WEDGE CLAMP SYSTEM VS. BENCHES & FRAME RACKS

Time has become a distinctly precious commodity; especially if you are in the body shop business. Terms such as profitability, productivity and efficiency have become synonymous with the industry buzz word “cycle time”.
Ever-increasing demands from the insurance industry for body shops to adhere to strict standards have made the amount of time that a vehicle is in a shop for repairs more critical than ever. In addition, expectations from clients to have their vehicles operational as soon as possible are high too – and satisfying clients is key to repeat business.

Today’s body shop owner is faced with a shrinking market, decreasing job sizes, less repair time (and more parts on the estimate) and a downward pressure on labor rates. To be successful in this economic environment, the shop owner must be able to process a high volume of smaller repairs, eliminate the delays in the production process, improve the organization and production procedures and maximize the appraised repair hours per job.

35% of the typical body shop’s productivity comes from the metal side (amounting to 54.8% of the contribution toward profit). Considering that 78% of repairs in the metal side are light hits (costing less than $2.500); 50% of repairs costing less than $1000.00, it would makes sense to equip your shop with a system that is versatile enough to allow you to process a high volume of light repairs with maximum efficiency whilst having the capability to handle the occasional heavy-hit repair. The Wedge Clamp System allows one to handle unibody and full frame repairs, large and small hits.

To increase the productivity of a shop, the most sensible thing to do is to increase the efficiency of every technician. Wedge Clamp allows one to do this by equipping each technician with a flexible stall that may be used for frame work, body work and prep work. With this standardization of equipment, many components may be shared between stalls (common rails, common curtains, 1 anchoring system per 1.5 stalls and 1 measuring system per 3 stalls). This makes the Wedge Clamp System very economical. The system can be added to and built upon to suit your purpose. Starting with a chainless anchoring system, only one adapter upgrade allows you to handle full frame vehicles. Conversely, using the rails from the chainless system, you can anchor and repair vehicles with light damage in minutes with the simple to use Eze Tie-Down system.
The fact that the system is stored on a wall rack or on a cart means that the stall space can be freed of any obstruction and designated for a function other than body work. This versatility is in contrast to a rack or a bench that demands at least one stall be dedicated to only frame work. This versatility also means that the damaged vehicle has to be moved less during the repair process. You bring the anchoring, measuring and pulling components to the vehicle, not the other way around. This eliminates the loading and unloading problems encountered when trying to mount immobile vehicles on frame racks and benches.

Having dedicated frame racks or benches limits the use of your stalls, too often leaving stalls idle. The versatility of our system directly improves your productivity, and thus your profit potential. Repairs are executed in your technician’s own work bay, making the process easier and quicker. Damage analysis (suspension, alignment and upper body) can be conducted in record time with our incredibly easy-to-use Pivot Measuring System.

The following tabulation illustrates the fundamental differences between frame racks, benches and the Wedge Clamp System.

1. OVERALL ANALYSIS – Wedge Clamp compared to other multi-stall frame equipment systems

2. KEY ADVANTAGES TO THE WEDGE CLAMP SYSTEM

a.) Anchoring:

• Faster mounting times (system locks by using wedges, not bolts, only needs floor jack)
• Can anchor all types of vehicles and damage (full range of adapters, anchors flanges and pinch welds)
• Clamps can be mounted on the strongest points of all vehicles
• Fully portable at all times (vehicle can me moved on wheels without removing anchoring system)
• Not obstructive (anchoring system does not extend beyond torque boxes)
• Can be used with existing floor pots, rails or racks (rack adapter brackets secures system to racks)
• Saves floor space (system fits in narrower bays mounts on wall rack or storage cart when not in use)
• Less strain and potential injury to body men (light weight parts, ideal working height – no high lifting)
• Can be easily adapted to uneven floors (height adjustment bolts on each stand)
• Can easily add pulling towers as needed (independent pulling towers, rails / pots 360 degrees around car)
• Easy to drop power train and cross member (no obstructions under engine area)
• 5 - year warranty against defects in material or workmanship

b.) Pivot Measuring System

• Fast to set up (few pieces, lightweight and simple to calibrate to vehicle)
• Fast to use
• Easily measures all areas (Pivoting action, telescoping side tubes with color coding, rotating measuring crossbar)
• Unobtrusive and easily moved
• Accurate (Quick and easy to check if errors were made during initial setup ,can be calibrated from underbody control points and/or pinch welds, always on centerline)
• Independent of the anchoring system (calibrates to car, not anchoring system)
• Durable and strong (made of aircraft grade aluminum)
• Minimal training requirements (few pieces, simple to calibrate to vehicle)
• 5 year warranty against defects in material or workmanship

c.) Pulling Towers

• Unobtrusive and easily moved
• Fast to set up and change pulls
• Easy to store
• Excellent pulling capabilities
• Can easily add more pullers
• Very durable (grade 80 chain with a 5-1 safety margin)
• Less strain and safety for the body man (safety strap, nylon strap instead of cable – will not fray)
• 1 year warranty

3. KEY AREAS OF ECONOMIC VALUE

• Fewer technicians required to do the same amount of work (less time to do same amount of work)
• Can do more jobs without additional people or equipment
• Fewer comebacks
• More new and repeat business (more satisfied customers)
• Less financing costs for parts (less time for each job)
• Less equipment costs over time (less initial cost, less replacement over time)
• Less loaner car time
• Attract higher caliber personnel (less effort, less waiting, less frustration)
• Consistent work volume

4. THE WEDGE CLAMP SYSTEM VS. FRAME RACKS

While frame racks are designed as large, single units, the Wedge Clamp system is designed around a modular system of clamps, anchors and rails which can be easily assembled and disassembled. The concept of “one stall does it all” has been developed using floor based anchoring to enable the technician to complete each job from start to finish – without interruption – in his work bay.
The shop floor takes the place of the heavy obstructive steel bench or frame rack, to provide a stronger base for the anchoring and pulling equipment. Rails and/or anchor pots in the floor of the stall are not only far more economical, but also allow a variety of different pulls to be set up 360 degrees around the vehicle. Technicians have easy access to analyze and work on the entire vehicle body instead of climbing on and off an elevated platform, as is the case with frame racks. This reduces the risk of injury and strain associated with clambering on and off frame racks and benches. The components of the Wedge Clamp System are designed to be more compact, lightweight and easy to store when not in use. This portability allows more floor space to be made available for other repair operations. Technicians expend less energy during the repair process, and can work faster.