From the Desk of Mike Anderson with Mike Anderson
Mike Anderson is the president and owner of Collision Advice, a consulting company for the auto body/collision repair industry. For nearly 25 years, he was the owner of Wagonwork Collision Center, an OEM-certified, full-service auto body repair facility in Alexandria, VA.
Tips to Help Auto Body Shops Get Paid for Crucial Step of Destructive Weld Testing In a previous column, I wrote about the critical necessity to perform destructive testing of welds prior to welding on any vehicle—and regardless of whether your shop is being paid for that procedure. But I also believe you should be paid for this crucial work, and that’s what I hope to address here. Those of you who have read my articles in the past on better negotiating know I believe the process involves four questions: Is the procedure necessary? Is it included in any other labor operation? Are there pre-determined times? If not, what it is worth? Looking at any of the OEM repair procedures should convince you that it is necessary. Here is some of the wording I’ve seen: BMW: “To determine the optimum electrode contact force for
spot-welding, carry our spot-weld shear tests on sample sheet metal.” Ford: “Place the welded sample in a vice and carry out destructive weld tests by peeling the scrap metal apart using large lock-type pliers. Measure the weld nugget to determine the nugget meets Ford weld nugget requirements.” Hyundai/Kia: “Test welding must be performed before welding vehicle body.” Toyota: “Welding strength must be validated by tuning the welder and performing destructive testing.” I could go on and on, but you get the idea: It is a necessary procedure. The next negotiation question: Is it included in any other labor operation? No matter which estimating
system you are using, you should be able to find that the user’s guide— often referred to as “procedure pages”—lists set-up and performing test welds as a not-included operation. If you can’t find it, visit the Database Enhancement Gateway website (www.DEGweb.org), and read the estimating system providers’ responses to inquiries about this, including #15358 (Solera/Audatex), #12565 (Motor/CCC) and #16652 (Mitchell). None of the estimating systems publish a labor time for destructive testing of welds, so the answer to the third negotiation question is no. That leaves you with the fourth question: What is it worth? I can’t answer that question for you. Perhaps you could conduct your own time study. In any case, remember it should be based on how long it takes an average tech-
nician—one with five to seven years of experience—to gather the tools, equipment and supplies needed, perform the task safely, and return the tools, equipment and supplies to their store area, and clean the work area. Remember, too, material costs for this process are not included. That can include OEM-approved wire, welding tips/nozzles, shielding gas and gun liner. If you’re buying welding coupons, keep that cost in mind. You can also improve your chances of being paid for this necessary step by documenting the process. Shoot images of the test welds prior to testing, while the test welds are in the vise, and after they destructively tested. If you use an electronic quality control app, you can set it up to require these photos, ensuring they are time- and date-
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