Toyota's big body shop

BORNEO Motors Singapore (BMS) has opened the biggest automotive body and paint facility here for its Lexus, Toyota and Suzuki brands.

The Inchcape Bodycare Centre (IBC) at 4 Pandan Crescent cost S$2.6 million and is spread over 60,000 square feet. It has 73 servicing bays and a capacity of 600 vehicles per month - regardless of the level of damage.

Efficient design and process innovation mean the workshop layout has a "central highway", with work bays to the left and right of this highway, that is kept clear at all times to provide ease of access through the workshop from the beginning to the end.

At the same time, IBC has introduced state-of-the-art technology that includes the use of floor suction in sanding bays to reduce dust for better quality paint finishes, drive-through spray booths (most workshops are drive-in and reverse-out) with twice the airflow for improved baking and drying, and more environmentally friendly waterborne paint.

For accident repair works, precision tools are used for every step of the process. BMS, which is part of the Inchcape Group, used to have a body shop at 24 Leng Kee Road but that property was sold last year.

Meanwhile, the company is building its headquarters next door at 2 Pandan Crescent, which used to house a Suzuki showroom and workshop.

The HQ building will have a second but smaller body and paint facility. When this is ready by the end of next year, the combined body and paint facilities will be comparable in size to the previous operations at the ertswhile Leng Kee Road address as well as the old Pandan Crescent site before it was torn down.