Midwestern April 2015 Issue by Autobody News

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VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 APRIL 2015

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Takata Responds to Pressure from NHTSA, Honda’s Consumer Education Campaign, Recyclers Respond

Judge Dismisses Fraud, Racketeering Case Against Warren, MI, Shop Owner, “Evidence Not There”

The cascading number of vehicle recalls caused by defective Takata airbags has been making front page

A judge dismissed all the charges against a Warren body shop owner ac-

by Victoria Antonelli, Online Editor

Photo Credit: 5newsonline.com

news from 2008 to the present day. During that time, automakers have recalled about 17 million vehicles with airbags that can rupture when deployed, producing fragments that can kill or seriously injure motorists. In the latest action, Honda has launched a multi-million dollar print, digital and radio advertising campaign on March 16 to urge Honda and Acura owners to check for open recalls and complete airbag inflator repairs. “The goals of this campaign are to save lives and prevent injuries,” said John Mendel, Executive Vice See Takata Takes Steps, Page 20

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys at Eaves Law Firm Encourage Shops to Share Stories About Alleged Steering

See Eaves Law Firm, Page 9

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

Auto body shops in 36 states are now part of the antitrust Multi District Lawsuit (MDL) in Florida. John Eaves Jr., the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, is encouraging shop owners across the country to share their stories about alleged steering and other insurance practices, regardless whether or not they are part of the lawsuit. Eaves Law Firm in Mississippi plans to use these experiences to help prepare affidavits for an injunction the firm is about to file. “This injunction is going to be asking the court to stop the insurance company’s steering

practices and other retaliatory practices,” he said. In March, Autobody News reported that Judge Gregory Presnell in Florida had dismissed a large portion of the lawsuit. “Since that has happened, we actually found out more information,” said Eaves. The law firm has been preparing the documentation to refile the claims that were dismissed without prejudice. When Autobody News spoke to Eaves, he said that Judge Presnell indicated that he wants more specifics in regards to the lawsuit. In response, Eaves Law Firm has been rewriting

Change Service Requested

by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

by Jameson Cook, The Macomb Daily

(l to r) Attorney Steve Haney, Maher Waad and attorney Charles Busse embrace in a courthouse hallway minutes after all criminal charges against Waad, a Warren business owner, are dismissed by Judge James Maceroni of Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. Photo Credit: Jameson Cook, Macomb Daily Photo

cused of defrauding customers and operating a criminal enterprise. Maher Waad, 29, of Shelby Township, was charged with six counts of false pretenses and one count of racketeering for his actions at his business, Marks One Collision, on Eight Mile Road. Judge James Maceroni said from the bench the case never should have made it to Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. The ruling followed a half-hour of arguments in court and Maceroni’s review of legal briefs. “It’s (the evidence) simply not there,” Maceroni said in brief comments from the bench. “This case should have been dismissed at the preliminary examination.” See Judge Dismisses Fraud, Page 18

Automechanika Comes to Chicago by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The first Automechanika show in the U.S. will take place on April 24-26 at McCormick Place West in Chicago. The trade show, designed specifically for shop owners and technicians, focuses on three pillars: education, innovation and inspiration. Show Director Bridget Ferris says, “this is a unique opportunity for shop owners and technicians to get advanced training, discover new technologies and innovations, and see the latest products and services from more than 400 exhibiting companies on the show floor. In addition to training, many exhibitors have confirmed that they will be introducing new products to satisfy the innovation expectations of our attendees. We expect each attendee to leave the show inspired after visiting the many diverse exhibits and interactive feature areas showcasing everything from welding to painting techniques.” Automechanika Frankfurt has grown to become the world’s largest

trade event for the automotive aftermarket industry, featuring over 4600 exhibitors and 140,000 international buyers. Ferris states, “today, with a network of 15 events in 14 countries, the brand Automechanika offers exhibitors access to new markets around the world and has more than 16,000 loyal customers worldwide.” Messe Frankfurt’s decision to branch out into the U.S. was based on substantial research and communication with their customers who indicated a need for a trade show designed specifically for shop owners and technicians with an emphasis on a high-level educational program. According to Ferris, “the demand from our customer base, together with the opportunity to partner with the leading automotive aftermarket publication, UBM Advanstar, paved the way for this event to be launched.” Ferris continues, “we performed extensive research before deciding on a location to enter the U.S. market, and there were many compelling reasons See Automechanika, Page 9

Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244

2 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Contents 14-Year Sentence in Car Theft During

IN Shop Break-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2015 Chrysler 200 Named Midwest Automotive Media Association’s

‘Family Vehicle of the Year’. . . . . . . . . . . 8

50+ crashes in Ottawa Co., MI, Shops Busy. 4

AASP-IL Holds 2015 Annual Meeting . . . . 10 Automechanika Comes to Chicago. . . . . . . 1 BASF Sponsors Ridler Ball at 2015

Detroit Autorama; Displays Buick

Riviera “Rivtile” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CARSTAR Hosts Aluminum Program at

Automechanika . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Customer ‘Unhappy’ With Car Repairs in IL, Pulls Gun, Commits Felony Armed

Robbery Prosecutors Say . . . . . . . . . . . 4

by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

Chess - How Much Do You Know About

2015 Vehicle Technology and Trends?. . 46

Franklin - New Century Marketing Basics . . 34

Luehr - Cycle Time Success Using

Little’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Luehr - Make More Money Using Theory

of Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Luehr - Putting First Things First. . . . . . . . 22

Yoswick - ASA-MI and DRPs, Carstation.com, Right to Repair and Toby Chess’ Legal

Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Yoswick - Testing Shows Dramatic Differences in Isocyanate-Blocking by Spraysuits . . 30

NATIONAL

ABRA Closes on Fourth Acquisition in

Four Weeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Berkshire Hathaway Completes Van Tuyl

MI State SkillsUSA Qualifiers to Head

Caliber Auto Mechanics File CA Wage &

Midwest Trade Show Focuses on ‘New’

Google Compare Now Live in California . . . 3

to Nationals in KY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Hour Class Action Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Future of Collision Repair . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Martin Senour Launches New Automotive

Six Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys at Eaves Law Firm

Service King Expands in Chicago, with

Sisk - AASP-MN “Aims High” for Annual

Meeting and Convention in April . . . . . . 38

Three-C Body Shops File Lawsuit Against At-Fault Driver Due to Insurer’s

Underpayment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - Four New Apps for Techs, Painters, Estimators and Service

Advisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Attanasio - Strong and Getting Stronger:

The State of I-CAR® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Refinish Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Encourage Shops to Share Stories

About Alleged Steering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ShopRepTV: A Personalized TV Channel

for Body Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Sisk - Exciting Changes Coming for 2015 SARC, Hosted by Seven State

to expand to other states throughout the year. The stand-alone website can be found at Google.com/compare and allows consumers to analyze auto insurance quotes. Osborne said the goal is to present the information to Google users in an intuitive, relevant and userfriendly way. According to the company’s website, a Google internal study found that, “...when it comes to buying car insurance, 80% of drivers think they’d find a better policy if they could compare more than two Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Assistant Editor: Stacey Phillips Online Editor: Victoria Antonelli Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, David Brown, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, Norman Morano (800) 699-8251 Sales Assistant: Louise Tedesco Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Indexof Advertisers

Judge Dismisses Fraud, Racketeering Case

Against Warren, MI Shop Owner . . . . . . 1

Google launched a new auto insurance shopping website on March 5 known as Google Compare. When Autobody News talked to Google Spokesperson Joe Osborne, he said the website has launched in California and the plan is

Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Takata Responds to Pressure from NHTSA, Honda Launches Major Consumer

Education Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Urethane Supply Company Releases I-CAR

Course® on Nitrogen Plastic Welding . . 24

providers.” There are currently 14 insurance partners that are part of Google Compare. These include Mercury Insurance, Metlife, The General Insurance, Infinity Auto Insurance, Titan Insurance, Stillwater, Dairyland Auto, CSE Insurance Group and six others. Google drew on its current advertising base to begin building a selection of companies to partner with. The billion dollar company launched a similar site for credit cards last year and Osborne said the company is continually improving the site to ensure it is as useful as possible. When searching for car insurance, the website has a questionnaire box that asks for information such as a consumer’s zip code, license number and make and model of vehicle. Once this information is inputted, the site shows the various price quotes from the insurance companies. “As Google Compare for car insurance rolls out to more states, we’ll also be introducing ratings and reviews, as well as local agent support for providers and agent networks,” according to Google’s official blog posted by Jerry Dischler, VP of Product Management, AdWords.

AMH Canada, Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 42 Axalta Coating Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 B-TEC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 51 Car-Part.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 CarcoonAmerica Airflow Systems. . . . 35 Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Charles Gabus Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Chicago Pneumatic Compressors . . . . 4 Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 25 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 DJS Fabrications, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Eco Repair Systems of North America, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Equalizer Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Erhard BMW of Bloomfield Hills . . . . . 30 Erhard BMW of Farmington Hills. . . . . 30 Eurovac, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ganley Westside Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Global Finishing Solutions . . . . . . . . . . 8 GlobalJig North America . . . . . . . . . . . 11 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . 55 Graham Auto Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Hall Volkswagen-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44 International Epoxies & Sealers . . . . . . 4 Isringhausen Imports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Jake Sweeney Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Kelly BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Kia Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . 53

Serving Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2015 Adamantine Media LLC. Autobody News Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com

Midwest

REGIONAL

Google Compare Now Live in California

Laurel Auto Group of Westmont . . . . . 45 Luther Hopkins Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Maplewood Toyota-Scion . . . . . . . . . . 46 Martech Services Company . . . . . . . . 24 Matrix System Automotive Finishes . . . 7 Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 44 MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 50 Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 33 Morrie’s Brooklyn Park Subaru . . . . . . 12 Morrison’s Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 NACE/CARS Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . 39 Noxudol USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Orio North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Patrick BMW-MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Pro-Spray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 Spanesi America, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . 48 Toyota of Des Moines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Toyota of Grand Rapids. . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 50 Urethane Supply Company. . . . . . . . . 26 U.S. Chemical & Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 VanDevere Kia-GM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Wedge Clamp Systems, Inc . . . . . . . . . 6 West Bend Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

50+ crashes in Ottawa Co., MI, Shops Busy

On February 19, US-31 in Grand Haven Township, MI, was almost unrecognizable due to whiteout conditions that caused three separate accidents involving a total of nine cars. Deputies told Bob Brenzing and Alex Shabad of wzzm13.com that traffic was slowed due to a wrecker pulling a school bus out of a ditch just after 9 a.m. Investigators stated that a semi

US-31 near Fillmore, MI on February 19. Photo Credit: Becky Vargo - Grand Haven Tribune

truck stopped for the wrecker, and was then hit by a car, causing a domino effect with the trailing vehicles. Lt. Shawn Schrader with the Grand Haven Township Fire Department blamed the white out conditions, and said the drivers couldn’t see the stopped semi-truck until it was too late. That car’s driver and two other people involved in the crashes on US31 were taken to the hospital with

non-life threatening injuries, reported Brenzing and Shabad. Before noon on that Thursday, Ottawo County saw a total of 52 accidents and slide-offs, most of which occurred along US-31 or I-196 in Zeeland and Holland. The lake effect is not only a snowmaker, but also a money-maker for Auto Body Xperts in Holland Township, reported Brenzing and Shabad. Mandy Baroza, general manager of Auto Body Xperts, said the snow generates more business, referring to the flakes as “white gold from the sky.” In just two days, the show saw 30 damaged vehicles. Auto Body Xperts divided the damaged vehicles between those that are driveable and those that are not, so that customers with less significant damage can return another time, reported Brenzing and Shabad. At the end of February, there was a week long wait to get into the Holland location. However, the Hudsonville location wasn’t as busy. In Van Buren County, three semitrucks and a car were involved in a crash on I-196 in Covert Township, reported Brenzing and Shabad. Two people were rescued from underneath one of the semis and taken to South Haven for treatment.

4 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Customer ‘Unhappy’ With Car Repairs in IL, Pulls Gun, Commits Felony Armed Robbery Prosecutors Say

On December 20, a Bronzeville, IL, shop customer who wasn’t impressed with his mechanic’s work pulled out a gun and took back his money, prosecutors told Erica Demarest of dnainfo.com.

Perry Hines, 24, was charged with felony armed robbery. Photo Credit: Shutterstock; Chicago Police Department

Police pulled Perry Hines, 24, over during the week of February 23 for a minor traffic violation. After checking his background, they uncovered an alert linking him to the assault and arrested him on the spot. Hines was charged with felony armed robbery. Hines had paid the victim $100 cash on Dec. 20 for repairs done to his car, Assistant State’s Attorney Lorraine Scaduto alleged in court on

February 24. The two went to an ATM machine that afternoon to retrieve the money, and shortly after, Hines and an accomplice attacked the victim in the 400 block of East 45th Street, reported Demarest. The accomplice has not been charged as of press time. Allegedly, Hines pulled a gun while the accomplice punched the victim, telling him to give Hines his money back or he’d “blow [the victim’s] head off,” Scaduto told Demarest. Hines then took the cash and the duo fled the scene. Officers arrested him about 12:30 p.m. Monday in the 4900 block of South Halsted Street, the arrest report said. Hines told police he’d been unhappy with the repair work, according to prosecutors. Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Hines, of the 4700 block of South Martin Luther King Drive, held in lieu of $250,000 bail, reported Demarest.

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www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 5

Three-C Body Shops File Lawsuit Against At-Fault Driver Due to Insurer’s Underpayment

On behalf of their customer, Three C Body Shops filed suit against the atfault party due to their insurance company’s denials and underpayments. The complaint was filed in the Municipal Court of Franklin County in Ohio against Caleb Brickey due to Brickey’s insurer’s (Allstate Insurance Company) failure and refusal to provide a Three C Body Shop’s customer full payment for numerous reasonable and necessary charges for processes and materials. The issues stemmed from an auto accident in which the at-fault party, Brickey, was negligent and admitted liability for damages to Three C Body Shop’s customer’s 2005 Jeep Liberty. Three C’s submitted their estimate to the at-fault party’s insurer and after four supplemental attempts to attain the full and proper compensation, at the direction of their customer, Three C Body Shops proceeded with the recommended and proper repair. The final cost of the authorized repair was $5,687.83 and the at-fault party’s insurer, Allstate, tendered the underpayment of $3,585.43 towards the repair leaving a difference and deficit of $2,102.40 of which Three C Body Shop has incurred and is now seeking recovery on their own behalf.

The lawsuit seeks full payment to Three C’s of the difference plus costs, expenses, attorney fees, prejudgment and post judgment interest. Bob Juniper, second generation President and owner of Three C stated, “Up to now many repairers have found that to properly meet their customer’s needs and expectations it is necessary to make a proper and thorough repair and take an Assignment of Proceeds and through ensuing litigation, seek recovery against their customer’s own insurers by an assignment contract clause and a Power of Attorney signed by the customer. This matter involves a third-party claimant seeking recompense for the insurer’s denials and underpayments directly from the at-fault party. This process exposes the insurer’s poor behavior to their policyholder and places the at-fault party in a position of vulnerability and exposes them to liabilities. Liabilities they expected their own insurer to shield them from. Their failure to shield their policyholder may place the insurer in a position of potential breach of contract and other potential legal liabilities. Our hope is this exposure will cause for a positive change in insurer behaviors; regardless if a first or third party claim.”

6 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Service King Expands in Chicago, with Six Locations Service King Collision Repair Centers announced on March 2 continued expansion in Chicago, IL with the acquisition of Central Collision Centers. Service King now offers collision repair services at 13 locations in the Chicago metro area. The acquisition of Central Collision Centers, a multi-location operator of collision and auto glass repair with six area locations, officially closed Friday, February 27. “The partnership between Service King and Central Collision is a great step for both of our teams as we continue to expand our offering of highquality customer service and collision repair services throughout the Chicago market,” said Jerod Guerin, Service King Collision Repair Centers Regional Vice President. “Mike Caruso built a great team throughout all areas of the business, and we’re proud to bring our two teams together.” Service King now operates 229 facilities in 21 states across the country. Central Collision Centers serves customers in the communities of Tinley Park, Peotone, Mokena, New Lennox, Oak Forrest and Crete. The family-owned business first opened in Peotone in 1981.

ABRA Closes on Fourth Acquisition in Four Weeks

ABRA Auto Body & Glass announced on Feb. 27 it acquired Crash1 Off Alpine Collision Center in Rockford, IL. It is ABRA’s fourth deal in three states in less than a month. The company said the move signals it is hitting its growth stride as it executes an aggressive national strategy to increase its national footprint. In less than a year, ABRA’s repair center portfolio in Illinois has grown to 32 centers and its nationwide footprint now stands at 266 in 20 states. Duane Rouse, ABRA’s President and CEO, said, “We are always looking for opportunities to grow and demonstrate to new communities and insurance partners our innovative service model. We’re thrilled with the success we’ve achieved and plan to continue to build on it in the Midwest and across the country.” ABRA is seeking to acquire repair centers. Interested parties should contact Scott Gerling, VP of Corporate Development (sgerling @abraauto.com or 763.585.6210). For franchise opportunities in small and midsize markets, contact Mark Wahlin, VP of Franchise Development/Relations (mwahlin@abraauto .com or 763.585.6315).

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 7

14-Year Sentence in Car Theft During IN Shop Break-In

Brandon Paris, 29, of Lafayette, IN was sentenced to 14 years after breaking into a repair shop, reported wlfi.com. Paris was pulled over in 2011 in West Lafayette for driving down the wrong side of the road. He could not provide registration and told officers it was a company car. The name on his ID card read Bobby Anthony Ross. Later, officers responded to a break-in at a Lafayette repair shop. The owner reported that some money, a shotgun and a customer car had been taken, reported wlfi.com. Paris’s DNA was found on Brandon Paris was the drawer of sentenced to 14 the cash register years in prison after after it was sent stealing a shotgun, to state police customer car and labs last year. money from a Records show Lafayette, IN repair that Paris used shop. Photo Credit: Ross’s name to Lafayette Police Dept. check into the jail back in 2011, reported wlfi.com. After pleading guilty to multiple charges in court on February 23, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

2015 Chrysler 200 Named Midwest Automotive Media Association’s ‘Family Vehicle of the Year’ The Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) kicked off the Chicago Auto Show by announcing the 2015 Chrysler 200 captured its coveted “Family Vehicle of the Year” award.

west Automotive Media Association, whose members evaluate dozens of new vehicles throughout the year,” said Al Gardner – President and CEO, Chrysler Brand – FCA US LLC. “The 2015 Chrysler 200 was

The Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) announced at the Chicago Auto Show that the 2015 Chrysler 200 won the “Family Vehicle of the Year” award. Photo Credit: www.paultan.org

MAMA is a nonprofit group of more than 200 automotive journalists and industry professionals who developed the award to help consumers make a wise purchase decision when it is time to shop for a family vehicle. “We are delighted that the new Chrysler 200 has been chosen ‘Family Vehicle of the Year’ by the Mid-

8 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

developed to be the benchmark for mid-size sedans with a timeless, elegant design; clever functionality; a standard nine-speed automatic transmission; a class-leading available allwheel-drive system; 60 safety and security features and a host of new technology drivers and passengers will value. It is a sedan that drivers

will be proud to own, at a value they will appreciate.” To qualify for the award, vehicles must have four doors, have a starting U.S. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of less than $50,000, appear at one of MAMA’s two annual rallies and be new or significantly updated within one year of the 2014 Spring Rally, which took place last May. The MAMA spring and fall rallies feature up to 100 manufacturer’s vehicles for journalists to drive and evaluate. “We know how important it is, and how difficult it can be, to pick the right family car,” said Patrick Olsen, MAMA President. “This award helps give consumers a chance to see the car that nearly a hundred automotive journalists—many with families themselves—selected as the best choice for families in 2015.” A total of 99 journalists voted the 2015 Chrysler 200 the winner, awarding it 79 points. The second place vehicle finished with 73 points and the third place vehicle was awarded 68 points. The U.S. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the vehicle is $21,800 (excluding $995 destination).

Continued from Cover

Eaves Law Firm

the lawsuits to include specific information from the auto body shops. Although Eaves said this was not their original intention, the Eaves team has been collecting information from the shops. “We’ve tried to give the judge enough detail and enough information so he can have the confidence to move forward,” he said. He also said that some of the lawsuits have been put on hold until the firm can best determine how the judge wants them filed. Then the other lawsuits can be filed in a similar manner. Each state’s lawsuit has a different deadline. Eaves and his team have also been focusing on answering the defendants’ move to dismiss the lawsuit. There is a standing court date once a month, with the latest one held on March 6. Eaves said the purpose of that hearing was to speed up the process. “Thanks to the leadership of Judge Smith, who is the magistrate on the case, we discussed several ways to expedite the process.” Meanwhile, auto body shops are

continuing to join the MDL, with 20 more being added the week prior to Autobody News going to press. Eaves said he wants the case to be the best it can be. “We’re working to ensure it is as comprehensive as possible and lays out all of the unfair trade practices and all of those things that have made it difficult for our shops to do their job,” he said. Auto body shops across the country that wish to share their stories should contact steve@eaveslaw.com

Advertise in our CLASSIFIED SECTION for $50 per column inch! Place an ad in our AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE section of Autobody News.

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Continued from Cover

Automechanika

that we believe Chicago is the ideal location. Of the 160,000 individual shops in the United States, 25% of them are within a 500 mile radius of Chicago, giving many shops the ability to drive to the show. Chicago is an international destination that is easily accessible from anywhere in the world, and the city of Chicago has made some major changes to make it more exhibitor and attendee friendly as a convention and trade show destination.” As a global trade show organizer who provides a platform for the automotive aftermarket industry to conduct business in different markets around the world, Messe Frankfurt is confident that Automechanika Chicago will benefit the collision repair industry by bringing key collision manufacturers and associations together with shop owners and technicians and allowing the industry to stay abreast of the latest technological innovations through product discovery, training, certification, and on-the-floor demonstrations. In addition to getting the chance to meet with more than 400 exhibitors to see the latest products and technolo-

gies to meet customers’ needs, Automechanika Chicago attendees will be able to view and even experience some of the equipment displayed on the expo floor. Axalta Coating Systems and Global Finishing Solutions will each present hands-on automotive painting experiences, while other vendors will demonstrate their most innovative products. Ferris notes “Automechanika Chicago will offer independent shops the opportunity to evaluate the product offering of the U.S. market and build relationships with distributors, wholesalers and importers to become more competitive in the industry.” Automechanika Chicago will also host a career fair, The Career Connection, where technicians and future industry professionals in search of a job or information can stop by and discuss opportunities. Shop owners with available positions will collaborate with ASA-IL to list jobs and schedule interviews with potential candidates. The Career Connection will also host short sessions where shop owners will focus on the skills they are looking for and why. Ferris notes, “We have identified and invited the best-of-the-best trainers in the country to help us design a worldSee Automechanika, Page 10

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 9

Midwest Trade Show Focuses on ‘New’ Future of Collision Repair by Janet Chaney, Executive Director Iowa Collision Repair Association

About 400 people attended the 5th Annual Midwest Autobody Trade Show, February 19 at the Sheraton West Des Moines in Iowa. Attendees from Kansas City to Missouri participated in this year’s show that focused on the ‘new’ future of collision repair. Sixty-five vendors showcased their wares with product demonstrations, door prizes and more. A first this year for the Midwest Autobody Trade Show was a community college refinish competition. The Collision Industry Education Foundation and Keystone Automotive assisted in this first competition, donating fresh air hoods for their paint departments and hoods to be refinished. Participating colleges were: Hawkeye Community College, Indian Hills Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, Scott Community College, DMACC, and Iowa Central Community College. The colleges brought six custompainted hoods to the show. Custom motorcycle designer, Steve Bruggenwirth, praised every student for their great work and in the end chose the entry from DMACC, Des Moines Area

Community College. This year’s popular ‘There Is No Free Lunch’ welcomed back Iowa Senator Brad Zaun and Iowa Collision Repair Association lobbyist, Scott Weiser. Senator Zaun is a long-standing advocate of small business in Iowa and a strong supporter of the Iowa collision industry. National I-CAR Chairman, Bob Janet Chaney Keith, encouraged File Photo everyone to continue training at the highest level and develop a ‘learning culture’ in every shop. Keynote luncheon speaker, Ken Boylan, Global Training Manager, Chief Automotive Technologies, offered an introduction into aluminum repair and how and what shops should be looking at to repair this new technology. Boylan also spoke on the showroom floor at the aluminum F-150 answering technical questions for attendees. “This information from Ken Boylan is exactly what we need to learn,” ICRA President Dick Merron stated, “We look forward to bringing him back to Iowa for more in-depth training this summer.”

AASP-IL Holds 2015 Annual Meeting

On February 28, AASP-IL held their annual meeting and hosted board elections. Mike Lane, Executive Director of AASPIL, says, “The event was well-received. Informal evaluation of the event received two thumbs up!” Mike Mattson of Accidental Auto Body in Waukegan was elected President, with Bob Gottfred of Chicago’s Eric-LaSalle Body Shop stepping into the role of Vice President. Doug Fiala of Douglas Auto Body in Brookfield will serve as the association’s Secretary and Treasurer. Newly elected directors include Nick DePaul of Parkville Auto Body, Paul Mason of Autonation, Danny Tondu of Continental Motor Groups, and Mayer’s Collision Center’s Joe Mayer. Several gentlemen will continue sitting on AASP-IL’s Board of Directors, such as Brad Zara of Zara’s Collision, Mike Randazzo of Randazzo’s Gallery Collision Center, and AASP-IL’s Continued from Page 9

Automechanika

class educational event that will focus on real-world situations that collision repair and service repair shops will definitely embrace. In addition to the more than 100 seminars offered, Automechanika Chicago is providing attendees with the opportunity to receive ASE certification

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Immediate Past President Jeff Kallemeyn of Kallemeyn’s Collision Center. AASPIL’s annual meeting always features a keynote presentation, and this year’s speaker was Aaron Clark, Vice President of Certification and Network Development for Assured Performance. Lane states, “Samples of aluminum versus steel quarter panels were on display, thanks to Autonation. Attendees got a clear understanding about aluminum certification and equipment. The program content was excellent, but like all associations, we always hope for larger attendance. This event was important to AASP-IL members, both from an educational perspective and also as an opportunity to dial in on important legislative issues that can impact our industry in Illinois.” AASP-IL, 225 E Cook, Springfield, IL , 62704, 217-528-5230, www.aaspi.org

through our on-site testing facility.” The cost of attending Automechanika Chicago Training is priced at $400. Visit their website and register to take advantage of everything the show has to offer. Show organizers will be sending updates with information about some surprises that await attendees at Automechanika Chicago. www.automechanikachicago.com

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BASF Sponsors Ridler Ball at 2015 Detroit Autorama; Displays Buick Riviera “Rivtile”

BASF Automotive Refinish was a silver sponsor of the 2015 Ridler Ball that took place during Detroit Autorama March 6-8 in Michigan. One of the highlights of the ball, held at the Cobo Center on March 6, was the announcement of the Pirelli “Great Eight” finalists for the Ridler Award. The finalists included a ‘69 Mustang and a ‘69 Camaro, two traditional Ford favorites, a ‘32 roadster and a ‘37 woody wagon, and several models never seen in the Great 8 before, in-

dler Award winner Chip Foose, and using BASF paint, received the top prize. BASF has had its paint featured on seven of the past 13 Ridler Award winners, including the 2014 winning 1964 Buick Riviera “Rivision” designed by JF Launier of JF Kustoms. The car featured a custom Rivieran Sunset Pearl color from BASF’s R-M® Onyx HD line. The Ridler Award is named for Don Ridler, who started promoting Autorama in the 1950s. With his ex-

BASF displayed the 1972 Buick Riveria, “Rivtile,” owned by Juergen Book and designed by Gerd Muller and Erdal Demir

cluding a ‘65 Dodge Dart and a ‘56 Plymouth Convertible. The ‘65 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe owned by Don Voth, restyled by TV personality and multi-time Ri-

pertise, Autorama became one of the top hot rod shows in the country. Following Ridler’s passing in 1963, a decision was made to create an award to honor his memory. The Ridler award

has been given out to the best new creations since 1964. Cars must be shown for the first time at the Detroit Autorama to be eligible for the award.

The 1965 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe restyled by Chip Foose received the top prize

In addition to sponsoring the Ridler Ball, BASF displayed the 1972 Buick Riveria, “Rivtile,” owned by Juergen Book and designed by Gerd Muller and Erdal Demir. The Rivtile is painted “snake-style” to represent an “automotive reptile.” The Rivtile’s color scheme features a range of reptilian greens, custom painted with gold contrasts from BASF’s R-M® Carizzma line. The Rivtile was recently recognized by Autobytel for having one of the best paint jobs at the 2014 Specialty Equipment Market (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas.

CARSTAR Hosts Aluminum Program at Automechanika

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts is a sponsor of the inaugural Automechanika Chicago, being held April 24-26 at McCormick Place West in Chicago, IL. Automechanika Chicago is the tradeshow and training event designed specifically for automotive service and collision repair shop owners, technicians, distributors, jobbers and more. It will be the first year the European show has been held in the U.S. As part of its sponsorship, CARSTAR will host an education program on Saturday, April 25, live on the Collision Repair stage. It is entitled: Is Aluminum Repair Right for Your Business? Bob Keith, Senior Director-Operations Training, and Rick Miller, AVP of Operations, will discuss how to determine if aluminum repair is right for your business, and what you need to do get ready to repair. This class will cover an overview of aluminum repair, the current and future aluminum vehicles, the investment needed, how to determine your ROI and training your team. CARSTAR will also have an informational booth in the Repair and Maintenance section.

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ShopRepTV: A Personalized TV Channel for Body Shops by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

During the summer of 2014, Frank Terlep recalls walking into a body shop lobby and noticing all of the paper, plaques and reviews strewn across the counter and taped on the walls and windows. Terlep, owner of Summit eMarketing Sherpas, wondered if it would make sense to digitize all of this information. (see more on Frank Terlep p. 50 this issue.) This led him to create ShopRepTV, an in-house sales, marketing and advertising platform specifically designed for auto body and repair shops. Terlep said the product allows a business to use HDTVs, PC monitors, laptops and/or tablets to present their online reviews, certifications, affiliations and partnerships, as well as share videos, labor rates special offers and much more. “It is basically like a shop’s own personalized TV channel for their business,” said Terlep. Whether it is used in a shop’s lobby or estimating bays, he said that it will help shops better communicate with customers, reduce perceived wait times, improve customer service, reinforce the shop’s brand and

increase exposure to a shop’s special promotions and additional services. After creating a test version, Terlep introduced ShopRepTV at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV in November 2014. He had no idea what the

this product is different. ShopRepTV is preformatted with content so shops can pick and choose what they want to present to their customers. It can also be customized for each body shop.

Star ratings, promotions and customer reviews are just some of the choices that can be included on ShopRepTV

reaction would be and said he was pleased to hear the positive feedback. Although there are dozens of digital signage companies, Terlep said

14 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

“We have this product we think is valuable to the business,” said Terlep, who has worked with body shops for the last 30 years. “We think it’s some-

thing that most collision centers are going to use in the future.” Terlep said his company, based in Poway, CA, specializes in helping shops retain more customers, revenue and profit through digital sales, marketing and advertising. Over the last few months, Terlep asked some of his previous customers to test ShopRepTV in their shops. The goal was to find out if they are gaining value from presenting information to their customers in this way. Barry Reddick, owner of Collision PRO in Helena, Montana, has tested ShopRepTV over the last few months. The monitor is set up on his lobby counter and Reddick said he has found that a lot of people are watching it, especially the videos and commercials. The body shop has showcased their certifications and star rating, as well as information about their relationships with insurance companies and DRPs. “I think it gives them a little more insight into the business,” said Reddick. “In one spot you can really showcase the inside of your business with See ShopRepTV, Page 24

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MI State SkillsUSA Qualifiers to Head to Nationals in KY June 24–25 by Victoria Antonelli, Online Editor

Since its founding in 1965, SkillsUSA has provided high school and college students from across the country with the opportunity to put their array of talents to the test. More than 300,000 students and advisors join SkillsUSA annually, organized into more than 17,000 sections and 52 state and territorial associations. Combining alumni and lifetime membership, the total number impacted this year is more than 335,000. That’s 11.2 million people impacted in the last 50 years. Students in automotive repair hone their skills into one of the two specializations: automotive collision repair and automotive refinish. Michigan has six regional competitions; region two is divided into the east and west districts. Collision repair instructor Duane Wagner explained that there are seven schools in his region—Region 1—and 21 students competing in both the collision repair and automotive refinish. In total, 42 students compete at the regional level. Every two years, the location for the regional competition is rotated to a different school. Wagner teaches at Branch Area Careers Center in Coldwater, MI. Six

out of 17 students from Branch Area, three in collision repair and three in automotive refinish, are selected to compete at the regional level. Usually a total of 36 regional finalists—18 in collision repair and 18 in automotive refinish—will advance to the semi-finals at the state level. Wagner says that several of his students have won at the state level and gone on to compete in nationals. One of his students even placed second in collision repair at the national level. The semi-finalists are comprised of high school students and post-secondary students. Both age groups are judged together, but separate awards are given so a high school student doesn’t have to compete directly with a college student. The competitions are judged by people from businesses and the industry. Most supplies, except for waterborne paint which is provided at the state level, is donated to students from their technical schools. 3M Automotive is a continual sponsor for the state competitions. “This event is very important because it shows people in business and the industry the skills that our youth can perform,” added Wagner. The collision repair students will

mend two dents in a fender, one with plastic filler and one with a metal finish. They’ll also compete in welding, under-hood measurements, and a plastic bumper repair. The automotive refinishing students will reverse spot blend and reverse spot priming. They will also compete in masking and color variance. Both groups are required to complete an ASE and SkillsUSA knowledge test and write an estimate, explained Wagner. “The kids are usually stressing themselves to death during the state competitions,” said collision repair instructor Bill Burnette. “I’ve had kids lying on the floor thinking they were going to throw up and everything else because they get so nerved up. “I always tell my students, ‘Don't worry about it, don’t let the competition get to your head; it’s just another day at the shop. Do what you do every day when you’re at school that you do very well.’” Burnette has been a collision repair instructor for Ypsilanti Community Schools at the Regional Career Technical Center in Ypsilanti, MI, for 23 years. The top four students at RCTC in both paint and collision will go onto regionals, and from there the qualifiers will head to states.

“Fourteen students [from RCTC] have medaled at the state level since I’ve been teaching,” said Burnette. “Two kids have won state; one went on to finish 7th in the nation.” Burnette said he became an instructor “on a whim” after he was asked to replace a collision instructor who had retired, and has “fallen in love with teaching.” “The kids focus a lot on the contest as far as training,” said Burnette. “They have to hone their skills more than the average high school student, which is a real advantage to having SkillsUSA. It makes these kids go above and beyond. A lot of times they’ll come back after school and we’ll practice bump welds, or any other skills they want to get better and better at.” The bulk of the SkillsUSA competitions for the state of Michigan will take place at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel from April 17-18. The opening session and award ceremony will be held at the DeVos Place.

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Continued from Cover

Judge Dismisses Fraud

18 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

The decision brought a sense of exhilaration to Waad, who embraced his attorneys, Steve Haney and Charles Busse. “The truth came out,” a smiling Waad said. “I believed in God that the truth would come out.” Waad said the charges, filed in fall 2013, have significantly damaged but not destroyed his multi-million dollar business, which also includes a 200-car fleet rental company. Former judge Dean Ausilio of 37th District Court in Warren and Center was criticized by the judge, an assistant prosecutor and Haney. Ausilio had criticized both the police and prosecution side as well as the defendant but still ordered the case in December to advance to circuit court following a probable cause hearing. Ausilio left office Dec. 31 after losing the November election. “What is most troubling is the opinion of the lower court,” Maceroni said. “I’m so perplexed by this (Ausilio’s) decision,” Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Jean Cloud said in court among her arguments to maintain the charges. “How can a judge say there is no evidence and yet bound it over?” In his opinion, Ausilio said he was “troubled by (the prosecution’s) reliance in making charging decisions based upon an obviously flawed, selfserving investigative report prepared for the MATS (Macomb Auto Theft Squad) unit by an insurance company ... without a full unbiased, and independent investigation.” On the other hand, he also said he was “stunned” by Waad’s business practices. Haney, Waad’s attorney, has contended from the start of the case that it was a mere civil “billing dispute” that was unfairly made into a criminal case by police as part of a vendetta by Farmers Insurance against Waad for his federal lawsuit against Farmers. Haney called the case “an embarrassment to the county and a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.” Maceoni said the prosecution failed to show that Waad had “specific knowledge” of the alleged acts. Farmers and three other insurance carriers were accused by Waad in federal court of steering customers away from his shop for insurance work, defamation and engaging in ethnic bias

that included ethnic slurs about Waad by insurance representatives. Waad is of Arabic descent. Waad says he was called a “dirty Arab,” “sand n-----” and “crook.” The case is pending. “If they can convict him of being a dirty Arab and a crook, it will be a defense in the defamation suit,” Haney told Maceroni. MATS says Waad repaired vehicles to a lesser extent than required under written estimates that were negotiated between the shop and insurance company, saving it between several hundred dollars and nearly $4,000 per vehicle. The incidents occurred from April 2012 to June 2013. In some cases, some aspects of repair work was never done, and in other instances, after-market parts were used when original manufacturer equipment was required in the estimate, according to MATS. Haney countered that MATS has inflated the alleged over-charges and failed to give credit to Waad and Marks One for other work done or benefits to the vehicle owner to offset the shortcomings, such as a paying the customer’s deductible and/or providing a loaner vehicle. The law allows Waad’s shop the flexibility to come up with a variety of solutions, Haney said. “It’s exactly the same thing that happens every day in this county, in this state, with insurance companies,” he said. Maceroni said the prosecution failed to show that Waad had “specific knowledge” of the alleged acts. Haney had noted that none of the four customers who testified at the preliminary examination dealt with Waad. Waad said that the allegations have prompted him to pay closer attention to transactions at his shop. He said he has hired more managers. Police in April 2014 seized about 70 vehicles, more than $100,000 in cash, checks, equipment and many boxes of business documents from the collision shop, car-rental lots in Warren and Oak Park, and his home. Only the collision shop raid led to charges. Waad spent $25,000 to get everything back, his attorneys said. The most serious charge against Waad was racketeering, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Cloud said the prosecutor’s office appellate division will review the case for a potential appeal. Autobody News thanks the Macomb Daily and Jameson Cook for permission to reprint his story.

Shop and Product Showcase

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

Four New Apps for Techs, Painters, Estimators and Service Advisors with Ed Attanasio

Several years ago, Jim Young, 55 of Memphis, TN began a startup called My Business is a Wreck, a company he has described as a small team of passionate industry professionals delivering robust, reliable applications to the automotive industry. 35-year collision veteran Jim Young started My Business is a Wreck, a company that has created four applications that help body technicians, painters, estimators and service advisors to be more effective and productive. The company has developed four applications for different sectors of the automotive repair industry; iTechnician, iPainter, iEstimator and iAdvisorâ, to act as electronic assistants with the goal of helping them to do a better job and ultimately providing improved customer service. All four are currently available and free at the App Store for iPhones, iPads and Google android devices, according to Young.

It’s fitting that every app he’s created starts with the letter ‘i’ because Young has put much of his heart and soul into each one. Employed for more than three decades as a body technician, service writer, shop manager, instructor, coach and consultant for BMW and Toyota in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Young also owned his own shop, Young’s Collision in Memphis for several years. He has also been an I-CAR instructor for the past 15 years and is a business coach and mentor for automotive-related businesses throughout North America. Young’s father, 88, is a former body tech and managed a Pontiac dealership for 17 years and that’s part of why his son developed these apps to help other collision professionals with daily tasks, he said. My dad told me to always think about the people who helped you along the way, because he said sales numbers are important, but in the end the ones who helped you

will be the people you’ll remember. These apps can make peoples’ lives easier and that’s the main reason why I invented them. It’s truly a labor of love for Young and his new company. “I’ve invested approximately $10,000 into these apps without a dime in return, he explained. Eventually, I should be able to get some revenue from advertising, but in the meantime I’m more focused on getting these apps into the hands of the people who need them to make them more effective and productive.” Unveiled last November, Young first developed iTechnician, followed by iPainter, iEstimator and finally iAdvisor, an app that can be used in both mechanical and collision industries. “We’re covering pretty much every role that exists in a shop,” Young said. “We’ve heard back from users all over the world and currently we have people using them in 12 different coun-

tries, including Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Spain, to name a few.” Convenience is obviously one of the key features of these apps, Young said. “Everything is in your pocket, so you don’t have to walk over to your laptop or iPad and stop what you’re doing. Before we released these apps into the market, we gave them to service directors, estimators, techs and painters all over the country, in order to get their feedback during the modeling stage. We started tweaking them almost instantly, to make them better and stronger. By telling us how they were using them, we were able to make them better. It was a valuable process, because they saw things we might not have discovered on our own.” Here’s a brief description of what each app can do: iTechnician: Enables users to log their assigned ROI numbers; record See Four New Apps, Page 42

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 19

Continued from Cover

Takata Takes Steps

President of the Automobile Division of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Honda hopes that this new consumer information campaign will bolster our existing and continuing efforts to reach our customers and maximize the vehicle repair completion rates associated with recalls to replace Takata airbag inflators. These ads are a strong call to action from our company designed to break through the clutter, grab the attention of customers driving affected vehicles, and urge that they get required repairs as soon as possible.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced in a press release on February 25 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered Takata to preserve all air bag inflators removed through the recall process. The airbags will be used as evidence for both NHTSA’s investigation and private litigation cases. The order also ensures the regulators’ access to all data from the testing of those removed inflators.

“This department is focused on protecting the American public from these defective air bags and at getting to the bottom of how they came to be included in millions of vehicles on U.S. roads,” Foxx said. “This preservation order will help us get the answers we need to accomplish those goals.”

Photo Credit: blog.caranddriver.com

Foxx also announced that NHTSA will upgrade the Takata investigation to an engineering analysis, which will help determine the actual cause of the air bag failures, and what the next step will be. It will also establish whether Takata’s refusal to notify the agency of a safety defect violates federal safety laws or regulations. In 2014, five automakers— BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda and Mazda—launched national recalls for

defective driver-side air bags after pressure from NHTSA. Those five, plus General Motors, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota, are recalling vehicles for defective passenger-side air bags in areas of consistently high absolute humidity, which is believed to be a factor in the ruptures. Most of the recalls are for various model years varying from 2000 to 2007, according to a Takata Corp. representative. Automakers have announced plans to form a testing association, and private plaintiffs have sought access to inflators in federal court to conduct their own tests. NHTSA has also hired an outside expert on the use of propellants. “There is a strong public safety interest in ensuring that testing moves forward, and that NHTSA has access to all test data,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said. “We have worked closely with attorneys for private plaintiffs to construct this order so that it protects plaintiffs’ legal rights while also supporting our efforts to protect public safety.” On Feb. 20, the NHTSA began enforcing $14,000 a day in civil penalties

against Takata for failure to respond to requests for information about more than 2.5 million pages of documents it has produced under NHTSA orders. On March 2, 2015, the Takata Corporation convened at a meeting in Michigan to discuss the Japanese airbag manufacturer’s next steps. Engineers from its automaker customers, including independent OEM association engineers, were updated on testing into the root cause of recent airbag inflator issues. The engineers were also provided with a presentation by an expert from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, which is supplying independent research to determine the root cause of the airbag inflator failures. Shigehisa Takada, Chairman & CEO of Takata, stated, “While the testing by Takata and research by the Fraunhofer Institute continues, and definitive conclusions have not yet been reached, the work so far has supported our initial analysis that age and long-term exposure over a period of many years to a climate of persistent heat and high absolute humidity are significant factors in the small number of inflators that have malfuncSee Takata Takes Steps, Page 23

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The system features include the following: • Powerful 13.8 amp motor with sealed bearings built to handle moist air from wet collector. 1560 watt pump produces 145” of water column; 140 free flow CFM. Has enough power for 2 technicians to sand with orbital sanders at the same time. • Quiet operation particularly for fine dust... motor housing is insulated and baffled for sound. • On/off feature...motor is turned on and off automatically by air switches when pneumatic tools are activated. This increases the life of the motor and reduces energy costs of running the motor. • Includes a plastic sight glass to determine when water should be added. • Stainless steel mist eliminator and final filter picks up 99.9% of dust to 10 microns. • 2” ball valve & hose at the bottom of the separator for removing sludge.

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Lean Operations

Putting First Things First with David Luehr

If you are anything like me you are probably wondering, “WOW, where has this year gone already!?”It’s amazing how quickly time can slip by and then you realize you haven’t really made the progress on the goals you have set for yourself or worse yet haven’t set aside the time to create goals in the first place. You no doubt have been very busy working in your shops, it is the “nature of the business.” That is what I want to talk to you about today. This supposed “nature of the business” might as well be called “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”… insanity right? It is indeed, but that is exactly what most of us do EVERY DAY. It upsets me to watch it, because I was guilty of inadequate time management for a large part of my body shop career. I constantly found myself attending to whatever situation screamed the loudest and while doing so, perpetuated even more

David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consulting firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry. David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory of Constraints methods. Email him at dluehr@msn.com

problems to attend to. I was young and didn’t mind at the time, in fact I kind of prided myself on my ability to fight fires all day long and “make things happen.” The problem was I wasn’t making things happen at all. I was simply creating a vicious cycle of unnecessary activity that later on contributed to the loss of my business! In the early 1990s I was introduced to a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This book changed my life as it has the thousands or millions of others that have read it. There are two habits that are especially meaningful to me. Begin with the End in Mind and First Things First. Begin with the End in Mind is just as it sounds. You visualize your funeral. What will people say about you at your funeral? So by being clear on what you want to accomplish in life and what you stand for and want people to remember you for is pretty much what you need to

get working on now. Before it’s too late! First Things First explains the time-management methods used to keep you on track towards the goals, values, and vision you have for your life. Only by truly knowing what it is you want in life (Begin with the End) and then setting goals and plans for achievement will you break the cycle of madness that many of us continue to struggle with. I have created a four quadrant time management matrix that is based on Covey’s work. Which quadrant do you find yourself spending the most time? The idea is that if you spend a lot more of your time pursuing activities in quadrant 2, you will be working on the right things and thereby reduce the activities that occur in quadrants 1 and 3. Avoid quadrant 4 altogether. Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important) ■ Pressing Problems ■ Expediting due to missed deadlines

■ Dealing with angry customers/ins. Co. ■ Dealing with missing/wrong parts ■ Rework ■ Some phone calls ■ Some meetings ■ Stoppages in production Quadrant 2 (Not Urgent, Important) ■ Calling customers ■ Documenting activities ■ Improvement projects ■ Relationship building ■ Some meetings ■ Problem prevention ■ Safety prevention ■ Planning ■ Damage analysis ■ Mirror matching ■ Updating system information ■ Inventory management

Quadrant 3 (Urgent, Not Important) ■ Interruptions ■ Some phone calls

See Putting First Things First, Page 32

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Estimating Solutions for Profit AWX Performance Plus™ Waterborne Painter Certification Fleet CFR Painter Certification

For more information about Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes training or other products, visit the training section at: http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/collision-repair/training-support/ or call 1-800-SWULTRA (1-800-798-5872). 22 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

1 3 3 3

Continued from Page 20

Takata Takes Steps

tioned. Variability in vehicle makes and models is an additional factor indicated by the testing results thus far, and Takata also continues to consider variability in the inflator manufacturing process as a potential contributing factor.” Takada added, “We are continuing testing and research and will continue to work openly and transparently with our OEM customers and to do everything we can to support the replacement of all the airbags covered by the automakers’ recalls and safety campaigns. The safety of the driving public is our number one priority and

we are committed to do what it takes to achieve this.” Takata has dramatically increased the production of airbag replacement kits in support of automotive recalls and safety campaigns. The company has increased production capacity to

Hiroshi Shimizu, senior vice president of global quality assurance at Japanese air bag maker Takata. Photo Credit: www.ideastream.org

450,000 replacement kits per month, up from 350,000 in December, and expects to be producing approximately 900,000 kits per month by September 2015. The company remains confident that newer inflators and those not exposed to prolonged humidity and heat are safe. Takata also is working with other suppliers to further increase the availability of replacement kits for its automotive customers.

Recent Background on the Takata Corp. Airbag Recalls A 2012 NHTSA-sponsored survey study found that 21 to 25 percent of the problems covered by recall notices between 2006 and 2010 remain un-repaired. There are 36 million cars on

the road that have uncompleted recall work, according to Carfax. In October and November 2014, multiple lawsuits were filed across the country concerning Takata airbag recalls. The Law Offices of Jason Turchin in Ft. Lauderdale, FL announced in a press release on October 24, 2014 that a lawsuit had been filed on behalf of an accident victim allegedly injured by an exploding airbag. Nunez, a Miami Gardens, Florida resident, was driving her car when she was involved in an accident. As a result of the impact, her airbag deployed but a piece of metal allegedly shot through her airbag and struck her in her forehead, narrowly missing her eyes. The airbag that failed was allegedly designed and manufactured by Takata for use by Honda. The allegations against the airbag manufacturer include that Takata failed to properly design, test and manufacturer its airbag unit. It is also claimed that Honda breached several duties it owed to Nunez and the public in general. “The biggest concern we have is that a driver doesn’t know if his or her airbag is faulty until the moment of impact, and by then it is too late,” says Jason Turchin, lead attorney in the case. Turchin and his law firm are currently representing several other victims allegedly injured by defective airbags. On November 4, another class action complaint was filed in the Southern District of Florida that alleges Takata, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and others “knew or should have known that the Takata air bags installed in millions of vehicles were defective.” The complaint seeks compensation for any consumer who purchased or leased a vehicle involved in the Takata airbag recall announced earlier that month. A third Takata airbag lawsuit was filed at the beginning of November in California by five individuals who either purchased or leased BMW, Honda and Toyota cars that plaintiffs claim are unsafe because of Takata airbags. The Takata airbag recall lawsuit alleges that Takata and other defendants “did not fully investigate or disclose the seriousness of the issue and in fact downplayed the widespread prevalence of the problem.” In November 2014, the Associated Press reported that at least four deaths in U.S. auto accidents have See Takata Takes Steps, Page 35

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 23

more capabilities and more options to present to the consumer,” said Terlep. The plan is to offer ShopRepTV in North America as a monthly subscription for $59. An annual subscription will also be available for a discount. Customers who are considering signing up receive a 30-day trial to see how it will work at their business. Terlep said he would also like to introduce an interactive kiosk and mobile app version of the technology this summer for customers. “Ultimately we think that the shops that really care about the appearance of their lobby are going to love it,” said Terlep. “Over the past 30 years shops have moved their estimating, frame measurements, shop management, accounting and production management into the digital age, ShopRepTV can now help shop shops move their lobby into the digital age.”

Continued from Page 14

ShopRepTV

photos or slides.” Terlep said ShopRepTV is relatively easy to set up. First, the company will install Google Chromcast, which allows any computer to connect wirelessly to a TV. This will allow ShopRepTV to run on the monitor. The company is currently in the process of partnering with Best Buy to set up a complete turnkey solution for shops. After spending time studying other industries with similar products, Terlep said, “We think it will be a very affordable solution for the shops.” Whether a business has two stores or 300, it has the ability to control the content at each location from a single computer. “We will continue to enhance the content, which will give the shops

Berkshire Hathaway Completes Van Tuyl Acquisition Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway completed its purchase of the Van Tuyl Group, the largest dealership acquisition in industry history. All aspects of the sale were finalized March 9. The new Berkshire Hathaway Automotive is the fifth-largest dealership

group in the US with over $9 billion in revenue and 81 independently operated dealerships with over 100 franchises in 10 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas.

Urethane Supply Company Releases I-CAR Course® on Nitrogen Plastic Welding

Nitrogen plastic welding, a technology first commercialized by Urethane Supply Company in 2006, has been growing in popularity over the years as shops look to keep more labor dollars in-house. Unfortunately, many shops that have purchased welders have not been able to take full advantage of their capabilities due to inadequate training or technician turnover. To address this need for training, Urethane Supply Company is announcing the availability of a new training course: PR-01 Introduction to Nitrogen Plastic Welding. This training is approved for ICAR credit hours and/or Knowledge Area recognition through the I-CAR Industry Training Alliance® program. The PR-01 Nitrogen Plastic Welding course is designed for delivery to up to three technicians in the customer’s shop. The training takes roughly three hours and focuses primarily on the hands-on skills necessary to repair bumpers. The learning objectives for the course are as follows: ● Identify different plastic types

● Explain the basic nitrogen welding process ● Properly operate the plastic welder ● Weld a tear to the edge of the bumper ● Repair a torn slot tab ● Repair a torn flange ● Repair a torn flexible hinge tab ● Repair a thermoset polyurethane (PUR) bumper

North American shops interested in scheduling this training must register online at www.urethanesupply .com/training. The cost of the course is $400 for up to three technicians. Once a reservation is made, Urethane Supply’s training manager will contact the shop’s representative and schedule an appointment. Questions? Contact Kurt Lammon at 800-633-3047

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Lean Operations

Make More Money Using Theory of Constraints with David Luehr

Most of you readers have heard about Lean thinking, Lean manufacturing, or simply Lean. But have you heard about the Theory of Constraints (TOC)? I know some of you have, but as with Lean, the concept may still be a little unclear to you. Although there are both commonalities and differences between Lean and TOC, I be-

lieve collision repairers can benefit from understanding and applying both ways of thinking to their repair businesses.

Lean The word Lean was originally used in

James Womack’s 1990 book entitled “The Machine that Changed the World.” His book described the dominance of Toyota and the effectiveness of a production system that banishes waste from the value stream. This lean thinking has revolutionized many industries and still does today. Unfortunately, many collision repairers have made attempts to implement such thinking and systems in their shops with limited results at best. While I believe that there are many benefits to creating a lean culture and adopting lean methods and using its tools, few shops that I am aware of have figured out how to fully realize their profit potential unless they have also become familiar with the Theory of Constraints.

Theory of Constraints The Theory of Constraints was first in-

26 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

troduced to us by an Israeli physicist name Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his 1984 book “The Goal.” This book has had a profound effect on my life since first reading it in the early nineties. I would highly encourage all of you to read this book too. Although there is a little more to it, it is basically bottleneck management and adopting an understanding that there is always at least one resource (department, machine, person) in your business that is a limiting factor to your throughput ability (making money).

Local efficiency vs. global efficiency The problem with many collision repair businesses is that silos are created in each department, each attempting to perform their portion of the work to whatever feels most efficient to them. On the surface this “local efficiency” may look like a good idea because everyone is motivated to perform their best; however, the problem with this is it can create dramatic peaks and val-

leys in the flow of the work from one department to the next. For example, if it is more efficient for a paint shop to primer the whole day’s work at one time or wait until all the bumpers are prepped and ready before loading into one giant booth batch, guess who usually suffers? That’s right, the guy that has been waiting all day to build his cars and now the paint shop unloads all of them at once! This poor technician can only build one car at a time so cycle time and global efficiency suffers. Both Lean and TOC teaches us that sometimes we actually need to reduce batch size in order to improve throughput. Focus on global efficiency instead of local efficiency. The 5 Steps to busting bottlenecks Theory of Constraints uses a systematic approach to busting bottlenecks and increasing your shop’s ability to make money. See Make More Money, Page 36

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What are crash parts? p Take a closer look. Your insurance coverage. g Choosing th he right bod dy sh hop. All AGreat parts are not created equal. equal Co ollissio on 101. What’s a Info for Shops DRP and whyy sho sho ould I caare? re? Where Where d do o aairbag irbags come come ffro rom? m? C Counterfeit ounterfeit airai bags - what you need to know. Take a closer look. What are crash parts? Your rights as a consumer. Your insuraance coverage. Ch hoosing the right body shop. Helpiin ng you through the colllision repair pro oce ess. Collision 101. What’s a DRP and d why should I care? Where do airbags co ome from? Counterfeit airbags - what you need to know. Take a closerr lookk. What are crash parts? Your righttss as a consumer. Your insurance cove erag ge. Choosing the right body shop. Whatt are crash parts? Your riights as a co onsumer. Your insurance coverage e. Choosiing www.collision.honda.com th he riigh ht bod dy sh hop. All paarts t are not created equal. Take a closse ser look. Collision 101. What’s a DRP and why w should I care? Where do airbag gs come from? Counterffeit airbags - wh hat you need to know. Take a closse er look. What are crash parts? Your rights t as a consumer. Your insurance coverage. Choosing the right body shop. o Helping you through the colliission repair process. Collision 101. What’ss a DRP and why should I care? Wh he ere do airbags come from? Counter feit airbags - what you need to know. Takke a closer look. W What hat are are crash crash parts parts? You ur rights as a consumer. Your insurance coverage. Choosing the right bo ody shop. What are www.airbagaware.com crash parts? Yourr rights as a consumer. Your insurance coverage. v Choosing the right body sh ho op. All parts are not created equal. Take a closer look. Collision 101. What’’ss a DRP and why should I care? Where do d airbags come from? Counterfeiitt airbags - what you need to know. Take a closer look. What are crash parts? Your rights as a consumer. Your insurance ccoverage. Choosing the right bod dy shop. Helping you through the collisio on repair process. Collision 101. Wh haat’ss a DRP and why shoulld I care? Where do airbags come from? Counterfe eiit aiirbags - what you ne eed to know. Take a closer look. What are crash p paarts?? Your righ hts as a consumer. Your in nsu urance coverage. www.crashrepairinfo.com Choosing tthe he e rrig ig gh ht b ht body ody sshop. hop. Y Your our rights rights as as a cons consum consumer.. W What haat are crash parts? You ur in nsuran nce coverage. g Choo sing the right body sh hop. All parts Great Info for Consumers are not created equal. Helping you through the collision repair process. 28 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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Industry Insight

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

Testing Shows Dramatic Differences in Isocyanate-Blocking by Spraysuits with John Yoswick

New testing announced at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) earlier this year indicates that not all spraysuits are created equal in terms of preventing penetration of isocyanates. Brandon Thomas of GMG Envirosafe shared the results of testing his company had done on six spraysuits with brand names including DeVilbiss, DuPont, Sata and Shoot Suit. Without disclosing which test results were for each specific suit (because of liability concerns), Thomas showed that only one of the six appeared to fully prevent isocyanate exposure. Four others showed varying levels of exposure, and one appeared to offer no more protection than not wearing a suit at all. “This is not a finger-pointing exercise,” Thomas said. “It’s an exercise to see if we can do better due diligence in terms of what we’re equipping our employees with. Do all spraysuits perform the same? No. We have a full

gamut here. Our objectives here were to determine if there is a viable way to test a suit for isocyanate exposure, and if so, do we see any variability when comparing suits. We absolutely can test the spraysuits, and absolutely can look at the variability within these suits and the type of protections they actually provide the painters.” Thomas said he conducted the testing because of the conflicting or unclear responses (if any) he received last fall from the manufacturers of spraysuits when he asked if their suits provide refinish technicians with protection from isocyanates; some of the manufacturers told him no such testing was possible and that only manufacturers with “deep pockets who can afford lawsuits” make any claims about the protection their spraysuits offer. In his presentation at CIC, held in January in Palm Springs, CA, Thomas emphasized that the testing was not designed to indicate the level

of health risks to which painters wearing the various spraysuits may be exposed. Thomas’s testing was not examining how much isocyanate exposure painters face while spraying in the booth. In fact, his testing began by having a painter wear one of the testing sensors on his wrist outside of the spraysuit. After spraying clearcoat on two fenders and a hood for about 10 to 12 minutes, the sensor showed no isocyanate exposure. (Thomas postulates that this may be because more exposure time is necessary, or that the sensors may have showed more exposure if placed lower in the booth on the painter’s lower legs.) So Thomas’s testing was done by placing the sensors on a spraycard placed inside the same area in each of the suits, then spraying that area directly for about five seconds with a pass from right-to-left and back again. (A similar test to simulate a spill exposure had similar findings although

one suit that fared fairly well in the spray test did less well in the spill test.) The sensors turn bright orange with initial isocyanate exposure and a more dull, brownish orange with more saturated exposure. Based on this testing, only one of the six suits tested prohibited isocyanate exposure. “But this is not a working environment of standing and spraying in a booth for hours,” Thomas said. “What we wanted to confirm is we can test these suits, and we have that ability. So some of the manufacturers’ claims that there is no test is false. And we want to invite and engage the manufacturers to take some ownership of this.” He said his next step is to present the findings to the manufacturers “to give them the opportunity to recreate it or maybe test all their suits, and then share those results with the [CIC] body.” “There are a lot of options out there, and unfortunately, shops are li-

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able for choosing the correct suit, not the manufacturers and not the jobbers or distributors,” Thomas said. This was the fourth consecutive CIC meeting that included discussion of isocyanates, a family of chemical compounds, found in several products used in collision repair (most notably, clearcoats), that can pose serious and permanent health risks if not handled properly. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), workers improperly exposed to isocyanates can suffer permanent respiratory complications, and even death, from a single episode of overexposure or intermittent exposures at low concentrations. They are a leading cause of occupational asthma. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has stepped up inspections of body shops nationwide as part of a three-year emphasis (until mid-2016) on protecting workers from isocyanate exposure. Collision repair is one of about 10 industries targeted by OSHA under the program. The OSHA shop inspections under this program are not brief; they may be conducted over three or four days, possibly spread out over several weeks.

Inspectors are checking a shop’s chemical inventory, safety data sheets, hazard assessment training and personal protection equipment (PPE). They are checking the shop’s OSHA 300 logs for five years, and reviewing workers' medical records. They are interviewing employees to ask about PPE usage, asthma diagnosis, or symptoms (such as watery eyes, shortness of breath, chest tightness) that occur at work but dissipate away from work. And they are conducting air sampling and wipe sampling on skin and PPE—and even in areas such as drinking fountains or employee break rooms where other employees could be exposed to isocyanates if a painter, for example, sits down or touches items while still wearing a shootsuit or gloves. How long do isocyanates on such surfaces pose an exposure risk for others? Speaking at CIC last fall, Catherine Sayles of Bayer Material Science, a raw material supplier of isocyanates to paint manufacturers, said it varies. “If it’s still wet, I would definitely say you have that potential,” she said. “Once it’s dry, it depends on how much of it is there, how thick it is, how much isocyanate is actually in the product.”

She said shops can check for surface or skin contamination from isocyanates—after clean-up of a spill, for example—by using Swype test kits for aliphatic isocyanates. Sayles also said her company recommends the use of nitrile gloves (not latex) when working around isocyanates, but cautioned that shops can no longer presume that “blue gloves” are nitrile as opposed to just latex. “In the past, the latex manufacturers always made their gloves white and the nitrile gloves were blue,” she said. “Now the manufacturers of latex gloves are also making them in different colors, including blue. So there’s confusion sometimes as to whether a blue glove is latex or nitrile. You want to make sure you’re paying attention to the box and what kind of glove you’re using, because latex gloves are not adequate for isocyanate protection.”

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Continued from Page 22

Putting First Things First

■ Some emails ■ Some meetings ■ Some reports

Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent, Not Important) ■ Trivia & Busywork ■ Irrelevant emails ■ Some phone calls ■ Time wasters ■ Smoking ■ Playing on the internet

I implore you to read Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People or even better is First Things First that really expands on this idea of prioritizing your life. Life is too damn short to be chasing your tail. It’s time to get to work on things that really matter. Read these books, or call me if you would like help organizing and helping you and your organization create the values, vision, and, goals necessary to live the fulfilling life that is truly possible. It is possible even in the collision repair industry!

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On Creative Marketing

New Century Marketing Basics with Thomas Franklin

Global changes are reshaping the nature of marketing today. In the earlier part of the 20th century, efforts to reach a prospective customer were referred to as “advertising.” Promotion, product packaging and publicity were all considered parts of advertising. Gradually these became four separate specialties. Now these functions have been coming together again, to become a more complicated tool we could simply call “marketing.” For example, most invoices you receive in the mail these days will also have offers to purchase other products or services. Your website may well have links to other businesses. If you do work for a dealership, your advertising will probably be at that dealership and their advertising will be at your shop. Even your phone message may refer to insurance companies and other businesses. These and other aspects of marketing are probably well integrated into your shop’s communications with the outside world. Or are they? If not, you

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He has written numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at tbfranklin@aol.com. See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

may be missing out on many simple (and possibly free) ways to market your business. For simplicity sake, let’s start with “free.” Today it’s nearly impossible to buy a product that doesn’t have reasons printed on it why the product you just purchased is the best choice, the most cost effective and perhaps the healthiest. Many stores attach a multitude of coupons and offers to every sales receipt. The package, sales slip or labeling had to be printed anyway, so whatever message is placed there is essentially free. Do most shops give customers printed invoices? Maybe not, but they could. Before we get into what messages could be added to customer invoices, receipts or warnings and warranties, let’s take a look at cooperative marketing. Your local grocery store may attach, in addition to food items, offers for car washes, auto insurance, medical insurance and even legal services. These are

blatant exchange deals. Anyone redeeming one of these deals will generate a commission or finder’s fee for the store. While a shop could offer detailing, pinstriping, accessories and more, the revenue from referred business is found money. Collision repair shops have natural connections with upholstery shops, glass shops, entertainment system shops and more, all of which would welcome additional business. Most businesses rely on a few simple marketing and sales basics to build new business and keep customers coming back. Collision repair centers may not rely on the same basics, but are there ways they could? The six more general marketing and sales objectives include: (1) Simply increasing the number of customers, (2) increasing the number of customers coming back, (3) increasing the number of products each customer buys, (4) increasing how often customers buy their products, (5) increasing the total dollar value of customer

purchases, and (6) increasing the effectivenss of advertising and marketing to bring in both new and prior customers. Some shops do well at getting new customers and keeping many coming back. Others keep improving the effectiveness of their advertising and marketing to attract new customers and keep old ones coming back. But most shops seem to neglect 3, 4 and 5. These basics don’t easily apply to the collision repair business, but if a shop can find a way to implement these basic strategies, it should enjoy a nice increase in both volume and profitability. Dealerships make better use of these basics. If a dealership has a collision repair shop and also the usual mechanical maintenance, accessories store, and repair shop, they have an opportunity to increase frequency of visit. They may also be able to increase the dollar volume of sales during those visits. But do they use this advantage to increase 3, 4, and 5 for their collision repair shop?

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I found many dealership body shops that failed to take full advantage of their relationship with their mechanical maintenance and repair shop. Marketing today means seizing an opportunity to attract new customers from every possible connection, or to make a profit by helping other businesses get new customers. Possibly the most neglected dimension of marketing in collision repair shops is public relations. This is broadly defined as using publicity and the media to say nice things about the shop without it being a paid advertisement, but even that has changed today. Except for an occasion article in a collision industry publication, it’s rare to see a story about a body shop in any newspaper. Today the Internet serves as the common press medium. Comments on Yelp and other rating sites are nearly all the publicity shops receive, but it doesn’t have to be that way. People still love to read about pets being saved and heartfelt stories about babies and children. The right photo and story can go viral on YouTube, but it takes a very talented public relaitions person to capture it. Marketing basics haven’t changed that much this century but the forms they now take call for a keen eye to see how to apply them.

Continued from Page 23

Takata Takes Steps

been tied to defective Takata airbags. Reuters reported earlier that month that Takata was targeted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The officials were trying to determine if the Japanese company misled U.S. regulators about the number of defective air bags it sold to automakers. On November 22, the Law Offices of Jason Turchin announced in a press release that a fourth lawsuit had been filed in Florida on behalf of an accident victim injured by an exploding airbag. The lawsuit alleges that South Florida resident Claudia Jana was the driver of a 2001 Honda Civic who was injured when the passenger airbag exploded after an accident and a piece of shrapnel caught fire and landed on her. The lawsuit also alleged that the passenger airbag unit also detached from the dashboard and propelled into the rear passenger seat of the vehicle. The airbag that failed was allegedly designed and manufactured by Takata for use by Honda. The allega-

tions against the airbag manufacturer include that Takata failed to properly design, test and manufacturer its airbag unit. It also claimed that Honda breached several duties it owed to Jana and the public in general.

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“This is the second Honda Civic lawsuit involving a 2001 model and third airbag shrapnel injury claim that our office filed recently,” said Jason Turchin, lead attorney in the airbag lawsuit. Turchin hopes the lawsuit will get answers as to what is causing the airbag defects, and to compel production of safer airbags. “These airbag lawsuits are not just about money. We

want answers,” added Turchin. December 1, 2014 was the deadline that the NHTSA set for Takata Corp. to respond to its request for documentation and other information, according to the Detroit Free Press. The NHTSA said in a press release that it was “demanding” the automakers to provide the information to “compel Takata and the affected industry to be frank with not only NHTSA, but the American public” about when they discovered that the airbags were subject to rupturing, and why it was not reported sooner. The agency also ordered Takata to provide information on what type of propellant it uses in its inflators because Takata publicly stated it recently changed the chemical mix of its airbag inflator propellant in the newly designed inflators. By the deadline, Takata was also supposed to give the public a time frame for when safe inflators would be made, and when air bags would be replaced in the nationwide recall of 7.8 million vehicles. The airbag recall was initially limited to Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands, See Takata Takes Steps, Page 44

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Make More Money

Step 1: Identify the constraint. This step is usually pretty easy to identify because it is usually the resource that has the most inventory (cars) stacked in front of it waiting to be worked on. In many shops I find the constraint to be the paint booth (or poor use of the booth), but in many advanced shops that are performing thorough disassembly and blueprinting, the hold-ups are commonly there. Also it is not uncommon for the biggest constraint to be the front office itself.

Step 2: Exploit the constraint. Exploiting the constraint involves making sure we are using the resource as effectively as possible. If the paint booth is the constraint, are you effectively using it during all the work hours in the day, or does it sit empty until 10 am? Also consider the hours the booth is in operation. There are more than eight hours in a day; you get to choose how to use them.

Step 3: Subordinate to the constraint. When you subordinate to the con-

straint you are effectively making sure it does not get interrupted or delayed in any way. Again, if your booth is a constraint, you would want to make sure that the quality of the prep work was sufficient and your colors were tinted so no additional delays would occur while the vehicle was in the booth. You should also make sure the booth is well maintained to avoid mechanical failures. Blueprint/Damage analysis departments are often a constraint yet I am amazed at how often the people performing these operations are routinely interrupted to deal with other issues. You need to “protect” your constraint at all costs! Subordinating also means making sure that everyone in the shop clearly understands that nothing comes before the constraint, especially their own agendas of silo efficiency.

Step 4: Elevate the constraint. This step simply means to make the department, or resource bigger. It could mean you need to add a tech, buy a frame rack, or perhaps apply some Lean tools and techniques to increase the constraint’s capacity. Again, the size of your constraint dictates the size of your potential throughput.

Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4. Much like Lean, TOC is a continuous improvement process. Once one constraint is identified and resolved, begin at Step 1 again.

Drum, Buffer, Rope Another one of the elements of TOC involves Drum, Buffer, Rope. (DBR) You can learn a lot about this by reading Goldratt’s “The Goal.” There is also a lot of information about it on the internet. Essentially, DBR suggests that your company has a drum beat that everyone follows. The beat follows the speed of your constraint resource. An example of this is that all body shop departments work to keep in pace with the constraint resource. The buffer (a small buildup of work) ensures that the constraint never runs out of work. The rope is tied to your scheduling of work coming in. In other words, you schedule your repair jobs in as your constraint can begin working on it. As with lean thinking, scheduling too many repair jobs in leads to excess inventory (waste).

Summary During my training at the AGI Goldratt Institute, I was told by a very

wise TOC Instructor that the smart practitioners eventually decide where they want the constraint to be and then they build their business around it. This keeps you from spending all your time chasing bottlenecks around your shop. I want to drive home a most important point. Whether you subscribe to Theory of Constraints or not, it is a universal law that your business throughput ability will always be dictated by your system’s constraint. On occasion, this constraint can be the market you serve. If you don’t have enough work to feed your shop you can still use TOC thinking to help solve your problem using the 5 steps. You may have to Identify, Exploit, Subordinate, and Elevate your company’s attention to marketing or other forms of attracting additional work. I am going to leave you with an eye-opening figure. Every dollar lost in a constraint resource due to mechanical breakdown, quality defect, or any other reason is a dollar lost forever! If you run a shop producing $100,000 a month and your constraint shuts down, it costs you roughly $600 an hour! You may want to protect your constraint!

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Midwest Associations

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware, who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family of NASCAR fans. She can be contacted at crsisk@chasidyraesisk.com.

AASP-MN “Aims High” for Annual Meeting and Convention in April with Chasidy Rae Sisk

From April 15-17, AASP-MN will hold their annual meeting and convention at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West located at 3131 Campus Drive in Plymouth MN. The theme of this year’s event is “Aim High,” and AASP-MN’s Executive Director Judell Anderson says, “We have a fantastic line-up of speakers, topics and networking opportunities available during the convention. We invite and encourage the industry to attend and are confident that those who do will walk away with new knowledge, information and connections that will improve their business.” The event begins on Wednesday evening with three programs scheduled from 4-8PM. Peter McArdle of Standard Motor Products will present “Diagnosing and Repairing the Top Auto HVAC Problems,” while Jim Watson, Jim Dow and Terry Clennon of IDENTIFIX will discuss “Common Fixes for Light-Duty Diesel Trucks (Ford, GM and Dodge/Ram).” The Iowa Waste Reduction Center will offer a “VirtualPaint Spray Application Training Program” to

help painters improve spray painting efficiency. Thursday morning begins at 7:30AM with Mitch Becker’s four-hour “I-CAR Alternative Fuel Vehicle Damage Analysis and Safety.” The following four courses will run from 8:30-11:30AM: “Template Estimating” by Collision Business Solutions’ Ron Kuehn, Autoshop Solutions’ Danny Sanchez’s “Tracking Internet Marketing,” “Brake Technology Update” from Bob Pattengale of Bosch Diagnostics, and “Chemistry Lessons for a MultiGenerational Workforce,” presented by Bill Haas of Haas Performance Consulting. During lunch, attendees will be treated to comic storyteller Bob Stromberg’s keynote presentation, entitled “The Art of Success.” After lunch, AASP-MN and industry experts will engage in networking and roundtable discussions. From 1:30-4:30PM, Bill Haas will present “Marketing Automotive Service to Generations X and Y,” and from 3:30-4:30PM, Convene

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LLC’s Josh Dye will lead a seminar on “Failing Fearlessly: How Failure Propels Us Forward.” Two seminars will be held simultaneously, from 3:305PM as follows: “Dispelling the Common Myths about Aluminum Repair” by 3M’s Shawn Collins and “Developing a Business Continuity Plan” by Dennis Begley of CBIZ AIA. Thursday evening will conclude with a two-hour happy hour during which attendees will be able to meet with vendors as they showcase new products and services, followed by an industry dinner and casino party to give attendees a chance to network with their peers. On Friday morning, two seminars, “Stand Out from the Competition” by Danny Sanchez and “Simple Cycle Time Solutions” by Ron Kuehn, begin at 8AM and conclude at 10AM. From 8:30-11:30AM, Bill Haas will discuss “Selling the Value Nobody Can Compete With.” The last two courses of the convention will take place from 10:15AM-12PM and are “Employment

Practices: Do’s and Don’ts” by CBIZ Payroll’s Megan Beckman and Ron Kuehn’s “Building a Team Administrative System.” Sponsors for AASP-MN’s Annual Meeting and Convention include AAA Auto Parts, AASP National, AmeriPride Services, Auto Value Parts Stores, Autoshop Solutions, Axalta Coating Systems, BASF, CARQUEST Auto Parts, CBIZ AIA, Choice Auto Rental, Dent Impressions, Dorman Products, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, IDENTIFIX, Inver Grove Ford, LKQ, Lowell’s Performance Coatings, Meadowbrook Insurance, Midwest Parts Advantage, Mitchell International, Norton Automotive Aftermarket, O’Reilly Auto Parts, PAM’s Auto, PPG, Pro Paint Metro, Suburban Chevrolet, 3M and United Fire Group. AASP-MN 1970 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 102 Roseville, MN 55113 612-623-1110 www.aaspmn.org

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 39

National Associations

Strong and Getting Stronger: The State of I-CAR® with Ed Attanasio

We sat down with Jeff Peevy, the Senior Director of Field Operations and Segment Development at I-CAR® to talk about some recent events and a few misconceptions about the organization. Most repairers know that ICAR is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the training, knowledge and skills required to perform quality repairs that are needed by all participants in the repair process, but not many know the scope of the organization. Peevy leads a team of over 2,000 volunteers, instructors and field managers who team up to conduct over 15,000 instructor-led classes and certification in the U.S. each year. He also oversees the strategic development of I-CAR support and services for the “Repairer” market segment. During his 32 years in the automotive industry, Peevy has worked as a technician, shop manager, instructor, National PBE manager for a large U.S. supplier, and director of Technical

Training and Application Research for an automotive paint manufacturer. He holds a business administration degree and a position on the board of directors for the National Auto Body Council. He is also a member of the Society of Organizational Learning, which grew out of an MIT program designed to foster collaboration among corporations committed to fundamental organizational change. Peevy has a passion for promoting the critical role that knowledge plays within repair operJeff Peevy is the ations. Over the Senior Director of past five years he Field Operations has been leading a and Segment Development team studying the at I-CAR® impact that knowledge and skills have on operational performance. The research findings directly correlate knowledge acquired

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Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

through training with gains in business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and improved competitive advantage. A “learning culture” is a necessary element to the future success of collision repairers. One Major Misconception about I-CAR: “A lot of people don’t realize that I-CAR is a not-for-profit organization and that means that we are a very vision and mission focused organization ever since our founding in 1979. We have approximately 2,000 volunteers who are from different segments of the industry and 315 volunteer committees in the United States. They believe in the organization and the value of training to the extent that they give up their personal time to really help the organization in a variety of ways, including helping us find classrooms to use and assisting with promoting and scheduling classes. Without these highly driven and very dedicated volunteers we could not

be where we are today. We also have approximately 480 part-time instructors; most of them have other full-time jobs. They are paid employees of I-CAR, but they go above and beyond the regular call of duty. Most of them started out as volunteers like I did and they got bit by the bug. There are definitely some benefits to being an instructor. Besides the pay, there’s the access to the updated technical information, and the networking is a big plus as well. Most of these people get bit by the training and it’s pretty addictive.” The Re-ignition of I-CAR: “Today, I-CAR is spearheaded by our CEO and President John Van Alstyne. He joined the organization in 2010, bringing with him 20 years in the OEM and vehicle technology sector of the automotive industry. His is a truly a strategic leader and visionary who is dedicated to preparing the industry to repair the vehicles of tomorrow. Before he joined, though, it was a real challenging time

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for the organization from 2006 to 2008. We were limping along and struggling to develop forces. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and just started looking at ways to be better. There was a core group of us and it was kind of do-or-die at that point. And there were two things that needed to happen—one was to organize and capture the feedback in meaningful ways and the second was to build the mechanisms from which that feedback could be disseminated into a place that would lead to action. So, we started implementing a formal project management system, and then we developed a program we call ISAC and that stands for Industry Segment Advisory Council. We went out into the shops and asked questions. A lot of these people had been very critical of us in the past, and we wanted their feedback. We asked them to sit down with us and we picked their brains. We asked them if we could meet with them regularly and they agreed. It’s been wildly successful for us and the industry has been extremely kind. Many of those people who really had lost faith in I-CAR had come to the table and helped us develop a direction. And that was how we developed part of the same professional development program that we use now. Between these

actions and John’s leadership, we have definitely turned the organization around and are on the right path.” Role Relevant Training: “We had hundreds of collision repairers, insurance people, tech schools, suppliers and automotive manufacturers working with us. By using the information they shared with us, we developed the roles

those knowledge areas. From a legacy standpoint we wanted to make sure that anyone who had taken classes in the past would receive credit for that. It was a mixture of current courses and new courses and that model is still implemented today. It’s a very dynamic system and there is a process of continually updating courses and building

that we now have in our role relevant training. The goal was to develop a standard of knowledge and we simply facilitated that process as staff. We did not manipulate it or make it something that was pre-conceived; rather, we listened closely to the industry and then acted on it. We launched it in July of 2010 and it has been a success. In the old system, the classes weren’t based around roles, so people just took the classes for the points. People needed the points for the recognition program so it didn’t matter what class they took and that was one of the main criticisms. Now, we analyze every class to make sure it’s relevant and we drill down into

new courses and making sure each one is relevant to what’s going on. Our CEO & President points out every chance he gets about the ‘technical tsunami’ of new vehicles, new technologies and new materials— each year, roughly 65 vehicles are debuted or redesigned, many of them manufactured with unfamiliar materials and systems. This requires a pretty robust process, and we’ve had to expand our organization to keep up with it.” I-CAR Today: “People say that ICAR is in the best position it’s ever been in and I would say that’s true—and not just financially. Our leadership team is outstanding, we get things done. We are

in the best position we’ve ever been in with OEM relationships, and turning these OEM relationships into courses. Our overall ability to develop relevant courses and the talent we have at the ICAR Tech Center has grown dramatically. We’ve redesigned and invested in our processes to develop and update courses. We implemented a state-of–the art Learning Content Management System to help us develop new classes better and faster. To better support the industry, we’ve greatly expanded our customer service support and marketing programs. We are now much more responsive to the industry, doing the things that we desperately needed to do. And all of this is greatly helping the collision repair Inter-Industry as a whole, including front-line technicians, shop owners, estimators, insurance specialists and field educators.” The Professional Development Program transition: “It took about two years to transition to the I-CAR Professional Development Program™ (PDP), which trains collision repair professionals in essential role-relevant knowledge and skills. The PDP had tentacles into the I-CAR Platinum Individual® recognition program, which is for collision repair professionals who achieve and maintain

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high levels of role-relevant training that contributes to complete, safe and quality repairs. For businesses, the I-CAR PDP provides collision repair and insurance businesses with a reliable training framework for acquiring Gold Class® and maintaining the up-to-date knowledge and skills that contribute to proper repairs, improved business performance and risk reduction. It took about two years for the shops to get aligned in that transition and we have a little over 3,000 or so shops that have gone through the three levels of training for the Platinum designation, each referred to as an ICAR ProLevel®. Each ProLevel progressively builds upon prior learning to continually advance each professional’s knowledge and skills. We’ve seen a growth in training since the development of PDP and especially with the ‘technical tsunami’ of new and redesigned vehicles.” Reparability Technical Support: “Following months of extensive development, I-CAR officially launched the Reparability Technical Support (RTS) portal this past July. The portal was designed to improve accessibility of critical repair information for the entire collision repair industry. I-CAR collaborated with OEMs and others in the industry to im-

prove accessibility of critical repair information. The portal houses thousands of pages of OEM repair information specific to vehicle models in a user-friendly format that can be accessed by smartphone, desktop computer and everything in between. A key element of the portal is the ‘Ask I-CAR™’ features, where technicians can submit a question online or call I-CAR technical experts for advice on their toughest repair questions. In addition to the portal, the RTS initiative is working to bridge the gap between OEMs and the collision repair industry by acting as a linking pin between the two, and hosting summits and Industry Segment Advisory Councils.” The Learning Culture: “To be effective, training programs should not be positioned as a requirement or simply a box to be checked. Rather, a learning culture should be established within each organization in the collision repair ecosystem. Training should be encouraged, accomplishments should be rewarded, and those trained should be viewed as achievers and role models. After years of studying the connection between training and improved performance, I-CAR has identified that ‘Learning Culture’ is the secret sauce to becoming a top performing shop.”

Martin Senour Launches New Automotive Refinish Website

The Martin Senour Company launched a new website to assist automotive jobber distributors, collision repair facilities, dealerships, fleet owners and refinishers, production shops, auto body builders and original equipment manufacturers. It can be accessed by visiting www.martinsenour-autopaint .com. The new website provides more connectivity for visitors in the following markets: collision repair, restoration & custom, fleet & commercial, industrial & manufacturing, and farm & agricultural. The new site features detail pages for each service and program offered through Martin Senour. The new website also allows immediate access to the brand’s informational press releases, events and training class schedules, special NAPA ‘Body Shop Buys’ PB&E promotions and profiles of successful Martin Senour end users. In addition, the new website provides more robust technical and handson application data, all of which is also available for mobile devices. For information regarding Martin Senour or its paint products, visit the new website at www.martinsenour-auto paint.com or call 1-800-526-6704.

Continued from Page 19

Four New Apps

rates for flat rate technicians; track weekly or bi-weekly pay cycles; track paid and unpaid hours; calculate expected pay and record a weekly or biweekly work history report. iPainter: Enables users to establish and maintain a spray-out inventory; record favorite formulas and custom lists; create a verified paint variances list and do all of the same things offered on the iAdvisor and iEstimator apps to track jobs, calculate hours and calculate expected pay. iEstimator: Enables users to log customer information and ROI numbers; create a personal daily customer arrival and departure calendar and record important information, including a customer inventory form documenting all of the belongings left in vehicle; existing AM and FM radio pre-set stations; a vehicle old damage check-in form; a maintenance upselling opportunities form and a tires depth gauge form. iAdvisor: Enables users to perform all of the functions also featured on the iEstimator app.

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Continued from Page 35

Takata Takes Steps

areas with above-average humidity. However, the recall went nationwide after cases were discovered in Arizona, California, Minnesota and North Carolina. Court documents indicate that plaintiffs in five class-action airbag lawsuits filed since October 2014 against Takata Corp. have asked a panel of federal judges to transfer the lawsuits to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. The plaintiffs also requested that the actions be consolidated for pretrial proceedings. According to the plaintiffs’ motion to the U.S. Judicial Panel of Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), the first class action lawsuit proceedings are further along than the four other classaction lawsuits pending in California and Michigan. On December 2, 2014, CNNMoney reported that Chrysler jumped on the recall train after the NHTSA ordered the manufacturer to start recalling its cars with the exploding Takata airbag inflators. The federal safety reg-

ulator was “extremely concerned” about the automaker’s “slow pace of the recall.” In its response to the NHTSA, Chrysler conducted a regional recall, and started contacting its customers on December 8, 2014. Chinese authorities stated on December 16, 2014 that Honda Motor Co. and its two joint ventures in China would recall 569,769 cars due to potentially defective air bags, Reuters reported. The recalls in China were also implemented due to the risk that “fragmented shards” could fly from the deployed Takata airbags, potentially injuring or even killing motorists. Vehicle regulators in the United States issued a warrant on January 29, 2015 for whistleblowers with knowledge “of possible defects or any wrongdoing” by Takata Corp. The NHTSA stated in a press release that it was urging potential informants to call its hotline at 1-888-327-4236, promising legal protection. “We encourage all individuals with information about the manufacture or testing of Takata air bag inflators, or who have knowledge of possible defects or any wrongdoing by the company, to make this information available

QUALITY IS ALL WE THINK ABOUT. THAT AND QUALITY.

to NHTSA,” agency spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said. Six former Takata employees interviewed by Reuters said they were asked to hide or alter data that showed certain parts and materials did not meet Takata’s specifications or indicated potential issues with key components such as inflators and cushions. Two of these employees said they witnessed others hiding, altering or ignoring unfavorable test results. Company officials testified in 2014 at two U.S. congressional hearings, and the Japanese safety equipment maker remains the subject of at least two federal investigations, and the target of dozens of lawsuits. After being asked to comment on the whistleblowers, a representative of the airbag manufacturer said in a statement, “Takata has a deep commitment to honesty and integrity. Since our founding in 1933, we have worked tirelessly to develop innovative and high-quality products that exceed our customers’ expectations, save lives and prevent injuries. Our number one priority is the safety of the traveling public.” Most former Takata employees

who spoke with Reuters did not want to be named while discussing incidents and situations of a sensitive nature. But they related similar or shared experiences at Takata facilities in Washington, Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina. Two former Takata employees, Mark Lillie and Michael Britton, have spoken to the New York Times, and Lillie also spoke to congressional investigators about their concerns with the safety of propellant manufactured in a Takata facility in Moses Lake, Washington. The propellant was used to create the gas that inflates air bags in case of a crash. In interviews with Reuters, Lillie, a chemical engineer who is now retired and living in New Mexico said he left the company before it began manufacturing a new, more volatile type of chemical propellant, ammonium nitrate. Lillie said some Takata engineers thought the material was not thoroughly tested to make sure it was safe. He left the company in 1999. “I literally said if we go forward with this, someone will be killed,” Lillie told Reuters. “I couldn’t in good See Takata Takes Steps, Page 54

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Hey Toby!

Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Training specialist, and former salvage yard operator. Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his work with first responders and advocacy for body shops and consumers. He can be reached at tcspeedster@yahoo.com

How Much Do You Know About 2015 Vehicle Technology and Trends? with Toby Chess

Hey Everyone, I am back and I hope you all are enjoying a great start to the new year. I recently gave the following test to the CIC audience in Palm Spring this past January and to an association group meeting. What was

amazing after giving the test, how many repairers and insurers did not know the correct answers. Out of 40 repairers, only one knew what R1234

yf was and this new refrigerant is found in over a dozen vehicles with more converting to this Freon. Not good at all. Take the test and see how well you and staff do with it. All these questions were taken from I-CAR’s

New 15 class* (Vehicle Technology and Trends 2015). There are no trick questions.

1. Estimator A states that a 2015 BMW with Head-up displays needs a special windshield. Estimator B states that a 2015 Mini Cooper with HUD needs a special windshield. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator 2. More 2015 vehicles are switching to the new R-1234-yf refrigerant. Estimator A states that there now retro fit kits for earlier vehicles equipped with R134 Estimator B states that Toyota is moving in the direction of R-1234-yf. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

3. A 2015 Jeep Renegade front floor

panel is made of A. High Strength Low Alloy Steel B. Quiet Steel (Laminated) C. Advanced High Strength Steel D. Ultra-high Strength Steel

4. An estimate is being written on a 2015 Chrysler 200 to section the right front rail. All of the following statements are true except one. Which question is the exception? A. The left and right rail use different sectioning locations B. An open butt joint is used to section the rail C. Chrysler does not recommend weld thru primer D. Same sectioning procedure as the 2014 Jeep Cherokee

5. A Left front door on a 2015 Ford F150 is damaged. Estimator A states that the intrusion beam is made from Series 7 alu-

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minum to prevent galvanic corrosion. Estimator B states that there is no outer door panel available at this time and new door is needed if the old panel is not repairable. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

6. A 2015 Heavy duty GM truck is involved in a front end collision and the front portion of the frame is not repairable. Estimator A states the GM is now offering a front repair section that is similar to the one offered on the half ton pickup. Estimator B states the drive train still will need to be removed to replace the front repair section. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

7. A 2015 Honda Accord is involved in a side impact collision and the outer rocker and rocker reinforcement need to be replaced. What pieces of equipment and or fastners are approved by

Honda? A. Any single or 3 phase spot welder & MIG brazing B. STRSW and MIG welding C. STRSW and Glue D. None of the above

8. A 2015 Honda Fit is involved in a front end collision. The left front rail is not repairable. A. Estimator A states that Honda now recommends weld thru primer between the mating surfaces. B. Estimator B states that Honda has a front rail section procedure. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

9. A 2015 Honda Accord has a left front fender that needs to be replaced. The front door needs to be blended. The vehicle is equipped with Lane Watch. Estimator A states that camera will need to be reaimed and this procedure can only be done authorized Honda Dealer. Estimator B states that the mirror can be aimed with a laser attached to

the mirror and following the procedures outline in OEM service manual. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

10. A 2015 Nissan Rogue is made from plastics and if it is damaged, it needs to be replaced. A. True B. False

11. A 2015 Ford F150 is being repaired from a side impact. A. Technician A states that the roof does not need to be replaced to install the B pillar reinforcement. B. Technician B states that the maximum temperature that can be applied is 425 degrees F, but the duration of heat is limited as per Ford’s repair manual. Who is correct? A. Estimator A only B. Estimator B only C. Both Estimator A & B D. Neither Estimator

3. D 4. B 5. D 6. A 7. D 8. C 9. D 10. A 11. A *Vehicle Technology and Trends 2015 provides information on upcoming vehicles and technology trends that will impact the repair processes, including structural design innovations, system changes and new materials and electronics throughout new and redesigned vehicles. The course also gives a glimpse into some of the aluminum-intensive vehicles coming to market that will require aluminum repair training.

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Lean Operations

Cycle Time Success Using Little’s Law with David Luehr

“Get The Keys!” is the usual mantra at most collision repair shops these days. That is completely understandable given that the only way we can profit from that vehicle’s damage is if we get the keys first. If you are a fortunate enough collision center to have plenty of work coming in, that thinking could be a problem. That problem is Little’s Law and it plays a huge role in your performance. Big MSOs understand this law very well and have taken many steps to ensure they maintain an optimum car count or “WIP” through the use of scheduling or load leveling. By understanding the correct number of units to have at your repair facility at any given time will give you the opportunity to maximize both profits and cycle time. I will boldly go forth and say that the number one biggest influence on most shops' cycle time performance is simply based on the amount of work they bring in each day. There is nothing magical about bringing all the repairs in on a Monday unless you can start on all of them on Monday! Little’s Law was named after MIT Professor, John Little and is a mathematical formula that is used to calculate cycle time. In the case of collision repairers, we usually measure cycle time from the point a customer drops off their vehicle until it is finished and picked up. (Keys to keys) Check it out… Cycle Time Performance = Workin-Process Units (Number of Cars) divided by/daily throughput (Average number of units produced per day)

Cycle Time Performance =

below, it represents a repair shop that averages two vehicle deliveries a day. This shop has 10 cars in it. 10 divided by 2 = 5 days average cycle time.

Let’s take a look at the same shop again, only now they have been grabbing a lot more keys! What would the average cycle time be now? You do the math. In order to reduce cycle time, you often must reduce your WIP. The trick

is to not lower the WIP to the point that people are standing around and your revenue begins to suffer. Conversely, if you have too much WIP and feel your cycle time may suffer, you may need to consider a temporary increase on production hours in order to return to Optimum WIP levels. To choose an Optimum WIP Unit number for your shop – reverse the math: ► Find your average number of repairs

# of cars in process (keys in hand, authorization to repair) Average # of cars delivered per day

(You can also measure using Dollars or Labor Hours instead of units) So if you look at the funnel graphic

produced daily (Total vehicles delivered divided by days in the month) ► Choose your goal cycle time (keys

48 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

to keys days) ► Multiply repairs produced daily X goal cycle time days = Optimum WIP Units Example: XYZ Body Shop produces four cars a day on average and wishes to reduce its cycle time to an average of seven days per RO. 4 X 7 = 28 XYZ Body Shop must maintain a work in process (WIP) count of 28 cars to achieve its cycle time goal of seven days. However, if XYZ Body Shop does not have the systems and resources available to effectively process the reduced number of ROs quickly, they run the chance of damaging revenue. I recommend that you set your goals to reduce WIP incrementally as your system improvements allow. You can see the important role that work-in-process plays in cycle time performance. The path to Optimum

Performance must involve Optimum WIP and it all begins with good scheduling skills and habits. These habits do not need to involve over-rated fancy computerized scheduling solutions, it can be done using a simple spreadsheet and a little common sense so don’t over-think it. Feel free to email me if you would like to see an example of this, but you may be disappointed by its simplicity. dluehr@msn.com There are many things that affect your cycle time performance, but understanding Little’s Law and simply paying attention to your Optimum WIP could have a huge impact immediately!

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Historical Snapshot

ASA-MI and DRPs, Carstation.com, Right to Repair and Toby Chess’ Legal Threat with John Yoswick

20 years ago in the collision repair industry (April 1995) Tucked into a referendum on the ballot in Michigan last November was a provision that would have allowed an insurer to establish a direct repair program only if all repair facilities meeting the insurer’s criteria are allowed to participate in the program. But the provision was part of a larger referendum on renewal of the state’s no-fault insurance regulations, and opponents of no-fault insurance successfully defeated the measure. The Automotive Service Association of Michigan now hopes to attach the DRP provision from the unsuccessful ballot measure to one of several other bills making their way through the state’s legislature in 1995. – As reported in Spray Dust Magazine. The legislation was never passed in Michigan, but a similar bill was passed in Montana in 2009. Some believe that law was among the rea-

sons Travelers discontinued its direct repair program in Montana last fall, as part of the insurer’s effort to “ensure regulatory requirements and customer service expectations are met.”

15 years ago in the collision repair industry (April 2000) Nine months after its first panel discussion on “e-commerce,” a second Collision Industry Conference (CIC) panel convened on the same issue. “At that time, parts and e-commerce in our industry was just an idea,” Russ Thrall, chairman of the CIC Electronic Commerce Committee said of last July’s panel. “There were a lot of people working on it, but it really wasn’t happening to a large extent. Today, the situation is drastically different.” The panel at CIC in Kansas City, MO, in April included representatives of three organizations currently or soon using the internet to allow shops, in-

surers and vendors to conduct business. Frank Terlep of CarStation.com, said his company has determined that the cost for a shop to order one part using current methods is between $2.50 and

In April of 2000, Frank Terlep was a vice president at CarStation.com, an early electronic parts ordering hub that, like many “dotcom” start-up companies of that era, did not survive much more than two years. He is now CEO of Summit eMarketing Sherpas

$10; automatic parts ordering via the internet can not only reduce errors but also cut these administrative costs by at least half.

Terlep said online parts ordering would require the shop to do little more than prepare a computerized estimate. “Instead of printing out that document and faxing it [to parts suppliers], once you upload that estimate to an e-business hub, we communicate it automatically to the vendors you’ve chosen,” Terlep said. “You’re not going through the printing; you’re not faxing it to multiple vendors. We want to integrate the procedure into the existing workflow.” Shop owners on the panel and in the CIC audience raised some concerns about online parts ordering, questioning whether it may be another step toward direct purchase of parts by insurers and raising privacy issues. “I certainly have a problem with giving every dealership all that [customer] information [from the estimate], because I don’t want that dealership selling my customer a new car just because he got in a wreck,” California

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shop owner Kevin Caldwell said. “Information is valuable. Who owns the information is a bigger question.” – As reported in Autobody News. Carstation.com, like many of the “dotcom” start-up companies of that era, did not survive; by early 2001 it had laid off staff, closed offices and sold rights to its technology to another company. Terlep is now the CEO of Summit eMarketing Sherpas, a body shop marketing firm focusing on use of social media and technology. Caldwell is now a senior claim service consultant with Allstate Insurance.

10 years ago in the collision repair industry (April 2005) U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) predicted passage in 2005 of federal “Right to Repair” legislation (the “Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act”) during remarks to more than 250 people at the Aftermarket Legislative Summit. Wearing a “Support the Right to Repair Act” button, Barton urged summit attendees to follow-up on their experience in Washington, D.C. by meeting with their elected officials in their home district, reinforcing the value of grass-roots advocacy. Barton’s remarks preceded the attendees’

200 appointments with legislators and key staff from 37 states. “Everyone at the summit was energized by the encouraging words from Rep. Barton, the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee,” said Kathleen Schmitz, president and CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), a key backer of the “Right to Repair” bill. “There is truly a sense that momentum and support for our legislation is growing. – As reported in Parts & People. The federal “Right to Repair” legislation, designed to ensure independent shops have access to the same OEM repair information as dealership shops, was never passed, although the AAIA (now the “Auto Care Association”) pushed for it for nearly a decade after Rep. Barton predicted its imminent approval by Congress. A state version of “Right to Repair” was enacted in Massachusetts in 2012. Although long critical of any volunteer agreement with automakers, the AAIA in 2014 signed just such a voluntary agreement with the automakers to suspend efforts to pass the legislation in exchange for the automakers agreeing to extend the

terms of the Massachusetts law nationwide.

5 years ago in the collision repair industry (April 2010) Just hours before industry trainer Toby Chess was to make another presentation about non-OEM bumper and structural parts at last week’s Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Atlanta, Chess said he was threatened with a lawsuit if he did so. He declined to reveal who threatened the legal action, but said because he had not had a chance to consult with an attorney, he chose to forego making his presentation at the meeting. In presentations at the last two CIC meetings, Chess showed potential problems with a number of non-OEM bumper parts, including apparent significant differences in the material and structure of the parts. In one presentation last November, Chess used a firefighter’s extrication saw to show how much easier it was to cut through the metal used to make a non-OEM bumper bar being sold as a replacement for an OEM part made from ultra-highstrength steel. That has led at least four insurers to pull back from the use of such parts;

it has also led parts suppliers to develop tracking and recall programs for the parts, and to the launch of several testing and certification programs for such parts. Chess was clearly frustrated by the threat of legal action against him, saying he never portrayed the demonstrations as scientific research but merely as a way to “bring light” to a potential problem. “I was asked last month why I did this,” Chess said. “I said that I don’t work for insurance companies, I don’t work for parts companies, I don’t work for body shops. I work for the consumer. I’m a trainer. I teach. So I have no vested stake in this. I thought it was necessary to say these things.” – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), April 19, 2010. Although Chess chose a different topic for his presentation at the next CIC in 2010, the non-OEM structural parts issues he had raised still got plenty of attention. Ford reported on testing the automaker did comparing nonOEM bumper beams, bumper brackets, and radiator core supports to the corresponding Ford parts, finding differences in spot welds and the types, thicknesses and weights of the materials used.

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www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 51

National Associations

Exciting Changes Coming for 2015 SARC, Hosted by Seven State Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

On April 17 and 18, seven state collision repair industry associations will collaborate to host the 2015 Southern Automotive Repair Conference (SARC), organized by Blue Collar Collision. The event will be held again at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, MS. This year, the Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT) has joined the six associations who’ve hosted in the past; the other hosts are the Alabama Automotive Repair Industry Society of Excellence (ALARISE), the Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA), the Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA), the Louisiana Collision Industry Association (LaCIA), the Mississippi Collision Repair Association (MSCRA), and the Tennessee Collision Repair Association (TCRA). Each association will set up tables at the conference to disseminate information about their organizations and to help attendees and exhibitors benefit from SARC 2015. Registration for this year’s SARC will begin on Friday at 4PM with classes commencing at 5PM and the expo floor opening at 7PM. Exhibitions will continue Saturday from 7:30AM8PM when the conference concludes. Approximately 500 attendees are expected to participate in this year’s event, and over 40 exhibitors will be set up on the expo floor. Event Coordinator Georgia Thorson predicts, “SARC will be more organized, focused and energetic this year in order to provide a truly great event for both attendees and exhibitors. There is an excellent lineup of industry presenters, including keynote speaker, Mike Anderson.” Repeat attendees will notice many changes at this year’s SARC 2015. Unlike previous years when breakout sessions dominated the schedule, all classes are being held in one room with the only overlapping sessions being held on Friday night to give attendees two options during that time slot. Exhibitors’ booths will be set up along the room’s perimeter, and over eight hours have been allotted throughout the weekend for exhibitions which will be presented on the main stage. In addition to the registration fee being reduced this year, participants can now register online, which Thorson hopes will leads to accurate databases and a

“more stream-lined, more effective and more dynamic event.” Following registration on Friday, attendees will choose between two classes scheduled from 5-7PM. While Ron Perretta presents “Build a Great Culture and Future Work Force” in Camellia A, Assured Performance’s Mike Miller will host an “OEM Certification Presentation and Discussion” in Camellia B. From 7-9PM, participants can visit exhibitors’ booths in Magnolia, the main conference room, and indulge in a buffet-style reception dinner. From 7:30-9AM on Saturday, attendees can enjoy breakfast while getting to know the vendors exhibiting on the expo floor. Welcoming and Introductions begin at 9AM, followed by an Exhibitor Presentation and Drawing which concludes at 9:45AM. Next, Industry Updates will be provided by Aaron Schulenburg, Executive Director of SCRS. Participants will then enjoy networking opportunities during the short break preceding another Exhibitor Presentation and Drawing. Following a presentation on “EPA and OSHA Updates” provided by Brandon Thomas of GMG EnviroSafe, Jim McGrew from Precision Collision Center will share some secrets of his success as attendees “Hear from a Winning Shop!” Lunch and time with exhibitors are sandwiched between exhibitors presentations and drawings with things getting back down to business at 1:45PM with the event’s keynote speaker. For two and a half hour, SARC 2015 attendees will be privy to the insights of the event’s keynote speaker, Mike Anderson, of Collision Advice. Anderson’s knowledge and expertise make him one of the most highly sought speakers in the industry as he shares his motivational suggestions on cutting-edge management and operational techniques. The final educational seminar of SARC 2015 will be the Panel Discussion with Questions and Answers from 4:30-5:45PM which will be moderated by Robert McKenzie, Executive Director of the Refinish Distributors Alliance. Panelists include the following renowned industry experts: Mike Anderson of Collision Advice, Mike Miller of Assured Performance, Jim

52 APRIL 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

McGrew of Precision Collision Center, Tony Nethery of Blue Collar Collision and TCRA, Ron Perretta of Global Coaching and Consulting, SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg, and Brandon Thomas of GMG EnviroSafe. This year’s event will culminate with final announcements and a door prize drawing, preceding the last two hours of the night when attendees will have a chance to visit exhibitors. A buffet-style reception dinner will also be served at this time. Thorson expects, “this year will be exciting compared to the past. We’ve received huge interest from sponsors, and all the major paint companies will be there. Body shops are really interested, and we’re going to have more drawings and prizes than ever before. Everyone involved with planning the 2015 SARC is really enthusiastic and excited to see how everyone reacts to the changes this year.” SARC was developed and estab-

lished several years ago by Steve Plier of ALARISE and John Mosley of MSCRA. Both gentlemen are dedicated to providing shops in their areas and across the country with the necessary training and networking opportunities to improve the collision repair industry as a whole, and this desire led them to found SARC. Tickets are available for purchase online at SARC’s website for the low cost of $25 per person by credit card, or they can be purchased at the door for $30 (by cash or check only). Tickets admit the holder to the conference and exhibition area and to attend one of Friday night’s classes. Those who register online will also receive free drink tickets for Friday’s and Saturday’s receptions, a door prize entry, and a ticket to the luncheon on Saturday. To learn more about the conference or to register for the 2015 SARC, visit the event’s website at www.southern automotiverepairconference.com

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Continued from Page 44

Takata Takes Steps

faith pump this stuff out believing that it was unsafe to put in front of a passenger in a car.” Ammonium nitrate was the principal propellant chemical used in hundreds of millions of Takata inflators made since 2000, including those installed in more than 24 million cars recalled in the United States, Japan, China and other global markets. Britton described an incident in the late 1990s where a test batch of experimental propellant that had not been validated by Britton’s technical

group was used without his knowledge in production. This occurred because the company was running out of approved material. Even though it had not been proven that the propellant would remain stable over the expected vehicle lifespan, it was still used in inflators that wound up in customers’ cars, Britton said. He added that he was not able to get the inflators recalled from the customer. Britton, in an email on January 29, 2015, said investigators from NHTSA and the Department of Justice have not contacted him. Lillie said on the same day that he has not been contacted by federal officials, either.

Takata did not address specific allegations made by Lillie, Britton or other former employees. On February 10, 2015, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) announced the filing of a class action lawsuit against Takata Corp, relating to the massive recall of vehicles containing defective airbags manufactured by the Japanese company. The ARA brought the class action on behalf of those who operate professional automotive recycling facilities in the United States who have purchased for resale any of the vehicles containing un-deployed and allegedly defective airbags manufactured by Takata.

The complaint alleges that Takata and the Auto Manufacturers misled Automotive Recyclers about the safety and reliability of the allegedly defective airbags. According to the complaint, Takata was aware of the airbag defect as far back as 2004 when it conducted ‘secret tests’ on several airbags. It also states that following the disclosure of the airbag defect, the Automotive Recyclers are not able to sell or trade these airbags because they are valueless. The ARA alleges that it and the Automotive Recyclers had an expectation that Takata and the Auto Manufacturers would disclose known defects in

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a timely manner to abide federal, state and common law. The failure to properly disclose the defect caused the Automotive Recyclers to purchase vehicles containing the Takata airbags for amounts greater than their worth. “Right now, 49 states allow for the sale of recycled, non-deployed OEM airbags,” ARA CEO Michael E. Wilson told Autobody News. “New York is currently the only state in the country where professional automotive recyclers are unable to sell recycled, non-deployed OEM airbags.” Wilson added, “The Automotive Recyclers Association supports only the reutilization of the recycled non-deployed OEM airbag module. ARA has a protocol for the use of original equipment non-deployed airbags, ARAPro, which provides guidelines for the practice of removing an OEM non-deployed airbag, including rigorous inspection, documentation, storage, audit procedures.” As of March 2015, evidence shows that at least six motorists have been killed by defective Takata airbags.

Caliber Auto Mechanics File CA Wage & Hour Class Action Suit A California labor law class action lawsuit has been filed against Caliber Collision by mechanics who allege they were not paid for all the hours they worked. Filed by lead plaintiff Samuel Castillo, the lawsuit alleges Caliber Bodyworks of Texas Inc., which operates the chain Caliber Collision, pays its mechanics on a piece-rate system for each task they perform, and that the workers are assigned piece-rate hours per tasks, regardless of the time it actually takes them to perform. Castillo claims he recorded the hours he worked, but Caliber only paid him under the piece-rate system. “As a result, defendants did not pay plaintiff for all hours worked at the minimum wage, as defendants failed to pay plaintiff for nonproductive hours, i.e., hours that he was not performing piece-rate work,” the complaint states. Further, the lawsuit contends that Castillo worked for Caliber from 2007 through to the end of January 2014, classed as a nonexempt technician under the piece-rate system. According to the suit, under Caliber’s pay system, if a task were assigned a value of 0.8 hours, the mechanic would be paid for 0.8 hours of work,

regardless of whether the task took 10 or 90 minutes to perform. According to the suit, the method Caliber uses of meeting their minimum wage obligations, dividing daily piece-rate earnings by daily hours worked, violates California labor law. The suit also alleges Caliber paid Castillo nondiscretionary bonuses and other forms of compensation that aren’t excludable from the regular rate of pay. “Despite defendants’ payment of incentive pay to plaintiff, defendants failed to include all forms of incentive pay when calculating plaintiff’s regular rate of pay, thereby further causing plaintiff to be underpaid all of his required overtime wages,” the complaint states. Castillo alleges that he regularly worked in excess of eight hours per work day and over 40 hours each week, without receiving overtime compensation. Further, because the company only pays its workers in the piece-rate system, it also fails to maintain any compensation system for compensating rest periods. “As a result of defendants’ failure to pay all overtime and minimum wages, defendants maintained inaccurate payroll records and issued in-

accurate wage statements to plaintiff,” the suit states. Finally, the lawsuit contends that Caliber requires its mechanics to buy their own tools that are necessary to perform their job duties, without reimbursing the workers for the cost of the tools. California Labor Code section 2802 requires employers to indemnify employees against all “necessary” expenses, including the costs of tools needed to perform job duties. If the employer is already supplying the “necessary” equipment, there is no duty to reimburse for buying superior or superfluous equipment. The employment class action is seeking certification on behalf of classes of workers denied minimum wage, overtime hours, expense reimbursements and more. The plaintiff is represented by Paul K. Haines and Fletcher W. Schmidt of Boren Osher & Luftman LLP. The suit is Castillo et al. v. Caliber Bodyworks of Texas Inc. et al., case number BC572767, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

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