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Norman, Oklahoma Body Shop Narrowly Escapes Next Door Tornado Devastation by Melanie Anderson
In tornado season in Oklahoma you don’t have to be superstitious to think bad things could happen on any given day, never mind Friday the thirteenth. But for Norman shop owner Philip DeFatta, this Friday, April 13, Leon Pierce Body Repair at 521 N. Porter Ave. in Norman, OK could have been a day out of narrowly escaped a tornado that ripped through the town on April 13. The building next door is being demolished after the movies. At about 4:00 sustaining considerable damage. Photos courtesy of Philip p.m., a tornado hit the heart DeFatta, owner of Leon Pierce Body Repair. of Norman, Oklahoma and cut roughly an eight-mile swath happen. I call that ‘stuperstitious,’” through the town, especially the joked DeFatta, 43, owner of Leon Pierce Body Repair at 521 N. Porter southwest portion. According to local reports, the Avenue. However, that afternoon he was tornado hop-scotched through the center of town, tossing telephone dashing inside his shop to take cover poles, shredding trees and ripping off as the tornado hit. DeFatta heard the roofs. At least 10 people were taken to building next door literally explode, and debris from that building flew the hospital with minor injuries. “I didn’t wake up that morning into his shop through the large garage thinking anything bad was going to See Friday 13th, Page 35
IA L SP E C T ISSUE PAIN
REFINISH PAINT &
of 3 issues S
OGIE TECHNOL
VOL. 3 ISSUE 4 JUNE 2012
State Farm’s PartsTrader Program Encounters Significant Opposition, Not Just From its DRPs State Farm’s forced implementation of its PartsTrader e-bidding process within its Select Service Program shops has ignited a firestorm of criticism from the industry, not just from its own DRPs. Usage of the PartsTrader software, developed in New Zealand, has been required by the insurer in several test markets nationwide, including Tucson, AZ, and Birmingham, AL, however several sources have reported shops dropping the Select Service Program as a result, up to 40% in some markets. The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP), the Society for Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), and the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and numerous independent industry observers have come out with strong statements cautioning their members against State Farm’s bidding process for parts procurement. AASP called it “an unprecedented and uninvited intrusion into the business of collision repair.” The AASP released the following statement, which reads in part: “Despite posturing from the largest national insurance carrier on what it believes to be positive attributes of the program, collision repair facilities, parts suppliers, parts manufacturers and interested parties around the country have been consistent in their perception that this type of activity will ultimately harm their
businesses and the customers they serve. “Collision repairers are in the business of selling parts, labor and materials at a retail level. Each of these revenue sources contributes to the overall success of the roughly 35,000 small businesses across the nation, allowing the business to provide employment opportunities to individuals within their community and invest in the necessary equipment and training needed to provide customers with safe, quality repairs. As is the case with all types of business—including the business of insurance—the pursuit of a return on investment (profit) is a core principle, and one that collision repairers should neither apologize for nor relinquish to the influence of other parties. “Insurers are in the business of insuring risk and then settling losses at market value when those losses occur. As the payer of claims, insurers should not be “market makers” for pricing of individual products and services that are components of final invoices. To date, insurance pressure and influence over collision repair market pricing has driven average profit margins to low single-digit figures, despite the fact that the business of collision repair has a high cost of entry and requires ongoing capital investments to keep pace with automotive technologies. See Parts Trader, Page 6
Summit Software’s President and Head Sherpa Frank Terlep talks with Autobody News about the state of Digital Media for the Collision Industry
by Melanie Anderson see p. 18
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