MovinCool CLASSIC10 Industrial Case Study

Industrial Case Study Series
Spot Coolers Boost Automotive Technicians’ Productivity
Company: Paddock Imports, Denver, Colorado
Type of Business: Automotive service center
Challenge: A hot working environment reduced the
productivity of the company’s automotive technicians, but the
space was too large for traditional air conditioning
Solution: MovinCool portable spot air conditioners lowered
the temperature of work areas 20 degrees or more
Result: Improved employee morale and productivity
Whenever outside temperatures went up, Paddock Imports, an
independent Mercedes, BMW and Audi automotive service center
in Denver, Colorado, had a problem keeping their automotive
technicians cool enough. As the heat and humidity increased,
productivity plummeted.
The company has two shops, one with 14 service bays and the
other with two. The larger, main shop, which has 16,000 square
feet of floor space and 27-foot-high ceilings, is located in a
former warehouse in the rear of their facility. The smaller, front
shop, which is used for racecar fabrication, came equipped with
two ceiling-mounted evaporative coolers.
“Most of the time we could get along in the front shop with the
evaporative coolers, although sometimes it got pretty muggy and
sticky—plus, we always had to leave a door open, which was a
little counterproductive,” said Doug Paddock, the company’s owner.
“But the back shop was the real problem area. Especially when
we were working on cars with hot engines, it could get like a
sweatbox in there, and downright miserable. The technicians
were really suffering, and their efficiency would drop.”
“The difference is tremendous. The units
reduce the temperature in our work areas
by 20 degrees or more.”
Installing central air conditioning for such a large facility would
have been cost prohibitive. As an alternative, Paddock tried
opening the back shop’s bay doors and using drum fans to create a
breeze. This produced little improvement, however. “The fans just
moved the hot air,” said Paddock. “We also considered installing
portable evaporative coolers, but with the large floor space and
| Cooling products
high ceilings, it just wouldn’t have been practical. Plus, of course,
there would have been the added humidity to deal with.”
Paddock didn’t have a solution, but he was determined to find one.
As luck would have it, just at that time, Worldpac, a distributor
of original equipment automotive replacement parts, began to
carry MovinCool portable spot air conditioners. The compact, selfcontained units are made by DENSO Corporation, one of the world’s
largest manufacturers of automotive parts and a longtime supplier
of Worldpac.
As part of Worldpac’s introduction of MovinCool, Mario Recchia,
senior vice president of Worldpac, invited Paddock to see a
demonstration at an upcoming trade show.
productivity—although it is significant—
but the improvement in morale alone is
worth it.
“One of the advantages of the MovinCool
units is their flexibility. They can be wheeled
from one location to another and the cold-air ducts can be
positioned to direct the air wherever it’s needed. Most of the time
they cool the area where the technician is working, but they can
also be aimed right at a hot engine to cool it down quicker. On the
models we have, there are two cold-air ducts. One duct can cool one
service bay while the other duct cools another bay.
“They need practically no maintenance. It’s easy to empty the
condensation tank, which we do every two days or so.
Initially, Paddock wasn’t impressed. “I have to be honest,” said
Paddock. “When I first saw the MovinCool unit at the show I was
skeptical. It didn’t look like it could do much. But within about 30
seconds after it was turned on, I was sold. I could feel the huge
volume of cold air it delivered right to a specific area and realized
this was exactly what we needed to keep our technicians cool
without having to cool the entire shop.
“I can’t quantify the precise increase in
productivity—although it is significant—
but the improvement in morale alone is
worth it.”
“I was also impressed that MovinCool is made by DENSO. I was
already familiar with DENSO’s quality from their auto parts, so I was
confident the MovinCool systems would be reliable. I did a little
online research to find out more about the process they were using,
then ordered three Classic Plus 14 models.
“Another advantage, which we hadn’t expected, is the way MovinCool
removes moisture from the air. Now the evaporative coolers we
have in the front shop are more efficient, so that location stays more
comfortable too. We don’t have the high humidity we had before, and
we don’t have to leave an outside door open anymore.”
“When the MovinCool units were delivered to the shop, I didn’t say
anything about them. At first the technicians didn’t know what to
make of them. The units sat on the pallet for a day because we were
busy. The next day, one of the technicians set a unit up for his area. It
only took him about 15 minutes. He basically just rolled the unit into
place and plugged it in to a regular 115-volt outlet. At the end of the
day, another technician went over and saw how cool and comfortable
it was in that area and set his up too, and then another followed.
When one of the Paddock Imports technicians recently moved
from the front shop to the back one, Paddock immediately bought
another MovinCool unit for him. “It’s become a necessity for us,” he
said. “Because of the type of cars we work on, we pride ourselves
on having the latest technology and the right tool for the job. And
now MovinCool is another one of those tools.”
“The difference is tremendous. The units reduce the temperature in
our work areas by 20 degrees or more. In order for us to maintain
the quality of service we offer our customers, we need to make
sure our employees have a comfortable working environment, and
MovinCool helps us do that. I can’t quantify the precise increase in
Contact your WORLDPAC Sales
Associate for more information.
For more information,
visit www.movincool.com
MovinCool® is a registered trademark of DENSO Corporation.
All specifications subject to change without notice. Standard warranty includes 12 months on entire
unit and compressor. MovinCool offers an industry-best free Extended Warranty Program which
includes 3 years for portable models and 2 years for ceiling-mount models for both parts and labor
on units. All models feature compressor overload relay and fan motor protection. All models also
feature compressor short-cycle pro­­tection, return air thermostat, automatic restart and accomoate a
condensate pump kit. All models are 50 Hertz (Hz) compatible with a slight performance decrease
from specifications listed above.