“The surge in production of aluminum body vehicles and those with aluminum closure components requires the collision and repair market to retool a bit,” said Matt Brown, vice president, field sales, Lawson Products, Kent Automotive’s parent company. “We’re helping customers build up capacity for specialized aluminum work as a profit center.”
Collision repair and body shop professionals need to be prepared to repair increasingly complex aluminum and mixed-material vehicles, which require specific training and dedicated tools and equipment for complete, safe and quality repairs.
“Early movers with a high-quality approach, and clean, safe shops are already carving out market share in aluminum repair,” said Brown. “They’ll benefit from word of mouth advertising.”
In addition to its optimized inventory management services, Kent Automotive offers storage solutions, welding and safety equipment and a wide range of products that are designed for use on aluminum as follows:
5 Steps to Aluminum Repair
- Disassembly: Remove OEM-applied coatings and seam sealers with Kent Automotive’s mechanical abrasives and chemical products to reveal bare aluminum in the damaged area.
- Preparation: Properly condition the aluminum surface by thoroughly cleaning it with Kent Automotive’s line of chemical and abrasive products.
- Fastening: Kent Automotive’s crash-tested adhesives, OEM-style specialty rivets and seam sealers ensure proper rivet bonding and match OEM-quality for aluminum panel replacement.
- Finishing: Restore OEM-quality protection with Kent Automotive’s complete line of specialty finishing products.
- Corrosion Protection: Prevent galvanic corrosion by insulating and isolating aluminum body panels from steel fasteners and steel surfaces. Restores vehicle back to OEM standards when following the procedures needed to meet OEM requirements.
For the entire range of aluminum repair products, visit Kent-Automotive.com and look for the Al designation in our catalog.
About Lawson Products, Inc.
Founded in 1952, Lawson Products (NASDAQ: LAWS) is an industrial distributor of maintenance and repair products. Lawson carries a comprehensive line of products and provides inventory management services to the industrial, commercial, institutional and government maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) market. With five strategically located distribution centers in North America, Lawson ships to customers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Under its Kent Automotive brand, the Company supplies products to collision and mechanical repair shops as well as automotive OEMs. For additional information, please visit https://www.lawsonproducts.com or https://www.kent-automotive.com.
