Q&A: Pro Spot’s Ron Olsson

June 26, 2014
Ron Olsson, president of Pro Spot International, Inc. talks with ABRN about helping create OEM repair procedures and getting the best equipment for your money.

Ron Olsson, president of Pro Spot International, Inc. talks with ABRN about helping create OEM repair procedures and getting the best equipment for your money.

ABRN: Pro Spot worked closely with Ford in the creation of the repair procedures for the new F-150 and is the manufacturer’s preferred vendor for repair. Tell us about this process and how Pro Spot first came to be involved. 

Olsson: We’ve been working with Ford and other OEMs for years. We started knocking on doors in the early 90s trying to get them to recognize our repair procedures. Now, we are fortunate enough to have the OEMs contacting us for assistance with collision repair. With Ford we've been working for quite a few years building up to the 2015 all-aluminum body F-150. The outcome is what you see now with our aluminum repair products and Ford’s repair procedures for the vehicle.  

ABRN: Can you give us some details on the Pro Spot line of aluminum repair equipment? Why is this a must for shops?

Olsson: Pro Spot supplies 3 of the 6 required pieces of equipment for repairing the 2015 Ford F-150. First, our SP-5, SP-2, and SP-1, aluminum pulse MIG welders with individual torches, spools and liners to weld Aluminum, Steel and Silicon Bronze. Second, the Riveter SPR Rivet Gun, this is the system that will be used to do the rivet bonding on the vehicle. Third, our Aluminum Weld Station for dent extraction is equipped with a capacitor discharge welder, single and large pulls for various dent sizes, all tools for aluminum dent repair, a portable ergonomic weld station and a folding work table. Ford is also recommending, but not requiring a fume extractor to remove harmful welding fumes. Pro Spot supplies two fume extractors, a portable unit and a built-in unit for the Aluminum Weld Station. Ford is now allowing sectioning in certain areas of the 2015 F-150, for this, Pro Spot has three models of plasma cutters available, the PR-111, PR-112, and PR-113. 

The amount of vehicles with aluminum in them is increasing dramatically, aluminum repair will become main stream based on sheer volume of F-150’s being produced, 750,000 units per year. If shops want to keep up and not have to turn work and money away, shops need to step up and invest in the aluminum equipment and the training to do it. There is so much more coming and if a shop isn’t equipped to do the repair, it will just go down to their competitor down the street. If you don’t think its a big deal or here to stay… think again.  

ABRN: Maintaining all the aluminum repair equipment can be very costly. If shops can’t afford an entire line, which piece of equipment is the most vital. 

Olsson: It’s tough to say, when you’re doing the repair you’ll need a little bit of everything to finish the job. I would say the pulse MIG technology- you can’t go wrong by having that right now. With the welders that we have, our SP-5 has three different metals in one: Aluminum, Steel and Silicon Bronze. They are all needed- the justification in investing in a welder like that makes sense for a body shop, because even if the shop doesn’t have aluminum jobs every day or week, you’ll still be using the machine for steel or silicon bronze in the meantime. The need for silicon bronze is growing as well with Honda requiring that procedure in some of their repairs. 

The next product would be an Aluminum Repair Station, it is a revenue builder for the shop in regards to labor being able to repair a lot of the dents on a vehicle. Finally, you’ll need a rivet gun, like our PR-5 Riveter if you plan to do any body panel replacement. 

ABRN: Pro Spot has also worked with Honda on MDX repair procedures with Chrysler. Tell us more about these partnerships. 

Olsson: We really value our relationships with the OEMs. Lately, we have been testing with GM  on the new aluminum Corvette models. The Corvette has some repair procedures to weld aluminum casting to aluminum extrusions, GM tested our SP-5 MIG and it had been approved. Also, Honda now coming out with a lot of the High Strength Steels, we’ve done a lot of testing and welding with them on existing models as well as future models.  These relationships have been growing throughout the years, as well as Chrysler, Toyota and others. We are very fortunate and pleased to work with these companies to help develop the equipment needed to do easier, reliable and quality repairs in the body shop. 

Pro Spot is a US manufacturer, solely focused on welding, we DO welding for the collision repair industry. Our specialty on welding, keeps us ahead of the curve on research and development. We will keep developing and making products that help this industry thrive as we have for many years. Pro Spot is welding, Pro Spot means Welding.

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