By Ed Kovalchick, CEO & Founder, Net Profit Inc.
Repair processes for 2020 was indeed a very hot SEMA topic!
If you have attended the Las Vegas SEMA/AAPEX shows, you experienced an automotive panacea like no other. Besides over 4,900 eclectic international exhibitors; some 1,000 plus custom vehicles of every application, shape, hue, and size; awards breakfasts and dinners; dozens of automotive celebrities (I got a great pic with Jay Leno); and insightful workshops, there were also “extreme” rides in racing and other rods.
Four lengthy and exhausting days aren’t nearly enough time to digest this palooza, so one has to establish specific objectives and plan activities carefully well beforehand.
New Is Now
It’s no secret that both the service and body shop repair worlds are changing rapidly, and now these two are moving towards becoming closer entities. More and more body repairs are requiring both mechanical and electronic capabilities as ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), super-sensitive emission controls, 50 to 100 mini-computers (BUS system), miles of wiring, and some 25,000 plus individual vehicle parts make for an extensive challenge, even now in what was once considered minor crashes.
I was particularly interested in attending the SCRS (Society of Collision Repair Specialists) workshop, “Repair Process 2020,” to get the changing repair landscape take from a distinguished organization. Instructors included Jason Bartanen, director of industry relations for CollisionHub; Kelly Logan, director of technical services, Caroliner; Jake Rodenroth, director of OEM, asTech; and Douglas Craig, applications engineering manager, Structural Adhesives Technology – Lord Corporation.
Important areas were reviewed, dismantled, and discussed, while attendees commented and posed some provocative questions at times, challenging the industry overall. Roughly, four areas were tossed about in an exercise that could have lasted double time as it continually warmed up as the time clicked.
Research
My own experience with this is that actual researching prior to making body repairs isn’t common; however, for the sake of making absolutely proper repairs, it’s now mandatory we were told. One of the panelists even suggested that busy body shops need a separate researcher to find and document OE repair processes to incorporate into the necessary, but seldom done, blueprinting estimating program.
The issue here is that today’s vehicles require exacting repairs like never before due to electronics; multiple metals, fiberglass, composites, and specifically the all-important safety standards which, if not followed, can put a shop out of business, beyond the horrendous debt of liability judgments. Of course, the now-infamous Texas body shop which glued, rather than welded, the roof structure of a Honda Fit, which collapsed in a subsequent accident injuring the passengers severely, one for life, was cited as one pertinent example. The result was an over $40 million judgment, most charged to the repairing body shop. Sledgehammer ouch.
Mr. Rodenroth noted the importance of asking questions like, “Are there enough welds? Techs don’t have the answers for today’s repair processes, and they cannot be memorized. I challenge you to look up every bumper repair next week to see what you missed. There is only one way, the right way.” There are reasons to look up the processes every time since many are updated as time goes on the group revealed, citing the Ford 150 aluminum repair procedures which updated four times in one year.
Mr. Bartanen noted that the majority of manufacturers have procedures, and there has to be OE research before repair. Mr. Logan stated that the industry has to change the culture – can’t use the same procedures for all vehicles like we used to, so it takes time and effort. Mr. Craig stated that Chrysler put out repair information and still the same questions came up over and over from body shop personnel.
Mr. Rodenroth: “There is a difference between a real bodyman versus one who lives off 30 years of experience … we are not bodymen unless we follow documented procedures, including torqueing fasteners.”
Mr. Logan said that it was very important how repair and related processes are documented for insurance personnel. “Road tests for example have to have details such as a copy of the map, what you were testing, miles in and out, and the entire test procedure.” Mr. Craig added that there should be no broad statements and that “details get paid.”
Training
A discussion was held regarding welding and that pulse welders are now required by manufactures. The group explained that techs must know the theory of welding which requires a new education, including for example, up to five amp-weld settings on a Honda rocker panel. Welders must be tested for accuracy also. “We are seeing experienced techs who don’t know how to take care of equipment or the new welding techniques needed,” according to Mr. Bartanen.
Mr. Rodenroth stated that training for everyone must be held weekly, pick a subject and use vendors as a training resource as well as the web. He cited that Oem1stop.com has links to all the important resources, as well as hondatechInfo.com and other manufacturers. YouTube includes video training which can be used the group stated, as well as Collisionhub.com. The bottom line is that internal training effort “brings up the overall quality of the organization. I test my techs by giving them research projects.”
Another piece of the training puzzle discussed was that body shops will soon need an “electrification technician” as well as the mechanical technicians they need now, as vehicles become more and more dependent on electrical-related systems including battery powered motors.
Repair Planning – Execution
Mr. Rodenroth explained that body shops do not recognize when ADAS training needs to be done, including windshield camera calibrations; there is no plug and play, and this information will have to be determined – what will need to be calibrated upfront to calculate the amount of money it will cost for repairs. “There is a 30 percent failure rate of ADAS now on repaired vehicles and a 50 percent failure on bumper cover cameras.” (I found those figures shocking)
Audience: How do we recognize when calibration is needed? We want to plan, but getting the information is difficult. Mr. Craig replied, “This is the pain, and it takes months doing research until it becomes known, it takes this and even some specialization. Some shops are just focusing on one brand as a result.”
The most critical part of ADAS is finding the centerline … have to look up blind spot monitoring replacement and what it takes to validate testing, and the results need to be documented during the road test. All of this requires proper research.
Audience: I’m a shop owner and tech, and I have adjustor training. We have to pay our people and the message we are getting is that we have to spend a lot more time that we don’t get paid for. We are working for free. These extra tasks have to get paid, including reading and signing off by techs. We have to charge for this time; we are mini-claims adjustors. The insurers have no bad faith when they cheat a body shop. Until the industry changes to pay for all the extras we work for free – calling out an obviously exasperated message.
The panel agreed that if it takes two hours of research, the body shop should get paid. They suggested that customer education is very important, beginning with the estimate and what it will take.
Mr. Rodenroth: Our company is fighting the cost fight every day. We have to purchase first-rate equipment because some Aftermarket tools don’t work properly. We have assigned work teams based on European, Asian, and American vehicles, and we are getting pressure about what our services cost. We have to explain and show exactly what we have to do and the equipment we have to use.
“We had a German car we can’t get the ADAS set using our $30K worth of tools … the scan tool was giving us a wrong direction. It turned out the aftermarket windshield didn’t work with the vehicle’s system. The fuel level makes a big difference too. We had to fill up an Infiniti to make a proper alignment, and insurance has to be educated to these types of facts to get paid.”
He further explained, “Each brand has its own steps even though they may have the same parts and you are responsible for proper calculations.” Mr. Bartanen added, “Six tenths of a degree created a collision. Today repairs have to be perfect.”
The panel explained that DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) are not the answer. It’s important to take a picture of where the ADAS is being performed. Example: The space cannot have metal near the ADAS check area, and getting a cheap ADAS price means you probably aren’t getting a proper job.
Body personnel have to get a printout of the procedures and a screen shot of the OE tool measurements for the file. Pictures as the vehicle is being tested validate the process, a fuel receipt, and before and after alignment specs are items which support costs to be recouped.
Mr. Logan: I went to a meeting where we noted how the mechanical side is now a major part of body repair too, and some of the information needed is found in mechanical service manuals – passenger seats are an example. It was suggested that copies of this kind of information should be included in repair documentation to justify the time and related fees.
Relationships
Panel: There are thousands of books and training classes to learn to negotiate but for what? The bottom line is there is an issue because people get upset. Completely documenting what the repair requires (with some give and take) is most important. Take the time to check every car bumper cover for example and when it’s fixable do it, it helps negotiation. Show that you are studying and on top of what can and has be done – the straightforward message was clearly for the body personnel to be the knowledgeable ones.
Overview
I sat beside a Southern California estimator representing a major insurance company in another session. Since we both attended this round, I asked him what his take was on the workshop. He agreed that the more information provided to him, the more he was able to justify paying. He admitted that some shops get less for the same job due to poor documentation habits. His employment challenge was that he was measured against other estimators in the company as far as average estimate pricing. He did note that he was often estimating high-end expensive cars in a tall labor rate arena which didn’t seem fair. “The front bumper on some of my cars costs more than an estimate for a 20MPH frontend Honda accident.” I thought that his comments summed it up clearly in an often-muddy industry.
About the Author
Ed Kovalchick has traveled the world training and consulting in fixed operations for manufacturers and dealers. His extensive background includes master technician status, independent shop owner, dealer with all Chrysler & Nissan franchises, and founder of Net Profit Inc. He is a graduate of the University of Louisiana and has served as state president of the Automotive Service Councils, and the advisory boards of Wyo Tech and Virginia College. He has been a regular columnist and conference presenter with Dealer Magazine since 1995.
