KECO GPR increases precision and productivity, maintains metal integrity

Michael Giarrizzo has several dozen years of experience under his belt. He is a third-generation auto repair professional, following in the footsteps of his dad and grandfather. Currently the president and CEO of the company DCR systemsheadquartered in a 35,000-square-foot facility in Mentor, Ohio, oversees a network of collision repair centers stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast.

DCR systems
Mentor, oh
888-327-9902
www.dcrsystems.com
Facebook: @dcrmentor
Instagram: @dcr_systems
LinkedIn: @dcr-systems-group-inc.

The company in brief…
Type: Accident repair
Facility employees: 100
In business since: 2005
Number of locations: Seven
Connected production space: 104,000 square feet

His family’s roots come from a more modest setting: his grandfather’s two-plant machine shop, founded in 1946. In the 1960s, his father, Michael, opened a 5,000-square-foot machine and collision repair shop where the young Giarrizzo worked odd jobs while learning to strengthen and prepare.

After graduating in 1984 from the University of St. Bonaventure, earning a degree in business marketing, joined the family business. Over the years, the company has experienced dynamic development. They opened three new locations and changed their name from Johnny’s Service Inc. to JSI Collision Specialist. “My dad’s role was to open new locations, and I took over the operations of the company,” Giarrizzo recalls.

Metro Collision Repair Center technician Gene Taylor uses a KECO slide hammer and tabs to avoid invasive repairs caused by the traditional hammer and dolly technique. To expand the facility, DCR partnered with a Toyota dealership in Brook Park, Ohio.

In 1999, during an early wave of consolidation, the company was acquired by Sterling Autobody. “We were the first organization acquired as a marketplace. Most of the rest were single-store acquisitions,” Giarrizzo said. He was hired as regional director in Ohio and named chief operating officer in 2001.

He left Sterling in 2004. After a brief stint as a principal consultant at Sherwin-Williams, Giarrizzo opened DCR Systems in 2005. The company now has seven locations, four in Ohio and one each in New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina. DCR has 16 OEM certifications company-wide, but these vary from store to store.

Since its inception, DCR has had a unique business model. Essentially, it provides a hassle-free turnkey repair that ensures your dealer receives a safe and proper repair based on proven standard operating procedures.

Each location has a strategic relationship with a local car dealer in a managed or licensed model. “We are completely independent, but thanks to our manufacturer certifications we work with dealers,” Giarrizzo said. “We are proud to be a certified repair center. We only use original parts and calibration software developed by the manufacturer.”

Giarrizzo is also proud of Collision Clarity, an in-house quality control software that documents every step of every repair. “It provides a complete pictorial scenario of each claim, damage, steps needed to properly repair, and validates the process with photos showing that the repairs were performed correctly.”

Jonathan Carrasquillo, a technician at DCR Systems’ The Collision Center, uses his glue pulling skills to repair a quarter panel. The 10,000-square-foot facility, developed in partnership with Coastal Nissan-Volkswagen, is located in Rockland, Massachusetts.

DCR’s patented lean manufacturing system – comprised of best practices – helps streamline repair processes, reduce waste and results in increased productivity and higher quality repairs. That, Giarrizzo said, is what makes it KECO Glue pulling repair system well fitted.

“We are very excited about KECO Glue Pull. The use of Glue Pull technology allows us to repair panels more precisely and efficiently without the need for additional work or disturbing the integrity of the metal, compared to a more invasive, traditional repair.

“Instead of welding the tab, pulling out the metal, cutting the tab off, sanding the paint and putting filler on the body, which is porous – which almost guarantees corrosion on the road – we can avoid all of this with the Pull adhesive.”

Giarrizzo also noted that Glue Pull does not affect the factory electronic coating and can be used on both aluminum and steel panels. He further noted that the technician can use Glue Pull to significantly reduce the size of the damaged area, thereby reducing the need to blend into the adjacent panel, resulting in a top-notch repair.

Giarrizzo, while acknowledging that there was a transition period as technicians adapted to the Glue Pull method, said that entry-level support staff had quickly “really embraced the cutting-edge technology” – something he points out to students at a local trade school where DCR is providing input and guidance on the training program for post-accident repair.

As a supporter of a culture of learning, Giarrizzo helped incorporate Glue Pull into the school curriculum. “When I address these students, I talk to them about glue pulling skills. This is the technology of the future. We already have a shortage of technicians, so we need to create our own workforce. If these students are applying to work in a shop and have the ability to pull glue, consider how attractive this will be to the owner. That’s why KECO Glue Pull skill sets are so important.”

KECO body repair products
888-532-6822
Company contact: Scott Stayton
www.kecotabs.com
Facebook: @KECOBodyRepairProducts
X: @kecotabs
Instagram: @kecodentrepair
LinkedIn: @keco-body-repair-products
YouTube: @KECOBodyRepairProducts

To read more body shop profiles from the June 2024 store and product showcases, click here.