​Over the two day event, guests came together to share knowledge, success stories and network with peers, set against the backdrop of Melbourne’s cityscape.

On the first day, Adam Norman, National Services Manager, Australasia, AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings welcomed guests with a special showcase of the newly revitalised and globally aligned Acoat Partnership program. Later, guests enjoyed a comprehensive seminar program with special guest speakers Jason Trewin from I-Car Australia and Gary Steele from Muradi LLP, UK as key highlights of the day. The event, held at the Stamford Plaza Melbourne, provided an opportunity for bodyshop owners to take the time to work on their business, rather than in their business and engage with other bodyshop owners and the AkzoNobel team to share knowledge and find solutions to some of the challenges that our industry faces today. The day ended on a high note with a networking dinner held at the Sofitel Melbourne On Collins where guests enjoyed the magnificent views from the 35th floor and the company of their peers.

AkzoNobel welcomed guests on the second day with two early bird sessions focussing on the future of cars and AkzoNobel’s state-of-the-art digital color technology. The Acoat Summit highlighted the importance of industry partnerships, a sustainable future and benchmarking performance. Later, Acoat members came together to review and analyse their business on a national scale in a closed session with the assistance of the AkzoNobel Acoat team and their specialist expertise.

Mark Brady, Managing Director of Mandurah Panel and Paint in Western Australia has been attending Acoat events for seven years and felt this was the best event to date.

“Everything was run professionally which gives you confidence that what you are learning is going to be beneficial as it is coming from leading industry experts who have prepared valuable seminar topics.

“Being able to share information and ideas with other members and business owners was a really strong component of the weekend” said Mark.

Matt Cameron, Director of Whangaparoa Collision Repairs in New Zealand, current Acoat member and Sikkens bodyshop echoed Brady’s views. “For me it’s the chance to sit down with other repairers away from the day-to-day workload and look over my business as a whole. The group workshops are a great chance to share ideas and take on board ideas and concepts from repairers who have had similar challenges to me.”

Performance Benchmarking is another feature of the weekend available to Acoat members, where they worked with a business facilitator to review and analyse their financial data. Working through trends and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) assists in measuring a business and enables goal setting and the ability to formulate improvement strategies for further profitable growth.

There were many take away benefits from the Summit and will certainly result in improvements for members’ businesses.

“From this particular Summit I came away with some specific changes which I have since implemented and are beginning to see the results
already. Taking the time out to attend and review processes and how we plan our workload, well and truly pays for itself” said Matt.

“There is no doubting the importance that partnerships in our industry have in achieving a sustainable future. The Acoat Selected program offers
a range of tailored business improvement tools to help bodyshops enhance their business performance and profitability” said Adam Norman, National Services Manager, AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings.

“The Summit was a huge success, we have had a great deal of positive feedback and the tools members obtained will be integrated into their
businesses to provide beneficial outcomes.

“Being an Acoat Selected member will enable sustainable growth for
your business now and into the future” said Adam.

Acoat Selected offers a broad range of business development programs that can be tailored to meet the needs of Sikkens customers. The Acoat Selected program has equipped thousands of bodyshops around the world
with the right information and tools to produce results.