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SOUTHEAST EDITIO N
AUTOBODY AL / FL / GA / MS / NC / SC / TN / VA / WV
IGONC Celebrates Largest ASTE Ever by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Sept. 27-29, the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina (IGONC) hosted its 2019 Automotive Service and Technology Expo (ASTE) at the Embassy Suites and Convention Center in Cary, NC. According to IGONC Executive Director Bob Pulverenti, “This was the largest ASTE ever. Shops attended from 23 states as well as Canada, and vendor booths space sold out early. We had Carm Capriotto creating live and recorded podcasts throughout the event, providing insight into the running of a business
and where our industry is headed, as well as videos created by Frank Leutz of Wrench Nation featuring a technician retention deep dive.”
Pictured L to R: Eric Sprague, Mike Reynolds, Frank Leutz of Wrench Nation, Lucas Underwood and Grayle Bartlett discuss the issue of technician retention. Credit: IGONC
Associate Executive Director Tricia Sauls added, “The event was See IGONC Celebrates, Page 26
TN Body Shops Handle Headaches Over Parts Shortage as GM Strike Persists by Grace McKenna, WRCB-TV
About 49,000 General Motors (GM) workers were still on strike on Tuesday, Oct. 8, and negotiations were reportedly at a standstill. The pause in production is causing headaches for local auto body shops. “You know of course procurement is getting a little more difficult as we go along, having to lean a bit more on out of town dealers which are just larger dealers,” said Nathan Gayler of Padgett’s Red Bank Auto Repair, located in Chattanooga, TN.
One problem is that some GM cars come in needing more parts than originally thought. “You can’t see most damage when you’re writing these estimates so you’ve got to get the panels off to know what’s going on,” Gayler said. That leads to delays when repairmen take a closer look. “If you have a bumper that’s messed up and you need a bracket that’s back there, some of those things can be hard to get a hold of because we don’t have the time,” he said. But the main issue has been
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM
Vol. 10 / Issue 9 / November 2019
Speakers Discuss Need to Know, Follow OEM Calibration Steps for ADAS by John Yoswick
George Lesniak, Autel’s director of sales and training, said one of the biggest challenges for shops working to follow OEM collision repair procedures—in particular, the steps necessary for calibration of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)—is the variation among automakers. “There’s a complete lack of consistency across the different OEMs when it comes to their service information: where that information is located, where you find the procedures and specifications,” Lesniak said during the recent Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) “Connex” conference. But some of the challenges shops encounter in following OEM proce-
dures, he said, has little to do with that inconsistency in how the information is organized. “The one thing that I’ve found to be very consistent is technicians’ ability to skip steps,” Lesniak said. “The key skill set required to do calibrations is the ability to read, interpret and follow complex instructions and make detailed measurements. Knowing how to use a metric tape measure is absolutely foreign to most technicians. We’ve found that 50 percent of calibration failures come down to missing or skipping steps in those preliminary instructions.” Those steps, he said, include having the required space with the right environmental conditions, such as proper lighting, and ensuring that nothing is interfering with the field See Speakers Discuss, Page 18
Collision Repair Shops Learn How to Attract, Retain Military Veterans by John Yoswick
Collision repair businesses of all sizes have a potential talent pool of new employees, including those conclud-
See GM Strike Persists, Page 3
Roxann Griffith of the Department of Labor said military veterans can be a good source of new employees for collision repair businesses of all sizes.
ing their service in the U.S. military, according to a speaker at this past summer’s Collision Industry Conference in Indianapolis.
Roxann Griffith, with the U.S. Department of Labor’s employment and training services, said Texasbased Service King, which operates more than 340 shops in 24 states, has hired hundreds of veterans over four years. Griffith encourages body shops to hire those who have served our country in any capacity by sharing tips and resources with collision repair businesses on how to hire and retain those who have exited the military. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Hiring Our Heroes” program, for example, offers free hiring fairs on military bases and at other locations around the country, she said. Those looking to hire veterans should check out the advice and resources included in the free 22-page See Military Veterans, Page 22
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