Anest Iwata is already working on the next generation of spray equipment, I am still involved in development and some of the projects that are on the go are pretty amazing. So the future for Anest Iwata is to continue to supply the market with new technology that pushes the boundaries of application, and for Anest Iwata UK, the future is to keep delivering a great service to its customers. Achieving all of these things will enable Anest Iwata UK to continue to grow as a company going forward, this also means the future looks bright for the company over the next few years.

I would get rid of that small number of self-important people in this industry who think too much about themselves and not about the industry they are strangling. I also feel too many smaller size shops that turn out good quality work are going to the wall and it is a crying shame.

The spraygun market seems stable even though the amount of bodyshops is declining, maybe that’s because our market share is growing. Our new crosscut nozzle technology has already arrived and the new WS400 spraygun has a four slotted nozzle which shears and pre-atomises the paint as air passes over the slots. This gives a consistent droplet and an even lay down. This technology was developed after many years’ experiences for Anest Iwata in the car factories where they learnt to understand the requirements for the future. Anest Iwata is the only company with this technology and it has raised the bar for application standards.

The biggest change is how the market has moved more and more towards compliant equipment and away from high volume low pressure. A number of paint companies are now recognising that this kind of technology is best for the new waterbased platforms and the industry standard for clearcoats. Anest Iwata was the first company to design the concept of compliant technology in the late 1990s and since then every other manufacturer has followed.

The biggest technical issue for equipment is not an issue, 90% of all problems are attributed to cleaning and maintaining of the equipment correctly at the end of every day. If equipment were to be maintained correctly the manufacturers would be out of business very quickly because no-one would be replacing anything.

The aim is for Anest Iwata to continue to grow its market share, continue to deliver good service to its customers, with good quality products at a reasonable price. The general guys on the shop floor, who have to buy their own guns and masks etc cannot afford to pay highly inflated prices for items that are their bread and butter. I know because I have been there. I always try to think about the end user and I visit bodyshops on a regular basis to keep in touch with the market.

On the back of the success over the last couple of years, Anest Iwata UK will be moving into new markets in 2012, and the company will continue to expand with new divisions and new salesman for those new industries. The refinish team will continue to support its distributors in the same way as they have been doing in the past, and with the distributors support, Anest Iwata UK will spend as much time with the end users as possible to find out what is needed from the next generation of equipment. Refinish distribution is very important to Anest Iwata and it aims to work even closer with its partners in 2012.

The industry has changed in a lot of ways and it is very difficult to describe in a few words, but one example that comes to mind is something that happened not so long ago when I dropped into a bodyshop with one of our sales managers. One of the painters in the shop had a colour match problem and he was calling the paint company all the names under the sun. The boss came in and told him to get the paint company representative in to sort the mess out. When I was on the shop floor, if I had said to my boss about calling a paint representative in to solve a paint problem, he would have kicked me down the yard and said get it matched, do a spray out and get it painted. Read into that example what you will.

Getting the infrastructure of the company right was first, if a company is going to be successful it needs firm foundations to build its future on. Having the correct stock levels in place is a big requirement, and Anest Iwata has a next day delivery policy and holds 4,500 different lines of products at any one time in its warehouse.

Employing the right salesman on the road was very important, and every Anest Iwata salesman has a sprayer’s background. If you are selling something that applies paint you should understand all the aspects of application your equipment is required to do. All of Anest Iwata’s salesman can walk the walk as well as talk the talk, how many other manufacturers in the industry can say that? It is something that Anest Iwata UK prides itself on.

After leaving school at 15 I served a five year apprenticeship as a vehicle sprayer. At the time apprenticeships covered all aspects of the repair process, and I was very fortunate to learn my trade in a local family business which gave me good grounding for years to come. After finishing the apprenticeship I worked in a number of positions in the industry, including dealership bodyshop manager. I moved out of bodyshops and into sales as a refinish distributor salesman before Anest Iwata approached me in 1998.

I started with Anest Iwata working as a technical sales engineer in the UK car factories. Over the next three years, Anest Iwata became the leading supplier of hand spray equipment into OEM. I left Anest Iwata in 2002 and went to work for another manufacturer before being asked to come back to Anest Iwata in 2005 as its technical director. This position took me all over the world on a regular basis to work with the design engineers on new concepts.

The reason why the WS400 is so different to any other Anest Iwata spraygun from the past is because the concept was born in a little town called Southport. I was made managing director four years ago when the last MD retired and I would hope that during my time as MD I will be remembered not only for installing Anest Iwata firmly in the car factories, but also for making Anest Iwata a recognised brand again in refinish. In the last four years the company has made some big steps forward in the product range it offers, the service it delivers and expertise and knowledge of its staff.

Anest Iwata Corporation was established in 1926 and started as an air compressor manufacturer; by 1928 it had also moved into the spray equipment business. Over the last 84 years Anest Iwata has become one of the leading companies in the manufacturing of not only spray equipment and air compressors but also pump systems, automatic equipment, robot systems and its airbrush range. Anest Iwata UK was established in 1993 and it has not only become successful in its own market in the last 18 years but it also now supplies Infrared drying systems, air fed breathing and air filtration to the rest of the world.