For Dan Tronrud, a bigger footprint means a bigger business and bigger expectations from insurance companies. So when Osceola Auto Body doubled their space in 2022, with an 11,820-square-foot expansion, Tronrud knew Global Finishing Solutions (GFS) equipment could help his shop deliver 1,100-plus repair orders and more than $4 million in sales this year.

Please tell us your story and introduce your business.

“I purchased the business from the founder of Osceola Auto Body in 2004, and we now have 16 employees. About 98 percent of our work is insurance collision claims. We kind of have our own little bubble here in Osceola, but we treat our business as if there is a competitor right across the street. What I’ve done from the beginning is surround myself with really smart people. If you have the people, the process, the equipment and the training, repairing cars is the easiest thing we do.”

How did you decide on GFS equipment?

“We wanted the best equipment, and I already knew we were going to buy from GFS. Our shop addition was completely designed around our paint shop. We knew what we needed to grow. We wanted a double-wide prep booth, and we wanted a deeper booth because we spray a lot of parts, and we work on a lot of pickup trucks. Having the double-wide booth allows us to complete a repair order in one booth cycle, which is huge.”

How has your GFS equipment benefited your business?

“With the Side-Load System, our paint shop is never going to be the bottleneck in our workflow. We can have a car 100 percent ready to spray before it goes in the paint booth. We’re pulling a car out of the booth, and there’s another one immediately ready. We don’t paint eight cars every day, but if we have to, we slam them out like nobody’s business, and it’s all because of the Side-Load System. We also added an Aluminum Repair Station. Cross-contamination exists. It’s a real thing. We now have the space and the tools, and we do aluminum repair the right way.”

What is the plan for the future of your business?

“Our business is always changing — how we repair cars, the vehicles themselves and the way the insurance companies operate. We don’t do things the same way we did three months ago, let alone five years ago. If you find something that works, constantly try to make it better. We are always trying to be more efficient. We have plenty of space to do a lot more than what we do now. It’s just fine-tuning our process.”