Karosserie Eisemann KG – the car doctor, Fellbach

Karosserie Eisemann KG (the car doctor) has opened a new paint and bodywork center in Fellbach near Stuttgart covering over 3,000 square meters. According to Andreas and Frank Eisemann, managing directors of the 60-year-old family business, the capacities in the previous facility were exhausted. The Eisemanns therefore decided to build a modern and future-oriented new building.

In addition to brand-independent repair of accident and paint damage, the company repairs hail and glass damage, offers 3D wheel alignment, spot repair, wheel rim repair, air conditioning service, vehicle preparation and a classic car service.

At this point, many paint and body stores will be asking themselves whether such an investment is worthwhile these days. A look at the statistics provides an answer: despite improved vehicle and safety technology, the official accident figures in Germany have continued to rise to 2.6 million in recent years (source: Federal Statistical Office, 2016). Compared to 2014, the increase is even over 7%, and over 8% for pure property damage.

The main reason for the rising number of claims is seen to be the further increase in traffic density, which will lead to even more minor damage in particular. Despite the plans for self-driving cars, the prospects for body and paint stores remain good in the long term.

Even if self-driving cars were offered today, the replacement of the current 46 million cars would take many years, if not decades. It must also be taken into account that autonomous driving is only being developed in small steps. Important legal, ethical and technical requirements for fully autonomous driving have not yet been clarified or are not yet in place. Experts therefore continue to see good opportunities for the industry.

Karosserie Eisemann was of course aware of the data and forecasts when planning and implementing the new facility. A new building of this size cannot be implemented without sound key figures and prospects.

In order to ensure the profitability of the operation, one of the planning priorities was to perfect the vehicle routing and the individual workflow processes in conjunction with suitable technical equipment. According to Eisemann, the paint system manufacturer SEHON delivered the best overall concept of all the suppliers.

Frank Eisemann comments: “At SEHON, we were able to access the latest future-proof technology and products from a single source, which are ideally matched to each other. Short distances and the right system technology enable us to repair any vehicle damage, large or small, perfectly and to the highest quality in the shortest possible time.

In addition to a high-tech combination paint booth and a dryer, 2 additional SEHON original multifunctional booths guarantee precise control and effective use of painting capacity. Vehicle preparation, masking, painting, drying and finishing are seamlessly integrated. Inefficient stand-alone solutions for these process modules have been avoided.

Also very important for Eisemann: The SEHON systems, products and workstations used comply with applicable DIN standards as well as the legal and trade association guidelines.

In addition to a perfect process chain, particular attention was paid to energy and the environment during the construction of the new plant. For this reason, a CHP unit was integrated so that only around 10 % to 15 % of the energy previously required has to be purchased.

SEHON coating systems and dryers are also equipped with a variety of energy-saving modules, such as year-round heat recovery and targeted operating mode controls, which minimize energy consumption.

1. universal preparation workstations (6 workstations), underfloor

Vehicle preparation stations for filling, sanding and filling. Separate unit. Integrated supply and exhaust air. Grille grating with 2-fold filtration. Year-round heat recovery. Automatic hall heating when not in use (hall heating function). Integrated lifting platforms, floor-level installation.

2nd masking workstation (booth)

Positioned between multi-workstationsand paint booth with adjoining paint supply room. Pneumatic sliding door between masking workstation and paint supply room. LED lighting with angled installation. Cross-push technology so that vehicles do not have to be maneuvered during the masking, painting and drying process.

3rd parts workstation

Special workstation for (construction) parts.

Energy-saving spray booth unit
SE-ÖCOTOP: highly efficient energy-saving unit with integrated SE-NONSTOP-PLUS heat recovery. Active not only during painting and drying, but also in all 3 operating modes (painting, flash-off, drying). Pressure fluctuation-free operating mode switching. Heated by pumped hot water.

Year-round heat recovery
SE-NONSTOP: unique energy-efficient heat recovery (HR) as a year-round system with optimum pre-filtration of the exhaust air. Heat recovery also active in drying mode! Automatic switching to the perfect operating mode depending on the outside temperature. No more summer cassettes necessary. With integrated SE-ÖCOPLUS system.

Perfect filter system
SE-SUPRACLEAN: perfect filter system consisting of several filter stages for 100% particle-free exhaust air, fully laminar air routing and maintenance-free, consistently effective heat recovery.

Energy-saving system
SE-ÖCOPLUS: Energy-saving system in all operating modes with bypass and recirculation technology. An intelligent additional module in the unit technology, leads to a spectacular cost reduction in painting systems while simultaneously increasing productivity.

Fully automatic cabin pressure control
SE-AIRMASTER: fully automatic cabin air performance control in all operating modes for higher quality with lower energy consumption.

Fully automatic air pressure regulation
SE-CONTROL: fully automatic air pressure regulation system for constant quality during painting, standby and drying.

LED lighting
LED lighting (ex- certificate) for better light with less energy and to ensure fully laminar airflow.

Flash-off acceleration
SE-AIRPLUS: Acceleration of the flash-off times of water-based paints after drying, resulting in higher throughput. 4 flexibly adjustable and individually controllable fans integrated into the booth ceiling.

5. drying system with heat recovery

Additional drying system in line after combined painting and drying booth with heat recovery. Heated by pumped hot water.

7. original SEHON multifunctional cabins (2 multifunctional workstations)

All-in-one paint booths, from paint preparation to small parts painting including spot repair at one workstation. For small damage repairs (approx. 80 % of all repairs). Sanding, filling, masking, painting and finishing at a single workstation(original SEHON multifunctional workstations). With heat recovery and SE-SUPRACLEAN labyrinth filtration. 2 floor-level lifting platforms. Heated by pumped hot water. 2 infrared ceiling rail systems for multifunctional cabins: Rail-guided infrared dryers for multifunctional cabins. Monitoring of the drying process by IR temperature sensors and computer control.

8. paint supply room

Paint supply room for daily requirement of the required amount of paint. Ex-protected ventilation. Full glass access door (escape door). Ventilation via filter grille, negative pressure operation.

At Karosserie Eisemann GmbH, an ultra-modern and future-oriented paint and body center has been created on over 3,000 square metres, completely process- and energy-optimized. Designed for high efficiency and with many intelligent features and innovations. As Frank Eisemann put it with Swabian modesty at the opening ceremony: “We just wanted to do it cleverly.”