NEW PRODUCTS, NEW HORIZONS FOR WEDGE CLAMP

BC COMPANY TAKES ON CELETTE AND EXPANDS U.S. REACH

In a world where cars can literally park themselves or brake before hitting a wandering moose, there are still body shops that don’t measure damaged vehicles as part of their before, during, and after repair process. And that concerns Mark Greenberg, President of Wedge Clamp Systems, which specializes in anchoring and measuring tools for the collision repair industry.

“I recently had a conversation with a big shop in Utah that said they don’t think they need to measure every collision repair,” laments Greenberg. “But if you want to be able to show the customer and the insurance company before and after measurements, and ensure the vehicle is restored to factory specifications, you have to measure electronically to prove that the repair has been properly performed.”

Greenberg was promoted to Wedge Clamp in late 2018 from his head office job as General Manager of Business Development at the Craftsman Group of Companies, which owns Wedge Clamp. Sales have been on a steady upswing, doubling last year alone thanks particularly to the popularity of its Eclipse Plus laser measuring system and its newly acquired, Italian-made (and Ford-approved) CMO SPR riveter. Two new partnerships promise even brighter horizons ahead. One is with St. Louis-based Solidus Equipment Systems, one of the largest equipment suppliers in the industry.

“We’ve been looking for more presence in the U.S., and that’s what we’re hoping Solidus will provide,” says Greenberg. “They’re a master distributor, with a lot of sub-distributors and salespeople reaching almost every state. They were looking for an electronic measuring system they could package with their benches. Our Eclipse Plus was the answer.”

Wedge Clamp’s mission to grow the number and scope of collision repair products it offers has recently led to a new distribution deal of its own – the Celette brand of benches, welders and dent repair stations. The signature European-made bench uses dedicated and universal jigs to position and precisely measure damaged vehicles before, during, and after the repair process.

“A lot of shops still don’t have the equipment needed to restore vehicles to OEM specifications,” says Greenberg. “We’re here to change that.” Wedge Clamp began in the 1980s as a maker of anchoring systems. The company is based in Richmond, B.C.