Earl Scheib - Company History

Company History

Founded by Earl Scheib (February 28, 1908 – February 29, 1992) in Los Angeles in 1937 the company grew quickly following World War II and by 1975 had branches in Germany and England, all company owned, with Scheib manufacturing his own paint through a wholly owned subsidiary.

Earl Scheib's paint-coating systems were used by its company-owned paint and collision repair shops. The paint also was sold to original equipment manufacturers and architectural construction firms.

Scheib's policy of one-day service and production line techniques flew directly into the face of state-of-the-art professional Auto Body standards and caused the company to become a national joke at the time.

Scheib was plagued with a high employee turnover rate due to the demands of attempting to paint up to five cars a day. The company's main criterion in hiring and promoting management trainees was based on sales skills only. Knowledge of auto body repair or painting techniques was not required. Trainees underwent a short training period and were then assigned to their own shops. Managers who failed to increase sales for three successive months were fired, regardless of seniority.

Auto body, painting and prep personnel were represented by Teamsters Unions.

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