Southwestern December 2014 Issue

GM Pauses MyPriceLink.com ImplementationGeneral Motors announced on Nov. 10that it had paused its MyPriceLink.comprogram that was launched a week ear-lier. See other cover story this issue.According to GM, the decision wasbased on industry feedback to enhanceand streamline the workflow for allcollision industry partners.

MyPriceLink.com is a free auto-mated “real-time” pricing programthat will provide Genuine GM colli-sion parts to the market that are com-petitively priced “up-front” at theinitial repair estimate.

The company said the repair fa-cilities will have access to GenuineGM Parts at the best available priceand in timely manner.

“For our GM dealers to be morecompetitive in the estimate writingprocess, we are going on the offensivewith our collision parts pricing. Ourobjective is to quote the most compet-itive OEM list price the first time, re-ducing supplements and adjustments,while at the same time improvingcycle time for repairers, insurers andultimately the customer,” said KrisMayer, General Director, WholesaleDealer Channel. GM said it has re-

ceived overwhelming interest and sup-port for its best price forward pricingstrategy from all constituents through-out the collision repair industry.

By providing the price up frontin the estimating process, GM said itcan continue to focus on helping thecustomer, allowing the vehicle to bereturned to pre-accident condition,with original parts, ensuring safetyand appearance.

Since GM announced this newprogram, the company said the work-flow pressures on outside parties hasbrought to light enhanced solutionsand the increased desire for integra-tion opportunities.

In the interim, GM will resumethe publishing of list price untilMyPriceLink.com is implemented.GM expects to have a fully function-ing dynamic pricing process throughMyPriceLink.com by early 2015.

GM said it appreciates the inter-est and support MyPriceLink.comhas received and looks forward tocollaborating with all constituents inthe collision repair industry to imple-ment the new way in which GM listprices will be obtained.

by John Yoswick

The biggest collision industry newsduring SEMA week in Las Vegas lastmonth got all of five minutes at theCollision Industry Conference (CIC).

Kris Mayer of General Motorstook no questions at CIC after the au-tomaker’s announcement that week thatit would be discontinuing the publica-tion of list prices for crash parts, in favorof MyPriceLink.com, a new, online andreal-time pricing system that would al-ways quote “competitive prices.”

Coming just three weeks before thechange was initially going to go into ef-

fect, the announce-ment stunned manydealers, shops andinsurers.

“We know it’sdisruptive. We aretaking that into ac-count. We knowwhat those disrup-tive points are,”Mayer said at CIC.“Every single work-flow disruption thatwe’ve come acrosswe have a possible

Final 2014 CIC Meeting Includes GM Parts PricingAnnouncement, Human Resources Quiz

See Final 2014 CIC Meeting, 2

Kris Mayer ofGeneral Motors

announces that thecompany will bediscontinuing thepublication of listprices for crash

parts. Photo credit:John Yoswick

by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

Nearly 500 collision repair shops acrossthe country have now joined the anti-trust Multi-District Litigation originallyfiled by five states in April against thenation’s top insurers. Over the pastmonth lawsuits have been filed againstinsurance companies in the additionalstates as part of “The Movement” bybody shops to take back control of theindustry. Recent reports have stated thatbody shops in at least 35 states turned inpaperwork by the Oct. 31 deadline.

When Autobody News con-tacted lead attorney John Eaves, Jr.to learn the results of the most recentcourt hearing scheduled on Nov. 14 inOrlando, he reported that the judgetook the hearing under advisement.

“This whole thing is not about usbody shops. This is about the con-

sumer,” said Ron Perretta, owner ofProfessionals Autobody Body in Penn-sylvania. As an active participant in“The Movement,” he said, “What thisis doing is it’s not allowing the bodyshop to fix consumers’ cars properly.This isn’t about us.”

Perretta and Tony Passwater, Ex-ecutive Director of the Indiana Auto-body Association and President of AEIIConsulting Services, have traveledacross the country talking to shops andhelping them understand “The Move-ment.”

“We believe that direct repairneeds to stop. Direct repair is nothingmore than something that was formedto be able to control our industry,”said Perretta. “The direct repair wasnot formed to make it easier, better,quicker for the consumer.”

More Lawsuits Filed in Additional States AgainstNation’s Top Insurers

See MDL and Insurers, Page 17

by Stacey Phillips and Victoria Antonelli

Autobody News reported in our No-vember issue that the Ford MotorCompany Rotunda Program has rec-ognized Pro Spot International forbeing their 2014 Supplier of the Year.

Our editorial staff recently touredthe 45,000 square foot facility inCarlsbad, CA, to learn more about theinnovative products and equipmentPro Spot is developing, particularly inpreparation for the new 2015 Ford F-150 aluminum body truck now beingproduced. We were joined by TobyChess, who took the opportunity togive the two newest editorial teammembers a lesson in welding. Toby’sintent was not to create expert welders

but to show that with the right equip-ment, training, and attention to detail,anyone can become competent atwelding. See sidebars.

Our Pro Spot tour began with a

Pro Spot Gives Autobody News a Facility Tour

See Pro Spot Shines, Page 8

Ashley Olsson, the company’s Director ofCommunications, conducts a tour of the ProSpot plant floor

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Absolute Mitsubishi-Hyundai . . . . . 17BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 31Bob Howard PDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Car-Part.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Don Carlton Auto Group. . . . . . . . . 20Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Freedom Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 42Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeLewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 30

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 38Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 37LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Mac Haik Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45Mercedes-Benz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 35MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 29North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 10Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 21Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 7Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . . 9South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 11Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 39Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONAL

Association Event for Buddy Caldwell’s

Re-Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Dallas Shop Owners Join Collision

Experts for Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

LA Parts Store Employee Sues Neighbor

after Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

New OK AG Warns Public About Steering,

Fails to Distinguish Shops from Insurers . . 4

Oklahoma Man Charged with Insurance

Fraud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sisk - ASA-CNM Battles Distance and Dust

to Unite New Mexico Repairers . . . . . . 10

Sisk - LaCIA October Meeting Featured

Guest Speaker Mike Anderson . . . . . . . 26

Sisk - TIAA Organizes to Promote a

Better Future For Texas Repairers . . . . . 32

Vehicle-Deer Collisions Up 5.8% Year

on Year in LA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - New Product Showcase

Winners a Big Hit at SEMA. . . . . . . . . . 22

Attanasio - WD-40/PowerNation Jeep

Debuts at SEMA 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Franklin - Autobody Associations—A Great

Source of Marketing Information . . . . . 30

Luehr - Competing with MSO Consolidation . 31

Yoswick - Prevailing Practices, Doing

Business on Internet, 2-Way Estimating,

Steering Suits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Yoswick - SCRS OEM Technology Event

Includes Plenty of Focus on Aluminum

Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

NATIONAL

3M™ Automotive Offers Products and

Processes for Aluminum Repair . . . . . . 13

ACD Adds Collision Select to AutoLink™

Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Acura TLX Earns Top Safety Pick+ Award . 45

AkzoNobel Hosts 4th Annual Sustainability

Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Attanasio - CAA Gets a New Web Site with

More Features and Better Navigation . . 18

Attanasio - Car Giveaways Become Regular

Monthly Events at G&C Auto Body . . . . 34

Attanasio - NABC Gives Away Four Cars

at Annual SEMA Luncheon. . . . . . . . . . 28

Auto Care Association Releases 2014

Digital Collision Repair Trends Report. . 45

CarMax Returns to AutoTrader & Cars.com . 38

CARSTAR Says it’s Ready for Aluminum

Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CCC’s Parts Shopping through

CCC ONE® Touch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Creating Engaging Consumer Videos

for Marketing with Kristen Felder . . . . . 20

Enterprise’s ARMS Application Helps Shops

Track Cycle Time and Benchmark

Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Final 2014 CIC Meeting Includes GM Parts

Pricing Announcement, Human

Resources Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Ford, Chrysler, and GM Approve DeBeer

Refinish Waterbase 900+ Series by

Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Four Collision Schools Awarded

GEICO Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

GM Demonstrated Rail Saver Repair

System at SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

GM Pauses MyPriceLink.com

Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Hertz Introduces New Web-based HIRS Tool. 18

I-Car’s 2015 Ford F-150 Training

and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

IGA & SCRS Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Mitchell Fourth Quarter 2014 Industry Trends

Report Provides Insights for 2015 . . . . 46

More Lawsuits Filed in Additional States

Against Nation’s Top Insurers. . . . . . . . . 1

NAPA/Martin Senour Unveil Custom 1966

Mustang at SEMA 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Nissan Introduces Certified Collision

Network Consumer Referral Program . . 38

O’Reilly Automotive Reports

Record-Breaking 3Q Results . . . . . . . . . 4

PPG Launches New Clearcoat and

Latest Branded Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Pro Spot Gives Autobody News a

Facility Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Quest Hires Former Martin Senour

Product Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Safelite Renews Annual Contribution

to CREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

SEMA 2014 Entertains, Informs and

Wows the Crowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Service King Raises $112,000 for

Breast Cancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Sherwin-Williams Donates $170,000

in Products to CREF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Steeling Yourself for Changes—New

High-Strength Steel Poses Additional

Challenges According to 3M™. . . . . . . 43

Toyota’s “Game-Changing” Recommended

Repair Procedures Set to Launch in ‘15 . . 21

Website Connects Collision Shop Owners

& Auto Techs: TalentMonger.com . . . . . 39

www.autobodynews.com | DECEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Service King Raises $112,000 for Breast Cancer Service King Collision Repair Cen-ters and its teammates raised morethan $112,000 in support of the Na-tional Breast Cancer FoundationInc.® (NBCF) during the month ofOctober.

Service King pledged to matchteammate donations to NBCF duringits National Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month initiative. In an over-whelming and inspiring response,teammates from across the countryrallied to raise $56,000 to support thecause.

“The response from our team-mates was truly inspirational,” saidChris Abraham, Service King CEO.“Breast cancer touches countlesslives in so many ways. We are hon-ored to come together as a family andraise funds for the National BreastCancer Foundation and its mission toraise awareness and find a cure.”

Throughout the month of Octo-ber, Service King encouraged team-mates at its locations nationwide toraise awareness by wearing Elimi-nate Breast Cancer t-shirts and pinkwristbands. Service King also sharedmessages of hope with its customersby including pink warranty packages

and mirror hangers in each vehiclerepaired.

Additionally, Service King hon-ored its teammates who had person-ally been affected by breast cancerthrough its “Faces of Breast Cancer”series, hosted on its social mediaplatforms and new blog, The ServiceAdvisor.

“Service King’s dedication andsupport of our mission to help womennow has truly been inspiring,” saysNBCF Co-Founder & CEO, JanelleHail. “The funds raised by ServiceKing will help us provide thousandsof free early detection services forwomen in all 50 states.”

Service King and the NBCF’s ef-forts focused primarily on raisingearly detection awareness. The fundsraised will help the NBCF provide ed-ucation and support services, as wellas early detection services through theNational Mammography Program,which offers free diagnostic screen-ings to under-served women acrossthe country.

To learn more about ServiceKing and NBCF’s partnership duringBreast Cancer Awareness Month,visit The Service Advisor.


New OK AG Warns Public About Steering, Failsto Distinguish Shops from InsurersOklahoma Attorney General ScottPruitt issued a warning to Okla-homans regarding the practice ofsteering, saying insurers stronglypush consumers to auto body repairshops that may provide substandardservice to consumers.

While his statement implicatedshops in the process, his statementwas directed to consumers:

Pruitt is looking into reportsthat certain insurers are coercing Ok-lahomans into using auto body repairshops that may use salvaged parts orother substandard materials to makerepairs, while claiming to use newparts or materials made by the auto-mobile manufacturer.

In many instances, the use of ‘so-called “aftermarket” parts’ voidsautomobile manufacturer warranties.Such parts also may not meet manu-facturer specifications and poten-tially could fail in the future.

He said many insurers push con-sumers to have repairs completed atapproved repair shops. and is con-cerned that some insurance compa-nies may be crossing the line, makingdishonest statements in the steering ofconsumers, and knowingly guiding

consumers to repair shops that makesubstandard repairs.

The Attorney General’s PublicProtection Unit urged consumers toconsider the following tips whenhaving their vehicle repaired:■ Pruitt reminded consumers that theydo not have to go to an insurance com-pany’s “preferred” or “approved” autobody repair shop.■ Pruitt told them that it is up tothem where to have the car repaired.The insurer is responsible for the rea-sonable cost of restoring the car topre-accident condition.■ A warranty on a repair is made be-tween a consumer and the body shop,not the insurance company.■ The same deductible is paid re-gardless of where it’s fixed.■ Pruitt recommended consumersask for referrals from friends, family,neighbors or co-workers—someonewithout a vested interest in the deci-sion—when selecting a body shop.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. announced onOct. 22 record revenues and earnings forits third quarter that ended Sept. 30. Thefollowing are comparisons for the sameperiod one year ago. Sales increased$149 million, or 9%, to $1.88 billionfrom $1.73 billion. Gross profit in-creased to $968 million from $879 mil-lion, representing an increase of 10%.Selling, general and admin expenses in-creased to $624 million from $579 mil-lion, representing an increase of 8%.Operating income increased to $344 mil-lion from $300 million, representing anincrease of 14%. Net income increased$31 million, or 16%, to $217 millionfrom $186 million. Diluted earnings percommon share increased 22% to $2.06on 105 million shares versus $1.69 on110 million shares. Greg Henslee, Pres-ident & CEO, said, “We are very proudto report another very successful quarter.Team O’Reilly’s unwavering commit-ment to providing excellent customerservice to every customer who calls orwalks into our stores continues to be thekey to our ability to grow our marketshare and generate record breaking re-sults, highlighted by our 6.2% increasein comparable store sales, which ex-ceeded the top end of our quarterly guid-ance by 120 basis points.”

O’Reilly Automotive ReportsRecord-Breaking 3Q Results

The Louisiana Collision IndustryAssociation held an event on Nov.22 to support Buddy Caldwell’sre-election as Attorney General.The following is from theLouisiana Collision Industry Asso-ciation:

“As small business ownerswe often find ourselves standingalone against much larger busi-ness and corporations who haveno qualms about using their sig-nificant financial resources andpolitical influence to bully us andour customers. We are fortunatethat there is one elected officialwho stands with small business.One elected official, who under-stands that for the free market towork all businesses, big and small,must be able to compete on a levelplaying field. One elected officialwho isn’t afraid to take a stand,enforce the law as written anddoesn’t play favorites. For nearlyeight years Attorney GeneralCaldwell has stood up for smallbusiness and worked to level theplaying field so we may all com-pete, raise our families in safecommunities, and grow our busi-ness.”

Association Event for BuddyCaldwell’s Re-Election

Oklahoma Attorney General ScottPruitt has filed insurance fraudcharges against Brian Troutmanfor falsely submitting a claim forthe loss of his vehicle.

An investigation by the Attor-ney General’s Workers’ Compensa-tion, Social Security and InsuranceFraud Unit found that Troutman,40, told the Oklahoma City PoliceDepartment his pickup was stolenin November.

Troutman later filed an insur-ance claim with Farmers InsuranceCompany.

In February, during an interviewwith the McClain County Sheriff’sOffice, Troutman admitted to drivinghis pickup into Lake Overholser be-fore reporting it stolen to collect in-surance money.

His truck was then discoveredby the Oklahoma Highway PatrolMarine Division near the dam atLake Overholser.

Troutman received more than$13,000 for the cash value of the ve-hicle, along with other fees. If con-victed, he now faces up to three yearsin prison and up to a $1,000 fine.

Oklahoma Man Charged withInsurance Fraud

Proactive and innovative body shopowners will have the opportunity tolearn about critical business issuesand trends impacting their businesses.Upcoming collision industry eventsare being held around the country bya group of the industry’s top experts.

As part of these events, the AutoBody Association of Texas met onNov. 11. Speakers included: MobileEstimating Technology by Mitchell;Car Rental Technology by Hertz; Re-pair Planning by BASF/EnglishColor; Aluminum Repair: Some Factsand Myths by 3M; OSHA/EPA Com-pliance Training for Collision Repairby AAMS; an Association Overviewby Auto Body Association of Texas;and Insurance Industry Trends byCARSTAR.

“When you’re an independentbody shop owner, it’s hard to take thetime to step away from your businessto look at longer-range changes anddevelopments in the industry,” saidMark Algie, Business DevelopmentManager for 3M Automotive After-market. “This Collision Industry pro-gram provides a great way tounderstand how the changing mar-ketplace will impact your business,and plan now for those changes!”

Dallas Shop Owners JoinCollision Experts for Event

www.autobodynews.com





As fall weather cools to winter deer-motorist collisions will begin to risein southern states. For the year end-ing June 30, 2014, there were an es-timated 9,793 vehicle-deer collisionsin Louisiana, an increase of 540 in-cidents, or 5.8 percent, over last year,according to claims data from StateFarm. Those numbers moved theSportsman’s Paradise up from 41st inthe national risk ranking last year to38th in 2013-14.

“The risk of hitting a deer on theroad in Louisiana of one in every 299drivers, may seem much less than thenational average of one in 169, butthe fact remains that well over 9,700such collisions occurred in a year’stime, and that is a significant num-ber,” State Farm spokesman GaryStephenson said recently. The num-ber could be higher than that becausemany auto-deer collisions aren’t re-ported, Stephenson said, uninsuredmotorist collisions aren’t included,and drivers with liability coverage-only weren’t counted. More automo-bile crashes with deer occur duringOctober, November and Decembersays State Farm. The national aver-age claim cost for such incidents wasup 13.1 percent, from $3,414 perclaim in 2012-13 to $3,888 this past

year, Stephenson said.Nationally, the impact is that

about 1.25 million deer-auto crashes ata cost of nearly $5 billion occurred dur-ing the 12 months studied. Ten percentof the deer-vehicle collisions occurredin Pennsylvania, with an estimated123,941 collisions. Other states in thetop five were West Virginia, Montana,Iowa and South Dakota. There are stepsto take to avoid a bone-jarring meetingwith one or more deer on the roads andhighways of Louisiana:

Use extra caution in known deercrossing areas.

Always wear a seatbelt.At night, when there is no on-

coming traffic, use high beam lights,and drive slower.

Avoid swerving when you see adeer; maintain control of your vehicle.

If you see one deer, beware of oth-ers trailing. Deer often travel in groups.

Dusk, early evening, and dawnare high-risk times due to increasedanimal activity.

November (hunting and matingseason) is a time of greater deer move-ment.

Vehicle-Deer Collisions Up 5.8% Year on Year in LA


PPG Industries’ whimsical “Toy Store”booth at SEMA showcased brightly-col-ored cars, bikes and even a boat, reflect-ing the latest trends in paint designs andfinishes.

During the show, PPG introducedcustomers to its new EC530 En-V™Performance Clearcoat as well as thecompany’s latest packaging design forits Envirobase® High Performance wa-terborne product.

PPG launched a new look for thisproduct line in October. A modern, mo-lecular-shaped design replaced the waterdrop image they have used since 2007.“With the brand’s broad market accept-ance around the world, we thought it wastime to give Envirobase® High Perform-ance a fresh look that would reinforce itsforemost position in the industry,” saidJohn Outcalt, Vice President of globalautomotive refinish.

He said the structured graphic rep-resents innovation, color and technology.Although the packaging has been up-dated, there were no changes made to thetechnology of the products.

Since launching its two brands, En-virobase® and Aquabase®, in the UnitedStates in 2007, PPG has continued to de-velop waterborne products for the colli-sion repair industry.

The company recently reached amilestone, with more than 10,000 of theircustomers using waterborne basecoatthroughout the U.S and Canada. Water-borne was introduced in the United Statesand Canada to meet the low VOC compli-ance of 3.5 basecoat. Currently, the com-pliant areas include California, Delaware,

Maryland, five counties in Utah and all ofCanada.

Texas, Arizona and13 states in theNortheast, referred to as the Ozone Trans-portation Commission, are working towardimplementing low VOC requirements aswell. “We now have more customers in the

areas that don’t require low VOC usingwaterborne than we do in all of the com-pliant areas combined because it improvestheir productivity,” said Tim Jones, PPG’sWaterborne Segment Manager.

He attributes this to the consistentcolor it offers customers, allowing tech-nicians to complete vehicles morequickly. “We’ve worked very hard tomake sure our colors match our chips,”said Jones. He said when a technicianspulls out the color deck and it matches, itgives them the confidence that when it’smixed together it will be the correct color.

PPG debuted its waterborne tech-nology to the automotive OEM market in1986. The company then acquired ICI’srefinish business, based in the UK, in1997. “Following that integration, weworked to get the best attributes of bothof those two systems and that’s what wenow call third-generation Envirobase®

High Performance,” said Jones.Over the years the company has

been adding clears and primers that areengineered to work with the waterbornebasecoat. Jones said as a leader in water-borne technology, they are working to-ward having the first waterborne fullyintegrated system over the next fewyears. “Having a full waterborne systemwill continue to lower emissions to im-prove air quality,” said Jones. “We wantto be able to offer the collision repair in-

dustry all of the products they need to besuccessful.”

One of these products includes theirEC530 En-V™ Performance Clearcoatintroduced in late October. “EC530 is asignificant expansion of the EnvirobaseHigh Performance system,” said Jones.“This is an excellent, compliant clearcoatfor our waterborne basecoat.”

He said it is easy to use will helpshops improve their productivity andthroughput. “It also consistently providesthe beautiful finish, gloss and appearanceexpected of PPG products,” said Jones.“We believe these are features collisioncenters and their customers will find veryattractive.”

EC530 uses a traditional two-coatapplication process. Offering four re-ducers, it works in a variety of tempera-ture and humidity conditions. It has ashort bake cycle of 25 minutes or can beaired dried in less than four hours. Jonesalso said it doesn’t require polishing anddirt nibs can be buffed after cool down.

Jones said the industry has alwaysbeen geared for solvent borne products.“Now that waterborne is gaining a higherpercentage of the market, suppliers arealso getting onboard with supplying bet-ter pigments, better additives and betterresins for the waterborne market andthat’s going to be better for everyone aswell,” he said.

PPG Launches New Clearcoat and Latest Branded Image

PPG employees at their “Toy Store” boothduring the SEMA show (from left): StacieToothman, Product Manager Collision; JeffMatauch, Tech. Sales Instruction Supervisor;Paul Stoll, Tech. Sales Instruction Supervisor;and Tim Jones, Waterborne Product Managerat their booth during the SEMA show

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!


close look at the assembly process forthe top of the line welding and repairproducts. As one of the manufacturer’sapproved by Ford to supply aluminumrepair equipment for the collision re-pair industry, Pro Spot is also wellknown for its resistance spot weldingequipment. In particular, Pro Spot wasapproved by Ford to supply their Col-lision Repair Program with SP PulseMIG welders, Aluminum Dent RepairStations, Fume Extractors and the SPRRiveter.

Ron Olsson, the company’sfounder and president, an electrical en-gineer, grew up in Sweden before mov-ing to California in the 1980s. With apassion for riding motorcycles, Ols-son’s inventive engineering started bycreating a frame straightening machinefor motorcycles. He soon realized therewere more cars on the road than mo-torcycles and opened Pro Spot in 1986to focus on creating quality collisionrepair equipment for vehicles.

Ron’s daughter, Ashley, the com-pany’s Director of Communications,explained about the different products

Pro Spot designs and builds and gaveus a brief history about the company.She recalled memories of the earlydays of the business and the changethey’ve experienced over the years.

Now settled after moving twoyears ago to its fourth location, ProSpot manufacturers more than 30products. With nearly 100 employeesat their facility, the company owns andmanages its own machine shop, a re-search and development department,a fabrication facility and productionlines for various welders.

Ashley said the benefit of manu-facturing the equipment on-site is theability to maintain the quality of their


Continued from Cover

Pro Spot Shines

Ashley Olsson demonstrates how welder as-semblage begins with aluminum billet stock

See Pro Spot Shines, Page 16

Victoria Antonelli’s First Welding ExperienceWhen I-CAR-certified instructor Toby Chess told Stacey and me he wanted to teach ushow to weld steel, we looked at each other nervously, and proceeded to say how excitedwe were. I never thought I’d be taking a welding class as part of my job, but I also neverexpected to become an automotive jour-nalist, so I guess it comes with the terri-tory.

The nervousness and excitementreturned when we arrived at Pro SpotInternational. By the end of our tour ofthe facilities, I was looking forward togetting my hands on the state-of-the-artwelding equipment. Before I knew it, Iwas putting my gear on. The mask andeye protection felt awkward, but I ap-preciated their purpose.

Toby explained the equipment fur-ther before we used it, cracking jokesand asking surprise questions at every turn—just to make sure we were paying atten-tion. I watched Stacey complete her first MIG weld with flying colors, and then it wasmy turn.

Toby guided my hand, and proceeded to tell me numerous times to slow down asI moved the wire from top to bottom, sparks flying the whole time. That was fun! I didthe same one a few more times, and after only a couple of tries, I was able to success-fully complete a MIG weld on my own. I couldn’t wait to take pictures of my completedweld, and a selfie with my mask on.

“You two are better than a lot of the full-time guys that come in here,” Toby reas-sured us.

Next was the Spot Weld. This one gave me a little bit of trouble, but then again,drawing circles always has. Toby patiently worked with me until I came close enough tocompleting a small circle with a filled-in spot.

After more pictures and gear removal, we headed back to Autobody News, feelingaccomplished and ready for our next challenge—welding aluminum! This time I’mgoing to do my homework first.

Victoria Antonelli’s (right) first weldingexperience as Toby Chess casts a critical eye.


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A website application developed by En-terprise Rent-A-Car 15 years ago hasevolved to become an industry standard tohelp shops track their cycle time andbenchmark their performance against oth-ers in the collision repair business.

Enterprise’s Automated Rental Man-agement System (ARMS) tracks length-of-rental (LOR) data, which Frank LaViola,Assistant VP of Collision Industry Rela-tions, said can improve a shop’s perform-ance by increasing operating efficiencies,enhancing customer service and streamlin-ing communications with insurance com-panies and customers.

With more than 13,000 users, ARMSwas originally built in 1999 as a commu-nication tool for auto body shops to reportto Enterprise on the repair status of a vehi-cle. The information was then passed on tothe insurance company. Prior to the intro-duction of ARMS, Enterprise would typi-cally call the collision repair center for anupdate.

“As the number of claims and cus-tomers in need of rental cars grew, it be-came more burdensome for the bodyshops and the insurance companies tomanage the communication,” said LaVi-ola. “When we launched ARMS, we wereahead of the time. Now, ARMS has be-come a mainstream tool for the majority

of collision repairers out there.”Enterprise began sharing LOR infor-

mation with collision shops five years agoin response to requests from the industry.LaViola, who has worked at Enterprisesince 1992, said they sat down with theirbusiness partners, individual collision re-pairers and MSOs and came up with a va-riety of ARMS reports.

After tracking data for more than ayear, they have found the cycle time is ac-tually going up. The U.S. average lengthof replacement rental increased to 11 daysin the third quarter of 2014, which was aslight increase over the average third quar-ter LOR for the last five years.

“I think a lot of us would think itwould be going down because there ismore awareness,” said LaViola. He attrib-utes the increase to several factors, includ-ing severe weather conditions. In addition,the number of shops in operation is de-clining, which he said has been an ongoingprocess. He said there were approximately80,000 shops in the U.S. in 1980 and nowthere are about 34,000.

The complexity of vehicles is also abig factor. “It isn’t like five years ago whenyou could just pound out a dent, and senda car on its way,” he said. “Now you’ve gotsensors on vehicles that require you to onlyuse so much paint. Too much paint cancause the sensors not to work because ofthe mil thickness.”

The free application can be inte-grated with over 20 body shop manage-ment systems, including Mitchell RepairCenter, ProfitNet, Rome ManagementSoftware and Summit Software Solutions.LaViola estimated that 30 percent of shopscurrently have a management system thattracks cycle time. Although he said this isa great mechanism to measure productiv-ity internally, the challenge has alwaysbeen the interpretation of when the cycletime begins. “Three different shops usingthe same management system can actu-ally have different interpretations of whencycle time starts and ends. Enterprise’sARMS length-of-rental data helps giveshops a more consistent measurement ofcycle time.”

Enterprise’s LOR has become suchan important part of the industry, accordingto LaViola, because it’s based on the billdates of the rental, which includes the opendate of the rental contract to the last datethey bill an insurance company. UsingARMS, shops are able to upload the dateinto their management system and it willautomatically feed the repair status and es-timated completion dates to Enterprise andthe insurance company.

They’ve received positive feedbackfrom shops regarding the reporting, saidLaViola. Not only has it decreased thephone calls made, it has also taken away alot of the double keying that is done. Chris

Pohanka, VP of Operations for PohankaCollision Centers of VA and MD, saidARMS has helped him shave off morethan two days of cycle time.

With 12 locations, Pohanka said theyhave been using ARMS since it was firstintroduced. “Currently, we utilize it tomanage our cycle time by way of the LORreport,” he said. “With it, we can identifyopportunities to reduce cycle time. We findit a tremendous tool.”

He stressed how critical it is to havetarget dates entered correctly in the man-agement system so it is seamlessly trans-ferred into ARMS. “This gives a goodindication of the forecasted cycle timeand shows what vehicles and files arepending and which ones are closed,” hesaid.

One of Enterprise’s goals is to inputthe year, make and model of the car intothe ARMS application. Since luxury ve-hicles often take more time to fix thandomestic vehicles, shops will be able totrack cycle time based on their mix ofvehicles.

“You can’t improve what you don’tmeasure,” said LaViola. “When I show col-lision repair centers what their cycle timeis, and they start evaluating their processeswithin the shop to reduce that cycle time,that’s when the homerun hits. That’s whenthey’re able to drive themselves to hit thosenumbers and achieve those goals.”

Enterprise’s ARMS Application Helps Shops Track Cycle Time and Benchmark Performance

Whether they’re located in Chicago,Houston or New York, today’s colli-sion repair industry associations con-tend with a major challenge in tryingto generate interest and participationfrom their members. Imagine living ina state that spans over 120,000 squaremiles, complete with arid desert sandsand 12,000-foot-tall mountains, andyou’ll understand some challenges thatthe Automotive Service Association ofCentral New Mexico (ASA-CNM)faces every meeting.

Jim Maddox, President of ASA-CNM, notes, “Our biggest problem isthat we’re located in such a rural area.People just don’t want to drive 70miles to attend a meeting. Getting ourmembers to participate continues to beour biggest challenge as this seems tobe a problem in all areas of the coun-try, but we are struggling to get peopleto our meetings. Participation is at itsall-time worst; we’ve only had six orseven people at our most recent meet-ings, compared to our normal 20 at-tendees.”

Although ASA-CNM offersmembership to automotive profession-als within approximately 70 miles oftheir headquarters in Albuquerque,they still invite shops state-wide toshare information and participate intheir meetings and events. These indi-viduals aren’t technically a part of theaffiliated chapter; however, things maybe changing soon if ASA-National hasanything to do with it. ASA-Nationalwants to expand the Central NewMexico affiliate to encompass the en-tire state, but this project may takesome time since the non-profit affili-ate would need to undergo a namechange with the state in order to oper-ate throughout all of New Mexico.

Despite the challenges inherent insuch a rebranding, expanding theirborders could be a positive move forASA-CNM. Currently, the associationhas only 55 members, but NM is hometo 1.2 million people and 1,300 shops,including both collision repair and me-chanical facilities. Yet, even if ASA-CNM expands to include the entirestate, Maddox believes that shop own-ers need to change their mindsets inorder to truly reap the benefits that anassociation offers. “People constantly

ask us ‘what can you do for me?’ whenthey should be asking ‘what can I doto help myself?’ ASA-CNM offers alot of benefits to our members, butwhat you put in is what you get out ofit!”

Most of the benefits that ASA-CNM members enjoy from participat-ing in the affiliate chapter comes fromASA-National, and these benefits in-clude lobbying efforts for legislativeconcerns, benefits packages and dis-counts on necessary business items,such as software and uniforms. Mad-dox believes that “on a local level, themost important thing that ASA-CNMoffers is comradery. We are all in thistogether, and we know we can calleach other for advice, to borrow tools,or simply to share information be-tween shops. This sense of comraderyand friendship is the biggest local ben-efit of belonging to our association,and I think it’s one that most of ourmembers truly appreciate.”

Of course, ASA-CNM providesother benefits to their members in theform of educational training and im-proving the image of the automotiveservice industry in the eyes of con-sumers. Last year, ASA-CNM hosteda Hybrid First Responder training pro-gram and brought in a national trainerto teach local EMTs and firefightersabout hybrids and the specific safetyhazards they present. The associationalso collected food and over $10,000in donations to support U.S. troops,and they consistently work with localschools’ automotive training programsin order to provide additional trainingto the next generation of collision re-pair and mechanical professionals.

ASA-CNM also held an OSHAtraining seminar last year to teachmember shops about OSHA regula-tions and how to prepare for an in-spection. Because it was so successful,they are planning to hold anotherOSHA training series in 2015 that willconsist of four or five two-hour ses-sions. Maddox notes that the associa-tion’s OSHA training and theinformation they’ve disseminated ontheir current issue with the NM Attor-ney General’s office has generated themost interest from members.

Recently, the state’s Attorney

General’s office implemented a rulingthat requires new and used car dealersto issue an affidavit to the consumerwhich describes any previous repairsperformed on the vehicle. In response,ASA-CNM developed a training pro-gram for inspectors to determine theextent of previous damage, but whilenew car dealers in the area fight thisruling, the association is waiting forthe dust to settle before proceedingwith their program and turning toASA-National for legislative support.

Because ASA-CNM does nothave the support or funding, legislativelobbying aid is provided by the na-tional association. Maddox is gratefulto ASA-National for all of their hardwork and dedication to the industry be-cause “if we didn’t have the things thatASA-National fought for, many as-pects of this business would be off-limits.”

Like the national association, theCentral NM affiliate supports Right to

Repair since it allows them access tofactory information that they wouldnot have otherwise. In regards to in-surer-mandated parts procurement sys-tems, such as PartsTrader, Maddoxsays, “many of our member shopscomplain that it’s just the first step inallowing the insurers to dictate evenmore of our businesses. They are nothappy about it or welcoming it be-cause it is not an advantage to the shopowner; it’s only advantageous to theinsurer who can use it against the shopowner, and we hope to see it collapseunder its own weight.”

Maddox has also noticed anotherlarge problem impacting today’s colli-sion repair industry: “We are seeingmore and more vehicles declared atotal loss because of extensive damagesustained during an accident. Becauseeven minor accidents are resulting inmore damage, these vehicles are beingsent to auction or salvage yards instead


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ASA-CNM Battles Distance and Dust to Unite New Mexico Repairers

with Chasidy Rae SiskSouthwest Associations

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware,who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family ofNASCAR fans. She can be contacted at [email protected].

See ASA-CNM Battles, Page 27

or alternative solution to minimize thatworkflow disruption.”

GM subsequently delayed thelaunch until sometime in the firstquarter of next year, but it initially an-nounced it would happen on Decem-ber 1.

As described by GM, the systemwill allow a shop using one of six sup-ported estimating systems to create anestimate itemizing the GM partsneeded (the parts prices will showonly as “$0.00”). That estimate wouldthen automatically be transmitted tothe MyPriceLink pricing engine,which then sends notice back (gener-ally in less than a minute) to the esti-mating system that the parts priceshave been changed. When the user re-opens the estimate, the parts priceswould be listed.

Alternatively, users can log intoMyPriceLink to manually get partsprices through the website. There’s nocharge to shops for using the system.It operates through OEConnection,which gives dealers access to infor-mation about all parts listed on the es-timate including non-OEM andrecycled parts.

In his 5-minute presentation atCIC, Mayer acknowledged, “there’sprobably some disruption and someunintended consequences in thisprocess,” but he said, “We’re trying tobe open and work through those.”

California shop owner RandyStabler jokingly thanked GM for pro-viding “a controversial topic” for dis-cussion at CIC just as his term aschairman of the quarterly conferencebegins in January. Stabler succeedsState Farm’s George Avery, who con-

cluded his 2-yearterm as chairman atCIC in Las Vegas.Stabler said GM’sunexpected deci-sion “to hold theirdata proprietary” isa good example ofthe need for aforum like CIC.

“Making that de-cision in a silo hassome consequencesthat maybe are not

going to be the best for everyone in thelong run,” Stabler said of GM’s an-nouncement. “It shows the validity ofhaving a forum where the disparate

parts of the industry can get togetherand talk and come up with some poten-tial solutions.”

With CIC being held just twodays after the No-vember 4 election,California attorneyCory King ad-dressed one of thehuman resource is-sues effected bythe vote in severalstates and cities:minimum wage.

King began hispresentation at CICby reminding shops

that minimum wage impacts shops evenif, for example, their technicians arepaid flat-rate and earn significantly morethan minimum wage. Though wage-hour laws vary by state, most jurisdic-tions are covered by federal fair laborlaw which allows flat-rate or commis-sion employees to be exempt from over-time provided two provisions are met.

“One, they make more than halfof their money from flat-rate or com-missions,” King said. “And two, theymust make at least 1.5 times the min-imum wage for all hours worked. Ifyou’re not running this number everypay period, if you ever get audited orsued, you’re not going to be able toprove that you’re not paying your peo-ple overtime because they are ex-empt.”

To do that calculation, shopsneed to be aware of the minimumwage. In last month’s election, votersin at least four states passed minimumwage hikes, joining more than 20 oth-ers that have done so. Workers in SanFrancisco and Oakland, Calif., alsowill see voter-enacted minimum wageincreases; San Francisco, for example,joined Seattle in enacting a minimumwage that rises to $15 over severalyears.

The other data point shops needis the actual clock hours every em-ployee works. That’s why all employ-ees, including flat-rate or commissiontechnicians, should be using a timeclock, King said.

King’s presentations at CIC arestructured as quizzes, with attendeesasked to gauge the possible legal ram-ifications for employers of varioushuman resource issues King lays out.One such question he posed at CIC inLas Vegas: An employee with a state-sanctioned medical marijuana cardcrashes a customer car into the shop’spaint booth.

“And he was higher than a kitewhen he did it,” King said. “Can I firehim?”

About half of CIC attendees indi-cated they thought the shop could firesuch an employee, and King said theyare generally correct. Most (thoughnot all) states with medical marijuanacards protect the holder only fromcriminal penalties.

In those states, King said, youalso do no have to hire a medical mar-ijuana user “as long as you have aquality alcohol and drug policy thatprohibits having measurable amountsof illegal drugs in their system.” (Mar-ijuana is still illegal under federallaw.)

Even in the few states that offercivil protections to medical marijuanacard holders, he said, the law “doesnot allow the employee to possess, useor be impaired [by marijuana] whilethey are on company premises or dur-ing working hours.”

The employee who crashed thecar, therefore, could be fired, Kingsaid.

King’s next scenario: A shopwants to fire a newly-hired and under-performing receptionist. She recentlyrefused to put up the Christmas deco-

rations in the shop office, citing reli-gion reasons. Can she be fired for in-subordination?

No way, King said; that would beseen as religious discrimination. Aswith someone with a disability, Kingsaid, the shop should have talked withthe employee and found a reasonableaccommodation (in this case, foundsomeone else to put up the decora-tions) and moved forward.

But the shop also found the re-ceptionist had left a window open onher computer screen that indicatedshe’d been looking for a job while atwork. Can the shop fire her for that?

It depends, King said, on whatthe shop’s employee handbook saysabout Internet usage. It might say shopcomputers cannot be used for personaluse. But when was she using it? Shecould have been legally looking for ajob while on her break. And does theshop enforce the Internet rule consis-tently with all employees?

“It’s a little dicey to say you’regoing to fire her because you don’tlike what she was doing on the Inter-net even though you allow other peo-ple to do it,” King said.

It comes down to the “smell fac-tor,” King said.


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California attorneyCorey King

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California shopowner Randy Sta-bler speaks at the2014 CIC meetingheld at SEMA.

Photo credit: JohnYoswick


Final 2014 CIC Meeting

“It smells like you’re coming upwith violation of our computer policyas a pretext for what you’re really get-ting rid of her for, which is you don’tlike her religious affiliation and thefact that she refused to do somethingbased on religious grounds,” he said.

Instead, he said, as with all em-ployees, notify her of how she isunder-performing in her job, explainwhy that is important, and give herthe reasonable assistance she needs tobe successful along with time to im-prove. If she does not, you will havea defendable basis for firing her.


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Preparing for aluminum repair is a bigchallenge, considering the investment,shop renovations, new processes andtraining for the repair experts. 3M Au-tomotive Aftermarket Division is help-ing shops better understand what’sneeded to efficiently handle alu-minum repairs, including standard op-erating processes, tools, training andproducts for disassembly, re-assem-bly, sanding and paint preparation.

Aluminum has several uniquecharacteristics compared with other ve-hicle materials such as steel. Repairingthis heat-sensitive metal requires use ofadvanced repair techniques and meth-ods. That means updated training andkey equipment. In addition to knowl-edge, the shop must have the dedicatedspace to make the repair within a cleanroom containing separate tools, wheretechnicians perform all welding, bond-ing, riveting, sanding, grinding andstructural procedures on aluminumcomponents. 3M has been workingwith OEMs for several years to vali-date the tools, products and processesfor aluminum repair. Now, shops canimplement 3M’s portfolio of products,tools, SOPS and materials to repair alu-minum-body vehicles.

“The key in handling non-struc-tural or structural aluminum repairs is

to create an entirely separate environ-ment from the rest of the shop toavoid contaminating aluminum withiron oxide components that can causecorrosion. Contamination can lead toadhesion and paint failures, whichtranslate to re-work and damagedparts that impact KPIs,” said ShawnCollins, Technical Expert for 3MAAD. “Most shops create their cleanroom by using a curtain structure orby utilizing a separate room or build-ing. Regardless, aluminum repair willrequire a separate tool cart with anentirely separate set of tools, productsand materials used only for aluminumrepairs. Additionally, self-generatedvacuum tools from 3M AAD can pro-vide low-cost dust extraction.”

Separate safety equipment isalso important, as technicians willneed dedicated respirators, eye pro-tection and gloves for aluminum re-pairs.

3M also makes the seam sealers,premium body fillers, undercoats andabrasives that can be used on bothaluminum and steel.

Premium 3M AAD body fillersand glazes contain adhesion promotersand are approved for use on aluminum.For sanding, 3M AAD recommendsthe 3M™ Cubitron™ II abrasives.

Although the aluminum panelbonding process is often slightly dif-ferent than the steel bonding process,the 3M™ Panel Bonding Adhesive isalso compatible and OEM approvedfor aluminum. 3M Panel BondingAdhesive has been used to bond alu-minum panels for nearly 20 years andis specifically recommended by Fordfor the repairs to the 2015 AluminumF-150. Panel bonding adhesives un-dergo extensive testing in order to bespecified by a car maker.

3M automotive Aftermarket Di-vision also now has available StandardOperating Procedures for aluminumrepair. Visit 3MCollision.com/alu-minum for more information.

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products. “We’re really big on qual-ity, we have control to make sure eachproduct leaving our facility providesour customers with the best productavailable.”

This past summer they visitedFord’s Deerborn Plant near the DetroitRiver, where Ford started building carsin the 1920s.

Inspired by Henry Ford, Olssonmodeled some of his own businesspractices on Ford’s ideas. “Ford dideverything he could so that there wouldbe no bottlenecks in his productionprocess,” said Ashley. “He had his owntrains, trucks, forests, etc.”

Like Ford, Ashley said her fatheris a true inventor and visionary. “’Forexample, we were at Ford walkingaround, an idea came to him and im-mediately he’s drawing out designsfor new equipment on the first sheetof paper he can find,” she said.

Pro Spot has worked with Fordover the last five years in regards tothe F-150. “Ford really considered therepairability in the design process,”said Ashley. “This is huge becausewe’re working with them on the pos-sibilities of creating a collision repairprogram.”

“With Ford announcing they aremaking America’s best-selling vehicle,their F-150, out of aluminum,” saidRon. “Any body shop anywhere, wher-ever they are, is going to be fixing a fewF-150s every month and some of themare going to be doing it everyday.”

In order to meet this need, Ronsaid the company is focused on sup-plying the necessary equipment tocollision repair shops. “We work withthe technicians, using their feedbackto make sure our equipment is userfriendly,” said Ashley. They designeda special research and developmentarea where engineers can build newthings and test them out.

During the tour, Ashley explainedsome of the challenges with aluminumduring the repair process. “Aluminumdoesn’t have a memory like steel and isalso sensitive to heat. The repair processrequires a different approach. It’s notimpossible, it’s not harder, it’s just dif-ferent,” she said. “These shops are justgoing to have to learn a new procedurefor preparing the aluminum.”

“You can’t weld on aluminum thesame way you would on steel becauseon a spot weld pressure and heat cre-ates a resistance,” said Ashley. “Withaluminum, you can’t heat it up becauseit becomes brittle and will break.


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Pro Spot Shines Stacey Phillips’s First Welding ExperienceLooking through my heavy mask, I was carrying the torch with shaky hands and holdingmy breath. Then I saw the first sparks light up the room. I realized at that moment that Iwas actually welding.

With an abundance of patience and his trademark sense of humor, Toby Chess fromI-CAR Training & Certification, recently spent a good part of his morning teaching Victoriaand I how to weld. First, he gave an overview of the type of welding we would learn – MIGweld brazing. That’s metal inert gas, he explained. The advantage of MIG brazing is thelower heat input. The wires typically used for MIG brazing have a melting temperature of1,000 degrees, which puts less heat onthe vehicle’s panels.

After installing the wire, Tobytalked about gun angle. Whether weldingsteel or aluminum, he stressed the im-portance of always holding the gun at80 degrees.

He gave a quick demonstration ofthe weld we were going to do using thestate-of-the-art Pro Spot welder wewere lucky enough to learn on, and Iwas ready. Mask on. Gloves up. Glassesdown.

After completing my first weld, Tobyput it to the test: did it fall apart under stress? He said I passed with flying colors. Now I washooked and wanted to learn more.

However, I realized it takes more than just skill and training. If done improperly dur-ing a collision repair, a poor weld can compromise the vehicle’s structural integrity. Imay have just welded sheet metal, but what I really learned are some of the challengesreal technicians face. Realistically, how would a collision repair shop hire one? Shop in-frastructure and equipment are both important components as well. I-CAR offers thesehelp with their courses as well as an on-site assessment.

Looking back at my first welding experience, it gave me a better appreciation for allof the technicians who weld on the vehicles we drive everyday. A proper weld can savelives. What’s next? I asked Toby. Learning how to weld aluminum... Stay tuned.

Toby Chess (left) and welding student StaceyPhillips (right) work on her first weld usingPro Spot’s MIG welder.

Toby Chess is flanked by editors Stacey (left)and Victoria (right), who showed Tobyenough ability to get to the next class

The fourth annual SustainabilityLeadership Symposium was onceagain part of SEMA’s 2014 Educa-tion offering on Monday, November3rd. This was the second year that thesymposium was hosted at SEMA.The cross industry dialog was opento all show attendees interested in ad-vancing this global initiative withinthe North American collision repairindustry. The symposium was mod-erated by Dr. Manish Mehta, Direc-tor of Strategic Projects &Sustainability at The National Cen-ter for Manufacturing Science andMichael Shesterkin, President andFounder of What’s Next? A keynotepresentation was given by Dr. JohnSutherland, the Fehsenfeld FamilyHead of Environmental and Ecolog-ical Engineering at Purdue Univer-sity. Three North Americancompanies were selected as winnersof the fifth annual FIT Sustainability

Award. Representatives from thethree companies—Rocco Neglia,Economical Insurance; Joe Hayes,GMG Envirosafe; J.R. Hubbard,Selecta Auto Body—participated aspanelists in the Leadership Sympo-sium. “We are pleased to recog-nize these businesses,” said Bill Orr,Communication Manager at Ak-zoNobel Vehicle Refinishes NorthAmerica. “Sustainability is not sim-ply an obligation; it is an opportunityto grow through the implemention ofbusiness practices that meet today’sneeds for profitability, while consid-ering societal and environmental is-sues. The 2014 honorees of the FITSustainability Award represent differ-ent facets of the collision repair in-dustry, yet they share uniqueperspectives for implementing focus,vision and talent to anticipate the im-pact that today’s decisions will haveon future generations.”

AkzoNobel Hosts 4th Annual Sustainability Symposium

After 35 years in the business,Perretta said he has never seen the in-dustry in this state. “I grew up in thisindustry taking pride in what I do,doing safe, quality repairs. That’swhat they’re trying to take away fromus because it’s cheaper to do it thatway,” said Perretta. “But they are put-ting the consumer at risk because ofthe way these repairs are being done.”

Perretta acknowledges that manyshop owners are fearful that the insur-ers will steer work away from them.“They’re scared for their families be-cause if they don’t have work, thentheir families can’t eat.”

However, he said shops have achoice. “They can either do it the rightway or do it the wrong way. There’sno in between. But when they chooseto do it the wrong way, they’ve madethat choice.”

State Farm Responds to MDL“We anticipated the possibility of ad-ditional litigation similar to what hadbeen previously filed, given the dead-line for filing these complaints,” said

Dick Luedke, spokesperson for StateFarm Insurance. “State Farm is a de-fendant along with dozens of other in-surers in the litigation relating toissues that have been raised by someauto body repair facilities.”

Luedke said State Farm has ex-cellent working relationships withthousands of body shops across thecountry and they serve millions of cus-tomers who consistently indicate theirsatisfaction with their handling ofclaims. He said the just-released Amer-ican Customer Satisfaction Index fromthe University of Michigan rates StateFarm above all other national insur-ance companies. In addition, he saidthe company has consistently scoredwell above average in the JD Powerauto claims satisfaction surveys.Among the 23 auto insurers includedin the latest survey, State Farm wasthird, said Luedke.

“As a leader in advancing vehiclesafety, State Farm wants safe and reli-able vehicles on the road,” said Luedke.“Customers are free to choose where totake their vehicle for repair. If theychoose an independent auto body repairfacility that takes part in our SelectService program they receive from thatrepair facility a national, limited life-

time repair warranty, something theydon’t necessarily receive from a repairfacility that is not part of our SelectService program.”

The ‘Movement’Perretta said the next step for the‘Movement’ is to continue encourag-ing more shops to get involved. “Ifthey feel the way I feel and a lot ofothers feel, the only way to stop that isto get on board with us,” said Perretta.

Meanwhile, shops are gatheringdocumentation on the allegationsbeing made. “It’s not a matter of whatwe say. It’s a matter of what we givethem and show them.”

Another trip to Congress is alsoon their agenda. Autobody News re-ported on their September trip to Wash-ington D.C. in the (last) Novemberissue of the magazine. The goal is toeducate the house and senate about the1963 Consent Decree, in hopes of get-ting the law enforced by U.S. AttorneyGeneral nominee Loretta Lynch.

Autobody News will continue tofollow this story and keep readers up-to-date about developments with thelawsuit. More information about ‘TheMovement’ can be found online:www.TakingBackOurIndustry.com


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MDL and InsurersAn auto parts store employee is suing theowner of the property next door after sheallegedly was injured in a fall whiletransporting an order to a customer’s car.Catherine Castine filed suit against RonalK. Murray in the 24th Judicial DistrictCourt on Sept. 17. Castine said she wasworking at the NAPA Auto Parts storelocated at 1501 Lafayette St., in Gretna,LA, on June 19, 2013 when she broughta hand dolly stacked with car batteriesand break rotors to a car parked at theproperty owned by Murray. The plaintiffclaims that the defendant's parking lotwas in disrepair with broken and scat-tered concrete throughout and other de-fects causing her to lose control of thehand truck and fall backwards onto thepavement. Castine said she received se-vere injuries to her neck, arm, wrist,shoulder and body in the incident. Thedefendant is accused of failing do the fol-lowing: take note of the property’s con-dition, warn employees and patrons of adangerous condition, and implementregular parking lot inspections. An un-specified amount in damages is soughtfor personal injury, pain, suffering, grief,mental anguish, embarrassment, humil-iation, medical expenses, lot wages, lossof future earning capacity and loss of en-joyment of life.

LA Parts Store EmployeeSues Neighbor after Fall

Sprucing up your web site is like re-modeling your house. You want it tolook nice and you want your visitorsto feel comfortable. You want peopleto come and stay for awhile and findyour address easily and quickly. TheCalifornia Autobody Association(CAA) recently launched a new website for its members and consumersand now www.calautobody.com is theorganization’s new residence online.

CAA Executive Director, DavidMcClune is pleased with the resultand many of his organization’s 1,000-plus members seem to agree. “Our de-veloper, Optima Automotive, did anoutstanding job on our new site,” Mc-Clune said. “It’s easy to use and itdoesn’t look cluttered. The site pro-vides a way for businesses to join on-line, an interactive calendar of events,a consumer advocacy section, chapterinformation, hot links, direct access toregional managers, and a ‘Find a CAAShop’ feature for consumers. Ourmembers have given the site somegreat reviews and once they work withit more, I’m confident that they’lllearn more about it and how they canuse it to be effective within CAA.”

Mark Claypool, President andCEO of Optima Automotive, spear-headed the development of the newCAA site. His company has producedmore than 300 automotive-related websites since opening its doors six yearsago.

“An association web site shouldbe built with the member in mind, firstand foremost,” Claypool said.

“CAA members do the samethings any member of any trade organ-izations does - paying dues and partic-ipating in association and chaptermeetings. But, maybe most impor-

tantly, they run their businesses in thischallenging industry. There’s only somuch time in the day and that’s whythere is nothing more frustrating than apoorly-designed association web sitethat members struggle to navigatethrough. Therefore, making a web site

simple, easy tonavigate, intuitiveand proactive iswhat they deserve,and is beneficialfor member reten-tion and attractionand that was ourmain objective inbuilding a newweb site for CAA.”

Optima alsobuilt the new CAAweb site in respon-sive design. “Re-sponsive design is

taking the web by storm,” Claypoolsaid. “A large percentage of CAA mem-bers are likely to be accessing the CAAweb site from mobile devices - smartphones, iPhones and tablets, for exam-ple. A responsive design web site al-lows the site to be applied at differentbrowser widths. This means that the sitewill automatically be altered based onthe size screen the visitor is using, mak-ing their experience as visually andnavigationally satisfying as possible.”

The site will have a simple-to-usecalendar the CAA staff and boardmembers may use to schedule events,chapter meetings, etc. “This way, offi-cers can easily add events to the cal-endar and keep all of their chaptermembers in the loop,” McClune said.“By constantly keeping connected tothe membership, everyone can be ef-fective and now we have the ability to

continually update the information onthe site, which is huge.”

The new CAA site has a con-sumer section where people can searchfor member shops via zip codes. “Wemade this as easy as we could, so thatpeople looking for member bodyshops can locate them quickly and eas-ily,” Claypool said. “Everything is go,go, go today and if a consumer can’tfind the information they need fast,they’ll move on, so we made this fea-ture as intuitive and easy to access aswe possibly could.”

In addition, CAA’s new site has alink to LinkedIn groups, private to theCAA and also private to each chapter.“These LinkedIn groups make for asimple, affordable way to push com-munications to select members aboutevents, milestones, legislation, etc.,”Claypool explained. “A step-by-stephow to sign up on LinkedIn is providedon the site for members to get set up.Key events and actions can be pushed

through the suggested LinkedIn groupdesignated for legislative purposes.This means that communications willlink members on the world’s-leadingprofessional networking site and alsomakes it possible to save CAA money.Rather than spending a significantamount of money to program this ca-pability into the CAA site, why not takeadvantage of the technology that al-ready exists and take advantage of allof its other residual benefits?”

The new CAA web site went livein October, so that members can offerfeedback as they tweak it. “The site willcontinue to evolve over time with mem-ber input and as times and technologychange,” McClune said. “We want tohave the best site we possibly can, andby developing it using Word Press, wecan make changes seamlessly.”

Visit CAA’s new home onlineand look around. You’ll be impressedby its easy navigation, clean look andnumerous features.


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Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

CAA Gets a New Web Site with More Features and Better Navigation

CEO Mark Claypooland his companyOptima Automotive

designed theCalifornia AutobodyAssociation’s newweb site that hasmore features thatboth members andconsumers can use

Hertz Introduces New Web-based HIRS ToolThe Hertz Corporation introduced a newweb-based portal, HIRS for Repair Shops.Developed in conjunction with the soft-ware company Information Builders,HIRS for Repair Shops assists shops inmanaging their key performance indica-tors and provides real time rental report-ing. The tool was created to help repairshops reduce in-coming phone calls, givereal time access to customizable reportingand manage Hertz rentals all in one place.

Set to launch in the first quarter of 2015,shops recently had the opportunity todemo the product and sign up for serviceduring SEMA.

“Hertz is committed to growing itsnetwork of neighborhood locations thatservice the collision repair industry,” saidHertz Senior VP John Holt. “Our newHIRS web portal was developed to assistshops in managing their performance andto provide real time Hertz rental reporting.”

by Victoria Antonelli

Kristen Felder of CollisionHubstarted her SCRS Repairer Driven Ed-ucation seminar at SEMA with a jolt-ing statistic—“80 percent of visitors onyour website will watch your videos,but only 20 percent will read yourtext.”

Felder said she always asks bodyshop owners, “Do you have video onyour website? If the answer is ‘no,’does your competitor have video ontheir website? If the answer is ‘yes,’then 80 percent of that company’s vis-itors are learning about their business,not yours.”

What does this mean for bodyshops who have only recently come toterms with Facebook, for example? It’stime to break out the camera and openup iMovie, or hire someone who can.

Lee Emmons, video expert andvice president of AP Media, Inc., K.Michael Bradshaw, vice president ofoperations at K&M Collision, Mered-ith Bradshaw, owner of K&M Colli-sion, joined Felder on the panel.Emmons has helped Michael andMeredith create cutting-edge videos fortheir body shop’s website. K. Michaeland Meredith Bradshaw have recentlybeen covered in Autobody News.

“We wanted a high-quality prod-uct, but we also had a budget,” said K.Michael. “The more I looked at it all -the video, the editing, the type of video,where to put it to get the most expo-sure, etc., the more I realized I couldn’tdo it all on my own,” said K. Michael.“I hired Lee, which was a really gooddecision. He’s very professional.”

Felder addressed the fears manynon-tech savvy shop owners haveabout creating video with a reflectionon the first one she made during NACEback in 2009.

“You could hardly see it, the whitebalance was off, and I had horribleaudio, but it still worked,” said Felder.“CollisionHub grew with no printmedia, no advertising, nothing, it justgrew solely on using the internet, usingvideo. But it was the only video in theindustry for anyone to watch, so if youwanted to watch something on colli-sion repair, or products, we were youronly option. So the quality didn’t mat-ter, what mattered was the content.That’s why I always tell shops, ‘don’tworry, just get started.’ ”

Another major concern is budget.Here are a few aspects to considerwhen creating your video, according topanel responses by Felder, Emmons, K.Michael, and Meredith Bradshaw.

■ What is your time mark? Ifyou’re making the video yourself—film-ing, writing, and editing—how muchtime will you allot to this process? Timeis money.

■ Is there another company inyour town that you collaborate withfrequently, i.e. a tire company? If so, isthere a chance you could share ex-penses to create a video that benefitsboth parties?

■ Half and half: When Felder firststarted creating videos, she wouldshoot the footage herself, and then hiresomeone to edit it. “Editing is themagic,” explained Felder.

■ Do you want to hire talent? Ifyou don’t want to be in your video—it’sbest to hire actors/actresses or an out-side spokesperson. Employees, man-agers and technicians come and go, soincluding them in a video may not bethe best choice. The best places to findtalent are craigslist or a local talentagency.

■ Do you want to hire a filmcrew? “Local film schools are the bestplace to look. Many students are eagerto find work and gain experience,” saidEmmons.

If you do hire a crew, providelunch on filming days: “Don’t let peo-ple leave, because you’re going to loseyour schedule for the rest of the day,”warned Felder. “Even if you tell every-one, ‘be back at 1pm,’ it’s not [always]going to happen.”

Finding the right topic, knowingyour audience, and effectively gettingyour point across will all help to makeyour video a success, according toFelder and the other panelists.

Some considerations:● Whatever method you choose,

make sure you have good audio. “Anaudience can handle bad picture withgood sound, but not vice versa,” addedFelder.

● Storyboarding: What do youwant to say and what do you want to beshowing in the background whileyou’re saying it?

● How to pick a topic based onyour audience: According to Emmons,car enthusiast forums, customer testi-monials, auto blogs, discussion boardsand other videos are great places tolook.

● Scripted vs. Freestyle: The na-

ture of the topic has a lot to do with thisdecision. “A customer testimonialshouldn’t be scripted, because youwant it to sound real,” said Emmons.“If I’m using legal terms or other spe-cific, factual information, then I defi-nitely want to use a script,” said Felder.All panelists agreed that outlines arenecessary, and if you’re using a script,you should memorize the informationand not read off a piece of paper.

● Time: “You want to stay in thattwo minute sweet spot,” said Felder.The average retention rate on YouTubeis 1:58.

● Location: It may not always beyour body shop, and if it is, make sureit is clean and compliant. It may benecessary to shut your shop down dur-ing production days in order to mini-mize background noise.

● NEVER EVER cancel a pre-production meeting

“The average life expectancy fora video is four years, compared to 72hours for a Facebook post and 12 min-utes for a Tweet,” Felder said. “Wehave become a visual and auditory re-ceptive society. We want to see it andhear it, we don’t want to read it.”


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Creating Engaging Consumer Videos for Marketing with Kristen Felder

Kristen Felder of CollisionHub gives adviceon creating engaging videos for marketingduring one of her SCRS seminars at SEMA

Kristen Felder of CollisionHub; Lee Emmons,Vice President of AP Media; Michael Brad-shaw, VP of Operations at K&M Collision; andMeredith Bradshaw, co-owner of K&MCollision, discuss the importance of videoin the auto industry


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by Victoria Antonelli, Online Editor

At the 2014 SEMA Show, ToyotaMotor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. exhibitedtheir updated collision repair estimat-ing system, which can be accessedfrom every web browser on any de-vice. Tens of thousands of collision in-dustry professionals were introducedto Toyota Recommended Repair Pro-cedures (TRRP)—a tool that providesrepair specialists with instant access toall the information needed to restorevehicles to their pre-accident condi-tion. In the first quarter of 2015, Toy-ota will begin their release of TRRPwith coverage for 29 Toyota and Scionvehicles dating back to 2005.

“This program is a game changerfor the industry,” commented RickLeos, Collision Program Developer,Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “Byoffering a solution that provides Toy-ota repair procedures, parts and tech-nical information in one place, wehelp the industry by establishing astandardized approach to repair plan-ning. Collision repair specialists willbenefit from decreased cycle times, re-duced supplements and greater over-all work efficiency. It’s a win for ourcustomers, repair experts and insur-ance companies alike.”

Toyota has integrated with MitchellEstimating, which will be the onlineplatform for repair shops and insurancecarriers. Although Toyota is the first andonly OEM currently providing Recom-mended Repair Procedures, the estimat-ing platform is capable of writing anestimate on any vehicle in Mitchell’sdatabase, according to Kenny Crum-pler, Product Manager at Mitchell Inter-national.

“All these years we’ve relied oninsurance companies to guide us oncars, and now it’s time for the OEMs topush their data down to the street levelto get our cars fixed,” said Leos. “Withthe technology nowadays you got tohave all the information... there’s noway you’re going to have techniciansable to specialize in 30 OEM models

and sub-models.”Toyota’s template-based program

reduces the preparation of a repair planfrom hours to a couple minutes, savingcollision repair specialists’ time, whileincreasing the level of efficiency and ac-curacy at the front end of the repairprocess. Repairers no longer need tostart from a blank sheet of paper; theybegin with a detailed repair plan, andomit what isn’t needed rather than

adding each operation indi-vidually. Additionally, TRRPincludes recommendationson parts that manufacturersdesignate as non-reusable orone-time use, which by def-inition means they must bereplaced rather than reused.

“When you have 1.8million claims a year, a500-shop network isn’tgoing to able to make a bigenough footprint,” said

Leos. “Ninety percent of our cars arefixed by the independent repair shops− we owe them this data, so they canhave the documentation to get the jobdone correctly and, most importantly,safely, for our customers,” said Leos, a25-year collision veteran who hasbeen developing Recommended Re-pair Procedures since he entered the

industry.Toyota’s long-term vision is to

offer other OEMs the opportunity toleverage this patent-pending templatetechnology, consequently shifting theindustry paradigm to one with greatertransparency and better access to fac-tory-recommended repair procedures.As a result, OEMs will achieve a sig-nificant impact in maintaining thesafety of their vehicles through greatervisibility of the parts and proceduresrequired to complete the repairs. “Ihope this is the beginning of some-thing that will catch fire,” said Crum-pler.

On November 4, Leos and Crum-pler decided that the new template willbe integrated into the legacy system,which they hope will make the transi-tion to an upgraded platform smoother.

TRRP is currently being tested atBeta certified Toyota locations. In aneffort to broaden the reach of thistemplate technology, it is being li-censed under the name “OEM Rec-ommended Procedures” to OEMs anddata providers in the U.S. and inter-nationally.

To learn more about TRRP, con-tact Rick Leos, Collision Program De-veloper, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.,Inc. at (310) 468-3111.

Toyota’s “Game-Changing” Recommended Repair Procedures Set to Launch in 2015

The new Toyota Recommended Repair Procedures featuredin a web-based platform

It’s the Academy Awards, the Emmysand the Tonys all rolled into one ifyou’re a manufacturer of any automo-tive product on the planet. Being awinner in the Specialty EquipmentMarket Association’s (SEMA) New

Products Showcase can be a gamechanger and the beginning of some-thing truly big. And that’s why whenfour collision-related companies heardtheir names at the 2014 SEMA Show’sopening breakfast on Nov. 4 they wereobviously thrilled and even a littleshocked in some cases.

These awards are given to themost innovative and cutting-edge newautomotive aftermarket products inthe industry today, judged by some ofthe biggest names in the automotiveworld. Nearly 2,000 productswere entered into 16 differentshowcase categories to beconsidered for SEMA NewProduct Awards this year.Winners were selected basedon a variety of factors that in-cluded quality, marketability,innovation, technology, con-sumer appeal and more.

The Collision Repair &Refinish Product winner isMalco Products, Inc. for theirQuarter Panel Hemming AirTurboXTool. The two run-ners up in this category are 6 Hands,for their 6-Hands Universal BodyPanel Holder and LumaIII, Inc. fortheir Aurora LED attachment. In theTools & Equipment Product category,Celette is a runner up for their Naja

Evolution 3D Measuring System’ssoftware and LumaIII Inc. is also arunner-up in this category for the Au-rora.

Malco Products Inc. captured thetop spot with their Quarter Panel

Hemming Air TurboXTool.This tool uses existing airsupply to bend and close up to¾ inch (19.05mm) deepwheel arc flanges of replace-ment quarter panels on latemodel cars. It can replicate ahammer and dolly motion athigh speed and is 80 percentfaster, based on field trials.The cushioned anvil protectsthe panel finish while thehammer rolls and flattens theflange from the back.Mike Janey, creative serv-

ices specialist for Malco,knows the value of this awardand that’s why he’s already

working hard to leverage it. “Justbeing associated with a respectedname like SEMA gives us immediatehelp with things like distribution andname recognition,” Janey explained.“Malco was founded in 1950, butproducts for auto body work is a newmarket for our company, so winningthis award means a lot to us. Our goalis to introduce innovative productsthat make the lives of body techni-cians easier and alleviate repetitive in-juries on the user’s shoulders and

arms, so that they can work withoutinterruption and get the results they’relooking for. Technicians want superiorquality performance that saves timeand labor while also being reliable,safe and easy-to-use and with our

Quarter Panel Hemming Air TurboX-Tool, we’ve answered all of thoseneeds!”

One of the runners up in the Col-lision Repair & Refinish Product cat-egory is 6 Hands with their UniversalBody Panel Holder. Ad-justable to fit any panel, thisdevice consists of three pairsof different length “hands.”After the panel is attached tothe 6 hands, it can be rotatedusing the 6 hands on an X andY axis. This gives the tool theunique ability to allow thepanel to effortlessly be placedin ergonomic positions whileperforming metal work, sand-ing, body work and paintingmore efficiently.

Ben Sapak, the owner of 6Hands in Holland, MI has only beenin business for approximately sixmonths now, so he’s obviously de-lighted about capturing a runner-up

award for his Universal Body PanelHolder.

“As a first-time exhibitor and ayoung business, this award is a shot inthe arm,” Sapak said. “We inventedthis device for ourselves to use in our

restoration business doing custommetal work, because nothing else didthe job we wanted it to. Now a techcan hold onto a panel without damag-


with Ed Attanasio

SEMA Show Goes On


New Product Showcase Winners a Big Hit at SEMA

See SEMA New Products, Page 27

The Collision Repair & Refinish Product winner wasMalco Products Inc. for the Quarter Panel HemmingAir TurboXTool

The LumaIII team was thrilled about their two runners upawards. From left: Owner/CMO Richard Routon, Owner/CEO Kirk Lucas, Owner/CFO Jimmy Zluticky and Directorof Sales Chris Williams

6 Hands captured a runner-up award in the Collision Repair& Refinish Product category for their Universal Body PanelHolder


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On Thursday, October 16, theLouisiana Collision Industry Associa-tion (LaCIA) held their October meet-ing, featuring renowned industryspeaker Mike Anderson, at the Mar-riott in Metairie, LA. The meeting fo-cused on the association’s collaborativeefforts with the Louisiana AttorneyGeneral’s office and the association’sfuture plans before their collisionad-vice.com guest speaker took the floor toprovide a general update on the state ofthe industry as well as to address a va-riety of topics relevant to the collisionrepair professionals in attendance.

The evening began with LaCIAChairman Lynn Lejeune calling themeeting to order and informing mem-bers of the association’s intent to hold amembers-only meeting in the imminentfuture in order to discuss their agendafor 2015 and to elect new board mem-bers. Lejeune also updated attendees onthe Attorney General’s lawsuit which isstill at the federal courts as they await adecision on whether the case will be re-turned to a state court as the AttorneyGeneral’s office hopes.

Accordingly, LaCIA’s Chairmanreminded everyone that the AttorneyGeneral’s office “would like to hearfrom members who can provide evi-dence on secondary crashes that re-sulted in increased damages or parts notreacting properly (air bags not deploy-ing, crumple zones not crumpling likethey should, welds not holding, etc.)due to the use of non-OEM or usedparts on a prior repair, or due to poorworkmanship on a prior repair.” Any-one with such evidence should contactAssistant Attorney General Stacie de-Blieux at 225-326-6458 or via email [email protected].

Next, Derek Stubbs, Vice Chair-man of LaCIA, read the Anti-Truststatement and the association’s missionas follows: “LaCIA is committed toserving in the best interests of the col-lision repair industry through educa-tion, support, leadership and businessconnections in our trade. We hope toachieve the open sharing and exchang-ing of ideas which will help make thisfield better for everyone who serves itand to promote consumer awareness.From the porter to office assistants toshop owners, we are here to provide

everyone a voice and hope for the fu-ture of our livelihood. LaCIA is an or-ganization that was started so that thecollision repair industry of Louisiana

has a chance to ex-change ideas andprovide a voiceand support for thecollision repairprofessionals inour state.” Stubbsalso reminded at-tendees that, as anassociation of edu-

cation, it is very important for LaCIAmembers to stay educated and keepabreast of all that is happening in theindustry if they hope to be successful.

Guest speaker Mike Anderson ofwww.collisionadvice.com presented anupdate on the state of the collision re-pair industry and discussed many othertopics. Anderson began by asking at-tendees if the industry is changing themor if they are changing the industry,suggesting that LaCIA can be “thewind of change our industry needs” andencouraging everyone to do more thanjust sit around waiting for change lest,by biding their time, the collision repairindustry allows the insurers to make allthe changes. He asked, “are you con-trolled by your circumstances, or areyou taking charge of your own des-tiny?”

Anderson provided informationabout many laws from other states as ameans of helping LaCIA establishsome new goals in the future. Notingthat only 430 body shops in LA claimpayroll taxes while 1459 do not, An-derson noted that shops that do notclaim any employees are more likely tobe the “backyard” shops who may notbe properly repairing vehicles or under-investing in the overall well-being ofthe industry. LaCIA is investigating thismatter further, and Anderson suggestedthat they may be able to get the atten-tion of the State Senate by presentingthe data to demonstrate the potentialmoney the state is losing in payrolltaxes.

Another suggestion Andersonmade was for shops to collect estimateswith discrepancies to send to LaCIA toallow the association to fight for thembecause shops fighting on their own run

the risk of being blackballed or deemedhostile while having a representativeacting on behalf of multiple shops cango a long way toward receiving propercompensation without being detrimen-tal to their relationships with insurers.Anderson also mentioned that shopscan use yext.com to help improve theironline search ratings.

Turning to aluminum repairs, An-derson noted that shops can check withtheir paint suppliers for help decidingwhether it is necessary to invest in alu-minum repair immediately since sup-pliers can provide information on howoften aluminum trucks actually getfixed. Most aluminum trucks are worktrucks, and Anderson does not believethere’s a need for the investment rightaway if these trucks are not being re-paired frequently in a specific area;however, he informed the group thatthey should not write off the need forthis investment completely as the useof aluminum in vehicles is becoming

increasingly common. Among a varietyof other things, Anderson also directedattendees to the Army Career andAlumni Program (ACAP) which is de-signed to help veterans get work andeven offers a GI Bill to help pay foremployee training.

Alysia Hanks, Executive Directorof LaCIA, states, “it was a very educa-tional evening, and I left there moremotivated than ever to be the changethis industry needs! We have a lot ofwork to do ladies and gentlemen! Ihope I have your support as we moveforward.”

In addition to their last meeting ofthe year, tentatively scheduled for No-vember 15 in the Lafayette/Alexandriaarea, LaCIA is planning a function withthe Attorney General’s office for BuddyCaldwell’s re-election which is sched-uled to be held at 5:30-7:30PM on No-vember 22 at The Hall in Lafayette,LA.

Contact LaCIA at www.la-cia.com


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of being repaired. A few years ago,there were 46,000 shops nationallyand only enough work for about30,000 shops, so we as an industrywould really welcome this revenuethat is being lost in potential repairsthat are deemed total losses.”

ASA-CNM was founded in theearly 1980s by a group of professionalshop owners. During the 1990s, theaffiliate separated itself from the na-tional association due to somechanges in membership requirements,but they revitalized ASA-CNM in2000 with the desire to improve thefuture of the automotive service in-dustry. The affiliate’s mission is “tostrive for and promote professional-ism and excellence within the inde-pendent automotive service industrythrough education, training, support,mentoring and fellowship of all mem-bers,” and their vision is to “be recog-nized and respected as the premierassociation in the Midwest for inde-pendent automotive service facilities.”

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ing it. We’re so happy that the judgessaw a need for this tool and by recog-nizing it they’ve given us a whole newlevel of value in the collision andrestoration industries. It’s obviouslyhuge.”

Another runner-up award went toLumaIII, Inc. for their Aurora,an LED attachment that fitssnugly directly behind thenozzle of any spray gun.Lightweight and durable, thisbattery-operated device al-lows painters to get an imme-diate visual confirmation ofthe center of their spray, sav-ing considerable time andmoney on primer, paint, sand-paper, buffing compound andother costly alternative illumi-nation solutions. By reducingtechnician errors, the Aurorahas quickly become popular with sev-eral industries, including collision re-pair, according to the company’s website.

The award will provide a majorboost for LumaIII, a young company

from Wichita, KS that didn’t evenknow if they could make it to SEMAinitially. “We’ve had to pool ourmoney together and even some of ussold vehicles to get to SEMA, becausewe are so confident that this productis needed in this industry,”Owner/CMO Richard Routon said.“People are really embracing the Au-rora, because body shop owners canclearly see the benefits of it. It’s

quickly changing the industry, be-cause it saves time and labor andmakes painters more efficient and ac-curate. SEMA was great for us andthis award is a big part of it, because itshows that the industry is recognizing

our product and its role in the collisionrepair industry.”

Celette captured a runner-upaward in the Tools & EquipmentProduct category for their newly re-leased NAJA Evolution 3D software.Taking measurements directly fromOEM-provided 3D CAD drawingsprovides technicians with uniqueviews of the control points in relationto length, width and height, allowingan efficient damage analysis on adatabase of more than 14,000 vehi-cles.

Bastien Dias Da Costa, opera-tions manager for Celette was de-lighted by the award. “We’re honoredto have received such a prestigiousaward for our newest product at ahighly recognized event like SEMA,”he said. “Our software for the NajaEvolution 3D Measuring System hasgained some significant recognitionfor its accuracy and superior graphics.The software is easy to update with di-rect access to our web site and offersusers individual space in the Celettecloud. It’s also compatible with com-puters, desktop computers and laptopsand by adding approximately 9,000vehicles to the database, it’s the mostcomplete in the industry.”


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Giving cars to the needy is a perfectand proven way for the collision in-dustry to give back. Most of the time,body shops and insurance companieswork together to fix cars and returnthem back to their owners.

Four formerly homeless Las Vegasfamilies visited the SEMA Show lastweek and left as proud owners of prac-tically brand new cars presented bymembers of the National Auto BodyCouncil (NABC) at its annual RecycledRides Luncheon on Nov. 5.

These four families were selectedby Family Promise of Las Vegas, anorganization that has been partneringwith the NABC for the pastseven years to provide at-riskfamilies with reliable trans-portation, so they can beginto rebuild and regain their fi-nancial stability.

NABC’s Recycled Ridesprogram is a unique collabo-ration of the collision industry.Since the program’s inceptionin 2007, repairers, insurers,rental car companies and sup-pliers have teamed up to re-store and donate over 1,000vehicles to individuals andnon-profit organizations na-tionwide.

Collision repair professionalsfrom facilities in Las Vegas volun-teered their time and expertise to re-store damaged vehicles donated by

Allstate Insurance, GEICO, EnterpriseRent-a-Car and Hertz. The local re-pairers included Caliber Collision,Service King and Gerber Collisionand a fourth vehicle was repaired bySouth County Collision in California.

The recipients selected byFamily Promise were:La Cara and Marice Washing-ton and their three childrenreceived a Hyundai Sonatadonated by GEICO and re-paired by Caliber Collision.They both recently graduatedfrom the Family Promiseshelter program and are cur-rently employed and havetheir own housing.Cassandra Waller, a single

mother with two children re-ceived a Dodge Durango donated byAllstate Insurance and repaired byService King. Physical disabilitieslimit her mobility so a Recycled Ridesvehicle will greatly help her to im-prove her quality of life.

Magan and Wayne Sykes andtheir two children received a NissanMaxima donated by Hertz and re-paired by the Van Tuyl Group. This

couple is successfully enrolled in Fam-ily Promise’s Community Partnershipfor Opening Doors Housing Program.

Janiecia Fernandez, received aHyundai Sonata Hybrid donated by

Gerber Collision and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Fernandez is a single motherof two young children and a partici-pant of the Promises to Keep HousingProgram. This vehicle will allow herto devote her time to being a good

mother and working with her chil-dren’s education.

“Each of these recipient familieshave successfully transitioned fromhomelessness into independent hous-

ing through our Family Promise pro-grams,” said Terry Lindemann, Execu-tive Director of Family Promise of LasVegas. “Reliable transportation is thecritical link that enables these familiesto continue on the road to recovery and

we are grateful for the supportand impact that the NationalAuto Body Council has madein our local community.”

NABC Executive Direc-tor Chuck Sulkala is proud ofthe NABC’s Recycled Ridesprogram and the success it’sachieved especially this year.“We’re going to give awayalmost 300 vehicles to peoplein need in 2014,” he said.“With all of these great insur-ance companies, collision re-

pairers, paint suppliers, parts vendorsand other companies onboard, this isa joint effort every year and it’s amaz-ing to see so many people who go outof their way to make this happen.”


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NABC Gives Away Four Cars at Annual SEMA Luncheon

La Cara and Marice Washington and their children withtheir Hyundai Sonata donated by Gerber Collision andEnterprise Rent-A-Car

Janiecia Fernandez and her daughter admire their HyundaiSonata Hybrid donated by Caliber Collision and GEICO

Magan and Wayne Sykes, with their two young childrenreceived a Nissan Maxima donated by Hertz and repairedby the Van Tuyl Group

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Recently I had the pleasure of beingthe only reporter at a local autobodyassociation chapter meeting. This wasan especially interesting meeting fo-cusing on the new Ford F150 truckand its aluminum body. There was agreat panel of industry experts whosecomments could significantly impactthe success of a shop trying to per-form more competitively and prof-itably. So I was troubled when onemember of the panel asked how manyshop owners were present and onlyabout six or seven raised their hands.This was a room containing an audi-ence of more than one hundred peo-ple. One would think that at least aquarter of the attendees would bemajor shop decision-makers. But Ishouldn’t have been surprised. I’veheard the same question at numerousmeetings with the same low decision-maker count.

The last few meetings I’ve at-tended focused on elements that willdetermine the survival and success ofmost collision repair shops. The focuson new vehicle designs, materials,reparability and management processesprepares shop owners and managersfor a business future that may be ex-tremely challenging. That same focustells these owners and managers whatmessages they need to get out to cur-rent and prospective customers to keepvehicles coming into their shops. Thisparticular meeting provided ammuni-tion for a marketing attack based on thehazards of dealing with aluminum andpotential dangers for vehicle owners ifthey choose an ill-informed and ill-equipped shop to do their repairs. Thatmessage is appropriate for nearly everypotential customer, whether an indi-vidual vehicle owner, fleet manager,dealership principal, or insurance DRP.

The message I’ve heard in manyassociation meetings this and last yearis that technology will now be drivingthe emphasis in shop marketing. Thatsame message says that collision re-pair professionals can now commanda new, higher level of respect. Thedays of thinking of a body shop as aplace where low-paid workers pounddents out of fenders and massagedamaged metal back into place hascome to an end. Vehicle manufactur-ers have raised the bar and a typicalshop today must have certified techni-cians and costly equipment to work oncomputerized vehicles, dangerouselectrical and hybrid systems and ex-otic metal and carbon fiber bodies.Websites and other media that empha-size the old systems and equipmentare missing the marketing boat. Thetime has come to seize this higherlevel of respect for the complicatednew practice of restoring these com-plex vehicles to pre-accident condi-tion.

A much earlier meeting aboutthis time of year was addressed by aV.P. from SEMA. This was whenNACE abandoned Las Vegas to hostthe NACE show in a different city.The executive talked about the newbenefits that can come from a colli-sion shop attendance at and participa-tion in a SEMA show in Las Vegas.The SEMA people were doing all pos-sible to make the show informativeand of value to collision repair atten-dees. Although the V.P. focused onamenities and conveniences for shopowners and managers, there were nu-merous references to new productsand processes collision shop mar-keters could add to their repertoire ofproducts and services. I attendedSEMA that year and saw first hand

what he meant. One lady from a localshop was at the show and she notedthat her shop could immediately profitfrom providing customers with alarmsystems, child restraints, pet restraints,backing-up lights and cameras, spe-cialty wheels and more. She saw away to attract new customers andenjoy greater profits.

While these were autobody asso-ciation meetings that could aid mar-keting efforts, I think the bestmeetings focused on providing whatis most needed for effective market-ing: MONEY! Business analysts gen-erally say about seven percent of grossshould be put into sales and market-ing. I’ve seen only a few shops thatbegin to approach that figure. Seriousefforts to generate new customers cancost serious money. Two recent auto-body association meetings I attendedfocused mainly on how to negotiateeffectively and how to get paid for themany repairs and operations some in-

surance adjusters like to weasel out of.The information at just one of thesemeetings could have paid for somevery high quality on-line marketingand also a live gal or guy in the fieldbringing in business!

The complaint I’ve heard mostfrequently about association meetingswas that there were uninformativeprograms and a tendency to be nomore than a place to come to eat, drinkand complain. What I’ve observed atthese highly productive meetings isthat there is a core group of memberswho want to use this irreplaceableforum to bring in speakers and panelswith truly valuable information. Asso-ciation members who complain abouta declining volume of business andlower profits have failed to seize theopportunity to get these highly desir-able presenters in front of their chap-ter. All it takes is someone willing tomake the calls and arrange the timeand place.


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The Collision Repair Education Founda-tion announced the winners of GEICO’scollision school grants for 2014: Hillsbor-ough Community College (Tampa, FL);Norwalk High School (Norwalk, CA);Texas State Technical College (Waco,TX); Wilson Tech (Dix Hills, NY.) Eachof the winning schools applied for a grantfrom the Ultimate Collision EducationMakeover program, and each will receive

$6,750 to purchase items off their colli-sion tool, equipment and supply wish listfrom their application. The winners werenamed Nov. 4 at the Education Founda-tion’s industry reception held at SEMA2014. “GEICO recognizes that the colli-sion repair industry needs highly-quali-fied, well-trained and knowledgeabletechnicians to repair today’s car” said BillDeGrocco, Assistant VP at GEICO.

Four Collision Schools Awarded GEICO Grants

“The 3 Vital Behaviors of the Bestof the Best Shops”There are shops that are located in heav-ily MSO consolidated markets that in-stead of becoming a victim, became abeneficiary! I call these shops “positivedeviants.” When many shops in theseparts of the country are struggling orselling out, the positive deviants are ac-tually doing quite well and in manycases outperforming the consolidators!One of these best of the best shop own-ers told me they have all four big MSOs(Caliber, Gerber, ABRA, Service King)within a five mile radius of his shop! SoI am prompted to starting asking thequestion, what are these guys doing dif-ferently than the independents that arestruggling in the same markets?

After speaking to many positivedeviant shops, and asking them whatthey do to get great results, I got manyof the usual answers that you wouldexpect from a successful organization.Good leadership, high quality work,

good customer service, great employ-ees, bla, bla, bla. But these things any-more are kind of a “given.” Even to bea mediocre business you need to havesome level of these qualities.

So I searched deeper to distill thefindings into what I call the Vital 3Behaviors.1. Culture of Learning2. Participation in a peer group or network3. Measure the Right KPIsAll the positive deviant shops stronglydisplay these 3 Vital behaviors, strug-gling shops don’t!

Vital Behavior 1 - Culture of LearningThese businesses crave knowledge! Ifyou don’t believe me, look at the in-depth I-CAR study on the subject.(Check it out at www.i-car.com ) I-CAR contends that A Learning Cultureis at the very foundation of all the supersuccessful shops they studied. The veryunderstanding of things such as properbusiness management, leadership skills

and process development skills stemfrom the leaders desire to learn.

They seek their knowledge fromsources such as I-CAR, Webinars, andClinics. They typically read booksregularly, and are continuously look-ing for new sources of education.

Vital Behavior 2 - Participation in apeer group or networkSome of the positive deviants are veryinvolved with their associations such asASA, others join franchise organiza-tions, and many get involved in roundtable groups that their paint manufac-turers host.

Shops that feel like they are aloneon an island, can’t and probably won’tsucceed. There is power in numbersfar beyond the sum of its individualmembers. Some of the benefits thatparticipation in a group includes…♦ Mastermind principal – a group oflike-minded individuals with the samechallenges working together to achieve

great things♦ Friendly competitive spirit betweenmembers♦ Accountability to one another♦ Massive knowledge resource. Whenyou are on the island you only haveyour own knowledge, in a group, youcan have everyone’s!♦ Leadership skills – by participating ina group of people trying to better them-selves and their shops, skills such asleadership are enhanced, you learn topresent, become a more professionaland rounded person.♦ You learn to “See beyond you ownwalls” so to speak.

Vital Behavior 3 - Measure the rightkey performance indicatorsThe third vital behavior was MeasureKPIs, but I was reminded by one of thepositive deviant shops that it is impor-tant to measure the “right ones.” Hewas right, there are some shops that


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Competing with MSO Consolidation

See MSO Consolidation, Page 35


The Texas Independent AutomotiveAssociation (TIAA) was founded in1980 by a group of small businessowners that wanted to better the auto-motive industry specifically in Texas.They felt that because Texas is thelargest state in the contiguous U.S., itwould make sense to have an organi-zation specifically for Texans, run byTexans.

TIAA President Louie Sirianniremembers, “at one point during the1990s, we had large Chapters in mostof the major Texas cities. In the pastfew years, we have made a push to-ward a more centralized, State-run or-ganization. We’ve found it makes forbetter communication, reduces thetime commitment for those on theboard, and allows us to schedule bet-ter speakers, larger networking eventsand negotiations with vendors whichinvolve a larger group across thestate! As part of this initia-tive, we hired Chuck Spaceas our Executive Director,and he provides a statewidepresence which has been re-ally helpful in overcomingour organizational challengesas it relates to representingsuch a large group.”

Of course, TIAA stillcontinues to face other chal-lenges, such as changes intechnology, communicatingwith members, and providing memberbenefits. Space explains, “TIAA wantsto represent the interests of the entirerepair/collision industry in Texas; how-ever, this is such a large state that it isa challenge to stay in close touch withall corners of TX. TIAA understand itneeds to be more creative in communi-cating with all areas of the state. It isimperative that we carry on a regular

dialogue with our members – becausean association is basically about estab-lishing a strong relationship with ourmembers. Just like we need to share in-formation, it is equally important thatwe also really listen to what our mem-bers and prospective members are say-ing. Bottom line: it is critical to have atwo-way conversation with our mem-bers to be successful. One of our goals

is to help our members keepup with all the trends, tech-nologies and innovations inthe industry. Because we be-lieve this is such an importantresource for our members, wedistribute a weekly emailblast, TIAA TODAY, coveringa broad range of industry re-lated topics and issues. Wewant to be relevant to ourmembers so they can be rele-

vant to their customers”Sirianni also cites insurance and

government regulations as a chal-lenge, but he insists “the purpose ofTIAA is to collaborate to offer resolu-tions to these types of problems inorder to help the industry in TX.”

TIAA’s mission is to enhance theimage of collision repair businesses inTX and to ensure their members staycompetitive in the marketplace. Siri-anni adds, “we want to help inde-pendently-owned automotive shops be

the best they can through education,training, support, benefits and schol-arships.”

Since one of the association’sgoals is to improve the future of thecollision repair industry, TIAA puts alot of emphasis on student scholar-ships in order to meet the industry’sneed for smarter technicians and busi-ness owners. Throughout the year,

TIAA holds various fundraisingevents to support their scholarshipfund. Scholarships are awarded to stu-

dents at TX com-munity collegeswho are studyingAutomotive Tech-nology. In additionto the applicationprocess, which in-cludes writing ashort essay, stu-dents must expressa desire to either

join an independent business or tostart their own business in order toqualify for TIAA’s scholarship. Also,as part of their efforts to improve thefuture generation of collision repairprofessionals, many TIAA memberswho own shops develop relationshipswith local colleges, participating intheir internship programs andeventually hiring qualifiedgraduates from these schools.

Still, TIAA knows thatthe present state of the colli-sion repair industry is alsoimportant, which is whymany of their efforts focus onproviding education andtraining to ensure that mem-bers are performing repairs tothe best of their abilities. Theassociation schedules annualeducational seminars to keep mem-bers current with technological ad-vances, while other seminars focus onbusiness management. TIAA has alsodeveloped a Mentor Program; if amember has a question about theirdaily business operations, they cancall Space who will put them in touchwith a non-competing shop.

Space notes, “our Mentor Pro-gram really provides a deeper per-spective on things. All kinds ofbusiness and industry-related topicscan be discussed, and sometimes, thesolution is simple, but it’s a good feel-ing to be able to talk to a non-com-petitor who has probably encounteredthe same problems. It’s really a niceresource for our members to be ableto rely on.”

TIAA also tries to provide othertypes of solutions for their 300 mem-bers throughout the state. Sirianni lists

the benefits of membership as websiteassistance, networking, health insur-ance discounts, credit card processing,vendor programs, legislative monitor-ing and general support from the as-sociation. Space emphasizes, “anassociation is a group of relationships,a network of people. Our most impor-tant function is to provide support soour members know that we’re in thistogether and they don’t have to go italone to be successful.”

As far as legislative activity,TIAA is waiting until the next legisla-tive session begins in January. Withthis being Space’s first active sessionsince assuming the role of ExecutiveDirector for TIAA, he feels, “we needto be in a position to monitor intro-duced legislation to ensure the inter-ests of the general public and theautomotive industry are protected. We

plan to designate several committeesto monitor legislation, but they won’tjust be watching for industry-relatedlegislation because TIAA membersare small business owners so anythingthat impacts small businesses, such astax issues, also affects our members.In addition to monitoring legislationthat concerns the collision repair in-dustry, we’ll be paying close attentionto a broad cross-section of business is-sues to ensure that we are addressingall of our members’ legislative con-cerns.”

In the meantime, TIAA’s plan-ning stages for their 2015 Conventionand Exposition is taking up most oftheir time. Though the agenda and ex-hibitors have not yet been finalized,TIAA has scheduled their conventionfor April 16-18, 2015 at the WestinStonebriar in Dallas and intends to re-

TIAA Organizes to Promote a Better Future For Texas Repairers



See TIAA Organizes, Page 43

Mark Alvarez from AC Delco (left) and Jack and CandyBaumann (right)

Kevin Rohlwings,Director of Educa-tion for Tire Indus-try Association

TIAA Members enjoy the competition at the 2014 GolfTournament

TIAA Roundtable Discussion at 2014 Convention

G&C Auto Body, with 10 locations inthe Bay Area has always done every-thing over the top, especially when itcomes to its philanthropy and specifi-cally when they give re-furbished ve-hicles to needy families, individualsand organizations. Touched by count-less letters and requests submitted to

G&C through a car giveaway promo-tion, the company gives away cars notannually or even quarterly anymore—but monthly. The Crozat family isfast tracking their charitable efforts

and setting records, but that’s not whythey do it, according to G&C AutoBody’s Owner Gene Crozat.

“There are so many people outthere struggling right now for what-ever reason and these letters touch mysoul every time I read them,” he said.“Things are not going well for them

for whatever reason, but theydon’t give up and they neverlose hope. If we can helpthem by giving them a reli-able vehicle so that their liveswill be a little easier, I feellike it’s our obligation to doit.”

Saying yes to some and noto others is obviously difficultand that’s why Gene tries tosay yes to as many as he can.

It’s a tough job to sift through these re-quests, and that’s why GovindaCrozat, the company’s outreach pro-gram director plays an important rolein reading all of the letters and work-

ing with the other members of theCrozat family as they pick their recip-ients.

It’s a huge undertaking helpingthose in need and making a differencein the communities in which they dobusiness. “We have given away 21cars so far this year and we will be

giving away four more pretty quickly,hoping to hit 24-30 by the end of theyear,” Govinda said. “We created theCrozat Family Foundation to helppeople in need. In addition to giving

away the cars, we also help people bygiving them Safeway, Shell and Tar-get gift cards, as well as occasionalhelp with rent, funeral expenses, util-ities and other needs.”

By partnering with insurancecompanies, the Crozat Family Foun-dation is now giving away more and

more cars. “We have hadthree insurance partners(State Farm, Geico and All-state) all donate cars whichwere fixed by our SantaRosa, Windsor and Petalumatechs on their own time withparts that were also donatedby local vendors. It’s amaz-ing and really satisfying tosee more people and compa-nies getting involved. ther

companies have stepped up to helpG&C in their charitable efforts,Govinda Crozat explained. “We alsohave all of the cars processed throughthe DMV by a company called B&C


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Car Giveaways Become Regular Monthly Events at G&C Auto Body

G&C Auto Body helped Nicole Ruys and her family with amuch-needed vehicle. That’s Govinda Crozat, G&C’soutreach program director on the far right

The Purugganan family received a mini-van from theCrozat Family Foundation

During the week of SEMA, Ford,Chrysler, and GM approved DeBeerRefinish WaterBase 900+ series.

Ford’s approval is based on theWSS – M2P100-D specification andapplies to all Ford vehicles. Any coun-try that manufacturers, sells or repairsFord vehicles can now utilize DeBeerRefinish WaterBase 900+ Series byValspar Automotive.

“Valspar Automotive is thrilledto announce the Ford approval. Ded-ication to excellence remains at theforefront of all we do at Valspar, andthis approval is another symbol of ourcommitment to our customers” saidCarl Wierks, Global VP of Valspar.

Chrysler’s approval is based onthe PF-10537 specification and appliesto all Chrysler Group LLC brands.Every Chrysler collision repair centeracross the globe can now benefit fromDeBeer Refinish WaterBase 900+ se-ries coatings.

“Chrysler Group LLC is an im-pressive force in the global automotivemarketplace. After many rounds of ex-tensive testing, Valspar Automotive isproud to announce this approval byChrysler. Our continued dedication tocolor, technology and the trust of our

customers is prominently displayed inthese ongoing Automotive OEM ini-tiatives,”said Wierks.

General Motors has given aglobal approval based on the GMSpecification GMW15406M. Coun-tries where GM vehicles are manu-factured, sold or repaired can nowutilize this series for warranty work.

“General Motors performedmeticulous and thorough testing of the900+ product for global use and we areexcited to report a successful approval.This approval shows Valspar Automo-tive’s continued dedication to our cus-tomers and our products. Valspar’svision is to be the best coatings com-pany in the world; this is another stepin demonstrating our commitment toexcellence in the coatings industry,”said Wierks.

Valspar Automotive’s headquar-ters are in Minneapolis, MN.

Ford, Chrysler, and GM Approve DeBeer RefinishWaterbase 900+ Series by Valspar Automotive

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become immersed in the minutia ofmeaningless metrics. It’s important toidentify which numbers will trulyguide your business to success andthen you have to look at them daily,not at the end of the month when it’stoo late, but every day or as often isrequired to make course corrections.

Positive deviant shops know thatyou cannot improve what you do notmeasure. These shops try to get a littlebetter each day, each week, and eachmonth and they know their numbers!

In order for independent shops tocontinue to be successful in today’schallenging marketplace it is criticalthat we learn by carefully studyingthe habits that make best of the bestpositive deviant shops successful. Itis also advisable to study the admin-istrative processes that give the MSOconsolidators the ability to grow atsuch a rapid pace while still perform-ing repair jobs with amazing timeli-ness and consistency. Independentscan in fact remain very relevant withboth customers and insurers, but youmay have to do things a little differentand perhaps a little better.

Registration Services. They’re doingit all free of charge which is excep-tional. They know all of the ins andouts with the DMV, which is so help-ful. When dealing with salvage titles,total losses and cars purchased at auc-tion, we need a company like B&C tohelp us to navigate through the DMV.It can be tricky and there is a lot of pa-perwork involved and Brenda Smithat B&C has helped us tremendously.”

Instead of buying cars randomly,now G&C is acquiring vehicles specif-ically earmarked for particular familiesin need. “We have gone from buyingcars haphazardly at the local car mart tobuying ‘in bulk’ at the surplus govern-ment vehicles auction every threemonths in Davis, CA,” Govinda said.“I purchased six cars at the last auction

and will be attending for the third timein two weeks. We spend an average of$5,000 per car after purchase, repairsand DMV registration fees andthe recipients get safe, reliabletransportation that can lastthem for many years to come.”

“I also purchase cars tofit specific needs,” she con-tinued “I have searched forvans for families with severalkids, wheelchair van for awoman and her handicappedson, nd a construction truckfor a woman who took overher husband’s construction job afterhe fell through a second story roof andbroke his neck. She was going to losethe job if she didn’t have a truck byFriday… literally! They also had a

one-year-old so I made surethat the truck had a rear doorfor easy access in and out ofthe car seat.”

By constantly touting theircar giveaway program onlocal radio stations, G&C isgetting the word out in a bigway. “We receive the requestletters through Froggy 92.9and Hot 101.7 here in SonomaCounty, as well as KWNE in

the Ukiah area,” Govinda said. The airtime is donated by the Sonoma MediaGroup and KWNE. A TV spot is cur-

rently running on KOFY TV and wehave received letters from their view-ers. We also receive some of the lettersdirectly, as people hear about us fromfriends or sources other than the radiostations.”

Fixing cars is easy, but repairinglives is a little tougher, but that does-n’t mean he will ever stop trying,Gene said. “If we can change one lifefor the better, we’ve done our job.Sure, we’re in the business of fixingcars and doing a quality job on everycar we repair, but if we can give a lit-tle back, why not? It’s not all aboutmoney in the end, because you can’ttake it with you.”


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The Perry family now has a car that can make their liveseasier, thanks to G & C Auto Body

Bobbi O’Sullivan (third from right) and her family wereborrowing cars from their friends, but now they have theirown, thanks of Gene Crozat (far right) and his family


MSO Consolidation


20 years ago in the collision repairindustry (December 1994)The cause and effect of “prevailingpractices” was just one issue addressedby an inter-industry panel at the Na-tional Autobody Congress and Expo-sition (NACE) Forum in Las Vegas inDecember (1994.)

Moderator Meryl Comer openedthe discussion by asking panelists whothey believed is responsible for setting“prevailing practices.”

“I think if you ask some of our in-surer friends, they’d probably say pre-vailing practices are set by the shopsin the area,” California shop ownerJack Caldwell said. “Whatever mostshops do, that sets the pace. And Iguess to be totally honest, I’d have toagree, that’s where it starts. However,prevailing practices can be and aremodified by the guy with the check-book.”

Insurers on the panel agreed thatprevailing practices are their attemptto “mirror” the majority of collisionrepairers in a given area when prepar-ing or auditing estimates, but shopowners criticized the “one-size-fits-all” approach insurers sometimes use.

“It’s important to note that carsare changing,” Texas shop owner JoeSanders said. “We perform operationstoday that weren’t necessary a fewyears ago. Resetting electrical compo-nents, for example. That may haveonly been done in our shop once ortwice a month two years ago. But wedo that routinely now every day. Thatprocess is prevailing in our operation,and I shouldn’t be held back becausethe shop down the street works onolder cars and doesn’t have to do that.”

Most of the questions from theaudience during the forum were ad-dressed to the insurers on the panel.Gerry Westerfield of State Farm wasasked how shops can respond whenadjusters “quote unwritten and undoc-umented company policy for not pay-ing standard P-page procedures.”

“If a State Farm representativecomes to your shop and says, ‘Wedon’t pay for that, it’s company pol-icy,’ take it from me, we don’t havethat policy,” Westerfield said. “So tellthem, ‘I know your policy and that’snot it. Who’s your supervisor?’”

– As reported in Spray Dust mag-azine.

15 years ago in the collision repairindustry (December 1999)Soon there will be no choice. If youaren’t already using the Internet, you’llhave to in order to stay in business.

By 2001, GM will require all ofits suppliers to do business over the In-ternet. Ford has similar Internet plans.Allstate announced last month that itwould soon sell insurance over the In-ternet.

In today’s business world, it’s getonline or go home. To remain com-petitive, collision repair faculties willneed to use the Internet to their ad-vantage.

How will collision repairers beusing the Internet? Parts ordering,for one. You can already tap intolustineparts.com and CarStation.comto order parts. And there may come atime very soon when ordering partsover the Internet is handled regularlythrough brokers. Just as a personlooking for an inexpensive airfarecan go through Priceline.com, a col-lision repairer looking for the bestquality part at the cheapest price willbe able to go through a middleman.

The bad news is twofold. Forstarters, the Internet gives the insur-ance industry a whole new arena tocontrol. With its financial emphasis onprice (sometimes at the expense ofquality), the insurance industry will belooking to use the Internet to find thecheapest parts it can. In cyberspace,look for price to reign over quality.

A second disadvantage to the In-

ternet is that it will be moredifficult for collision repair-ers to keep information abouttheir businesses private. Inaddition to brokering deals,Internet middlemen will becompiling information aboutthe buying habits of collisionrepair shops. They in turnwill sell this information toothers interested in making aprofit on the industry.

– From an editorial inHammer & Dolly by SheilaLoftus.

10 years ago in the collision repair in-dustry (December 2004)The Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) is circulating a petitionin support of two-way communicationbetween like estimating systems. Thisis the ability to electronically transmitand receive the vehicle owner’s as-signment information, estimate, sup-plement or attachments betweeninsurers and repairers that are using thesame estimating system regardless ofwhether a DRP relationship exists be-tween the companies.

“Two-way communication, asSCRS defines it, would eliminatemany of the inefficiencies inherent inthe current claims handling process,most specifically the rekeying of theestimate,” said Lou DiLisio, chairmanof SCRS.

– As reported in Autobody News.It took nearly a decade, but two of theBig Three estimating providers nowoffer systems that enable shops andparticipating insurers to exchange dataelectronically outside of a DRP rela-tionship.

5 years ago in the collision repairindustry (December 2009)In fining Allstate Insurance $5,000 for“interfering with (a) consumer’s freechoice of repair facility,” the Insur-ance Division of Rhode Island’s De-partment of Business Regulation alsoclarified what constitutes such inter-ference by an insurer.

In reviewing a complaint broughtby Providence Auto Body, the Depart-ment said that “without a legitimatebusiness reason, an insurer may not

take actions that make it more difficultto have the repair done at a (shop)with which the insurer does not have acontractual relationship.”

In this case, the Departmentfound that a combination of actions byAllstate constituted interference withclaimant Dennis D’Ambra’s shopchoice. These actions included:

– delaying arrangements for re-pair of the vehicle (after the shop con-tacted Allstate saying D’Ambra hadhired it to do the repairs) until Allstatecould locate and contact D’Ambraseven days later;

– telling D’Ambra that Provi-dence Auto Body was not “approved”;

– suggesting that D’Ambra takethe vehicle to a drive-in claims centerafter he had already said he wantedProvidence Auto Body to repair thevehicle; and,

–taking 15 days after contactingD’Ambra to conduct an appraisal ofthe vehicle at the shop.

The ruling states that discussionby an insurer about its DRP or drive-in claims center is not in and of itselfan indication of steering.

“However, when the customer in-dicates that he does not need or wantthat information, as D’Ambra didhere, the conversation must stop,” theruling states. “The customer has theright to simply choose a shop andhave the shop ‘handle’ the repair.”

– As reported in CRASH Network(www.CrashNetwork.com), November14, 2009. Almost five years later Okla-homa Attorney General Scott Pruitt lastmonth issued a warning in his stateabout the practice of “steering” by in-surers, in which “insurers strongly pushconsumers to autobody repair shops,”sometimes “crossing the line, makingdishonest statements.”

Prevailing Practices, Doing Business on Internet, 2-Way Estimating, Steering Suits

with David BrownShop Showcase

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with Janet ChaneyShop Showcase

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with Chasidy Rae SiskSoutheast Associations

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—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has a bodyshop in the family and has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988.He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription,visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at [email protected].

During a panel discussion at NACE in 1994, Gerry Wester-field of State Farm urged shops to question any State Farmadjuster claiming to quote company policy “for not payingstandard P-page procedures.”

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I-CAR held presentations, discussionsand training focused on the 2015 FordF-150 throughout SEMA 2014. Thecompany also brought members ofFord’s Service Engineering team to theSEMA Collision Repair & Refinishstage to present, “2015 F-150 CollisionRepair Program.”

I-CAR held its 2015 Ford F-150Structural Repair (FOR06) course atSEMA. FOR06 is a six (6) credit hour,instructor lead, course that satisfiestraining for I-CAR collision repair andinsurance roles including AluminumStructural Technician. Students learnmaterial-specific training that high-lights the processes associated withaluminum repair of the Ford F-150.

Since the launch of FOR06 inMay, I-CAR has seen an overwhelmingdemand for both FOR06 and Alu-minum Welding Training & Certifica-tion™. Over 5,500 repair techniciansand 3,300 insurance APDAs completedFOR06 and over 2,200 more profes-sionals have earned their AluminumWelding Certification.

“This really tells us that the in-dustry is hungry for relevant, timely,and vehicle specific training,” saidJohn Van Alstyne, CEO & President,I-CAR.”

I-Car’s 2015 Ford F-150Training and Education

General Motor’s Dealer Equip-ment Solutions has developed theThe Rail Saver Repair System toolfor collision repair technicians.

The company said it was de-signed by an auto body technicianto help fellow technicians effi-ciently repair frame rails and sidemembers from the inside out.

TG Products’ Tim Gerhardsheld a demonstration of the railsaver at SEMA.

“The Rail Saver Repair Systemwas tested and approved by GeneralMotors for use on both full-frameand unitized vehicles,” said the GMCollision Repair Technology CenterManager at GM.

“This product works on steel,high-strength steel, and aluminumbody components. This tool willhelp pin-point the damage locationto ensure accurate repairs from theinside of a frame rail working out-ward,”

For more information visitwww.GMDEsolutions.com or call1-800-GM-TOOLS.

GM Demonstrated Rail SaverRepair System at SEMA

After a 16-month hiatus, CarMax Inc.started posting inventory on Cars.comand AutoTrader.com in October 2014,according to reports by David Bark-holz at Automotive News. Althoughthird-party shopping sites reach a wideraudience than some of the most well-known auto groups according to sen-ior automotive analyst at BloombergIntelligence, Kevin Tynan, the feescan be a deterrent. Dealers vouched itcan cost $3,000 to $25,000 a month toget a prominent online position on Au-totrader.com or Cars.com. Pricing de-pends on the advertising package andthe number of vehicles listed. A deal-ership group executive said tht a storepaid $16,000 a month to list 150 vehi-cles on AutoTrader.com. Barkholz re-ported that Carmax’s net profit andrevenue jumped more than 10 percentin its fiscal quarter ending Aug. 31 vs.the year-earlier quarter, total vehiclesales at the company’s stores open atleast a year stalled at 0.2 percent year-over-year growth. Tynan said CarMaxstopped using these sites during the re-cession, which reduded supply ofavailable used vehicles. More late-models will be coming off leasesshortly so these websites are profitableagain.

CarMax Returns to Auto-Trader & Cars.com

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Nissan announced major new enhance-ments to the Nissan Certified CollisionRepair Network program on November10, launching a consumer-focused re-ferral initiative that ties Nissan vehicleowners with Nissan Certified CollisionRepair Providers. To enhance relation-ships between certified shops within thenetwork and Nissan owners, NissanNorth America is launching an On-De-mand-Marketing (ODM) tool. The toolsimplifies marketing for certified shopsthrough a one-stop-shop process thatgrants them access to Nissan owners ge-ographically. Now, Nissan Certifiedshops can send marketing messages viamailer or email promoting their certifiedshop location directly to Nissan owners.The Nissan Collision Repair Networkcombines Collision Shop Certification,consumer awareness and education ele-

ments, along with shop locators to en-sure that Nissan customers can locate acertified repairer. This program assuresthat certified collision shops have theright tools, equipment, training and fa-cilities to repair Nissan vehicles.

“In some cases, Nissan customershave endured a collision repair experi-ence—and the resulting repairs—thathave been controlled by third-partieswho don’t necessarily have the cus-tomer’s best interests in mind,” saidMark Zoba, Collision Parts Manager,Nissan North America. “Nissan valuesour customers and is willing to dowhatever we can to enhance our cus-tomer’s experience. With this program,Nissan is addressing this critical issueby assuring their vehicle drivers areable to select certified shops that areable to properly and safely repair Nis-

san and Infiniti vehicles.”Nissan has teamed up with As-

sured Performance, a non-profit con-sumer advocacy organization and thethird-party administrator for OEMCertification-Recognition programs.

“Nissan’s bold customer referralprogram is the ultimate payoff for shopswho are willing to re-invest in theirbusiness and retool and train to ensurethey are able to properly repair the newgeneration of vehicles being introducedby all of the major automakers,” saidScott Biggs, CEO, Assured Perform-ance. “This is a positive step for the en-tire industry. No business or personshould be able to touch a vehicle if theyare not equipped and trained to do itproperly, and customers and insurancecompanies should not be paying forsubstandard work.”

Nissan Introduces Certified Collision Network Consumer Referral Program

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Expertshave an aluminum repair consulting andcertification-focused program in place tohandle repairs on Ford F-150 and otheraluminum-body vehicles. For the pastyear, the MSOs operations team has beenworking with CARSTAR owners aroundthe country to help them prepare theirshops for the demands of aluminum re-

pair, train technicians on aluminum repairprocesses for structural and non-structuraljobs and source the tools and equipmentneeded. This training program will con-tinue through 2015. CARSTAR shopsthat are part of Ford dealerships are offi-cially certified in aluminum repairthrough Assured Performance and listedas an approved facility on the Ford web-

site. Other CARSTAR stores are recog-nized by the Ford Collision Network.CARSTAR has its own internal certifica-tion process that is part of its proprietaryEDGE Performance Tier 5. Said DavidByers, CEO of CARSTAR, “It means wecan send our insurance partners and fleetproviders a list of ready and capablestores to handle their repair needs.”

CARSTAR Says it’s Ready for Aluminum Repair


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The Independent Glass Association(IGA) has joined the Society of Col-lision Repair Specialists (SCRS).IGA said its goal is to address edu-cation and industry best practices inrelation to automotive glass repairand replacement services at colli-sion repair companies.

“We all share the common goalof providing quality repairs focusedon safety while being fairly compen-sated and without obstruction fromthird-party administrators and theirdiscriminative programs,” said GaryHart, IGA Executive Director.

“With the IGA’s support, weare confident that we can identify alot of the commonalities and poten-tial solutions that will ultimatelybenefit businesses in both industries.We are excited to have the supportof membership from the IGA, andlook forward to their participationwith SCRS,” said Aaron Schulen-burg, Executive Director of SCRS.

SCRS members can apply forIGA membership at http://www.iga.org/scrs. The IGA is extendingSCRS members $50 off any newmembership through December 31,2014 in addition to an IGA newmember discount of an additional$50 off ($100 total savings).

IGA & SCRS Partnership

Safelite® Group renewed their an-nual contribution of $10,000 to theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion (CREF), displaying its commit-ment to the future of the collisionindustry.

Safelite’s contribution benefitsthe industry by enhancing the Edu-cation Foundation’s ability to offergrants and scholarships to careerand technical schools and colleges.

The $10,000 gift from Safelitewill support the Education Founda-tion’s CREF fund, which allows thefoundation to provide its annual stu-dent scholarships, school grants, andthe annual Ultimate Collision Educa-tion Makeover $50,000 school grant.

“Training is critical for autobody and vehicle glass technicians,”said Jerry Beigel, Senior Vice Pres-ident of Safelite® Solutions, thecompany’s P&C insurance claimsbusiness unit.

“Their craft impacts the safetyof everyone on the road, and weare pleased to contribute to the fu-ture of our industry by supportingthe CREF.”

Safelite Renews AnnualContribution to CREF



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Finding and hiring new staff can oftenbe a challenge for collision repair shops.Greg McVicker, a collision center man-ager in McMurray, Pennsylvania, re-cently launched TheTalentMonger.comwebsite to help shops recruit employeesbased on their specific employmentneeds.

“The whole premise of our site isthat it’s proactive,” said McVicker.“You can go search for the person youare looking for versus spending themoney to put an ad up and hoping thatsomeone is going to respond to it.”

Working at Budd Baer dealershipand collision center in Washington,Pennsylvania since 2005, McVickersaid one of their biggest challengeswas to find qualified staff while theirfacility expanded. Established in 1975,they re-located in 2010 and added atwo-story addition in 2014. “Throughthat time period I saw the same sce-nario play out over and over againwhere we tried to use traditional meansof recruitment that are somewhat out-dated for our industry,” he said.

In addition to placing ads in thelocal classifieds and advertising ongeneric online recruitment sites,McVicker recalled spending nearly

$1,600 one week looking for techni-cians. After interviewing perspectiveemployees who responded to the ad-vertisements, he found that many did-n’t have the necessary qualifications.

Around that same time, McVickerbecame involved with the Alliance ofAutomotive Service Providers ofPennsylvania. He has been the localchapter President in Pittsburgh since2008 and sat on the board of directorsas the Collision Division Director ofAASP-PA since 2012. Last year hebegan representing the association onthe national board. As he was intro-duced to more and more shops, he no-ticed a recurring theme.

“It became very clear to me thatthis wasn’t just an issue I was dealingwith here in Pittsburgh,” said McVicker.“It was an issue that all over the countryshops are struggling and trying to findand get connected with those people.”

He said this led to the creation ofthe job search website. “That’s reallythe spirit with which TheTalentMon-ger.com came into existence,” saidMcVicker. “It was a way for us toeliminate the current recruitingprocess in the industry, save shopowners valuable time and money andget them connected with qualifiedtechs.”

McVicker and his two partners,Erin Koen and Alan Shen, hired Im-pere Media in February to design thewebsite. Seven months later it waslaunched nation-wide to the industry.

Auto technicians are able to cre-ate a free profile highlighting their cer-tifications, education and training.Owners and managers can also createa free profile for their shop, which al-lows them to search for potential em-ployees who meet their specificcriteria. Whether they are looking fora frame tech or a paint tech, when theyare ready to contact a candidate, theycan subscribe to the service to gain ac-cess to detailed information.

As the site expands, McVickersaid one of their goals is to reach out tothe technical schools to give students away to connect with the industry. Even-tually, the plan is to give techs the op-tion to relocate, which McVicker saidwould give shop owners access to agroup of employees they might not oth-erwise have.

They are also working with indus-try partners, such as Sherwin-Williams,to help spread the word about the site.He encourages both job seekers andshop owners to check back regularly asTheTalentMonger.com continues to ex-pand.

Website Connects Collision Shop Owners & Auto Techs: TalentMonger.com

Quest Automotive Products hashired a new Director of Product& Color Management − Her-mon Ferrell. Ferrell brings over26 years of industry experienceto Quest Automotive Products.His previous roles included Sen-ior Product Marketing Managerat Sherwin-Williams. This role,among other senior leadershippositions, has given Ferrell anopportunity at QAP to overseecolor management, color devel-opment, all aspects of productmanagement and new strategicbusiness developments. In turn,Ferrell will focus on developingmore forward-thinking tools andinitiatives, leading to customer-centric product solutions andfaster-to-market processes forQAP.

“Mr. Ferrell’s passion for thisindustry and decades of experienceis a huge advantage for QAP andour customers,” said Mark Flint,VP of Sales & Marketing, Paints &Coatings. “To grasp this industryand these products with such clar-ity and understanding is a rarething. He fits our culture and sharesin our goals.”

Quest Hires Former MartinSenour Product Manager


Aluminum was front and centerthroughout much of the collision repairportion of the 2014 SEMA tradeshow,including at one of the new features ofthis year’s event: the “OEM CollisionRepair Technology Summit,” hostedby the Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS).

The day-long summit brought to-gether shops, automakers and equip-ment manufacturers to discuss whatSCRS Executive Director Aaron Schu-lenburg called a “topic that affects everysegments of the industry.”

“There is no bigger conversationright now than the changing landscapeof automotive design and how that in-fluences the repair of a vehicle,” Schu-lenburg said as the summit began.

Sessions during the event coveredOEM shop certification programs,changing vehicle designs impactingrepairs, and the increasing use of steelalternatives, including aluminum.

Doug Richman, vice president ofengineering and technology for KaiserAluminum, said Ford’s introductionof the all-aluminum 2015 F-150 pick-up is just part of a 4-decade-long ex-pansion in the use of aluminum byautomakers. Over that time, the aver-age vehicle has come to have about400 pounds of aluminum, includingsuch parts as wheels and cylinderheads and blocks. That’s about 10 per-cent of the curb weight of the averagevehicle. It’s gone up by about 7pounds per year since the mid-1970s,but has risen by 14 pounds per yearfor the last three years.

While Richman is quick to notethat steel is not going away, the rate ofgrowth in aluminum use is expectedto be maintained over the next decade,according to a recent study commis-sioned by the aluminum manufactur-ers association. The study, Richmansaid, is conducted every three yearsand relies not on projections but on ac-tually vehicle programs committed toby automakers. It forecasts that by2025, seven out of 10 pick-ups will beall-aluminum, and 547 pounds (or 16percent) of the average vehicle weightwill consist of aluminum, including anincreasing percentage of crash partsand body structures.

“Our experience has been [the

study has] been conservative for 21years,” he said. “For seven consecu-tive reports, [it has] been very closebut conservative.”

The most obvious reason for theshift is the weight savings aluminumoffers as automakers work to meet in-creasing federal fuel efficiency re-quirements. The new F-150 is about700 pounds lighter than its predeces-sor, and 400 pounds of that savings isaccounted for by the switch to alu-minum, Richman said.

But the change also improveshow the truck rides and maneuvers, hesaid. There are also safety advantages.

“Every single vehicle that hasbeen converted to aluminum has hadhigher safety ratings than the steel ver-sion it replaced,” Richman said. “A lotof that is design, but also the energyabsorption capability of aluminum.”

Richman focused much of hispresentation on “repair considerations”related to aluminum.

“Your industry has a great dealof know-how in managing – at leasttechnically what needs to be done –the aluminum side of the business,”he said. “But I’ve heard repeatedlyin conversation on the [SEMAtradeshow] floor that the skillsets todo that work properly may not be onthe shop floors yet. In the case ofaluminum body structure repair inparticular, the skillsets are really crit-ical, because it’s not like weldingand repairing steels body structures.”

Richman offered several keypieces of advice for shops as theyprepare to work on more aluminumvehicles. First, he said, automakerrecommended procedures are goingto be more crucial than ever. Carcompanies can choose from a widevariety of aluminum materials, eachwith its own tempers and character-istics, he said. Even knowing the“number” designating a type of alu-minum isn’t enough.

“When you see a number like‘6061,’ what you need to understand isevery manufacturer of 6061 has a dif-ferent formulation – or in fact multipleformulations – that are 6061 materi-als,” he said. “Just because it says‘6061’ doesn't mean it acts like the‘6061` on the next vehicle you see.They are very different. Be certain thatyou consult the OEM recommendedrepair practices for the specific model,because even within a manufacturer,they have varying practices dependingon the specific design or model.”

Dust management is another cru-cial element of aluminum repair, Rich-man said, even aside from the risk ofgalvanic corrosion if aluminum orsteels ‘contaminate’ the other (see side-bar).

“I want to make sure you under-stand that aluminum dust is poten-tially an explosion hazard,” he said. “Ipersonally don’t ever want to hearabout a shop having a fire or explo-sion with aluminum dust. I know thisisn’t news to you, but I want to rein-force it. There’s lots of stories aboutbusinesses that burned to the groundbecause they didn’t manage this.”

Using the automaker-specifiedjoining process is also critical, Rich-man said, given the impact to alu-minum’s strength in the heat-affectedzones around welds. That’s why useof self-piercing rivets and bonding areoften the process-of-choice in themanufacture and repair of aluminumvehicles. Again, following manufac-turer guidelines for rivets and adhe-sives are critical, he said. Use of theincorrect adhesive, for example, maynot ensure the necessary gap for theadhesive is maintained between thepieces being joined, he said.

Schulenburg said the responseSCRS received to its inaugural OEMCollision Repair Technology Summitconvinced him it is an event that willcontinue.

“This does not end here today.This is the beginning of a very longconversation,” Schulenburg said. “Itwill be ongoing. As technology contin-ues to evolves so should the discussion.This is the first of many ‘OEM Colli-sion Repair Technology Summits,’ andwe’re excited to launch this program.”

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon who has been writingabout the collision industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Net-work (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contacthim by email at [email protected].

SCRS OEM Technology Event Includes Plenty of Focus on Aluminum Repair

Separate area, dust extraction crucial foraluminum repair safety, not just qualityMost European automakers call for a separate “clean room” – set offfrom the rest of the shop by brick-and-mortar – for repair of aluminum.Though its requirements for Ford F-150 certification are somewhat lessstringent, Ford requires the repair area be curtained off. A separate dustextraction system for these repair areas is also required.

Most shops recognize the need to prevent steel or aluminum dustfrom contaminating vehicle parts made of the other type of metal. But thedust extraction is also critical to prevent a potentially hazardous build-upof aluminum dust which can be explosive. Sixty-eight people were killedthis past August in such an explosion in a factory in China that polishesaluminum wheel rims.

During a session at the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ “OEMCollision Repair Technology Summit,” in Las Vegas in November, ”MarkAllen of Audi of America noted that aluminum oxide was a key ingredientin the “bunker buster bombs” that the U.S. military used in Afghanistan.

“For a shop to say they can’t afford to designate a certain amount ofsquare footage in a shop for aluminum is not a good statement to make,”agreed General Motors’ Leo Gruzas, who said his company has new alu-minum-intensive vehicles in the pipeline. “Everybody needs to have anarea where they can do that specialized work and to make sure the mate-rials are separated and that everybody stays safe.”


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WD-40 Company and PowerNationpooled their skills and resources to-gether to create a custom, off-roadJeep that debuted at the SEMA Showthat wowed people all over the worldfor four days. This amazing vehiclewill go to one very lucky winner inJune 2015 via a sweepstakes spon-sored by WD-40 and promoted onPowerNation’s TV shows.

The custom 1990 Jeep WranglerYJ, dubbed the WD-40® Specialist®

Xtreme Machine, has an aluminumbody and tube chassis and is equippedwith an LS engine, 42-inch tires andcoilovers throughout. Located as a fea-tured vehicle in the hallway outside ofthe North Hall, this Jeep was getting ahuge response during the en-tire SEMA show, which ispretty impressive when youconsider that all of the world’sbest custom vehicles are al-ways there.

PowerNation, a two-hour block of four automo-tive shows that air on NBCSports Network, SpikeTV,the CBS Sports Network,PowerNationTV.com andthe PowerNationTV app, in-cludes “Xtreme Off-Road,”“Engine Power,” “TruckTech” and “Detroit Mus-cle.” The WD-40 SpecialistXtreme Machine vehiclebuild will be featured ontwo episodes of “Xtreme Off-Road”in January 2015, with a sweepstakesto give away the vehicle running Jan.2 – May 31, 2015.

“TV viewers will get to see thehard work and attention to detail that

went into building the WD-40 Spe-cialist Xtreme Machine before puttingtheir hat into the ring to win it via thesweepstakes,” said Tim Lesmeister,vice president of marketing for WD-40 Company. “The PowerNation teamdid a phenomenal job building some-thing that’s both head-turning andunique, and the guys used a lot of ourtop-of-the-line WD-40 Specialist

products in the process.”Ian Johnson, host of Power-

Nation’s “Xtreme Off-Road,”was on hand to sign auto-graphs at the SEMA Show in-side WD-40 Company’sbooth and discuss the vehiclehe helped to create in con-junction with WD-40. “We’reproud and pleased to be work-ing with a major name likeWD-40,” Johnson said. “TheXtreme Machine is truly ex-treme in many ways and wewent all-in with this vehicle.”

WD-40 Brand Manager ShannonEdwards gave a little perspective onthe history of WD-40’s custom vehi-cles, all of which have appeared atSEMA over the years. “This is nowour seventh vehicle and we’re alwaystrying to make the next one the bestone,” she explained. “The WD-40

Specialist Xtreme Machine that webuilt with PowerNation is an amazingJeep. We wanted an off-road vehiclethis year, so we pitched the people atPowerNation and they said yes. Ianwanted to take a stab at it and it was

obviously a smart decision. Of theseven, five have been for charity; ithas been a great program. We’veraised more than $750,000 for chari-ties raised by auctioning those five ve-hicles.”

This year’s vehicle can be wonthrough a sweepstakes, so that anyonewho signs up can walk away with it,Edwards said. “We did it this way, sothat any pros or Joes out there can takethis thing home, if they’re lucky. Youdon’t have to know anyone and youdon’t have to be rich to own the WD-40 Specialist Xtreme Machine andthat’s why we decided to give it awayvia a sweepstakes.”

Once again this year, young bodytechnicians in training worked on thevehicle to make it as spectacular as itis today. “The students at UTI SanDiego stepped up and did a lot of thework on this vehicle,” Edwards said.“We’re happy that they were able tocontribute, because we want to startthese young people in the right direc-tion in their careers in the collision in-dustry. These projects allow us toeducate and mentor these students asthey get some real-life experiencealong the way.”


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WD-40/PowerNation Jeep Debuts at SEMA 2014

Before it was the WD-40 Specialist Xtreme Machine thatappeared at this year’s SEMA, it was simply a 1990 JeepWrangler YJ

Under the direction of PowerNation’s Ian Johnson andwith some help from the students at UTI San Diego, thisis the amazing finished product

Ian Johnson from PowerNation partneredwith WD-40 on this year’s SEMA vehicle


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The association puts a lot of em-phasis on giving back to the commu-nity as well. Sirianni recalls, “we dida really neat thing one year with thebattered women’s shelter when ourmembers repaired vehicles for theshelter, and we’re also developing aprogram for technicians to use theirskills to give back to their communi-ties. As TIAA grows and expandsthroughout the state, we are trying todetermine what sets us apart, and ourinvolvement with our local communi-ties is definitely one aspect that dif-ferentiates our association from otherassociations and other industries.”

As a non-profit organization ded-icated to promoting the automotive in-dustry and working toward a betterfuture, TIAA members must adhere toa Code of Ethics which reaffirms theircommitment to the best interests ofthe motoring public. It reads: “As amember of the Texas Independent Au-tomotive Association, we will per-form professional and quality work at

a fair price. We pledge to performwarranties quickly and cheerfully. Weconsider it our duty to advise our cus-tomers of any real or potentially dan-gerous condition observed whileservicing their vehicles. We notifycustomers if completion promisescannot be fulfilled. We sincerely ap-preciate your business and look for-ward to serving you on a continuingbasis.”

Looking forward, Space hopesthat TIAA will “be able to identify andbe relevant to the needs of our mem-bers. We hope to stay sensitive towhat’s going on in the industry and toproduce products, services and bene-fits to help our members be success-ful. After all, success is the goal ofanyone who joins an association, sowe want to make sure that we’re help-ing meet those needs.”


TIAA Organizes

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The collision repair industry is seeingmore vehicles with high-strength steel,posing some new challenges for tech-nicians. As OEMs push to meet futureCAFÉ standards, they are looking tonew alternative body materials thatprovide greater strength to meet crashand rollover standards, while also al-lowing them to lighten the vehicle toreach the 54.5 MPG goal for 2025.

High-strength steel (HSS) partspresent a challenge to body shops andbody technicians for a number of rea-sons, including limited use of tradi-tional repair methods for applyingheat, pulling, hammering and section-ing. To create a safe and crashworthyrepair with HSS parts, technicians nowmust use the proper equipment andtools to limit the amount of collateraldamage to the host panel during paneldisassembly and assembly.

Tips from Branden Loesch, 3MAutomotive Aftermarket TechnicalService Engineer:

“If you walk into a shop today,body technicians are likely using oneof two tools to remove spot welds dur-ing disassembly – either a drill or a diegrinder. There are other methods, likean oxyacetylene torch or plasma cut-ter that may have been used in the pastfor this operation, but we have finally

put those dinosaurs to rest with thedrill or die grinder.

“While die grinder or drill bothwork and get the job done, there aresome concerns and negative impactswhen using them. I see many techni-cians drilling to remove welds on vehi-cles today. This is always a challengingprocess because drill bits do not cutwelds efficiently, and it takes a signifi-cant amount of time to remove all of thewelds in a panel using a drill. They alsohave a tendency to damage the hostpanel, either through over-drilling anddrilling into or through the host panel,or by missing a portion of the weld, re-sulting in tearing the panel when sepa-rating with an air chisel.

“This leads to a loss of strength inthe part and also extended repair timesbecause the technician spends a sig-nificant amount of time repairing andstraightening the flange prior to in-stalling a new panel. Drills and drillbits can also send your material coststhrough the roof, especially on high-strength steel panels that require hard-ened drill bits that have a significantlyhigher cost and tend to have a shorterlife span, which requires multiple drillbits per repair.

“If your technicians prefer grind-ing, you must now be concerned with

heat generation and burning of the hostpanel, which could alter its strength.There are also concerns with over-grinding and spark control/protection.To make a long story short, drillingand grinding can get the job done, butthere is a much better way to do it.”

Enter the 3M™ File Belt Sanderand Cubitron™ II file belts. The3M™ File Belt Sander tool wasbrought into the collision market in2013 to help meet the technician’schallenges with spot weld removaland part replacement on today’s vehi-cles, especially those made out ofhigh-strength steel. The 3M™ FileBelt Sander provides improved con-trol and speed, as well as reduced fa-tigue for those technicians who areusing it in place of drills and grinders.Technicians can now cut through spotwelds, and control their depth of cutmuch more accurately so they do notdamage the host panel during weldremoval. The 3M™ File Belt Sanderis a tool that efficiently removes allthe weld material, which significantlyreduces the collateral damage done tothe host panel during weld removal.

The cutting action of the 3M™File Belt Sander used with 3M™ Cu-bitron™ II file belts have significantlyimproved technicians productivity

throughout the process. The precision-shaped grain abrasive technology usedin 3M™ Cubitron™ II file belts slicethrough high-strength steel and re-move welds much more efficientlythan traditional methods. This newCubitron™ II mineral technology al-lows you to cut welds faster, allowingmore welds to be removed with a sin-gle belt.

Using the file belt solution alsoleaves your technicians with renewedenergy, no longer having to use exces-sive force to get a drill bit or grinderto cut through high-strength steel.They simply have to put the belt incontact with the panel and hold it inplace during weld removal, whichleaves technicians with much less fa-tigue at the end of the panel disassem-bly process. The versatility and designof the 3M™ File Belt Sander allowsyour technician to reach welds in dif-ficult areas that historically have takena significant amount of time to re-move. Now your technician can reachand remove these welds by quickly ad-justing the file belt arm.

Steeling Yourself for Changes—New High-Strength Steel Poses Additional Challenges According to 3M™



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The Martin Senour Company unveiled acustom-built and custom-painted 1966Mustang during SEMA featuring theMartin Senour Pro//Base™ AutomotiveRefinish System and restored by ChrisCarlson Hot Rods in Mulvane, Kansas.

The unveiling/press conference ofthe Mustang custom coupe named “GoodKarma,” displayed a paint job featuring acustom Martin Senour color “VelvetRed” (based off the new Rod & Restora-tion Color Deck, color code: PCRS36).

“We were very excited to partnerwith Chris Carlson Hot Rods during thecustom development of this truly mag-nificent Mustang,” said Brandon Devis,Martin Senour Director of Sales. “Theattention to detail and Velvet Red color isbeyond stunning. It is truly a testamentto a vehicle that has become an Ameri-can icon, particularly as it celebrates the50th anniversary of its launch this year.”

Chris Carlson Hot Rods practicallydid a complete custom makeover on thetraditional ‘66 Mustang. “One of mybiggest things is that I’m a true customguy. Normally a Mustang renovation isnot a ‘real custom’ project to us. So in thiscase, we wanted to do a full-body systemwithout losing the nice Mustang look,”according to shop owner, Chris Carlson.

“When it came to the exterior mod-ifications we chopped two inches and

extended and raised quarters one inch; apancake deck lid; a frenched-in ‘68 Ca-maro rear bumper; custom fabricated therear roll pan; custom fabricated wheelopenings and side scoops; extended two

side body lines; shortened the cowl 3.5inches; and molded the complete frontclip together,” said Carlson. “We thenadded a hood scoop, frenched head-lights, custom grille, front bumper cutand tucked, custom fabricated innerfender panels; a custom fabricated fire-wall; and finally, a flush-mount wind-shield and back glass.”

For the paint, Carlson said, “Work-ing with the NAPA and Martin Senourguys was a tremendous experience. Col-lectively we chose to finish the car in a

customized version of Velvet Red,based off the new Martin Senour Rod &Restoration deck. We then gave it a dou-ble dose of reflective crystals; plus, aDark Red flake racing stripe.”

The new Rod & Restora-tion custom color programincludes 200 colors madefrom a series of optically en-hanced automotive paintscontaining special combina-tions of highly reflective ad-ditives.

Depending on the projectand what the end vision of thecar is, the Rod & Restorationcustom color program isavailable in three color cate-gories, including: ExactMatch OE Classic, Barrett-

Jackson Modified Muscle Car and Rod& Custom.

The Mustang coupe is named“Good Karma” in honor of Chris’swife, Karma Carlson (it is, after all,really her car – as promised to her byher husband as far back as just theirsecond date, in 1990). She recalls,“Chris said that someday he’d buildme my Mustang. I rolled my eyes – itwas our second date after all – fastforward 18 years and four kids later...Chris drove me to check out a car. It

was a forest green 1966 MustangCoupe, that we bought in 2008. Iloved it! The kids and I made lots ofmemories in that car and every time itbroke down, Chris would have tocome and fix it.”

“It even broke down mid-paradeand had to be pushed the rest of theway by our car club members. We fi-nally decided to park it in the barn untilwe could do a complete custom over-haul on it,” continues Karma. “Lifehappened and six years passed. Chas-ing out the raccoon family and pullingthat car out of the barn was a momen-tous day! I truly can’t believe this is thesame Mustang that I taught my son todrive in, took my daughter prom dressshopping in and hauled home theworld’s largest pinata for my youngerboys. It took 24 years but Chris camethrough on that promise he made to meon our second date, and it’s gorgeous.I love the Velvet Red color; it’s such abeautiful, deep red.”

For more information about MartinSenour paints visit www.martinsenour-autopaint.com or call 1-800-526-6704.To learn more and share in the ‘GoodKarma’ 1966 Mustang custom build, orto Like Us on Facebook, visit:https://www.facebook.com/MartinSenourAutomotive.

NAPA/Martin Senour Unveil Custom 1966 Mustang at SEMA 2014

Good Karma Mustang unveiled at SEMA

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes donated $170,000 in products tohigh school and post-secondary colli-sion school programs through the Col-lision Repair Education Foundation(CREF). The products included mix-ing guns, orbital sanders, polishingpads, conditioning brushes, and muchmore. Instructors around the greaterChicago land area were invited to visitthe Sherwin-Williams training facilityin Burr Ridge, IL and select from 16pallets of products, which will assistcollision instructors in teaching propercollision repair with up-to-date mate-rials.

“Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes is proud to be working withthe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation to make a difference in our in-dustry by supporting secondary andpost-secondary schools whose stu-dents are currently looking to enterinto the collision industry and make ittheir career,” said Rod Habel, Sher-win-Williams Automotive Finishes’sDirector of Training Operations.

“Thank you to Sherwin-Williamsfor allowing our school to receive somuch of their paint supplies. I knowthat running a collision program canbe a demanding job with all of thebudget restrictions and red tape, justto get a few items at our school, but I

must say Sherwin-Williams has comethrough for us,” said Kenny McMil-lian, Collision Instructor at KennedyKing College in Chicago.

“We had a paint class that hadstarted and for some strange reason thepaint supplies that we needed to teachthe class never got ordered. I startedpanicking and didn’t know how I wasgoing to teach the class with no sup-plies, which was maxed out in the en-rollment. Sherwin-Williams steppedup to the plate and donated the supplieswe needed to teach the class. I am sograteful to the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation and Sherwin-Williamsfor helping to support the collisiontechnical schools.”

CREF Director of DevelopmentBrandon Eckenrode noted, “Sherwin-Williams comes through for collisionschools and instructors each and everyyear through product donations and in-structor training. These types of dona-tions are vital for instructors who havethe expectation of providing highlyskilled entry-level students but facesmaller and smaller program budgets.”

Industry members interested inhelping high school and/or collegecollision school programs throughCREF, should contact Brandon Eck-enrode at [email protected] or 847-463-5244.

Sherwin-Williams Donates $170,000 in Products to CREF


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Auto Care Association Releases 2014 DigitalCollision Repair Trends Report

Acura TLX Earns Top Safety Pick+ AwardThe 2015 Acura TLX, a new midsizeluxury sedan, earnd the Top SafetyPick+ award for acceptable perform-ance in the Insurance Institute forHighway Safety’s (IIHS) small over-lap front test, good ratings in four othercrashworthiness evaluations and a su-perior rating for front crash prevention.

In the small overlap test, thedriver space was maintained reason-ably well, with maximum intrusionof about seven inches at the lowerhinge pillar. The dummy’s movementwas well controlled. Its head hit thefront airbag and stayed there until re-bound. The side curtain airbag alsodeployed and provided sufficientcoverage to protect the head from in-truding side structure and outside ob-jects. Measures from the dummysensors indicated that injuries to theleft lower leg would be possible, butthe risk of other injuries in a crash ofthis severity was low.

Introduced by IIHS in 2012, thesmall overlap test is more challengingthan either the head-on crashes con-ducted by the government or the Insti-tute’s moderate overlap test. In the test,25 percent of a vehicle’s front end onthe driver side strikes a rigid barrier at40 mph. The crash replicates whathappens when the front corner of a ve-

hicle collides with another vehicle oran object such as a tree or a utility pole.

The TLX replaces the TL and theTSX in Acura’s lineup. The new cardoes better in the small overlap testthan the TSX, which earned a mar-ginal rating, but not as well as the TL,which earned the top rating of good.

Neither predecessor vehicle hadavailable front crash prevention. TheTLX has two front crash preventionoptions, a warning-only system thatqualifies for a basic rating and anotherthat includes both the warning featureand automatic braking. In track testsof the autobrake feature, the caravoided the target in four out of fiveruns at 12 mph and in all five runs at25 mph, earning a superior rating.

The TLX earns good ratings inthe institute’s long-standing moderateoverlap front, side, roof strength andhead restraint tests. Good ratings inthese tests, a good or acceptable ratingin the small overlap test, and a frontcrash prevention rating of basic orhigher are the requirements for the in-stitute’s highest award for 2014, TopSafety Pick+. The TLX is the seventhvehicle from Honda/Acura to earn theaward. Another three, including theTL, earned Top Safety Pick, whichdoesn’t require front crash prevention.

The Auto Care Association has re-leased the 2014 Digital CollisionRepair Trends report, an online70-page analysis of data compiledfrom primary Auto Care Associa-tion research, federal governmentand independent research datasources. The report highlights thesize and scope of the U.S. colli-sion industry, including the paint,body and equipment (PBE) seg-ment, with a brief analysis of theCanadian collision industry. Italso includes analyses of factorsinfluencing the collision industry,automotive collision insurancecoverage and the Direct RepairProgram (DRP).

According to this year’s re-port, collision repair-related salesby industry repair shops droppedslightly (0.2 percent) in 2013 to$40.1 billion from $40.2 billion in2012. Despite the drop in sales,the industry, since 2009, has man-aged a sustained growth at an an-nual rate of 2.2 percent, with mostof the growth coming from thehigh-priced post-collision repairparts.Powered by Nxtbook MediaLLC™, this digital publication re-

tains both the traditional designand high-quality content of AutoCare Association reports. This on-line production provides addedvalue with many new functionalenhancements.

Users can:● Download Excel-based files,charts, tables and graphs that can becopied and pasted for presentations.● Turn pages with the click of amouse.● View pages in a variety of sizesand formats.● Quickly locate what you are look-ing for through a “word search” fea-ture.● Save material for future referencethrough the “bookmarks” feature.● Print the entire publication.

Copies of the new 2014 DigitalCollision Repair Trends report arenow available at $125 for Auto CareAssociation members and $250 fornon-members. The report can be or-dered by calling member services at301-654-6664 or email [email protected]. About the Auto Care Asso-ciation.

ACD, a national company that fo-cuses in claims management, advi-sory, audit and technology solutionsto the property and casualty industry,announced the release of CollisionSelect to its auto claims workflowmanagement platform, AutoLink™.

Collision Select is an enhancedfeature within AutoLink™, whichallows insurers to dispatch an as-signment to any collision repair fa-cility a vehicle owner chooses.Through ACD’s integrated responsetechnology, the company said a re-pairer can quickly respond with re-quired information eliminating theneed to login to any system. Colli-sion Select accepts any estimatingsoftware and can log digital imagery,video and all file types.

“I’m very excited that we haveadded Collision Select to our Au-toLink™ workflow technology. Ourmission is provide every avenue ofinspection for our clients whether itbe Self(ie) Service™, a traditionalappraisal or documentation from arepair facility,” said Ernie Bray,CEO of ACD. “Our goal is to pro-vide a seamless solution that meetsthe needs of our clients and increasescustomer satisfaction.”

ACD Adds Collision Selectto AutoLink™ Software

Auto repairers often must go to mul-tiple websites, place phone calls orsend faxes to track down and pur-chase the parts needed to completequality repairs. CCC InformationServices recently introduced PartsShopping, a new CCC ONE® Touchfeature that offers repairers the abil-ity to buy parts during the estimat-ing process.

“The introduction of the CCCTRUETM Parts Network in 2013and the parts quoting and procure-ment functionality are key mile-stones in our strategy,’ said JosephAllen, GM of CCC’s AutomotiveServices Group. “The announce-ment extends our efforts, making itpossible for repairers to access livepricing and to buy parts during theestimating process, where criticalbuying decisions are made.”

The Parts Shopping feature isavailable to users of CCC ONETouch at no additional charge. Userscan search for parts, view live pric-ing, add items to their shopping cartand purchase selected items. It is alsoconfigurable by the user, so uniqueterms and parts pricing that may bepre-negotiated with suppliers are au-tomatically reflected for each item.

CCC’s Parts Shoppingthrough CCC ONE® Touch


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Mitchell, a leading provider of technol-ogy, connectivity and information solu-tions to the Property & Casualty (P&C)claims and Collision Repair industries,announced on Nov. 5 the availability ofits Industry Trends Report (ITR) for thefourth quarter of 2014.

The report compares year-over-year data to analyze the key areas ofgrowth within the industry and helpP&C insurers, bill reviewers, payersand auto body repair shops make bet-ter business decisions.

The ITR is delivered in two edi-tions to address timely concerns forthe auto physical damage and casualtyindustries.

In the Auto Physical Damage edi-tion, vehicle repair speed remains ahot-button industry topic becauseturnaround time is a priority for allparties involved. Within that process,bumper covers are the most com-monly damaged part and the first pointwhere an appraiser exercises judgmentto repair or replace.

In the report, Greg Horn, VicePresident of Industry Relations atMitchell, analyzes the labor hours de-voted to repair a bumper and whethertime varies by the make of the vehicleor if bumper price impacts repair time.

According to Horn, the industry“should be devoting more hours to

bumper cover repair because it is ademonstrable win-win-win for theshop, the insurer and the vehicleowner. But the repair must be a qual-ity, durable repair. It also suggests thatwhether you are an appraiser or colli-sion technician, you need to keep upwith the latest repair products and ma-terials. When was the last time youlooked?”

In addition to this trends analysis,readers will find the latest data on av-erage rental car time and used vehiclemarket conditions.

Mitchell offered a webinar, Indus-try Trends Live, on the Auto PhysicalDamage edition of the report. During

the webinar, Horn provided a deeperlook into the trends, information andstudies highlighted in this quarter’s ITRon Wednesday, November 12.

First published in April 2001,Mitchell’s ITR now reaches more than33,000 collision and casualty industryprofessionals and provides visibilityinto data-driven trends in the P&Cmarket. The complete report is avail-able at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.

For further collision repair andproperty casualty industry updates andperspectives, follow Mitchell on Twit-ter @MitchellClaims and @Mitchell-Repair.

Mitchell Fourth Quarter 2014 Industry Trends Report Provides Insights for 2015

Southwestern December 2014 Issue

Documents

Transcript of Southwestern December 2014 Issue