Colorwheels Northwest
📍 Hillsboro, OR
As Colorwheels Northwest expanded their business, a 20-year-old preowned paint booth no longer was adequate for their growing needs. Efficiency and reliability were what Jason Ross wanted in a capital equipment investment in 2021, and he discovered that — and more — from Global Finishing Solutions (GFS) with a dual-bay Ultra XD Paint Booth.
Please introduce your business.
“We do mostly spot repairs. We don’t do any level of collision repair. If there’s any frame damage or airbag deployment, we don’t touch it. We’re not certified or qualified to do collision repair, which is great because it puts us in a niche market. We want to have a two-day or three-day return time on repairs. We can get customers in and out a lot quicker.”
What was attractive about GFS equipment?
“With our old paint booth, we were limited on what we could do. What we can now spray in one day would have taken us two-plus days. We don’t need to rush through jobs so fast. We can get cars out of the booth, then put in more cars with the extra time. That’s the power of the Ultra Paint Booth. We could have had two paint booths with a mix room in between, but when you can see everything and manage everything in one booth, it’s incredible. Also, when it comes to service and support, between GFS and our distributor, Wesco, everyone has been great about getting things taken care of.”
How has your GFS equipment changed your processes and impacted your business?
“Our Ultra Paint Booth is double skinned and insulated, so not only does it retain heat, it runs more efficiently, especially with the recirculation. We can have two vehicles in the booth and still have all the front space of the booth to paint parts. We’ve figured out how to best utilize the airflow and the space of the booth to where we can put two cars in the booth and bumpers off those cars or off other cars. We had a night where we sprayed eight different colors and four different clear coats. The booth doesn’t have to prove itself anymore. It has already proven itself.”
What is the plan for the future of your business?
“We’ve got the technical side down. Now, we want to focus on the business side of things and really grow. Before investing in a new paint booth, we were debt-free, we were making good money every month, we were profitable. But we’re no longer looking month to month or quarter to quarter. We’re looking years down the road. Purchasing this paint booth was one of the best decisions we’ve made.”
