No matter the industry you work in, spiralling overheads are one of the biggest threats to your financial security. Energy costs have risen rapidly in the last six months, so read on to learn why these costs are spiralling, what the government is doing about it and what this means for the vehicle repair industry.
We completed research and development and found that we could save up to 70% energy running costs for a Spray Booth with no existing energy saving technology. This could represent up to £53 per job of profit saved.
Energy prices for businesses have never had the protection of the Ofgem price cap, and this means that energy prices can be incredibly high. With the war in Ukraine continuing to affect the supply of gas to Europe, the cost of energy production keeps spiking higher and higher. Wholesale costs have been capped at £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas by the Government, but that doesn’t include non-energy related costs such as delivery, distribution and taxes. This support only runs until April 2023, and forecasts are showing no signs of costs reducing while the conflict in Ukraine continues.
This has a severe impact on the way the vehicle repair industry works. It is important to remember that whilst homes and domestic customers pay a limited amount for their electricity, there is no price cap on the amount that commercial users pay for gas and electricity. Instead, suppliers charge what they need to in order to cover the wholesale cost of energy production, alongside any profit that the company decides it wants to take.
This means that the vehicle repair industry could really struggle. Without support, some businesses could be forced to shut for certain days over the winter months, or even stop offering certain repairs. After all, the Spray Booth dependency within vehicle repair bodyshops is very high. Turning Spray Booths off for good would save companies a lot of money, but simply isn’t practical as heat is needed to apply and dry paint on cars.
If you’re looking to make further energy cost savings, AGM Services retrofit technology to existing spray booths to offer both savings in energy used and process times of anywhere from 10% to 70%. To protect your business long term from the effects of energy inflation, contact the AGM services team today to find out the support we can offer your organisation.
When your spray booth needs a service, or you need repairs or replacement parts, there are a number of providers across the country to choose from. This makes deciding where to put your trust difficult, so why should you choose AGM Services?
We believe you won’t find a better, more efficient or more experienced and knowledgeable spray booth servicing and maintenance provider anywhere else.
We provide breakdown cover, servicing and repairs all throughout the UK. Our coverage is nationwide with engineering teams located strategically, so wherever your bodyshop is, we can keep your spray booth equipment in top condition and running how it should. You can choose AGM Services whether you have just one location or multiple sites – no matter where you’re based, you can expect the high standards we always guarantee.
When it comes to spray booth servicing and maintenance, safety is number one here atAGM Services. All our spray booth engineers are Gas Safe registered, PASMA and IPAF certified, and trained in-house with a rigorous and thorough program. We ensure we keep on top of our staff’s skills with regular in-house assessments to ensure that no matter where you are, and no matter what the job, you will be getting the high-quality servicing and repairs you expect.
AGM Services’ customer portal is a revolution in customer service. With the click of a button, a wealth of service information is available. This secure portal is designed to provide service reports, equipment registers, and reports on all your equipment managed by us. Rather than having to store reports and files physically, they are all kept securely in one place for easy and quick access. Test results, certificates and schedules are all stored together, so whether you have just one location or premises spread across multiple locations, it will make your life much easier.
When it comes to having professional customer service at the end of the phone, we are always on the ball. Ensuring the right technician is sent to the right job with the right equipment and spares can only be done by a team of professionals in the industry. Our friendly in-house team is clued-up on exactly what’s needed and can provide the guidance and call outs for exactly the job that needs doing. Why not give us a call today for a quote on your job and get on board with us?
AGM Services have always had a commitment to customer service, quality and the environment throughout 28 years of servicing Spray Booths across the UK motor repair industry.
AGM are now further enhancing that reputation by committing to becoming carbon neutral in the Summer of 2021 and aim to be the first company in the Spray Booth service sector to achieve this accolade.
Partnering with energy and carbon specialists – ECA Business Energy, AGM will be working towards the PAS2060 standard for carbon neutrality.
This involves measuring the company’s carbon footprint across all 3 scopes, implementing a detailed carbon management plan and offsetting emissions using high quality carbon credits.
Based in Heywood, Lancashire, with a network of 15 engineering service teams located strategically throughout the UK, the company has always had the mindset to combine environment considerations with providing a top class service to its customers, leading with preventative maintenance policies to avoid costly downtime.
AGM already have a number of upgrade features to complement the service packages that can be tailored to suit customer requirements, such as LED lighting and it’s unique environmentally friendly award nominated Spray Booth extract filter, PolyMat EX.
Sales Director at AGM Services, Wesley Young, said “This is an incredibly exciting and important project, we’re very grateful to Steve and his team at ECA for the guidance they’re providing. We see PAS2060 as “Win-Win-Win”, as well as both the bodyshop and AGM benefitting from the changes implemented, the environment and society as a whole benefits. In addition to the PAS2060 standard we’re also working on a green Spray Booth service package specifically aimed at cutting carbon emissions for bodyshop customers that will help them on their own journey to net zero whenever they’re ready to make that step”
Steve Silverwood – MD, ECA Business Energy goes on to say, “in our short time working with Wesley and the team at AGM, it is clear they have a passion for doing the right thing, for their teams, their customers, supply chain and the environment. They have a short, medium and long term strategy around how they become not only a carbon neutral organisation but a net zero one. We look forward to working with them to help them reach their sustainability goals over the coming months and years.”
Any bodyshops interested in further information as to how to reduce their scope 3 emissions in relation to Spray Booth service, filters and general energy use should contact us on 01706 363585 or e-mail wesley.young@agm-services.co.uk
PolyMatEx is our latest offering of extract filtration, providing an effective replacement for fibreglass and the existing duplex filtration system.
AGM Services are a specialist in Spray Booth maintenance, repair and spares provision. Supplying the spray booth industry for over 25 years, AGM Services have always been committed to providing customers with the right services and tools to enable them to run their Spray Booth equipment at peak performance, all day every day.
In response to the ever-changing needs of the automotive repair market, AGM have led the way in terms of innovative solutions for maintenance for Spray Booth equipment using their diverse technical expertise to constantly guide their thinking and strive for continual improvement.
“We are fortunate that we can draw on our experience to continuously bring new products and services to the market for our customers.” Says Wesley Young, Director of AGM Services.
“As economic pressure and legislative and environmental requirements continue to increase for everyone, it’s more important than ever to ensure businesses can remain compliant, operational and efficient for as long as possible. Which is what drove our latest innovation.”
AGM, working in partnership with their key European filter manufacturing partners spent much of 2018 and 2019 developing and testing a number of potential new extract filter products that have resulted in the latest offering that will provide spray booth users with up to 60% longer timespan between filter changes.
Spray booth filtration has evolved over the years from cardboard filters to the existing filtration system known as “duplex filtration”. Duplex filtration, commonly used in most spray booths, comprises of a primary fibreglass “paintstop” filter, which acts as protection to a secondary synthetic filter. Fibreglass is a relatively cheap and easy filter to transport so has been the standard solution for automotive repair Spray Booths for some time. But rising prices and developments in synthetic filter media are seeing a new generation of Spray Booth extract filters coming through.
One of the main considerations for any company running a spray booth is ongoing maintenance. As a maintenance provider, AGM are able to assess the most common causes of equipment breakdown and consequent downtime.
Wesley continues; “We are always mindful of minimising equipment downtime for our customers, but it’s very important that a Spray Booth is thoroughly serviced periodically to reduce the possibility of breakdowns. Quality and compliant filtration is essential to the optimum performance of a Spraybooth, and extract filters need to be changed at correct intervals in-between services to ensure spray booths continue to remove overspray from the spray booth cabin effectively.”
Recognising the impact that filters have on this situation, there were 2 main driving points behind AGM seeking to improve the quality of filter offering to the automotive refinish market;
Presenting PolyMatEx, a polyester extract filter that holds significantly more overspray than duplex filters before clogging, thereby reducing both the impact on the environment and greatly cutting down the internal damage to the spray booth air handling plant.
PolyMatEx is more environmentally friendly because it’s made from recycled material, there is less media required and it needs changing less frequently. There are also no fibre glass irritants present so is more user-friendly to handle for painters.
The key to this product and its capabilities is the innovative structure and composition of the polyester materials used. The filter composition starts with coarse, open fibres at the top of the filter and gradually changes to finer fibres at the bottom.
When paint overspray hits the coarse synthetic fibre, it doesn’t compress under the weight of the paint overspray like fibreglass, which means that it doesn’t close off the airways, progressively loading to maintain a good airflow through the filter to ensure the pressure drop inside the spray booth is minimal. This unique design means the Spray Booth continues to operate under negative pressure for longer, still clearing overspray effectively, extending filter change intervals leaving painters free to paint!
Paint overspray is a hazardous product that needs to be disposed of safely, Spray Booth owners have an obligation to the environment as well as their employees.
PolyMatEx provides incredible levels of filtration to under 4mg/mᶾ, and the reduced amount of filter changes, as well as only one filter required reduces the amount of waste produced. Less filter changes = less filter used waste. As all businesses are becoming more and more aware of their impact on the environment, PolyMatEx will help to reduce a body shop’s Carbon Footprint.
It’s important not to underestimate the human factor element in providing an effective filtration system. Fibreglass is unpopular to handle and causes irritation if not handled properly.
After extensive testing at one of AGMs largest group clients, the feedback from those responsible for changing the filters was exactly as they’d hoped. They hugely appreciated how easy it was to handle stating it was “much quicker to change with only one filter that cuts easily, and now my hands don’t itch all day after a fibreglass filter change”.
Simon Barton, Technical Service team member from Direct Line Group had this to say.
“PolyMatEx has greatly reduced downtime across the whole group. On average, filter changes have reduced by between 50-60% but more importantly, the spray booths, which are a critical asset in our body shops are being protected from overuse or abuse. We’ll see their total life operating costs reduced significantly as a result of implementing this innovative product.”
PolyMatEx is a Finalist in the 2020 Bodyshop Awards under the Innovation category and is available exclusively from AGM who are happy to provide a product demonstration in any site in the UK, for more information contact us on 01706 363585.
Contact a member of our team for more information about our services and accreditations, or for more information on how AGM Services can help you and your business.
01706 363 585 sales@agm-services.co.uk