Pro Spot in the News (Updated 7/9/15)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014
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Pro Spot Awarded Ford’s Supplier of The Year

Friday, October 31, 2014
Pro Spot Receives Ford’s Supplier of The Year Award 


Carlsbad, CA- Pro Spot is very proud to announce being awarded SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR by the Ford Motor Company Rotunda Program. Pro Spot is approved by Ford to supply aluminum repair equipment to the Collision Repair Program for repairs on the new 2015 Ford F-150 all-aluminum body truck.

The approved equipment included: Pro Spot’s SP Pulse MIG welders- the most sold Ford-required MIG welders in North America, Aluminum Dent Repair Stations, Fume Extractors, and the SPR Riveter; all of which contributed to winning the Supplier of the Year award.



“We would like to thank the customers that have supported us in purchasing our aluminum repair products. This means a lot to our hard-working team at Pro Spot,” 

says Ron Olsson, Pro Spot President, “I’m overwhelmed and honored to win this award from Ford. We appreciate the trust in our equipment and of course, the overwhelming amount of orders we have received for the aluminum program.” 

The 2015 F-150 is revolutionizing the repair industry by mainstreaming aluminum repair. Pro Spot looks forward to continuing to design innovative equipment for shops and technicians to repair vehicles back to OE standards. 

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Pro Spot's Ron Olsson Awarded I-CAR Tech Center Award

Friday, October 10, 2014
On the opening day of SEMA 2013, Jason Bartanen of the I-Car Tech Center awarded Ron Olsson, President of Pro Spot International, with the Robert Author Smith I-CAR Tech Center Award.

The award is given annually to an individual or organization that consistently goes above and
beyond the call of duty for I-CAR and the Tech Center

“Ron’s continued support over the years made him the overwhelming winner of the award this year,” said Jason Bartanen, I-CAR’s Director of Industry Technical Relations.

With over 20 years supporting I-CAR, Ron Olsson explained, “I am honored and thankful

for the acknowledgement. Training is continuing to be an essential part of the operation of any
collision repair facility and to suppliers of equipment, like us. Knowing what Bob Smith did for
our industry and for I-CAR, I am just a small part of his vision in growing the I-CAR education
experience for collision repair technicians.”

The Robert Author Smith I-CAR Tech Center Award was renamed from the I-CAR Tech Center Award after the recent passing of Robert “Bob” Smith. Bob Smith was an integral part to the creation of the I-CAR Tech Center. Bob’s support of I-CAR and constant willingness to help anyone who needed it, made him cared for by thousands of young collision repair professionals during his time at Fox Valley Technical College, through his work in SkillsUSA, and by anyone in the industry who had the pleasure of knowing him.
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Special News: Welder/Wire for 2015 Ford F-150

Monday, June 30, 2014

The Ford Collision Repair Program for the 2015 Ford F-150 requires a "Dedicated Aluminum MIG welding system. Welder must be 220V and equipped with Pulse MIG Technology."

WELDERS: SP-5 Smart MIG, SP-2 Smart MIG, and SP-1 Pulse MIG all on Ford's approved list of equipment.

WIRE: Ford is requiring 5554 1.2mm aluminum welding wire for the program. The SP MIG Series welders come equipped with the 5554 1.2 mm aluminum welding wire for the Ford F-150 Collision Repair Program, as well as Silicon Bronze for MIG Brazing on UHSS & HSS, and Steel (on the SP-5). *The SP MIG Series has also been approved by GM for the Corvette cast extrusion. 


TRAINING: Pro Spot has endless training options available. Along with the training that Ford is requiring for the Collision Repair Program, Pro Spot also offers:

I-CAR Courses: Approved & CASE Certified Courses on Squeeze Type Resistance Spot Welding & MIG Welding Training

NACE/CARS- Pro Spot will be teaching 3 Courses on Aluminum Repair and Plastic Bumper Repair:

LOCAL Training & Support from your Pro Spot Trained Representative

ONLINE Training, Support, and Updated News on My.prospot.com
VIDEOS on the Pro Spot YouTube Channel
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New Sales & Marketing Director- Canada

Tuesday, June 24, 2014
PRO SPOT NEWS Announcement


Pro Spot Announces Art Ewing as 
Sales & Marketing Director- Canada


CARLSBAD, CA USA- Pro Spot International is pleased to announce the appointment of Art Ewing as Sales and Marketing Director – Canada. Art’s main focus will be to support and further develop our existing distribution in Canada.

Art, a resident of Vancouver, has been involved in selling & marketing Pro Spot products for several years in his past capacity as Welding Products Marketing Manager with Lordco Auto Parts.

Art’s past experience includes North American Marketing and Sales Management roles with a major industrial gases manufacturer. Art is a Welding Engineering Technologist graduate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, holds a special certificate in Finance from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is a graduate from Vancouver Community College’s Provincial Instructors and Adult Learning Program. He is a certified welding engineering technologist with the Edison Welding Institute and the Canadian Welding Bureau.

“We are committed to providing our growing Canadian market with innovative welding products and great representation from within Canada. Art Ewing’s skills and knowledge make him an incredible asset to the Canadian market, we are excited to have Art on board,” says Ron Olsson, President of Pro Spot International.

Pro Spot International is a leading manufacturer of resistance spot welding equipment and tools specializing in applications for the Collision Repair industry and now the Fabrication & Restoration industry as well. Pro Spot’s headquarters & manufacturing plant is located in beautiful Carlsbad, California USA, a mere 5 miles from the coastline. The company owns and manages on-site research and development, engineering, machine shop, fabrication, production, testing, technical support and a training center. The company owns numerous patents for ingenious application tools, machines, procedures, and is dedicated to staying ahead of the curve on the technology & needs of the welding industry. 







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No Need for PUSH/PULL with Pro Spot

Thursday, June 12, 2014
Save your money!

When you're out looking for a MIG welder, especially in this Aluminum Rush, you'll come across the words "Push Pull" a lot. Let's explain about what it is, and when or why you would need it.
There are many welders out there, some that feature a Push Pull torch, and some that don't... why?

When welding soft metals, like aluminum, the welding wire has a tendency to bend easily. When the welding wire bends while being fed through the drive rollers, the wire gets tangled, appearing like a birdnest. When this occurs, the wire needs to be cut, removed from the torch, and re-fed through the drive rollers & torch. If you don't know about birdnesting... you're lucky! It causes downtime, frustration and loss of welding wire.

Push/pull systems require two separate wire feed motors, one at the torch end and one in the cabinet, which both need to run at the exact same speed for the system to operate correctly. If one roller glitches and the two rollers get off track, the torch will jam and cause birdnesting. A common use for push/pull torches is in the industrial industry for long-distance welding, where the wire has to travel through extra long cables. 


There are MIG welders that don't need a complicated or expensive push/pull system.
The Pro Spot SP MIG Series Welders (with Pulse technology) start the welding process before the wire comes in contact with the base metal, preventing the sudden shock to the wire, which causes the "birdnesting" at the roller. The Pro Spot aluminum torches also incorporate a graphite liner in the torch, which leads the wire though for smooth wire feed.




Like we said before, if you don't know about birdnesting... you're lucky! It causes downtime, frustration and loss of welding wire. 
Your options to prevent it in aluminum welding are: going with a system like the Pro Spot SP MIG welders with the early arc and graphite liner or with other systems that require purchasing a Push/Pull torch.




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Pro Spot teaches Aluminum & Plastic Repair Courses at NACE/CARS 2014

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

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Silicon Bronze MIG Brazing

Friday, May 9, 2014


Silicon Bronze MIG Brazing

Silicon Bronze, also known as MIG Brazing has been used in the industry for many years at the OEM level as well as restoration.  Currently Honda is REQUIRING, not recommending it for all vehicles utilizing 1500 MPa (UHSS). 

Silicon Bronze, MIG Brazing is a way off welding at half of the temperature of a standard steel MIG weld, maintaining the structural integrity of the material, too much heat will destroy the metal.

2014 MDX: New Model Body Repair Information 
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West Coast Customs, Ryan Friedlinghaus Talks Welding...

Friday, March 14, 2014

Founder of West Coast Customs, 
Ryan Friedlinghaus Talks Welding, 
Pro Spot and His New Book

With the new book, The Art of Welding on the shelves, welding is again in the spotlight. In the new book, the "celebrated guru of automotive customization and host of West Coast Customs on Fox Sports, adds practical knowledge to William Galvery's acclaimed welding insight and everyday tips and tricks developed over his long professional career as an educator". For more information on the book, click here.   In Corona, CA, West Coast Customs uses welding in so many applications, and uses Pro Spot welders to complete their builds whether its spot welding or MIG welding. 
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Everyone is talking about it... ALUMINUM REPAIR & the 2015 Ford F-150 Truck

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Everyone is talking about it... 
ALUMINUM REPAIR 
There are so many questions out there and we're get you some answers. 

Here are some questions we've been seeing here at Pro Spot on Aluminum Repair and the news of the Ford 2015 F-150 (* Questions and answers provided by Ford.com)

Q: Is the 2015 Ford F-150 all aluminum?
A*: "The body panels and cab walls, one unstressed cross-member in the frame and various internal parts are [high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloy]. The rest of the frame is steel, mostly high-strength steel."

Q: Why Aluminum, why now?
A*: "Because now and in the coming years, your truck will have to be stronger, more productive and more efficient, because the jobs keep getting harder and gas prices are rising. So we turned to high-strength, military-grade,* aluminum alloy for our body and bed. We developed new technologies. We rethought conventional assumptions and charted the future of tough. As always, we did what was right, not what was easy. Which is why the all-new F-150 is designed to deliver more towing and hauling capability than the previous generation. That’s real-world capability. That’s why we own work."

Q*: Why did Ford decide to use high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy for the body?
A*: "We set out to make the toughest, safest, smartest Ford F-150 yet. Through years of innovation and refinement, our engineers have devised a way to join its high-strength-steel frame together with its all-new body and bed, which are constructed using high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloys."

Q*: Will the high-strength, military grade, aluminum alloy rust or corrode over time? 
A*: "The high-strength, military grade, aluminum alloy in the new F-150 does not produce red rust like steel. We've gone to great lengths to develop coatings that will inhibit corrosion."

Q*: Isn’t aluminum weaker than steel? How will it hold up?
A*: "As demonstrated for decades in other transportation, such as heavy trucks and aircraft, high-strength aluminum is durable and strong. The new F-150 has to pass the same Built Ford Tough®durability tests, equaling or performing better than the current F-150."

Q: Isn't aluminum difficult to repair?
A*: "Like the rest of our vehicles, the new F-150 has been designed to be easy to repair in the event of an accident. Ford Dealers and independent repair facilities are already familiar with repairing aluminum body panels on our cars and trucks as well as on other manufacturers’ vehicles. In addition, Ford has worked with ICAR (Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair) to develop specific F-150 repair training, which will be available to all Ford Dealers and independent collision repair facilities. Ford will recommend customers have their vehicles repaired at facilities that have completed the ICAR training." Pro Spot Aluminum Repair products included in the Ford 2015 F-150 Collision Repair Program

Q*: Are the frames of the all-new F-150 aluminum too, like the body?
A*: "No. All of our ladder frames use high-strength steel with through-welded crossmembers."

Q*: When does the all-new Ford F-150 go on sale?
A*: It will be in dealerships late this year.

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Wondering What Gas, Welding Wire, and Equipment I-CAR recommends for their Steel GMA (MIG) Welding Training & Certification?

Thursday, March 6, 2014

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Ford Cutout of 2015 F-150 with New Repair Information

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

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Videos: Pro Spot Aluminum Products

Friday, January 31, 2014
All Pro Spot videos are available on the Pro Spot YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProSpotInternational


Aluminum Weld Station video by Hi-Tech Toolbox




SP-5 Smart Mig video by Hi-Tech Toolbox








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Ford Approved Press Release

Here is the Ford approved Press Release on the 2015 F-150 Collision Repair Program with Pro Spot International. Feel free to use this for your own company's marketing, so long as there are no changes made.


Ford Approves Pro Spot Aluminum Repair on New 2015 F-150

For Immediate Release

Carlsbad, CA (January 16, 2014) - Ford Motor Company has revealed the all-new 2015 F-150. The new 2015 F-150 has a body that is constructed entirely of High Strength Military Grade Aluminum Alloy. By using High Strength Military Grade Aluminum Alloy, the best selling pickup truck for 37 years is now 700 lbs lighter. Pro Spot has worked very closely with Ford in the creation of the repair procedures for this vehicle. We are proud to say that Pro Spot aluminum repair products have been included in Ford Motor Company’s 2015 F-150 Collision Repair Program.

The following Pro Spot products have been included in Ford Motor Company’s 2015 F-150 Collision Repair Program: The Aluminum Weld Station with 3 upgrade Kits available, The SP Smart MIG Series (including the SP-1, SP-2 and SP-5 Smart MIG), and The SPR Rivet Gun. These products join many other Pro Spot products approved by Ford Motor Company for collision repair including the popular i5 Smart Welder and the i4 Inverter Resistance Spot Welder. 


Aluminum Weld Station
(Ford Required Equipment #3: Dedicated Aluminum dent extraction system)

Aluminum Weld Station is designed to meet all of your aluminum repair needs. The station includes:
· A portable welding cart
· The Pull Bar
· AL-5 Capacitor Discharge Stud Welder
· Accessories for aluminum dent pulling. 


The welding cart includes a tool board, utility panel (air outlets, 110v & 220V electrical outlets), a work surface covered with a high quality textured rubber mat, heavy duty adjustable shelves, a foldable work table, and a sliding drawer for storage. The Pull Bar features a 4 and 6 jaw clamp and adjustable foot swivel pads for mounting both vertically and horizontally. The AL-5 is designed for aluminum dent pulling & welding UHSS panels.
Optional Kits are available to add on to Aluminum Weld Station including the SP-1 Pulse MIG, a Built-In or Portable Fume Extractor and the PR-111 Plasma Cutter.


SP MIG Series
(Ford Required Equipment #1: Dedicated aluminum MIG welding system)

The SP-5 Smart MIG is a 220VAC, single-phase welder that features three MIG torches, one TIG torch and one MMA / stick torch. The three MIG torches are set up for aluminum, silicon bronze and steel. The welder utilizes pulse technology to weld aluminum and stainless steel. In synergic mode, the microprocessor controls optimal are stability and weld quality. To switch welding different base metals, simply pick up the appropriate torch and tap the trigger and you’re ready to weld. 


The SP MIG Series features the SP-5, SP-2, and SP-1 Pulse MIG Welders.



PR-5 Riveter (SPR Rivet Gun)

(Ford Required Equipment #6: Specialized SPR Rivet Gun)

Designed for Aluminum vehicles, the Pro Spot Riveter is an electro-hydraulic rivet gun. This non-thermal process joins aluminum panels without heat. The Riveter is capable of self-piercing, riveting, clinching, pressing and removal of rivets. The Riveter is portable and battery operated for easy and mobile use. It includes two batteries with standard 110V charging station, so there is no wasted downtime. 

The Pro Spot Riveter is one of only two SPR Rivet Guns currently approved by Ford.


For additional information on Pro Spot approved equipment for the Ford Collision Repair Program or all Ford approved Pro Spot products, contact: 

Ashley Olsson
Communications
Ashley@prospot.com
www.prospot.com

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProSpotInternational
Facebook: facebook.com/prospotinternational
Instagram: instagram.com/prospotwelding
Twitter: twitter.com/prospotwelding






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Ford Approves Pro Spot Aluminum Repair on New 2015 F-150

Thursday, January 16, 2014


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