns and reducing waste, we’ve developed a product that can work with solvent-based as well as water-based paints.
In general, retailers are hesitant to try new technologies. Any time there is an economic slowdown you’re going to find that research and development and marketing budgets get cut. Hopefully, we’ll see a good economic turn of events so that the general retail community will have the ability to support new development at
—Sammy Averbuch |
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Liquid Wrench |
Schley Products/SP Tools |
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Plews & Edelmann |
R-Blox Sound Control Inc. |
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PDQ Precision Inc. |
Pearl Way Co. Ltd. |
Better Tools & Fasteners
Delcam
General Tools & Instruments
Powdercoatings continue to gain interest and acceptance from a variety of markets, including the automotive customization and restoration industry. Companies as well as individuals are looking for coating service providers to powdercoat their products; or they are looking for a way to apply powdercoatings within their facilities or shops. Regardless, end-use customers desire powdercoatings for their environmental, cost and performance advantages over liquid finishes.
General Tools & Instruments
When our company started in 1979, there were very few specialty toolmakers, but now there is a lot more emphasis on specialty tools that are designed to help technicians get jobs done quicker. Technology, such as 3-D modeling and computer-aided design systems, has helped us prototype and develop new products. We can engineer a model and actually have a to-scale product within a day or two. That type of technology has made us much more productive from the idea to the finished product.
Efficient storage solutions are key factors in driving the profitability of dealerships or independent service facilities. Technicians need the right tools at the right time, and better organization helps them eliminate inefficiencies and drive profitability. Wall units take advantage of a room’s available height while allowing small, medium and large parts to be stored together in a logical manner with easy access.
Malco Products Inc.
Garage Equipment Supply
Stone River Gear LLC
Dry Air Systems
SJE Corp.
Whitaker Tools Inc.
RD Enterprises
Port-A-Cool LLC
TecMate North America
Sanding products must cut fast and last longer, but most importantly, they must produce a uniform finish without deep scratches. Both primer surfaces, such as the Volkswagen E-coat, and clearcoats, such as ceramic clear, are getting tougher to sand, and the newer generation of paint technologies, such as waterborne paint, are becoming less tolerant of mistakes caused by over-sanding and deep scratches.
Water-based paints have begun to overtake solvent and oil-based paints. Most regulatory actions have been focused around limiting carbon footprints and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Being compliant throughout an entire production facility is instrumental. At the same time, advancements are needed in order to maintain product quality and work more efficiently.
