Interview with Simone Franchini published in Bellauto October 2024

Help body shops to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. This is the main goal of the italian manufacturer of solutions for painting – spray booth, preparation areas, components to modernize plants, etc – that has made the customization of products his strength. Also valid for the new products presented at Automechanika Frankfurt. Here you are the General manager interview.

Although young, Polin-AC is a company with deep roots and long experience. It has been founded in 2017 from the union of Polin, a historic brand operating in the automotive sector since 1935, and Aria-C, a company that has been producing burners and components for paint systems since 2005, creator of unique and patented systems, inheriting all the know-howhow of the first one and the technological innovation of the second one. A mix that is blending harmoniously, creating the company known today on the market (based in Sommacampagna, Verona). To learn more about the business, products and future plans, we met with Simone Franchini, general manager, at Automechanika Frankfurt 2024.
Over the years – he says – we have grown from 2.2 million euros in 2017 to 8.4 million in 2023. When we left, we covered about fourteen foreign countries, mainly concentrated in the Old Continent. Today we sell in more than 30 countries, and not just in Europe.

Significant growth, with solid foundations. What are the company’s strengths?

We are extremely flexible. The most difficult request customer can make to us – explains Simone Franchini – is that of “a standard project”. We are projected on the customization of our product according to the specific needs of the customer that can go from a better management of the spaces available in body shop to more specific needs, dictated by the work rhythms and materials used. We are sensitive to the changes in our sector, to which we want to respond with always up-to-date solutions. Every aspect of this business – from the need to optimize workflows for energy savings and profitability to the difficulty in finding laborers – encourages us to create products that are in line with the actual needs of the user.

Can you give us some examples?

Certainly. To help optimize body shops layouts, for example, we have adopted 500 mm panels for our “Avant” cab. This allows us to design a working space that makes a better use of the available square meters. The “AirZone Dynamic” preparation area also allows the body shop to prepare, paint and dry the parts all in the same space, in full compliance with laws: a big help if you do not have a lot of staff available. Today, moreover, a fair number of coachbuilders is interested in electrical spray booth. We have been suggesting this solution for a long time offering spray booth that meets specific market needs, such as the difficulty of installing gas burners dictated by local restrictions or lack of space to comply with current regulations. The “E-Force” model is perfectly suited to customers looking for green systems. Again, this is not a pre-packaged product: it can be customized, for example, with the integrated infrared lamps. And that’s not all. Carrying on the momentum of the Aria-C, we have never stopped being a point of reference for those who want to make changes to their plants to make them more efficient and less expensive. We have introduced “energy saving” components to the market, reducing operating costs without affecting productivity. In most cases, the revamping starts precisely with the aim of making the cabin or preparation area more efficient. Products such as the heat recovery unit – which reduces consumption by up to 48% – or the humidity control system, which saves the amount of paint used for each application – are proving to be truly providential for our customers. The “common thread” that unites the Polin-AC proposals remains the same: allow the entrepreneur to increase productivity, reduce management costs, have an easy and intuitive product to use. That is, make your initial investment profitable in a short time.

Did you present any new solutions at Automechanika Frankfurt?

In addition to the “E-Force” spray booth, renewed in aesthetics and with even more competitive consumption than its previous version, we brought two industry news to the German fair. The first is called “FreeLift” and consists of a dynamic system with four semi-independent moving platforms to lift the cars in different positions, without having to move them between one work phase to another. The advantage lies in the different lifting combinations, including lateral and frontal inclinations, which make the station more comfortable for the coachman: it can work even the lowest parts of the car more easily, exposing them to a better lighting, thus reducing the intervention times and making the restoration more fluid and qualitatively better. The second novelty is the “Laserbalst” or a system that allows to strip in less than 30 seconds 5/6 hail stamps, with a time saving going well over 50%: this means an increase of the yield without affecting the quality of the work itself. This tool is also effective not on paints, but also on rust, layers of grease and special processes such as cataphoresis and calamine without affecting or damaging the underlying material. Given the wide range of applicability that reaches to industry, we offer it also in the rental version. This gives the customer the opportunity to test it in everyday life and to see first-hand how easy it is to use, how fast it can be done and what benefits it can bring to its productivity. We are sure that they will not be able to do without it.

What do you think of the advent of artificial intelligence? Does POLIN-AC have any plans in this direction?

We are convinced – says, concluding, Simone Franchini – that these new technological innovations will have an ever greater impact on the automotive world. When the word “Industry 4.0” was first mentioned, Polin-AC responded with its own software and turnkey service. Automation and ease of use are fundamental prerequisites for us, and we will see how AI can improve the world of bodywork. We have some plans in the pipeline, but it is still too early to talk about them.