HPC Case Study: David Utting Engineering
Now, That’s A Smart Idea!
What do Jaguar, Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Land Rover and Pinewood Studios have in common? They’re all benefitting from one of HPC’s biggest OEM success stories to date – David Utting’s Smartshop Spray Booths.
This year, the ingenious Norfolk inventor and entrepreneur David Utting reached a significant milestone when he rolled out his 300th Smartshop Spray Booth.
It also symbolised the outstanding results of one of HPC’s most enduring and successful OEM partnerships.
Today, the vast majority of these 300 Smartshop Spray Booths are powered by HPC’s compact rotary screw compressors, premium AIRCENTER series, dryers and filters, making it one of the biggest OEM roll-outs in HPC’s 60 year history.
A Long-Term Partnership
HPC has worked with David Utting Engineering for the past 20 years, with the HPC Norwich team supporting David at every step of the way, as he built his Smartshop business from scratch.
HPC’s continued reliability and David’s endless innovation have clearly proven a great fit.
Since the first Smartshop was developed in 2012, every time David Utting was ready to expand, he has relied on HPC to specify, supply, and maintain the right compressors to enable him to do it.
Now, as a result of this unique OEM partnership, the biggest automotive brands in the world - and the UK’s leading film-studios - are benefitting from a brand-new way to spray and repair their vehicles.
Today, more than 230 car manufacturers, dealerships and film production companies across the UK trust HPC-powered Smartshops for cosmetic and smart repairs.
In the film industry, studios including Pinewood, Leavesden, Sky Studios and productions of blockbuster films, can have up to 8 units on a single production.
The Smartshop Concept
So, what are Smartshops? The HPC-powered Smartshop Spray Booth is a revolutionary new and fully patented concept in automotive spray booths. It provides dealerships and garages with the convenience and flexibility of a fully compliant, self-contained spray booth and low-bake oven which can be rented, installed on-site and in most cases, be up-and-running on the day of delivery.
It is an ideal alternative to the limitations of a van and tent mobile repair spray facility, and costs less than a permanent body shop.
Challenges & Solutions
Spray booths require a reliable supply of high quality, clean and dry compressed air delivered to the operators’ spray guns and breathing equipment. And the compressed air solution also needs to be a compact one.
As a prefabricated unit, the Smartshop measures just 9m x 4m (length and width). This provides enough space for cars up to a large 4 x 4 to be driven in and enables up to two operators to complete the spraying process around the vehicle.
Only around 2.5m of the overall length of each Smartshop is devoted to workbench space, paint mix room, spray gun cleaner, the screw compressor and associated drying and filtration equipment, plus other control equipment.
HPC’s range of compact screw compressors and dryers have consistently proven to be an ideal choice to meet these requirements.
The Results
The reliability of a HPC’s range of compressed air stations has enabled David Utting to realise his vision of a ground-breaking nationwide Smartshop business. Not surprisingly, he has been delighted with the results.
“The HPC compressor, dryer and filtration system has worked extremely well in supplying clean, dry compressed air to the operators spray guns and achieves this within the extremely limited space confines of the Smartshop control room,” says Mr Utting.
“We particularly appreciate its reliability which is something we have always acknowledged with the products of HPC. Also, the team at HPC Norwich are great to work with and feel like part of our team”.
The Future
So, what does the future hold for David Utting? Following his success in the automotive industry, he is now thinking bigger – much bigger. He is now turning his attention to boats and trains.
As his focus turns to bigger Spray Booths, HPC is perfectly positioned to help David Utting scale up, with larger, more powerful air compressors that meet his needs.
HPC are thrilled to continue playing such a pivotal role in David Utting’s extraordinary journey. And after the success of the last 20 years, we are excited to see what the next 20 years will hold.