PPG leads to major transformation of a Portuguese Hertz bodyshop

Technical facilities, painters and cars. These are the pieces Ricardo Ferreira had to make his Hertz bodyshop in Portugal work. But just as if it were a chessboard, these pieces are not enough to win the match if there is not an adequate game strategy backing it up. It has now been a year since PPG advised Ricardo on how to run his bodyshop more efficiently. This game plan for success has led his business to double its daily activity.

Hertz, the world's leading vehicle renting organisation founded more than 90 years ago, operates from approximately 7,700 locations in 145 countries worldwide. Ricardo’s is one of 64 offices in Portugal.

Ricardo has managed this repair bodyshop for Hertz rental cars since 2009. Last year, due to a rapid rise in demand for rental cars, Ricardo was forced to expand and increase the capacity of his facilities. This meant growing business but also implied the need to reach the best performance.                                                                                                       

As he was planning to do some changes in the repair shop, Ricardo decided to change his paint supplier. This is where PPG came into play, not only as a simple paint dealer but also as a valuable expert in providing collision repair partners with training and business development services within its MVP Business Solutions Programme.

“At the beginning we had no standardised procedures, no standardised products and no coaching from our former paint partner”, says Ricardo. This was the main deficiency he noticed in his bodyshop before applying the recommendations from PPG. He admits that MVP’s promises seemed far too ambitious at first sight. Nevertheless today he claims: “PPG did more than just promise, they delivered on that promise by helping us to set realistic and achievable goals that have driven our business forward.”

What changed in Ricardo’s bodyshop after PPG’s arrival? Processes were standardised, internal audits were undertaken, every single worker was assessed and placed in the area of activity where he could be an asset and training programmes were established. Now this hard work has turned into concrete results: the number of panels each painter processes per day has almost doubled, from two and a half to four.

Emmanuel Souply, PPG Business Development Director for Collision EMEA, states: “I am very pleased with the great progress they have made in reducing cycle time, raising resale value and, above all, increasing customer satisfaction. We look forward to supporting Hertz in other future expansions”.

 There are still many things in the pipeline in this process of continuous improvement. Meanwhile, Ricardo is already considering opening a second Hertz bodyshop in northern Portugal. When asked what advice he would give to repair shops in the same situation as his bodyshop was a year ago, Ricardo answered: “Start a partnership with PPG and let them guide you!”

For more information about PPG’s MVP Business Solutions programme and how your bodyshop can benefit, please visit http://ppgmvp.com/