Richmond, British Columbia — May 25, 2016 — Wedge Clamp Systems has reached an agreement with NitroHeat for the exclusive distribution rights of NitroHeat products in North America. Wedge Clamp will also be guaranteed exclusive distribution rights for NitroHeat products in China and The Netherlands, two territories it serves already.
NitroHeat was started by mechanical engineer Derek Naidoo, who moved to North America from his native South Africa in 2008 to perfect the system that carries the company name. According to a press release from Wedge Clamp, the NitroHeat system combines heat and low-pressure nitrogen to deliver a smoother, faster-drying and more economical paint application than conventional compressed-air systems.
The new agreement comes as a great relief to Naidoo, who says he much prefers designing and manufacturing products, compared to marketing them.
“From a personal and business point of view, our strategy with Wedge Clamp was pretty much aligned,” he says from the company’s facility in Wilsonville, Oregon. “Focusing our resources on creating the best- quality collision products at affordable prices rather than handling sales and distribution was always our intention. Now we can.”
Bill Hatswell, President of both Wedge Clamp and the 40-location Craftsman Collision body shop chain, is very animated about the NitroHeat paint system, which he uses in most of his shops.
“Our painters love working with it,” he says. “And our accountants love the savings.”
NitroHeat’s soon-to-be-launched nitrogen gas plastic welding system, NitroWeld, will change plastic repairing in the same way that NitroHeat has been revolutionizing painting, he says.
“Why throw away an entire grille or headlight that’s only slightly damaged when you can repair it with our plastic welder?” says Hatswell. “You can easily repair a broken headlight tab or even create an entirely new one from the same material.”
Mark Greenberg, Craftsman’s GM of Business Development, says automotive manufacturers are using more lightweight plastic parts than ever, and insurance companies are pushing to have them repaired rather than replaced.
“NitroWeld eliminates the need to add foreign materials to a plastic repair,” says Greenberg. “Messy glues, bonding materials, meshing—you won’t need those materials any more. Traditional repairs involve crossing materials—trying to join unlike materials—so the failure rate has been fairly high. Many repairs have had to be redone, or weren’t even possible in the first place. This welder eliminates the drying times and multiple stages that plastic repairs used to entail, saving time and money. The job is complete in minutes instead of hours or days. And any shop equipped with NitroHeat can plug NitroWeld right into its nitrogen supply.”
Rodica Matei, Wedge Clamp’s Chief Operating Officer for Canada, says the new distribution deal furthers her mission to help body shops interested in increasing profits for only a modest investment.
“Saving money has always been a strong point of the Wedge Clamp system,” she says. “There’s a big market for lower cost repairs. Distributing present and future NitroHeat products will greatly add to our ability to help the collision industry get the faster, more efficient repairs and higher ROI they’re looking for.”
For more information, please visit wedgeclamp.com.
