Madison, Ind. – The dual goals of protecting the passenger compartment and improving fuel economy have driven vehicle manufacturers to use increasing amounts of advanced steels in vehicle design across all price levels. As a result, it is no longer possible to properly repair body damage to most new vehicles in North America without using a powerful spot welder.
Recognizing this need, Chief Automotive Technologies, a leading manufacturer of collision repair equipment, has acquired exclusive marketing and distribution rights to Elektron® spot welders throughout North, Central and South America. As a result, dealers now have access to Elektron spot welders with German engineering and product quality backed by Chief’s unmatched service and support network.
Elektron’s best-selling product is the Multispot® MI-100control squeeze-type resistance spot welder. Specifically designed for high-strength steels including Boron, USIBOR, TRIP, TWIP and XIP, the Multispot MI-100control has been approved by more vehicle manufacturers worldwide than any other welder. It is also available through most of the U.S. dealer equipment programs.
“Bringing Chief and Elektron together provides dealers with a single source for state-of-the-art collision repair equipment, data and training designed to reduce repair cycle times and increase fixed operations profit,” says Mike Cranfill, vice president of collision for Chief’s parent company, Vehicle Service Group (VSG). “As dealers continue to move collision repair back in-house, we’re here to support them with the equipment recommended by OEMs to properly repair their customers’ vehicles.”
The Multispot MI-100control welder uses intelligent technology to enable technicians to achieve weld quality comparable to original production welds, even on sophisticated high-strength steels. The MI-100control checks weld parameters 1,000 times per second and automatically adjusts for changes in materials, thickness, adhesives, debris, heat and other factors.
The MI-100control offers an improved duty cycle through water cooling from the transformer all the way down to the electrode tip. As a result, technicians using the MI-100control can keep welding in situations where those using another welder would have to abort. The MI-100control also features ergonomically friendly lightweight pliers and weld-logging software that records quality control data for every weld. It includes selectable car manufacturer welding programs that can be customized for a dealer’s specific needs.
To learn more about the Multispot MI-100control spot welder and the full line of collision repair equipment available from Chief, visitwww.chiefautomotive.com. You can also find Chief and Elektron on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Chief Automotive Technologies
Chief Automotive Technologies is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-quality collision repair products and services, including frame-pulling equipment, vehicle anchoring systems, computerized measuring systems, and vehicle frame specifications. Chief is also a leading provider of comprehensive training on structural analysis, computerized measuring, collision theory and design based repair. Additionally, Chief is the exclusive supplier of Elektron welders, battery chargers and plasma cutters in North, Central and South America. Elektron has earned more vehicle OEM homologations (approvals) for its equipment than any other manufacturer.
Chief is a Vehicle Service Group (VSG) brand. VSG comprises eight major vehicle lifting and collision repair brands: Rotary Lift, Chief Automotive Technologies, Forward® Lift, Direct-Lift®, Hanmecson®, Revolution® Lift, Blitz® and nogra®. Based in Madison, Ind., VSG has operations worldwide. VSG is part of the Engineered Systems segment of Dover Corporation (NYSE: DOV), a multi-billion dollar, global producer of innovative equipment, specialty systems and value-added services.