BodyShop Business

Three-Stage Paints » Heavy-Duty Repair » Compressor Technology

The CSISecretThe key to achieving a high CSI scoreis to manage the customer experience.

February 2013//Vol. 32 No. 2 www.bodyshopbusiness.com

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InsideFebruaryFebruary 2013 Vol. 32 No. 2

BODYSHOP BUSINESS (ISSN 0730-7241)(February 2013, Volume 32, Number 2): Publishedmonthly by Babcox Media, Inc., 3550 EmbassyParkway, Akron, OH 44333 U.S.A. Phone (330)670-1234, FAX (330) 670-0874. Copyright 2013Babcox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Periodicalpostage paid at Akron, OH 44333 and additionalmailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to BODYSHOP BUSINESS, P.O. Box13260, Akron, OH 44334-3912.

Member, BPA Worldwide

Guess the Car ....................................................................................4Technology Focus ............................................................................18NASCAR Performance ......................................................................22Industry Update ..............................................................................36Product Showcase............................................................................72The Shop ......................................................................................76

The Secret to Great CSIThe secret to achieving excellent CSI is managing the customerexperience.

ON THE COVER

24

38

44

68

1014

FEATURESTECHNICAL

Mastering Three-Stage Paints and PearlsDon’t be afraid...there is a secret and a method of matchingthat works every time and will eliminate comebacks.

PROFIT CENTER

Heavy DutyViews and observations from the heavy-duty truck repair sideof the collision business.

SHOP TALK

Editor’s NotesThe repair standards issue is more complex than it seems.

Publisher’s PerspectiveTelematics is here...are you prepared?

Clark’s CornerIt’s all physics when it comes to compressed air.

Web Presence ManagementTargeting page one on Google with pay-per-click advertising.

DEPARTMENTS

Guessthe Car

4 February 2013 | BodyShop BusinessCircle 4 for Reader Service

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phone number. Or submit your guess with our online contest form

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Chris South, manager, Dingman’s

Collision Center, Omaha, Neb.

Trail-blazer = (Chevy) Trailblazer#119

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That’s how the Repair StandardsAdvisory Committee panel discus-sion started out, with one memberof the audience reminding the restof the room that the Society of Col-lision Repair Specialists, the Auto-motive Service Association and theAlliance of Automotive ServiceProviders had all come together inlate 2011 to jointly declare that OErepair recommendations should bethe standard.

But then the issue of “gaps” wasbrought up – that there isn’t an OErecommended procedure for

everything. And then arepresentative from

the aftermarketcame to themicrophone andadvised repair-ers to not disre-gard alternatives

out there.

And then you have the insurersthat outwardly declare they wantsafe repairs, but many repairers call-ing bull on that, believing that theywant the cheapest repair. A repairerrecently told me he is seeing thisfirsthand by the shop ranked at thetop of one insurer’s preferred list,claiming this shop is known aroundtown for doing the shoddiest work.If this is indeed true, it makes insur-ers look like they’re talking out ofboth sides of their mouth.

It was agreed upon during thediscussion that it’s up to repairers toaddress these gaps in OE repair pro-cedures. One shop wrote Mercedesto ask its opinion on a repair solu-tion it had come up with for lack ofany the OE had issued. But this wasa highly reputable shop...how manyshops are actually going to take thetime to do this?

One OE at the meeting pleadedwith repairers, asking, “What doyou want?” He was implying thathe was willing and able to deliverwhatever they want – they just

have to tell him what that is.One thing is for certain: norepairer should be touching

cars today without referringto OE information.

Editor’sNotes Publisher

S. Scott Shriber, ext. 229 [email protected]

EditorJason Stahl, ext. 226 [email protected]

Associate EditorGina Kuzmick, ext. 244 [email protected]

Contributing EditorsCharlie Barone, Mitch Becker,Mark Clark, Mark Claypool,Erica Eversman, Tom Ferry,Curt Harler, Hank Nunn

Graphic DesignerLisa DiPaolo, ext. [email protected]

Advertising ServicesKelly McAleese, ext. [email protected]

Director of CirculationPat Robinson, ext. [email protected]

Director of eMedia & Audience DevelopmentBrad Mitchell, ext. [email protected]

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Tel: (330) 670-1234Fax: (330) 670-0874Website: bodyshopbusiness.com

Corporate

Bill Babcox, PresidentGregory Cira, Vice President,

Chief Financial OfficerJeff Stankard, Vice PresidentBeth Scheetz, Controller

A limited number of complimentary subscrip-tions are available to those who qualify. Call(330) 670-1234, ext. 288, or fax us at (330) 670-5335. Paid subscriptions are available for non-qualified subscribers at: U.S.: $69 for one year.Canada/Mexico: $89 for one year. Canadian ratesinclude GST. Ohio residents add current countysales tax. Other foreign rates/via air mail: $129for one year. Payable in advance in U.S. funds.Mail payment to BodyShop Business, P.O. Box75692, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755. VISA, MasterCard or American Express accepted.

Irecently attended the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in PalmSprings, Calif., and once again, I was reminded that the topic ofrepair standards is more complicated than just “follow the OE repairrecommendations.”

Standard Fare?

Jason Stahl, Editor

Email comments to [email protected]

What Just Happened?

Well, guess what? In that short period oftime, it has arrived and is in place. Insur-ance companies are using it to evaluate ourdriving habits, OEs are using it to commu-nicate with our vehicles, and repair facili-ties are using it to retain customers. I’m not

writing to say I told you so, butrather as a heads-up that things

are changing at an unbeliev-able rate.

Just this week, I saw apress release from the Con-sumer Electronics Show abouta driverless car. Yes, you readthat correctly. A driverless car!In case we’ve all forgotten,

most accidents are caused bydriver error. Take away the

driver and guesswhat you get?

Fewer crashes.This is bothgood and bad:

less work, but bigger, more intense repairswhen crashes do occur.

I bring this up to further prove that weneed to be training and ready to change.We used to be able to say that we couldleave that to the next generation of repair-ers, but not today. The average body shopowner is 56 years old, and most of us willbe working for another 10 years. Thinkabout how much new stuff can come downthe pike in that time. We have to stay on itor we’ll get left behind.

We’re lucky in that we have I-CAR, ASE,ASA, SCRS and many other partners tohelp us on our journey. The importantthing is to buy into being part of the jour-ney rather than staying on the sidelines andwatching it happen. We at BodyShop Business will be here to provide you withall the information and new technology asit comes to market.

Stay tuned. It will be a heck of a ride –even if no one is driving!

Publisher’sPerspective

S. Scott Shriber, Publisher

Email comments to [email protected]

It seems like just a few months ago, I wrote about a thing called telematics. If you re-member, I tried to convince you that it was coming and that we should not ignore itbecause it would be here before we knew it. Sound familiar? With all the other thingsyou have to think about in your work and personal life, I’m guessing you’ve probably

long since forgotten it.

Like so many other things in our busi-ness, the rules and constraints oncompressing air from atmosphericpressure (14.7 pounds per square

inch) up to 175 PSI are governed by physics.The math formulas to calculate petroleum

solvent evaporation speed, metal bendingforce, the volume of air exhausted from aspraybooth cabin, spray gun patternand atomization, and the effect ofheat on clearcoats can all beexplained by physics.

A Numbers Game » Iwish I had paid moreattention in physics class.Who knew that thosearcane formulas wouldhave so much to do withauto body repair?

The volume of air that a com-pressor can produce is a function ofthe bore of the cylinder(s) and the stroke ofthe piston(s) multiplied by the revolutionsper minute of the pump. There are no differ-ences in CFM volume calculations for theamount of displaced air; it’s straightforwardmultiplication for every brand. Air compres-sor pump design determines the amount ofdelivered air.

The manufacturer’s ultimate goal is themost efficient discharge of high pressure airwith the least restrictions possible. The ratio ofdisplaced to delivered air from any compres-sor pump is called the efficiency rating. High-er numbers are the mark of better physics.

Rule of Thumb » Sometimes you can cap-ture whichever physics laws are in play witha “rule-of-thumb (ROT),” or a simple way toremember the issue. Here are two ROTs aboutair compressors: for every one (1) horsepower

in the electric motor that drives the pump, thecompressor will produce about four (4) cubicfeet of air. By that quick math, a 5-hpcompressor has about 20 CFM of compressedair, and a 15-hp electric motor will generateabout 60 CFM. But remember, it doesn’t reallymatter what it says on any electric motorabout horsepower. What matters is how

much air the pump delivers at a sustain-able RPM. As air pressure goes up,

air volume goes down. At 40 PSI,the pump will produce a greater

volume of air than at 80 PSI. Let me illustrate my sec-

ond air compressor ROTwith a story about the reallyhot and humid summer of

1977 in Iowa. I had customers chasing heat-

related paint problems every day.The GM shops, using acrylic lac-

quer, were watching their paint workturn white and their primers solvent pop andevery metallic color come up too light. TheFord and Chrysler shops couldn’t keep theiracrylic enamel repairs wet enough, and every-one was fighting water blisters. Water blewout of many shop air hoses like they werefaucets. It was certainly too hot to paint cars,but maintaining steady production outputwas important even back in those stone-agedays of yore. Painting everything at nightworked for some shops, but the warm sum-mer nights and brightly lit paint booths oftenput a lot of flying insects in the paint work.

Playing Detective » Of all my customers, Ihad one shop that consistently had the fewestpaint problems. I decided to be SherlockHolmes and discover why this shop was hav-ing more success than others.

I first noticed that things were different in

10 February 2013 | BodyShop Business

Clark’sCorner By Mark Clark

Compressed Air: It’s All Physics

the compressor room. Most of mycustomers had their compressorsstashed away in a dusty corner ofthe shop in a tiny room, often withinsulation on the walls to keep thenoise down – a toasty-hot environ-ment. This guy had the same littleroom but had fastened 4-by-8 ply-wood panels on a top-edge hinge toswing up, exposing three sides ofscreened, porch-sized windows tothe outside. He had a homemadewooden box fan with big aluminumblades and an open belt electric mo-tor blowing full tilt at the compres-sor pumps, where he had alsoremoved the belt guards to facilitatethe flywheels acting as fans too.*“Don’t take the belt guard off giantwhirling metal pulleys,” said the three-fingered tech to the four-fingered tech.

More physics: water takes threeforms, depending on temperature:solid, liquid or gas. Hot air holdsmore moisture than cooler air. The

second ROT is the 20-Degree Rule:for every 20 degrees Fahrenheit youlower the compressed air tempera-ture, one-half the moisture will cooland condense immediately to liquid.Trapping liquid water out of com-pressed air is easy; any impact typetrap will catch 90 percent or more ofthe moisture that’s liquid. It trapsnone of the moisture that’s still heat-ed vapor, leaving that water to con-dense down the line. When it’ssprayed on the hot metal by the cool-ing spray gun, it gets trapped insideyour color coats.

This shop owner was doing every-thing he could to lower his compres-sors’ operating temperature. Andevery degree he could cool that 190-degree Fahrenheit air down made itthat much easier to catch the waterbefore it ruined the paint work.

They were draining the moisturetraps multiple times each day at theend of every overhead airline run.

On some of the hottest afternoons,they were bleeding the traps everyhour. Never one to miss a sales op-portunity, I sold them a shop full offloating-bowl automatic traps thatflushed themselves.

Read the Spec Sheets » Myadvice is to read the spec sheets. Askthe vendors why one model has ahigher, lower, more desirable num-ber than the competitor’s version.Most of those objective product cal-culations and specifications are justthe math of physics. BSB

Mark R. Clark is theowner of ProfessionalPBE Systems in Wa-terloo, Iowa; he is awell-known industryspeaker and consult-ant. He is celebratinghis 25th year as a con-

tributing editor to BodyShop Business.

»| Clark’s Corner |«


Web PresenceManagement

Targeting Google’s Page One

As has been revealed in my previouscolumns, having your website showup on page one of an Internet searchis crucial. Being in position No. 1, or-

ganically, is coveted. By “organically,” wemean the actual ranking the site earns when aperson searches using certain words (knownas the “search query”). According to new re-search from Compete.com, the top five organ-ic search results get the following percentagesof clicks:

Position #1: 53%Position #2: 15%Position #3: 9%Position #4: 6%Position #5: 4%Very few people venture much beyond the

first page of a search, which is usually the topten positions. Do you? Only 0.7 percent ofpeople click on position No. 11 in a search;that’s the top of page two. Only 0.3 percent ofpeople click on position No. 21 (top of pagethree), 0.1 percent click on position 31 (top ofpage four) and 0.05 percent click on position41 (top of page five). Yikes!

This says that page one positioning in asearch is crucial to your website’s visibilityunder the search terms people use to find theservices you provide. That’s what search en-gine optimization (SEO) is all about. Rankingon page one may be easy in a small town, butit can be extremely difficult in major markets.

Promises, Promises » No developer canethically promise you page one positioningor position one, but many do. That’s beyondanyone’s control. If someone tells you that,show them the door or hang up on them.SEO specialists such as Optima Automotivehave a track record of achieving muchimproved rankings, and many page one or

By Mark Claypool


Paid Listings: Where Consumers Click on Google

TopListing

SideListing

BottomListing

Position

123

1234

12

59%15%

9%

4%3%

2%1%

1%1%

even position one rankings, but you’ll neverhear them make promises like that. So whatcan you do about this?

There is one way that you can be assured ofbeing on page one: “pay-per-click” advertis-ing, or “search engine marketing.” Google (67percent of search engine market share), Bingand Yahoo (28.5 percent of market share col-lectively, since Microsoft controls both) eachcan offer you the opportunity to spend moneyto buy a position on page one. Your listing,with your shop name, Web address and adcopy, will show up either on the top, on theside or at the bottom of page one, dependingon how much you wish to spend.

The costs vary greatly based on the size andcompetitiveness of your market, so I won’tquote any prices here. To find out, go to thefollowing links, purchase keywords andphrases, and test them out:

Google: http://www.google.com/ads/adwords

Yahoo: http://advertising.yahoo.com/Bing: http://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/

en-us/reachyournextcustomerHere are the keywords and phrases you’re

going to want to bid on for sure: “auto body”;

“autobody”; “autobody shop”; “bodyshop”; “auto bodyrepair”; “autobody re-pair”; and “collision repair.”Also, “collision repair shop”plus the following: the name ofyour town followed by the two-letter abbreviation for yourstate, no comma, and the namesof each of your surroundingtowns that you drawwork from, fol-lowed again bythe state abbrevia-tion. You may alsowant to purchase thosekeywords and add your ZIP code.

There are many more, but this getsyou off to a great start. You can setyour monthly budget at whateveryou want and get reports on the traf-fic these ads generate for you.

Top or Bottom? » You will alsohave to choose which section of pageone you want your ad to appear in.The top, of course, is much moreexpensive. Why? Because that’s whatpeople see first. The side ads are nextbest, and, as you might expect, thebottom is the least desirable andtherefore least expensive. I wouldn’tbother with the bottom, but it won’tcost you much to try it.

In addition to the placement ofyour sponsored listing, you can paymore to be in a higher paid position.As you can see from our graph, 59percent of consumers who pay at-tention to sponsored listings clickon the first paid listing at the top ofthe page. That drops all the waydown to 15 percent for the secondpaid listing.

Think carefully about the contentyou put in these ads. When writingthe ad, consider that it needs to becompelling enough for someone toclick on it.

Landing Page » If you choose to godown the pay-per-click path, youshould have these “clicks” take thevisitor to a special “landing page.”

You’ve spent money to get that click,so give them something special.Something like, “Print this couponand bring it in for a free…”, or “Men-tion this ad when you come in for anestimate. If we earn your business,we’ll give you a free gas card worth$XX…” Give them a reason beyondthe normal to bring their car to you.Highlight your well-managed socialmedia accounts, too, and give themthe opportunity to “Like,” “Follow”or “+1” you. BSB

BSB Contributing Ed-itor Mark Claypool hasmore than 30 years ofexperience in the fieldsof workforce develop-ment, business/educa-tion partnerships,apprenticeships and

Web presence management. He is the CEOof Optima Automotive (www.optimaau-tomotive.com), which provides website de-sign, development, SEO services and socialmedia management services. Claypool’swork history includes stints at Metro PaintSupplies, VeriFacts Automotive, the Na-tional Auto Body Council (NABC), the I-CAR Education Foundation and Skills-USA. He is the founder of Mentors AtWork and co-founder of the Collision In-dustry Foundation. He served, on a vol-unteer basis, as the SkillsUSA World TeamLeader for the WorldSkills Championshipsfrom 2003 to 2011.

»|Web Presence |«


Side page paid listings

13%

Top page paid listings

85%

Bottom page paid listings

2%

Rolling ProfileThe Campbell Hausfeld CS Series air compressorsuse a rotary screw air end featuring rollingprofile technology that delivers ultimate effi-ciency, low operating noise and a long life cycle.This compact unit combines the main parts of arotary screw air system into a reliable, integratedsystem. The integrated components include:oil-injected air end, oil reservoir and oil reser-voir system, oil filter and oil thermo valve.This design reduces piping and connection tominimize leakage. Service and maintenanceis simplified as all components are easily ac-cessible from one side without special tools.

TechnologyFocusAir Compressors


Scrolling AlongANEST IWATA Air Engineering Inc.’s

new line of Oil-Less Reciprocatingand Oil-Less Scroll air compressorsis a smaller line (less than 20 hp/lessthan 60 CFM at 120 psi) that providesclean, oil-free air for premium sprayapplications. While the pump hasmostly been used in medical applica-

tions, ANEST IWATA says its quiet, durabledesign has been popular with body shops. ANEST

IWATA was the first in the world to develop an air-cooled scroll compressor, and its patented tip-seals make its

pump maintenance-free for 10,000 running hours.

sors on the market that providescustomers peace of mind that theircompressed air investment will notfail catastrophically. The SEG’s easy-to-use digital controller also pro-vides advanced features such assequencing, pressure status/changeand electronic maintenance indica-tors that all help ensure efficientand reliable life.

Prevent Short CyclingA common problem with smallrotary screw compressors isshort-cycling due to incorrectlysized applications. The AIMSController featured on FS-Curtis’SEG 5- to 15-hp units incorpo-rates technology that preventsthe compressor from short-cycling. This makes the SEGSeries one of the only compres-

Mobile AppAtlas CopcoCompressors’Elektronikon appis directly linkedto the controllersin Atlas Copco’scompressors and

dryers. Userscan monitortheir installa-

tion anywhere, any timeon their smartphones or tablet com-puters – whether they’re iOS (Apple)or Android-operated mobile devices.The new app has been releasedalong with the new GA 30 to 90(and VSD) oil-injected screw com-pressor and allows for real-timedata monitoring, including systemstatus, running hours, analog inputsand running/stopped status. Pre-viously, compressor operators couldmonitor their installations’ perform-ance over an intranet thanks to theElektronikon Mk 5 controller. Cus-tomers with an existing Atlas Copco compressor with a Mk5 Elek-tronikon can use the app after up-dating their software.

Precise ApplicationsPrecision applications like auto paintingrequire an absolutely clean, dry airdryer properly sized to your air com-pressor. Quincy’s QRHT Series TotalAir System High Temperature Dryersintegrate five different componentsthat perform separate functions: anair-cooled after cooler, refrigerated dryer, moisture separa -tor, zero loss drain and coalescing filter. These five com-ponents work in harmony to ensure clean, dry, filteredcompressed air. They also feature a 180-degree F inlettemperature and eliminate water, oil and dirt from air;prevent damage to pneumatic tools; yield fewer finishedproduct defects; prevent “fisheye” paint splotches; reduceoperational downtime; and eliminate air line purging.

Microprocessor ControlSullivan-Palatek features the “T1” microprocessor on all Variable FrequencyDrive (VFD) compressed air packages. The T1 has a customer-friendly display

with expanded descriptions of all the operating controls. It has RS485communication between the T1 and the VFD and displays all pertinentVFD power consumption data at the T1 screen. The T1 will control yourspecific compressed air needs as the system requires, and will conserve

your power when compressed air need is reduced.

Advanced DesignFamily-owned and operated Mattei says its rotary vanecompressor technology is the most unique and advanced

of its kind. The company says its “robust” design warrantsa 10-year warranty and allows compressors to last two to

three times longer than screw compressors. There are nobearings to wear out and no screws to lock up. It’s direct driven,

which means there are no belts, sheaves or gears. It turns at lessthan 1750 rpm, and emits as low as 67 dB(A) of noise with or without

a cabinet. It’s also designed for maximum efficiency, putting more airout with less energy in.

»|Technology Focus |«


Optimum ControlKaeser Compressors’ new generationof compressor control – the SigmaControl 2 – offers the following:

� Energy efficiency through mul-tiple control methods (dual, quadro,vario, etc.)

� Built-in lead-lag programmingfor systems with two compressors

� Maintenance reminders to helpkeep the unit running reliably andefficiently

� Monitors internal temperaturesand pressures and provides alerts ofpossible shutdown conditions

� Shuts the machine down safelybefore damage is done

� Stores alarm and operating infoto aid in troubleshooting

� RFID key prevents tampering orservice by unqualified technicians

� Greater communications capabilitiesfor remote monitoring and control

New LocationsDV Systems’ HuronB10 AirSystem is a10-hp variable-speeddrive, single-phase,rotary screw com-pressor that operatesat a maximum of 55amps and delivers 37 SCFMof compressed air at 145 psi. The single-phase designfeatures an extremely low maximum amp draw, en-abling installation in locations where the use of 10-hp air compressors was previously uneconomicalor impossible.

Track Talk

Excitement is building forNASCAR fans and competitorsalike for the start of the 2013NASCAR Sprint Cup Series sea-son – and in particular, thedebut of the new Sixth-Generation Car.

“The car has really awesomepotential,” commented DaleEarnhardt Jr. during a test ses-sion last month.

Indeed, the developmentand design of the latestNASCAR Sprint Cup Seriesracecar continues a robust tra-dition of styling that dates backto the earliest days of the sport.Fans will instantaneouslynotice the differences in thebrand individuality of eachGen-6 car.

“You’ll stand there and seeFords and Toyotas andChevrolets driving by,” con-tinued Earnhardt Jr. “It’sgreat because everythinglooks different, everything isinstantly recognizable.”

Optimism is high in theNASCAR garage surround-ing the new racecar’s look,innovative technology andon-track performance.

“This car is the perfectexample of technologyhelping our sport,” saidEarnhardt Jr.’s crew chiefSteve Letarte. “I think wenow have three makesout here that my littleboy at nine-years old can tell the differencebetween. If you’re intoracing, you want to watchcool cars go around thetrack. I think the simple

fact is in 2013 we have cool-er cars.”

While NASCAR’s Car ofTomorrow served its purpose ofproviding a safer car for driversover the last several years, fanscalled for more exciting, side-by-side racing. Manufacturersneeded to return to a stockoption with deeper characterlines and brand identity. Andcompetitors desired a modelthat would not only even theplaying field, but produce agood show.

Over the last two years,NASCAR and its partners haveworked diligently to satisfythose needs.

“The car is a really good-looking car,” said veteran driverJeff Burton. “A lot of effort hasgone into making these cars sothat we will have better races.I’m really excited about thatbecause I think, at the end of theday, that is the cornerstone ofthis sport. It’s an exciting day atthe race track whether you are

watching iton TV orwatching itat the track.”

F r o mbrand iden-tity to whereto see drivern a m e s ,here's thel o w d o w non the fivethings everyrace fans h o u l dknow about the Gen-6 car:

1. Brand Identity: Gen-6cars more closely resemblethose found on the showroomfloor, with eye-catching body-lines and stylish features givingeach model its distinctiveappearance.

2. Safety Enhancements:Additions of forward roof barand center roof support bar tothe roll cage reinforce integrityand increase the crush structureof the roof. Larger roof flapsimprove liftoff numbers anddecrease the likelihood of thecar becoming airborne.

3. Slim and Trim: The totalweight of the car has beenreduced by 160 lbs. (100 lesson right side; 60 lbs. on left).The minimum weight of thedriver has also decreasedfrom 200 to 180 lbs.

4. Stamp of Approval: Withthe exception of the carbonfiber rear deck lid, all body pan-els are now produced by themanufacturer and individuallystamped for verification.

5. Your Name Here: Drivernames will be featured on theupper portion of the wind-shield; sponsor decals and car

numbers have beenremoved from headlight andtaillight areas and nowappear on front and rearbumpers; also, a single spon-sor logo will be permitted onthe roof of the cars.

The Gen-6 car will debutat The Sprint Unlimited(Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. on FOX,MRN Radio and SiriusXM),followed by the 55th run-ning of the Daytona 500(Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. on FOX,MRN Radio, SiriusXM). Visitwww.daytonainternational-speedway.com for tickets.

All Eyes on New Gen-6 Car forNASCAR Sprint Cup in Daytona

The next generation of NASCAR racecars continues a robust tradition of styling

that dates back to the earliest days of the sport. Fans will instantaneously notice

the differences in the brand individuality of each Gen-6 car.

The new Sprint Cup cars look more like their road-going

counterparts yet retain the safety features NASCAR has

developed over the past few years.

Follow NASCAR Performance on Twitter and Facebookwww.twitter.com/NASCARauto ■ www.facebook.com/NASCARPerformance

By Hank Nunn

You’ve just completed the extensive repair of a customer’s “highend” European sedan. Your team has done a great job reconstructingthis heavily damaged, complex vehicle. You have every right to beproud. The customer inspected the repair, accepted the vehicle and

drove away with a smile!Two days later, the Customer Service Index (CSI) evaluation arrives.

The customer only gave you a 7 on the quality score! That car was perfect!They really burned you on customer service, saying the repair took longerthan promised and only giving you a 5 when asked if they would refer familyor friends to your shop.

“The idiots!” you scream. “They don’t understand! We had to wait forinsurance re-inspections, fight for repair processes, and the parts on those Eurocars can take weeks!” You ball up the CSI evaluation, toss it in the trash andwonder why customers don’t appreciate or understand what you do. YourCSI takes another hit. Get ready for another call from the DRP coordinator!

rience. Remember, customer satisfac-tion happens in the customer’s head,not yours.

Your collision center’s level of cus-tomer satisfaction is critical to futuresuccess. Many in the industry under-stand the importance of customer sat-isfaction and utilize third-party vendorsto measure their CSI. CSI is a Key Per-formance Indicator (KPI), telling your

COVER STORY

The SecrettoGreat CSI

Many body shop owners consider it cheatingto micromanage the customer’s experience in

order to boost CSI scores. But don’t look atit that way – look at it as improving yourcustomer service and retention.

You’re Not Alone » Don’t feelalone, this has happened to all ofus. That’s why we need to under-stand and manage CSI. Yes, youheard me: manage CSI. Customersatisfaction surveys measure thecustomer’s perception of theirexperience with your company.To manage your CSI, you mustmanage the customer’s expe-

24 February 2013

shop’s management what’s being doneright and wrong from the customer’sperspective. Like any KPI, CSI can bemeasured and even managed.

There was a time when we didn’tsee the need to measure customer sat-isfaction. “Hey, I know they’re happy,they keep coming back!” was a com-ment frequently heard. But today’scollision repairers operate in a signif-icantly different environment. Tellingcustomers, vendors, insurers and otherreferral sources that you have happycustomers is no longer enough – youhave to prove it.

CSI Providers » There are severalCSI providers working in the collisionindustry. While there are differences,they all provide independent third-party samples of customer perceptionof quality, professionalism, on-timedelivery and other factors contributingto their experience of dealing with acollision repair center. CSI can be meas-ured internally by the “do it yourself”method, but outside entities such asinsurance companies may questionthe integrity of those survey results.

Few shop KPIs are as important asCSI scores. CSI provides valuable“voice of the customer” feedback,which forms the basis of continuousimprovement programs and guideslean implementation. It can providethe foundation of an ongoing CustomerRelationship Management (CRM) pro-gram, designed to keep customers re-ferring other customers to yourbusiness. It may factor into your stand-ing on an insurance DRP, or whereyou’re positioned on their “list.” Itmay also factor into employee andmanagement compensation plans.

If you’re not currently measuringCSI, check out the industry vendorsand decide which one provides theservice you’re looking for. Some simplyprovide CSI data, while others useCSI data to provide a basis for ongoingCRM programs. Most use phone sur-veys, while others use mail or a com-bination of phone, mail and Internet.There are plenty of choices, but besure that a sufficient number of cus-

tomers are contacted and that the con-tacts are random.

Many collision shop owners andmanagers choose a CSI vendor dueto insurance relationships. If you’re aDRP for ABC Insurance, and ABCuses XYZ CSI, you may choose to useXYZ CSI for your overall CSI service.Look for companies that can supportan automatic transfer of customer datafrom your management system. Avoiddepending solely on insurance-pro-vided CSI data as it doesn’t provide asufficient sampling of your overallcustomer base.

No Cherry Picking » Don’t be tempt-ed to find ways to “not submit” in-formation to the CSI provider oncustomers known to be unhappy. I’veheard the logic, “Why pay to find outsomeone is angry? I already knowthat!” Not a good idea. While youmay see a better score through “cherrypicking,” you’re not getting accuratedata. The input from the unhappycustomer can tell you how to best im-prove your service.

Get as many surveys completed aspossible. If one person gave you a“1” on the “refer family or friends”question and you have four otherswho gave you a “10” (total of fivesurveys), your score will be 80 percent.But if you have that same unhappycustomer with the “1” and nine othersthat give you a “10,” your score willbe 90 percent. Again, don’t cherrypick. Get a lot of surveys!

Instant Feedback » CSI servicesprovide a means of instant feedbackif a customer has voiced dissatisfactionwith the repair process. When youreceive faxes or email notices after anunhappy customer has been surveyed,don’t discount what the customer sayscaused their dissatisfaction.

Avoid the temptation to read thenotice, explain away the issue, decidethe customer is nuts and throw it intothe closest recycle box. Instead, contactthe customer immediately and attemptto correct the problem. If the issuecan’t be corrected, offer a sincere apol-

ogy. Let them talk and recount theirexperience. Remember, CSI is a meas-urement of their perception, not yours.Studies show that an unhappy cus-tomer whose situation has been cor-rected can be one of your strongestreferral sources!

Score Management » Your CSI scorecan be managed and improved by fo-cusing on what the customer feels isimportant, not what we think is important.

Remember the previously men-tioned example of the great repair onthe difficult Euro car that received apoor review by the customer? Theshop focused on the quality of repairand did a great job fixing the vehiclebut a poor job managing the cus-tomer’s experience.

Customers today don’t care aboutthe repair. Yes, they can see a reallypoor job and, when faced with one ofthose, they really care. But generallywe all do a good job repairing vehicles.Let’s face it, unless the repair is reallypoor, the customer doesn’t care or un-derstand what went into repairingtheir vehicle.

Today’s customer evaluates the qual-ity of the repair by how they weretreated by the people in the repairshop. Repair quality is a given. That’swhat the customer expects. To increaseCSI scores, we need to focus on whatthe customer perceives as importantby managing the customer experience.

CSI Rule # 1: Focus on customercommunication.

Most CSI vendors ask customers ifthe shop “kept them informed”

during the repair. The “kept informed”score is the key driver to improve CSIscores. Define the words “kept in-formed” (or whatever verbiage yourCSI vendor uses) at the beginning ofthe process.

Ask the customer: “How wouldyou like to be kept informed during

COVER STORY » Great CSI

www.bodyshopbusiness.com 25



Net Promoter Score: A New Concept

New to collision industry CSI is the concept of calcu-

lating a Net Promoter Score (NPS).

The NPS is a measurement of the percentage of

customers who are likely to “promote” your business.

Generally, the “refer to family and friends” question is

used to calculate the NPS, which is growing in impor-

tance with OEM certification programs and insurance

companies.

“Promoters” are those customers who give your

shop 9’s and 10’s when asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10,

how likely is it that you would refer the repair center

to family or friends?” “Detractors” are those who are

not likely to refer you to family and friends and are

generally the 0’s to 6’s when asked the “ultimate

question.” In calculating NPS, 7’s and 8’s are neutral.

They don’t hurt, but they don’t help, either.

Here is a formula for calculating NPS:

Percentage of Promoters – Percentage of Detractors = Net Promoter Score

For example, let’s say you have 100 surveys. Approxi-

mately 60 percent of those surveyed gave you a 9 or 10

on the “refer to family and friends” question. Twenty

percent gave you a 0 to 6 score on that same question.

Your NPS is 40 percent (60 percent promoters – 20 per-

cent detractors = 40 percent).

The goal in NPS is to move those 7’s and 8’s to 9’s and

10’s. In the above example, 20 percent of those surveyed

gave the shop a 7 or 8 on the “refer” question. If we

could move those 7’s and 8’s to 9’s, the NPS would

increase to 60 percent. (60 percent promoters + 20 per-

cent 7’s and 8’s moved to 9’s – 20 percent detractors =

60 percent). In addition, you can try to move some of

those pesky detractors into the neutral category and get

those 5’s and 6’s into 7’s.

How do you manage your NPS? Since the entire

number is generated from the customer’s response to

one question, focus on that question at delivery:

“Mrs. Smith, we strive to achieve 100 percent cus-

tomer satisfaction. Your evaluation of our perform-

ance is very important. Please take a moment to

provide your feedback when contacted. My personal

goal is to achieve 10’s when my customers are asked

if they will refer to family and friends. Have I earned

that score from you?”

There’s a lot of information about NPS on the Inter-

net. As noted above, NPS is new to the collision indus-

try. To calculate NPS, the “refer” question must be

asked on a scale of 1 to 10. NPS scores above 65 per-

cent should be considered healthy.

the repair?” Take note of their re-sponse and contact them on the time-line and via the method defined bythe customer.

Have you ever had the customerjust tell you to “Call me when it’sdone?” So you call when it’s doneand the customer doesn’t feel thatthey were kept informed and your

CSI suffers. When the customer re-sponds with, “Call me when it’s done,”respond with, “I like to call my cus-tomers every other day to keep theminformed. Will that work for you?”That defines “kept informed” in themind of the customer and defines ac-ceptable performance. Define “keptinformed” with your customer, let

them determine how often and bywhat method they wish to be kept in-formed, then do it.

Some customers will request statusupdates via email or text. That’s fine,but check state regulations and com-pany policy regarding text or emailusage. If you’re going to use email ortext, consider asking that an “electroniccommunication permission form” besigned by the customer at drop-off.

The best communication methodis still the phone, especially if thenews is bad. Getting a text saying,“Your car won’t be ready today,”leaves a bad impression in the cus-tomer’s mind. Calling the customerwith updates allows for inter-action and provides a more positive experience.

In any case, the goal of customercommunication is to avoid requiringthe customer to call the shop at anytime during the repair. Pro-activelycommunicate with your customers.

Improving your customer’s per-ception of “kept informed” will in-crease the customer perception ofquality, their perception of “on time”and their decision to refer family orfriends to your collision center in the future.

CSI Hint #1: Call your customersbefore they call you. Understand thata customer’s call to check status is anindication that your customer updatesystem isn’t working! Develop a sys-tem to contact every customer everyother day – at a minimum. Changesin status should generate an immediatephone call, not a text or email.

CSI Rule #2: Manage the cus-tomer’s perception of “on time.”

The first step to improving your“on-time” score is to keep the cus-

tomer informed and update the targetdelivery date every time that datechanges. Then, at delivery, remind thecustomer of your track record of keep-ing them posted as the repairs pro-



gressed and that you actually did hityour last target delivery date.

Avoid giving target dates! Wheneverpossible, just don’t give a date.

Several years ago, we had a poor“on-time” score in my shop. We lis-tened to each of our estimators pres-ent estimates to customers andfound that we almost always said,“This will take three or four days,”without the customer even asking.Talk about setting yourself up forfailure! The customer only heardthe “three days,” so when we com-pleted the car on the fourth day,we thought we were on time, butthe customer figured we were aday late. By simply dropping theestimated promise date from oursales presentation, our “on-time”score increased 10 points!

If the customer asks for a projectedcompletion date, provide as accuratea date as possible, with one day added.

For example, if you see a three-dayrepair, tell the customer the repair willtake four days. If you’re done in three,you’ve exceeded the customer’s ex-pectations. Finish it in four days and,from the customer’s perspective, you’restill on time.

Obviously, target delivery dateschange during repairs for many rea-sons. Whenever the target deliverydate changes, call the customer to up-date them on the status. Always useverbiage such as, “As a result of thisparts delay, your target delivery datewill be next Monday.”

At delivery, remind the customerthat you updated them with currenttarget dates during the repair and youdid deliver on schedule.

CSI Hint #2: Manage the customer’sperception of on time, give yourselfan extra day and remind the customerthat you did deliver on time, basedon your last status update.

CSI Rule #3: Provide an active delivery, preparing the customerfor the CSI survey.

How are repaired vehicles deliveredto the customer at your repair fa-

cility? The most common way is toask the customer, “Did you see yourcar? Is everything okay? Let’s get thepaperwork done and we’ll get youon your way.” That delivery systemmay get the cars out, but it won’t helpincrease your CSI.

Schedule vehicle delivery so thatthe proper amount of time can bespent with the customer reviewingthe repairs, completing the paperworkand prepping the customer for theirCSI call.

Take time to review the repairs withthe customer, pointing out what was



done. If you agreed to do somethingextra, point it out to the customer dur-ing the delivery. If there is a minorflaw or adjustment that requires repair,correct it right then! Ask the customerif they’re happy with the repairs. Whenthe customer is satisfied and you’veconfirmed that they’re satisfied, youcan begin to improve your CSI scores.

Restate and reaffirm that you’vefulfilled your promise to keep theminformed during the repair process.For example:

“Mrs. Smith, when you broughtyour car in for an estimate, I told youthat I call all of my customers everyother day. Have I fulfilled my promiseto keep you informed?”

Confirm that the customer percep-tion of your facility, and their experi-ence with your facility, is positive andthat they feel your customer servicemet or exceeded their expectations.For example:

“Mrs. Smith, did our customer serv-ice meet or exceed your expectations?”

Next, confirm that the vehicle wasdone on time. If you missed the initialdate, confirm that you met the adjusteddate. For example:

“Mrs. Smith, do you feel that yourvehicle was done on time?”

“No, I was expecting it back yesterday.”

“That’s right, Mrs. Smith, but I didtell you on Tuesday about the partsissue and we revised the target de-livery date to today. So we missedthe initial target date, but I kept youinformed and we did hit the adjustedtarget date.”

“Yes, you did.”Ask if your customer will refer fam-

ily and friends to your facility. Thishas been referred to as the “the ultimatequestion” because it’s that important!For example, “Mrs. Smith, as a resultof your experience with our repair fa-cility, would you feel comfortable re-ferring family or friends to our collisionrepair center in the future?”

Finally, prep the customer for theCSI call. For example:

“Mrs. Smith, I’m thrilled that you’rehappy with our repairs and customerservice and I’m proud that you’re sat-isfied to the point that you will referfamily and friends to our repair facility.Customer satisfaction is so importantto us that we have an outside, inde-pendent third-party contact our cus-tomers to measure our customersatisfaction. You may be receiving acall asking how we did.

“Please take a moment to shareyour experience with the CSI techni-cian. It shouldn’t take more than aminute. My goal is to earn 10’s on allsurvey questions. If there is anythingI could have done better, please letme know.”

Whether your CSI system usesmailed forms, faxes or online feedback



methods, prep the customer on themethodology of your survey and stresshow important it is to gather their in-

put. If it’s a mail-in system, providethe customer with a stamped, pre-ad-dressed envelope and follow up in

two days with a phone call askingthe customer to complete and mailthe CSI survey.

Create systems and word tracks to: 1. Systematically maintain contact

with the customer during the repairprocess.

2. Manage the customer’s perceptionof “on-time.”

3. Create an active delivery con-firming satisfaction with customerservice, the repair quality, on-time per-formance and prepping the customerfor the CSI follow-up. Doing thesethings will increase your CSI score,but these things have to be done everyday, with every customer, every time.

Conclusion » CSI scores can be man-aged and improved. CSI and NPS areKPI’s that have a dramatic effect onoverall collision repair facility volumeas well as managers’ and estimators’compensation. Managing your CSIshould not be considered “cheating”your CSI. Rather, it should be lookedat as improving your customer serviceand retention. BSB

Hank Nunn is a 37-year industry veteranof the collision repair industry and presidentof H W Nunn & Associates Inc., a collisionindustry training and consulting company.He may be reached at [email protected].




By Kristen Hampshire

On Sept. 17, 2012, State Farm announced thatthe pilot program for PartsTrader was beingexpanded to Chicago, and collision repairerswould start actively using it in December. In

short order, they reported that 475 of 477 Select Serv-ice repairers in Chicago had registered for the pro-gram. Today, State Farm says all 477 have now signedup. But supplier participation is another story.

More than a few repairers are reporting that manysuppliers are actively resisting PartsTrader. One shopreported that State Farm sent it a letter indicating only48 percent of its suppliers had completed the registra-tion process. The insurer says 266 suppliers of all parttypes to date are participating in PartsTrader.

“Data provided by PartsTrader suggests Chicagosuppliers that are actively participating in the quot-ing process are generating more parts orders overall

Automotive Service & Re-pair Week (ASRW) has an-nounced that Dan Stander,AAM, Fix Auto HighlandsRanch in Little-ton, Colo., willserve as the nextevent chairmanfor the Interna-tional AutobodyCongress & Ex-position (NACE).The 2013 event isscheduled forOct. 17-19 (withan educationconference begin-ning Wednesday,Oct. 16) at theMandalay Bay Conven-tion Center in Las Vegas.

Stander succeeds RonNagy, who has concludeda two-year term as theNACE chairman from2011-2012. “Nagy’s enthu-siastic, diligent service thepast two years is sincerely

appreciated by the Auto-motive Service Association(ASA) and ASRW staff,”said the organization in a

recent release.Stander is a sec-

ond-generationcollision shopowner with 30years of experi-ence. He holdsthe AccreditedAutomotive Man-ager (AAM) des-ignation from theAutomotive Man-agement Institute(AMI) and is agraduate of the

University of Colorado. Asan ASA member for 30years, Stander is active inthe ASA-Colorado affiliate,currently serving as presi-dent of ASA Colorado’sCollision Division and onthe state organization’sBoard of Directors. Standeris also instrumental inASA’s activities at the na-tional level with his in-volvement in the ASACollision Division Opera-tions Committee and itsRefinish subcommittee, aswell as serving on the ASABoard of Directors as Colli-sion Division director.

He also serves on an in-dustry committee withinthe Database EnhancementGateway administrativeteam and the DatabaseTask Force, with membersfrom AASP and SCRS.Since 2007, Stander hastaken an active role as aneducational presenter andleader in the collision re-pair industry duringNACE, and has attendedthe annual event each yearsince 2007.

IndustryUpdateChicagoland Suppliers

Resisting PartsTrader

Korte’s Collision Helps Visiting Australian CoupleContinue Cross-Country Road Trip

Ayear-long trip across North America that took four years of planning

came to an abrupt stop in Detroit for Gaby and Jackson Richards, an

adventurous couple from Australia. While driving a 2009 Suzuki

Grand Vitara that was shipped from their home in Brisbane, Queensland,

the Richards’ vehicle was hit on the right side (driver’s side) in a car acci-

dent in Detroit.

“It was only a couple of days after New Year’s, and we had just visited

Eastern Market when the accident occurred,” said wife Gaby Richards.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt and the car was still drivable.”

According to the couple, it was Korte’s Collision in Dearborn Heights

that quickly came to their rescue. Jackson found the business through an

Internet search and drove to the shop to meet Matt Korte, who immedi-

ately gave the vehicle a thorough inspection and provided a detailed

quote. Korte also encouraged the couple to seek other quotes.

“A second collision shop said they couldn’t look at it until the next day,

and a guy at a third shop quoted the repairs before he really looked at the

vehicle,” said Gaby Richards. “He blew off our concerns, so we went back

to Matt, because we had really good feelings when we met him.”

Since the Richards’ arrival in Los Angeles this past October, the pair

ASRW Appoints New NACE Chairman

Dan Stander

Gaby and JacksonRichards

Continued on pg. 60

Continued on pg. 62


By Tom Ferry

Some painters are so stumpedby three-stage paints andpearls that they dread themand end up painting the entire

side of a car for just one panel. I’veactually seen it happen!

The secret to success is to addwhite or red or whatever color yourthree-stage is and add 7 percentsolid basecoat to your first pearlcoat. It still looks like a pearl coatbut you can actually blend it like aregular basecoat. You have to tweakthings here and there, but that comeswith experience.

Starting Out » Photo 1 shows myfirst step with a Subaru Forester thatI’m blending with a three-stage pearlwhite. We had taken the hood offthis car during a repair a monthprior, so when the car came backafter another crash, I knew the hoodwould match. I start by using an oldpiece of 500 grit to sand through theclearcoat and pearl coat and down

to the base white that’s actually onthis car. You could also just work onwhere the base is featheredged bythe dent you’re repairing.

As we all know, there are severalbase white options to choose from.But with three-stage pearls, you can’tdetermine which white base to choosefrom – it’s all a guessing game. In thisinstance, there are three to choosefrom: a lighter one, a darker one andone that’s more yellow. I always gofor the lighter-than-variance one.

After I sand down to the factorywhite base, I use 1000 grit and polishthe area. Now you have the exact fac-

TECHNICAL


Some painters dread three-stage paints and pearls, but

there is a secret and amethod of matching that

works every time..and willreduce your comebacks.

Photo 1. How many panels would you include in the three-stage white pearl paint time for thisjob? Some of you would probably include the hood and rear quarter, but that’s unnecessary.

astering Three-StagePaints

and Pearls

You can see here how close I keep theprimer to areas I’ve used filler on.

tory white base in front of you sothere’s no need to guess. Then, I tintmy light base using my own “pro-gressive dot” method (see sidebarabove). It started out too dark, so Ikept adding white to lighten it upand let the dots dry until – bingo! – Igot one that matches. Now I have thebest match possible for the white baseon the three-stage pearl white.

In Photo 2, you can see I’m going

to blend my white sealer, white baseand pearl clearcoat in the small areaof the front fender. There’s not muchroom, but it can be done.

First, prep the entire job and tapeoff. After you spray on your adhesionpromoter over the areas to be blendedand it’s dry, tape off the rear door.Now spray the driver’s door and frontfender with white sealer, keeping itdown where the gray primer is (Photo

3). Feather it out on the edges, keepingas far away from the hood as possible.

The Secret » Now here’s the realblending secret for all three-stagepaints: mix up your pearl coat, thenpour off half into another cup. Takeyour base white and pour 7 percentof it into one of the two pearl cups.Now you have a semi-opaque whitebase with pearl in it. You should be

TECHNICAL » Three-Stage Paints


What can you learn from a tiny little dot of paint no bigger

than the head of a tack? Plenty...if you’ve been doing the

same paint matching method for 30 years.

A lot of people have showed me a lot of practical ways to do

things through the years, and I typically adopt the ones that

work and take the shortest time. With color matching in the

automotive refinishing world, I came up with my own method

and called it the “progressive dot method.”

It’s very simple. You just put a perfect

dot on a polished part of the car you wish

to paint and let it dry. It will first dry to light

or dark. Don’t worry about flop or anything

else yet – they usually dry too dark, unless

they have a lot of flattener in them. It

would take me 2,000 words to describe

how to match paint, and assuming that

most of you are quite experienced in auto

painting, I’ll spare you on how to tint. Suf-

fice it to say you don’t have to make it so

complicated. But I understand your pain

and know that some colors can be an

absolute nightmare: getting the flop right,

obtaining the right value, etc.

The progressive dot method is ideal

because it’s done in a small area and

you’re not wasting time and materials getting the match

required. There are no test panels, letdown spraying, paint pad-

dles, tape, paper, etc. – and a whole lot less waste of expensive

paint. Sometimes it takes four to 14 to 20 tints to get a real tor-

turous color. But you won’t have any comebacks (you know cus-

tomers always worry about color matches).

Follow these steps:1. Mix your initial paint up. I usually bring a fender or some

other part from the car into the color-corrected paint mixing

room.

2. Dip your finger into the prime paint on a stir stick and put

a dot onto a polished section of the fender.

3. Let the paint dot dry completely before tint cycle one

starts; even before it starts to dry, it will be obvious that it’s

too dark.

4. Start adding more metallic or pearl five drops at a time to

lighten it up. If there’s flop adjuster or weak white in the

formula, use that as a last resort.

5. After drying, you can use a heat gun lightly to speed

things up. The next dot is now lighter and does not change hue

in any way.

6. Keep adding more metallic or pearl.

Pearls will make it more milky, whereas

metallics won’t. You’ll want to pour off

enough paint to tint – and save your initial

paint if you mess up your tint somehow.

7. Add more metallic and test your flop.

Use a flashlight and look at the dot side-

ways at a 10-degree angle to see if your

flop is there.

8. By now, it should be pretty close.

Sometimes you might see that the color

requires a metallic, pearl, weak white or

something else that’s not even in the for-

mula. I use color cards if the color just

isn’t happening – and start with a new

color variance.

This particular Dodge gunmetal metallic started really dark

even though I went lighter than the variance. You painters know

that the eye is superior to color guns or variance cards. In the

photo above, you can see I got my match after about eight tints,

but it’s right on the money. You can now put a lot of metallic in

the prime you poured off and, by putting a stir stick in it, make it

as close to your match to get a close enough base for initial

coverage. You then want to take your good match and put a dot

of it on various parts of the area you’ll be painting. Once those

dots dry, you should be able to come back and not even notice

where they are.

So that’s the progressive dot method. Try it and give it some

time and I promise you’ll never go back to your old way of

matching paint.

Perfect Paint Matching...with the Progressive Dot Method

Using the progressive dot method, youcan’t even see the last dot because it’s aperfect match.

able to then take off the paper fromthe door and spray two coats rightover the white base area and allowthe overspray to go onto the doorand a little past the white base on thefender (Photo 3).

Be patient. If the door doesn’t startblending in after three coats, you’llneed to add some more white base toyour pearl. This is where practicemakes perfect. Keep blending intothe door and fender, going further

and further by small, three-inch in-crements, keeping in mind that threecoats equals nine inches of blend.This is how you create your blend:by adding white to your pearl base.And you still have the other half ofyour true pearl to spray.

When your blend looks good, switchto the pearl base. Start by fogging it,each coat going past the pearl-tinted-with-white base. If you don’t have agood blend with the white-tinted pearl

base, it won’t work. The transitionhas to be seamless. I usually put onthree to five coats of the final pearlcoat, blending out further each time(Photo 4). There shouldn’t be a haloeffect. After your blend looks good,paint on the clearcoat and you’re goodto go. BSB

Tom Ferry is the head painter at KetchikanAutobody and Glass in Ketchikan, Alaska.He can be reached at [email protected].

TECHNICAL » Three-Stage Paints


Photo 2. This photo shows where I start my white sealer. I tape the area so the sealercompletely stays away from the top of the fender and the rear door. At this stage, I’ll takethe paper off the door and put on a couple coats of solid base.

Photo 3. I’ve put on white sealer and coatsof solid white base before starting to blendout my tinted pearl base.

Photo 4. This is about 85 percent blended.Just a couple more coats of 100 percentpearl coat and it’s ready for clear.

It seems to me that we collision re-pairers on the heavy-duty truckside have been the forgotten onesin the industry. So I thought I

would present to the car side many ofthe concerns, points of interest andstruggles we have regarding the futureof heavy-duty collision – some ofwhich are the same as yours.

My Journey » I started my journeyin this trade in 1961, honing my skillsin my father’s independent collisionshop. After high school, I served fouryears in the military. When I returned

home, I continued my careerin collision, run-

ning collision departments in new cardealerships, new truck dealershipsand large private fleets all over theU.S. Being a “hired gun” willing andable to travel has allowed me to takecollision departments from losses toprofits all of my professional life.

At this stage of my professional ca-reer, I want to give back to our profes-sion more than I’ve received. I’mplanning on forming a consultinggroup and a national heavy-duty truckcollision association – of which I knowa little about after watching my fatherhelp form the Blanchard Valley BodyAssociation, the first-ever local collisionassociation in the 1960s. I, too, wasable to help start the first Cedar ValleyAuto Body Association in the Water-loo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, metro area.

Management Style » The reasonI’ve been successful is that I’ve alwaysbeen able to convince dealership shopowners to allow me to run their shopslike independent shops.

When I would arrive at a dealership,I would usually find that they didn’t operate under the “independent shop” business model. I would ask

PROFIT CENTER

HeavyDuty


Views and observationsfrom the heavy-duty truckrepair side of the collision

business…plus helpfuladvice for those thinking

of adding heavy-dutyrepair to their services.

By Phil Meyers

owners/parts department managers,“Who are your main competitors?”Their answer? “The independents!”(And these independent shops weretypically run by their former body/paint department managers).

I also found that the owners didn’tunderstand the collision side com-pletely. Also, all of the collision parts

were going to the parts departmentstatements. (Note: It’s still that waytoday on the truck side).

I’ve always run my department withthe mindset of a successful independentwhen it comes to setting up procedures,policies and business plans – andthinking and planning ahead to over-come these situations.

Outside Forces » I believe the heavy-duty collision side has been more im-mune to outside forces than the carside over the last 25 years – but this is changing!

For example, the insurance industry’sinfluence is growing in that insurersare starting to employ policies andprocedures that the car side has already.Insurers that previously would onlyuse new OEM parts are now movingtoward used or aftermarket parts, al-though there are still some insurersthat insist on OEM: Great West, West-field and Chubb, for example. Also,many insurance adjusters on our sidehave changed their stance on partsand are behaving more like adjusterson the car side.

Our hourly flat rate is higher, butour line of work requires extra techsdue to the size and weight of the partsas well as the height of the vehicles.

I currently work for a single-pointdealer principle organization-basedbody and paint department, as we donot have a large fleet with Peterbilt orother makes anchored in our area. Wework as required by large nationalfleets, but many of them also havetheir own body collision departments,which is becoming the norm.

Being an owner operator/small fleetrepairer, we have to plan for minimumdowntime, as the owners of these rigsdon’t have any income coming inwhile their unit is being repaired. I tellmy employees that we have to under-stand and recognize that our customer’srig is his business and office, and thusrequires our best effort every time.Plus, his driver may also not have anincome coming in while the truck isbeing fixed. These concerns put addi-tional daily pressure on us. Largerfleets usually have fewer time restric-tions, but we treat them the same asour owner-operator units.

Unlike the car side, the heavy-dutytruck side usually doesn’t have carrental allowances or loaners availabledue to its equipment needs, size andspecial set-ups (specific transmissions,rear ends, gear ratios and different re-quired equipment for specific freight

PROFIT CENTER » Heavy Duty


mandated by PUCO, as well as other manufacturer re-quirements). Due to the economy/EPA requirements,we’re seeing moreowner-operatorskeeping their unitslonger or “glider-ing” them (puttingon a new truck body,frame and front axlebut keeping the orig-inal engine, trans-mission, drive lineand rear axles withwheels from theirprevious truck). These all createadditional repair issues.

Paint/Equipment » As a Pe-terbilt dealership, we use Imronpaint and materials designedfor heavy-duty trucks. These materials require specialrefinishing techniques due to the nature of the materialand Peterbilt huck rivets. All Imron materials are muchmore expensive than car paint; therefore, we have to

handle car adjusters carefully as they usually don’t havea full understanding of the differences in cost.

Our equipment is basically the same as the car sidebut there are higher expenses due to the vehicle size.We’ve repaired cars, pickups, farm equipment and

boats, and offered additionalservices such as sandblasting,welding, Peterbilt glass in-stallation, custom paintingand hand striping. We alsowork for the local Chrysler-

Dodge-Jeep dealer-ship because, in 1972,I ran the body de-partment in that fam-ily’s Buick-Opeldealership.

New Business »Like many shops,we’re constantlylooking for new busi-

ness opportunities. Seeing an opportunity in customizedparts and solutions, we developed a patent-pending



Big trucks require bigequipment to repairthem.

A cargo box maskedand ready for paint.

lower sleeper panel corrosion systemto prevent corrosion from spreading.We cover treated areas with a one-piece quality stainless cover that servesto also “dress up” these rigs. Thereason we started working at solvingthese corrosion issues five years agois because many Peterbilts, Kenworthsand other model rigs on the road todayhave this problem as early as two



Needless to say, you need a much largerspraybooth like this one to paint semis.

So You Want to Offer Heavy-Duty Collision Repair?Here is some of the equipment you’ll need:

1. Larger paint booth

2. Large mobile platform ladders

3. Stainless welding equipment along with heli-arc welding equipment

4. Larger frame rack or larger floor pulling system/anchors and pulling

post/heavy chains

5. Larger, dedicated working stalls

6. Additional paint mixing system and stock – DuPont, Imron and sup-

plies for Peterbilts, Kenworths and other makes/models

7. Special adhesives/supplies

8. Larger sandblasting system

9. Heavy-duty floor jacks/stands

10. Larger wash bay

11. Mitchell estimating truck system or Mitchell collision books for large

or medium rigs

For Class 8 and down, I would check to see how many OEM heavy-duty truck

dealers that don’t have in-house collision/paint departments exist within a

50- to 100-mile radius of your shop. They can sublet the work to you, so you

win because you get additional business and they win, too, because of the

advantages that subletting offers.

As you can see, it takes a large investment, but it does offer potential to

expand your future business. I strongly recommend that you thoroughly

research your area and suppliers, plus other competitors first!


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years and up. The result is we’ve increased our businessand achieved an affordable solution to our customers’corrosion problems.

Cashing Out » Likethe car side, we’reseeing an increasein owner operator/small fleets delayingrepair work and/orkeeping the insur-ance money becausethey can’t afford thedowntime to have their rigsrepaired. Insurers have cometo realize this and are reducingour proper repair figures moreand more. It isn’t right, butmany owner operators/smallfleets need that money to payfor other repairs or expenses (mechanical, tires, higherfuel costs, etc.). In the end, both the customer and the col-lision shop lose, while the insurance companies win bysaving money and closing the claim.

Custom Headaches » Most owner operators/smallfleets add additional parts and accessories to their rigs to

dress them up, which creates issues with replacementparts because there are so many different manufacturers

and suppliers. More insurersnow have arrangements withthese suppliers all over theU.S., thus saving money forthemselves. This is causingmany concerns for both the

customer and colli-sion shop as manytimes, the replace-ment parts aren’t cor-rect or of the samequality as the origi-nal parts.

Two Values » Backin the day, a big rigwas considered

“old” after three to four years on the road and needed tobe replaced. Just like cars, big rigs can now run manymore miles and be driven for many more years.



You can’t do heavy-duty truck repairwithout large mobileplatform ladders.

A technician atPeterbilt of Northwest

Ohio repairs a semi-truck hood assembly.



L ight duty frame or body repairs are typically performed on

a flat deck style machine. A lighter duty frame has a

unitized style body versus the two frame rails that make up a

heavy-duty body. The light duty vehicle is either driven on or is

winched on and then mounted to the machine. Towers are

used to pull the frame with chains attached. In contrast,

heavy-duty correction is performed on either a press or rail

system, depending on whether a truck or a trailer is being

corrected. Bee Line manufactures a system using knees and

beams, fastened and bolted together, to correct the frame

from the inside or outside of the rails. This practice, Bee Line

claims, is safer, more efficient and more successful than the

chain method. Heavy-duty frame correction requires greater

force to straighten frame rails than light duty correction.

A light duty deck style

weighs around 4,000 to

5,000 pounds, whereas a

Bee Line heavy-duty frame

correction system weighs

8,000 to 10,000 pounds. The

frame press is engineered

out of T1 steel.

Heavy-duty correction

equipment can be used for

light duty correction, but

only in a limited manner.

The substantial size of the

tools prohibits a full light duty correction.

Training

With any trade, there is a need for supplemental training.

When it comes to heavy-duty frame correction, a more

skilled, highly trained technician is preferred due to the amount

of pressure applied and the preciseness of the different tool

setups required. An expert repair most importantly ensures

that safety standards have been met before the vehicle returns

to the road. Completing the repair successfully and safely is

vital, but to be able to diagnosis and formulate the proper and

safest way to accomplish the repair is what truly sets the pro-

fessionals apart from the rest.

Advancements

There have been a lot of advancements, not just in equipment

but also for the technician himself. Bee Line introduced

aluminum tooling, which is a lighter, easier-to-lift product

that reduces the stress and fatigue imposed on the tech.

These specialty tools make the job faster and easier to

perform while maintaining a conscious effort to improve safe

work practices.

—Information courtesy of Bee Line Company

Truck Frame Machines vs. Light Duty Frame Machines: What’s the Diff?

Heavy duty frame machines weigh4,000 to 5,000 pounds more thanlight duty frame machines.

We’re now experiencing many chal-lenges regarding insurance and mar-ket values. Many independents,owner-operators and small fleetsdon’t understand the difference untilit’s too late. We run into situationswhere the rig’s insured value is higherthan the market value, or the oppositescenario where the owner underin-sured the rig to save money. We’refinding that more owners are keeping

the same insured value year afteryear, which can cause issues whentrying to repair their rigs. Plus, it cancost them money insurance-wise. Ad-vising these customers is challenging,especially when they haven’t beenkeeping up with evaluating the ap-propriate insurance coverage.

Qualifying the Customer » In heavy-duty truck insurance claims, we always

qualify our customers based on theirobjectives and needs to create a positiveoutcome for all parties involved. Youhave to ask a lot of pertinent questions,listen and analyze to determine thebest course of action. This way, you’llbe able to move forward using theproper procedures to best handle andfulfill the customer’s objectives as wellas the objectives of all parties involved.That includes understanding the in-surance company’s procedures.

We ask, listen and explain to ourcustomers the pros and cons to preparethem and us for a successful outcome.There are shops that lower pricing,miss damages, and use lesser partsand materials while cutting corners,but will they be there for the customerand/or be in business long? You maynot close all of your deals by refusingto negotiate or cut corners, but in thelong haul, your integrity and reputationwill shine and outlast many of thosein the business who do cut corners.

Put It on Paper » I’ve always believedthat the pen is mightier than the sword.Your potential profits start first withputting the job down on paper. Youcan’t get the job and its financial benefitif it isn’t on paper first. It also pays toknow the P-pages in and out and whatyou’re entitled to be compensated for.

We participate in factory training,continued education, paint clinics andin-house training, which allow us torepair damages correctly the first time.It never ceases to amaze us how manyjobs we redo as the result of improperrepair and refinishing by another shop.Cheapest isn’t best! Our policy is tocreate value for our customers.

Life and business are always builton positive relationships, so you shouldalways strive to obtain a win/win/winfor your customer, yourself and theinsurance company. This will put youon the true path to success when work-ing with jobbers, parts and service de-partments, and towing professionals.

Recruiting » We, too, have found itdifficult to recruit younger techs, evenduring these challenging economic





times. But it’s up to us alone to over-come this. We can help set up programsin our high schools for those studentswho don’t wish to attend a four-yearcollege but want to learn a respectabletrade for which there will always besome demand. We can also start ap-prentice programs within our shopsso that the young techs can learn fromour experienced lead techs how tocorrectly and efficiently perform thetasks required of this real-world pro-fessional trade.

Conclusion » I feel that it’s hardertoday to succeed in this business,but it has always been hard. We’vecome this far not in vain, but deter-mined to do our daily best for cus-tomers, employees, owners andourselves. I remember when insur-ance companies required three dam-age estimates! (Now I’m reallydating myself).

When dealing with life, business,family and customers, you must ad-here to the “The Golden Rule”: “Do

unto others as you would have doneunto you.” By sticking together forthe betterment of all, I truly believewe can and will prevail, remember-ing that insurance companies aren’t repairing or refinishing ourcustomers’ vehicles big or small – we are! BSB

Phil Meyers is body/paint department di-rector for Peterbilt of Northwest Ohio. Hecan be reached at [email protected] (419) 423-3441.



than those who have opt-ed to only receive fax or-ders,” said George Avery,claims consultant withState Farm.

And as roll-out contin-ues, Avery says that PartsTrader data alsosuggests repairers areshifting to participatingsuppliers from fax-onlysuppliers.

One repairer says PartsTrader has beenshutting down its faxservice at 5 p.m. Then, at8:30 a.m., the fax ma-chine is spitting outpages of parts ordersthat had been entered viaPartsTrader at 3 p.m. theday before. He said PartsTrader has stated

the fax service will endin 2014. He also said itseems PartsTrader is“punishing” dealers thathave chosen the faxroute. Evidence, heclaims, is listing one ofthe largest Chrysler deal-ers in the area as anIsuzu/Suzuki dealer.

“That took severalphone calls to change,and who knows if it willchange back?” he said.

An Intrusion? » Parts-Trader has been called an“intrusion” into the busi-ness of collision repairers.

“I’m not going to payanyone to do businesswith the customers I dobusiness with, and Idon’t believe State Farm

has any business run-ning vendors’ and sup-pliers’ businesses,” saysJeff Janicke, parts direc-tor at Bill Jacobs Chevro-let Cadillac MazdaSubaru Kia Mitsubishi, aLevel III supplier on theService Select program.

What about the profitfor collision repair play-ers, suppliers are asking.If the margins on partsevaporate, what’s left?

Then, there’s the cost ofadministering the pro-gram that has some sup-ply professionals likeJanicke skeptical aboutwho’s winning in thisarrangement.

“There are people I’vetalked to [in other states]who have had to add 50

to 60 hours a week in ad-ministrative costs to takecare of this program,” hesays. “They’re bearingthe burden, and that’s not right.”

And State Farm’s asser-tion that PartsTrader willmake parts orderingmore efficient is beingchallenged, too. One re-pairer said dealers havetold him their account-ants are saying participat-ing in PartsTrader isimpossible. He claimsone Michigan dealer thatis on the full programhad to double its partsstaff, while the salesnumbers haven’tchanged. The dealer’s as-sertion was that Parts-Trader is a tool to move

»| Industry Update |«


Chicagoland continued from pg. 36

and monitor data, not tomake the process moreefficient.

“Thirty-minute quotetimes are in the two-hourrange. Every line needs tobe checked as the partnumbers and prices arevery often incorrect.Then, in order to main-tain [the dealer’s] ownmeasures on parts de-partment sales and per-formance, the data needsto be secondarily enteredinto the dealership’smanagement system,”the repairer says.

Janicke, who managesparts for the 55-year-oldsupplier that happens tobe the Midwest’s largestGM wholesale operation,says there are lots of sup-

pliers out there that willtell the same story. As aplayer with 23 deliveryroutes traveling up to 250miles each day, he’s say-ing thanks, but no thanks.

Pricing » Pricing is oneof the big issues. After ab-sorbing the Select Servicediscount, there’s not awhole lot of profit leftover, argues one Chicagosupplier.

“Why should I have tobid on everyone? I’m notchanging my list price,”he says. “I’m not hardlymaking any money as itis now with the discountwe have to give out.”

This supplier’s initialreaction to State Farm’spilot? “They’re sticking


www.bodyshopbusiness.com 61Circle 61 for Reader Service

their noses into someoneelse’s business. Anyway,there are enough estimat-ing and parts orderingsystems out there – andthey work. Why doesState Farm need to get involved?”

One repairer said asalvage dealer reportedto him that they serv-iced 200 quotes in oneday, but only sold two –and both were loyal customers.

A Good Idea? » But in-volving State Farm isn’tviewed as a bad thing byall suppliers, especiallybecause State Farm is thelargest insurer and great-est provider of businessto body shops.

“I think [PartsTrader] isa good idea,” says ChuckTurck, service and partsdirector, The Porsche Ex-change. He isn’t thrilledabout the fee State Farmannounced to participate.(“They didn’t tell us thedollar amount yet.”) Butas a Porsche dealer with a“captured audience,” theprogram will give himmore visibility and an op-portunity to build rela-tionships with new bodyshops.

“It puts my name outthere in a different way,”Turck says.

Turck admits the pro-gram is appealing be-cause of his dealings withPorsche. In the ChicagoMetro area, there are a



handful of Porsche dealers. ThePorsche Exchange is one of twoPorsche dealers on the State Farmprogram. The dealership whereTurck manages parts has an advan-tage because it’s larger than othercompetitors dealing Porsche parts.He estimates that there are aboutfive other body shops in addition

to his core customers that willcome to him for quotes on parts.

“It’s a part of the business wedidn’t go after or cultivate in thepast, and now it is given to us,” he says.

Turck isn’t exactly sure howmuch the business will grow be-cause of the program – “Any in-

crease is a good increase,” he says –and he figures he’ll pick up anoth-er half-dozen customers. “That’sall the better for us.”

As for that fee to participate:He’ll wait and see, then make de-cisions about future participation.

Meanwhile, other states arelooking suspiciously at the pro-gram, wondering who’s really go-ing to get the cheese if collisionrepair shops participate.

“How many more times are wegoing to let the insurance indus-try change the rules to its advan-tage?” asked Jeff McDowell,president of the Alliance of Auto-motive Service Providers-NewJersey. “Things are hard enoughout here. Enough is enough.”

has traveled more than 14,000 miles

through Canada and Alaska and back

through the northern U.S. to Chicago

and then to Michigan, where they

spent time in Traverse City and at the

Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn

before the accident.

While Korte’s Collision repaired their

SUV, owners Matt and Lisa Korte

invited the couple to dinner with the

whole family one evening and then to a

fundraiser at their sons’ school for a

night of euchre.

“We have euchre in Australia, but

we’d never played it before,” said

Richards. “It was fun watching and talk-

ing with everyone.”

Helping the Richards was also an

adventure for the Kortes, as they

learned about customs and culture in

Australia.

“We didn’t have any challenges with

the repairs, but having the driver’s

position on the right side of the vehicle

took some getting used to,” said Matt

Korte. “I don’t know how many times

we went to the left side only to get out

and go around.”

The Richards are back on the road

driving their fully repaired vehicle. Read-

ers are invited to follow their blog at

www.gabyandjackson.com.

Korte’s continued from pg. 36

Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun (R-20) recently introduced IowaSenate Bill 42 requesting an in-terim study committee on auto-

mobile insurance direct repairprograms (DRPs).

Under the legislation, the interimstudy committee is to study DRPsused by some automobile insur-ance companies to provide repairsfor claimants. The study will include:

� A review and analysis of the

use of such DRPs by the automo-bile insurance industry in Iowa

� The effect of the use of suchprograms on automotive body re-pair shops, insurance costs andIowa consumers.

Membership of the interim studycommittee will include:

� Three consumers� Four members who represent

auto body repair shops in the state� Four members from the auto-

mobile insurance industry.

Aftermarket Parts LegislationReintroduced in Oklahoma

The Automotive Aftermarket In-dustry Association (AAIA) has an-nounced that aftermarket partslegislation (Senate Bill 1051) hasbeen reintroduced in the state of Oklahoma.

S.B. 1051 would require an in-surer to disclose to the consumerin writing if an aftermarket emis-sion, safety or crash part is to beused in a repair. Insurers wouldthen be required to obtain writtenconsent from car owners regardingthe use of an aftermarket part inthe repair. A similar bill was intro-duced last year but was pulledfrom consideration due to strongopposition expressed by AAIAmembers in the state.

According to the bill, an “emis-


www.bodyshopbusiness.com 63Circle 63 for Reader Service

LegislationIowa Senator Introduces Bill

Requesting Interim StudyCommitee on DRPs

Continued on pg. 64

sion part” is defined as: an oxygensensor, catalytic converter, exhaustpipe, exhaust manifold, fuel dis-tributor, electronic emission controlunit, onboard diagnostic unit orany related parts or components. A“safety part” refers to a replace-ment of parts or systems essentialto vehicle operation, suspension,electronic control units, brakeparts, safety systems and air bags.An “aftermarket part” is defined asany part not made for or by themanufacturer of the motor vehicle.

The disclosure statement to theconsumer would need to state,

“This estimate has been preparedbased on the use of crash partssupplied by a source other than themanufacturer of your motor vehi-cle. Warranties applicable to thesereplacement parts are provided bythe manufacturer or distributor ofthese parts rather than the manu-facturer of your vehicle.”

AAIA is once again urging allmembers with locations in Oklaho-ma to write to senators stating theiropposition to this bill. AAIA be-lieves that requiring these disclo-sures will leave motorists with theimpression that aftermarket partsare of an inferior quality to OE parts.


64 February 2013 | BodyShop BusinessCircle 64 for Reader Service Circle 81 for Reader Service

Oklahoma continued from pg. 63

ASA Announces Opposition to Missouri Triennial Vehicle Inspection Bill

Missouri State Sen. David Sater (R-29) has introduced legisla-tion that would impact the Missouri State Motor Vehicle Safe-ty Inspection Program by eliminating the requirement that all

motor vehicles obtain a biennial certificate of inspection, and insteadbe inspected triennially. Missouri Senate Bill 136 has not been ad-dressed in a committee as of yet.

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) opposes thesechanges to the Missouri Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Programbecause it believes S.B. 136 would create less-safe highways in Mis-souri – more accidents leading to loss of property, more injuries andpossibly more deaths.

State government studies of vehicle safety inspection programs inMissouri and Pennsylvania have indicated that inspection programsdeter accidents, injuries and deaths.

ASA asks Missouri repairers to contact their legislators and expresstheir opposition to S.B. 136.

United Recyclers Group(URG) has implemented aparts listing service within

CCC ONE Estimating. The serviceuses parts data gathered by the or-ganization, which works withmore than 400 auto recyclers.

The new parts listing serviceprovides CCC ONE Estimatingcustomers with direct access to afull recycled parts inventory andcreates opportunities for any autorecycler to present its parts andpricing to CCC customers, who

write 10 million repairable esti-mates each year.

“CCC is making significant in-vestments in its alternative partssolutions to improve the coverageand availability of insurance-quali-ty parts for our estimating users,”said Jim Dickens, senior vice presi-dent for CCC. “URG has created adynamic organization and a quali-ty parts listing service that is opento all recyclers looking to presenttheir parts information to auto re-pair professionals. The parts listing



CorporateCCC ONE Partners with United Recyclers Group onParts Listing Initiative

service opens access to all recyclersto provide parts information toCCC customers and is a great com-plement to our existing network ofnational, local and independent re-cycled parts suppliers.”

URG’s technology provides in-ventory and pricing data to CCCONE Estimating, giving users ac-cess to recycled parts inventory andinformation as estimates are beingwritten. This direct access elimi-nates the need for phone calls andreduces parts backorders and de-lays, which can slow cycle time.Auto recyclers do not need to be amember of URG to gain access tothe new parts listing service.

“By entering into an agreementwith CCC, we’re providing auto re-cyclers access to CCC’s vast net-work of repairers and insurance


claims adjusters who look for quality parts all day,every day,” said Michelle Alexander, executive direc-tor, URG. “We are impressed by CCC’s leadership and

reputation as a trusted provider of data and technolo-gies to the industry, which will help recyclers becomeeven more successful in presenting and selling theirquality recycled parts.”

Added Greg Wilcox, owner of Midway Auto Parts,“The new parts listing service available within CCCONE Estimating will provide us with a cost-effectiveway to present our parts inventory directly to a motivat-ed audience of professional buyers. CCC has the largestnetwork of repairers and insurance carrier customers, sowe’re very excited to be part of the program.”




Goff’s Enterprises Hires New Dealer Development Manager

Goff’s Enterprises Inc. has announcedthe addition of Michael Wells as adealer development manager. Wellsbrings with him more than 17 years ofexperience in the material handlingfield and the high speed door industry.

Joining Goff’s two current dealer de-velopment managers, Wells will coverthe East Coast and Midwest. He will fo-cus on improving dealer performance

through continual training and targeted sales efforts.“Michael will play a key role in our continued ef-

forts to grow and strengthen our distributor net-work,” said Marcus Mohwinkel, vice president ofsales and marketing at Goff’s Enterprises. “His skillset and experience in the industry will be an assetto our company. We are thrilled to have him joinour team.”

Michael Wells

PPG Automotive Refinish has an-nounced the 2013 tour schedule ofits eye-catching show truck. Thecolorful, custom-painted 75-foot2007 Coronado Freightliner willmake 20 appearances in 18 statesfrom March through October.Stops include major car, truck andhot rod shows sponsored by theGoodguys Rod & Custom Associa-tion, the National Street Rod Asso-ciation, and other car and truckenthusiast groups.

The truck, coated in PPGDELFLEET Evolution F3995Epoxy Primer, FBC Basecoat,FBC500 Blending Clear and

F3921 Clearcoat, is a self-con-tained display of exhibits featur-ing PPG paint products with thetruck as the star attraction. Showattendees of all ages are invitedto check out the truck’s impres-sive exterior custom color anddesign work created by PPGmaster painter Paul Stoll and ateam from California-based Kelly& Son the Crazy Painters.

PPG driver Chad Hook will onceagain guide the Freightliner to itscross-country appearances, withhis first stop set for March 8 at theFourth Spring Nationals in Scotts-dale, Ariz.



PPG Show Truck to Embark on

Cross-Country Tour




68 February 2013 | BodyShop BusinessCircle 68 for Reader Service Circle 84 for Reader Service

West Virginia Court Bars Liberty Mutual from Selling Used or Aftermarket Parts

West VirginiaAttorneyGeneral Dar-rell McGraw

announced that the Cir-cuit Court of KanawhaCounty has issued a per-manent injunctionagainst Liberty MutualInsurance Company fromusing salvaged or after-market crash parts to re-pair motor vehicles thatare less than three yearsold. The court’s order up-

holds current state lawthat requires insurancecompanies and bodyshops to obtain a con-sumer’s written authori-zation before salvagedparts are used for the re-pair of new vehicles.

Attorney General Mc-Graw sued Liberty Mutu-al in January of this year,after an investigation byhis Consumer ProtectionDivision revealed thatLiberty Mutual had will-

National

fully violated state con-sumer protection laws.Liberty Mutual admittedin court documents that ithad repaired nearly 200vehicles using junkyardand aftermarket parts inviolation of the Aftermar-ket Crash Parts Act, anddefended its use of theseparts, which McGraw be-lieved jeopardized con-sumers’ safety anddiminished the value ofconsumers’ vehicles.

“This is a victory forWest Virginia con-sumers,” said McGraw.“Every consumer has theright to know the typeand quality of crash partsused to repair their dam-aged vehicles.”

The court has not yetruled on the amount ofrestitution Liberty Mutu-al will be required to payto consumers, nor did itrule on the amount of thecivil penalties.

CARSTAR Adds New Locationin Washington StateCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts is

expanding in Washington State with the

opening of Complete Collision

CARSTAR in Federal Way.

Complete Collision CARSTAR,

located at 34627 16th Ave. S., is the

third location for owner Jeff Middle-

ton, who also owns Exhibition Auto-

motive CARSTAR in Kent and Ballard

Collision CARSTAR in Seattle. Middle-

ton was recognized by CARSTAR in

2011 as the top franchisee of the year

for operational excellence. He was

also recognized by BodyShop Business

in 2012 as Collision Repair Shop Exec-

utive of the Year.

The opening of Complete Collision

CARSTAR marks the second CARSTAR

location in Federal Way, along with

nearby Bob Bjorneby’s CARSTAR

Federal Way Collision.



ABRA Auto Body & Glass hasannounced the opening of asixth company-owned re-pair center in the Salt Lake

City area.The new repair center is located at

3383 W. 12600 South in Riverton,Utah, and increases ABRA’s totalnumber of repair centers to 137 in 15states. The company opened 27 newrepair centers in 2012.

“This is our first new opening ofthe year and is the initial stage of im-plementing our long-term expansionand acquisition plan this year,” said

Duane Rouse, president and CEO ofABRA. “We anticipate an excitingyear filled with increased businessopportunities. We look forward toexpanding our national footprint innew and existing markets.”

“We are gaining momentum,” saidTim Adelmann, ABRA’s executivevice president of business develop-ment. “The opening of the Rivertonrepair center is a tremendous oppor-tunity to help increase our presencein Utah while reaffirming our com-mitment to serve our customers andbusiness partners in the area.”

ConsolidationABRA Opens Sixth Collision Repair Facility

in Salt Lake City Region

Circle 69 for Reader Service Circle 85 for Reader Service

board continues the strategic ex-pansion of our footprint in the Pa-cific Northwest with best-in-classoperators committed to deliveringa high-quality collision repair ex-perience for our carrier and vehicleowner customers.”




Fix Auto Adds Two Locations

in Washington StateFix Auto USA has announced the addition of two lo-cations in the state of Washington to its growing net-work of collision repair centers.

The opening of Fix Auto Gig Harbor, previouslyDenny’s Harbor Auto Body, and Fix Auto Puyallup,previously Denny’s Valley Auto Body, brings the to-tal number of Fix locations in Washington to eightand 14 in the Pacific Northwest.

“We’ve watched Fix Auto signs pop up all overSeattle in the last year,” said Patty Denny, owner ofthe two shops. “Marketing and community involve-ment has always been important to us. By becominga Fix Auto franchisee, we like that we immediatelybenefit from the group’s previous marketing effortswhile continuing to improve our own throughpooled resources and a larger scale marketing strate-gy. It gives us a significant advantage over independ-ent shops in our area.”

Co-owner Mark Denny added, “Most independentrepairers have felt the impact of consolidation insome form or another. Our hard work will now bebacked by a corporate infrastructure, national insur-ance representation and the advantage of working to-gether with other top performing shops.”

“Fix Auto Gig Harbor and Fix Auto Puyallup aregreat additions for Fix Auto USA,” said Fix AutoPresident and COO Paul Gange. “Having them on

Carsmetics Expands into Edmond, Okla.Carsmetics, headquartered in Tampa,

Fla., and specializing in minor auto body

repair, has opened its second Oklahoma-

area shop in the past 12 months. It has 25

other locations throughout Florida, Cali-

fornia, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jer-

sey, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

"We fill the gap," said manager Fred

Heath. “We're a great alternative to a

large collision shop because customers

can drop their cars off in the morning and

pick them up at the end of the day looking

like new."




AFC 62Aframe Spray Booths 21Alert Stamping 68Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists Inc. 65American Honda Motor Co. 73Anest Iwata USA 19Atlas Copco Compressors LLC 23, 65Audatex 39, 51Automotive Mgmt Institute 69Automotive Service Equip. 61BASF Corporation 27Bendpak 43Blackburn’s Hubcap & Wheels, Inc. 50Blair 32Campbell Hausfeld 52CCC 17Cebotech Inc. 70Certified Auto Parts Association 9Champion/Gardner Denver 26ChemSpec USA 53Col-Met Spraybooths 60

Crash-writeR InsertDent Fix Equipment 13DV Systems 46Eurovac 67Evercoat 3, 55Farecla Inc. 4FBS Distribution Co Inc. 41Herkules Equipment Corp. 71Induction Innovations 36Innovative Tools & Technologies, Inc. 33Jessen Productions 54Kaeser Compressors 11Lancer Insurance Co. 70Malco Products 7Martech Services Co. 16Masters School of Autobody 30Matrix System Automotive Finishes LLC 31Maxzone Auto Parts Corp. 29Motor Guard Corp. 64Nissan Motor Corp. USA 49Northeast Show 15

O’Reilly Auto Parts 59PPG Industries Cover 2 -1Pro Spot International Cover 3RBL Products 34, 42, 58, 66Rubber-Seal Products 12SAAB Parts North America 56Scorpion Truck Bed Linings 64Shop-Pro Equipment 35Southern Polyurethanes 37Spanesi 45Spies Hecker 5Suburban Mfg. 68Sullivan Palatek 57Tite Spot Welders 69Toyota Cover 4TYC/Genera Corp. 47U.S. Body Products 48Valspar 57Wedge Clamp Systems Inc. 28Zendex Tool Corp. 67

ADVERTISER INDEXCOMPANY NAME PG. # COMPANY NAME PG. # COMPANY NAME PG. #

CARSTAR Adds Locationin Denton, Texas

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts has announced the opening ofthe first CARSTAR location in Den-ton, Texas – Autobody DentonCARSTAR.

Owned by Mark Riney, AutobodyDenton CARSTAR is located at 820E. McKinney St. The shop, whichhas been open since 1977, offers col-lision repair, vehicle restoration andcustomization, glass repair, andstorm and hail damage repair.

As a member of CARSTAR, Auto-body Denton CARSTAR will offeran array of services and products forcollision repair, including the latestin repair technology, rental vehicles,national warranties on repairs andturnkey service for customers.

“We are excited to welcome MarkRiney and Autobody DentonCARSTAR to the CARSTAR net-work,” said David Byers, CEO ofCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts. “We are thrilled to announceour first CARSTAR store in Dentonwith this new top-notch collision repair center.”

ProductShowcase


Alternative to DrillingSpot WeldsThe 3M Green Corps File Belt is an alter-native to drilling, with a long-lasting abra-

sive surface designed for spot weldremoval as well as grinding in other tight areas.

A single 3M Green Corps File Belt grinds off more spot welds than drill bitsand works well on all types of steel. 3Mwww.3mcollision.com


Speed UpCure Times“Rapid Cure” Accel-erated Reducer(MRS-155) is de-signed to acceleratecure times withoutsacrificing qualityand useable potlife.A 2.1 VOC compliant

universal reducer, it decreases dry-to-sand times by 50 percent. MRS-155 can be used with most of theMedallion Refinish Systems’ urethane primer surfacers andclearcoat systems. Medallion Refinish Systemswww.medallionrefinish.com


EliminateCorrosionCopper Weld-Thru Primer isdesigned toeliminate thecorrosion thatforms betweenwelded sub-strates. It has ex-cellent adhesion,and the copper-enriched formu-la providessuperior con-ductive proper-ties that minimize the heat zone,reducing distortion and weldingsplatter.Dominion Sure Sealwww.dominionsureseal.com


Washable and Reusable CoverallThe washable and reusable Clean Coverall from DeVilbissis designed to keep dirt, dust and other contaminants out ofpaint finish. It displays a skull and cross guns design withsignature colors. It also features a lightweight nylon front, abreathable cotton back, a pullover hood, elastic wrist clo-sures, hook and loop ankle closures, and an elastic waist. DeVilbiss Automotive Refinishingwww.devilbissar.com


Finishing Putty with Great AdhesionMetal Glaze Ultra polyester finishing putty offers excellent sanding and spreading qualities. It containsZNX-7, which provides superior adhesion to galva-nized steel and aluminum, eliminating the risk ofpulling back the featheredge. Evercoatwww.evercoat.com


Quality Breathing AirThe Quality Air Breathing System complies withthe OSHA requirement for Grade D BreathableAir. When placed near the point of use, it will

work with the existing compressed air supply. The four-stage filtration filters the air, and the on-board carbon monoxide moni-tor continuously monitors the air quality for compliance withcurrent OSHA standards.Martech Services Companywww.breathingsystems.com


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QualitySolutions forthe Collision

Industry


checking parts and

ordering parts and

eventually became

parts manager.

Are you a bighunter? Yes. My great-

grandfather had a

cattle ranch that

got passed down

through the gener-

ations. And when

you work on a

ranch, when you’re

not working cattle,

you’re hunting.

What’s the best animal you ever

bagged? There are a lot, to be hon-

est. I got a very big African

leopard all by myself when I was

18. That was a big accomplish-

ment for me.

Do you have a trophy room? Yes. My wife is an avid hunter, too,

although she prefers to archery hunt

more than rifle. I do both.

Did you ever have any “closecalls” while hunting? I had one incident where an African leop-

ard bit a guy next to me, but we eventually

killed it and that was the end of it. But I got

lucky and didn’t get a scratch. BSB

What accent is that?I’m from South Africa. You know,

where all the good golfers and

swimmers come from.

Are you a big golf fan?No, I’m more into rugby. South

Africa, New Zealand, Australia,

England – we’re all rivals and

go back and forth with the world

championship.

Have you ever played rugby?Yes, through college.

It’s a rough sport, isn’t it?Yes, you pay for it the older you get:

knees, shoulders, neck, etc. But

it’s a fun game.

What’s the worst injury youever got from playing? I broke my nose and cracked my

cheekbone, so I was out for awhile. That

pretty much ended my rugby career.

When did you come to the U.S.?I moved here nine years ago when I got mar-

ried. I was a professional hunting guide in

South Africa, and that’s where I met my future

wife, who would take hunting trips there with

her father and mother. Dan, her father, owns

Dan’s Paint & Body.

How did you go from hunting to collision?The parts manager who worked for my father-

in-law quit and walked out, so he said I needed

to come and help out. I started in the back lot

TheShop


C.J.VermaakProduction ManagerDan’s Paint & Body � Tucson, Ariz.

BodyShop Business

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