Collision Repair 15#5

SHOW TIME: FULL COVERAGE OF NACE 2016!

“Smash” Repair

CARSTAR Conference

Inside Australia’s collision industry.

Ready for the future at the Cradle of Confederation.

CARBON FUTURE Mass-market composites are coming quickly.

EYE of the TIGER Winner of CARSTAR’s ‘Iron Man,’ Johnny K inspires the next generation to achieve unbeatable success.

Plus RV repair combines luxury and heavy-duty, Rick Orser of 3M on industry challenges, transformed Nova transforms lives, and much, much more!!!

Volume 15, Number 5

l October 2016

l

$7.95

l

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40841632 l 86 John Street, Thornhill, ON L3T 1Y2

collisionrepairmAg.com

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER 43 Heeeeere’s Johnny K! CARSTAR MSO Johnny Kloeckes started from humble beginnings.

Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2016

features 46 executive vision Rick Orser of 3M Canada on proactive solutions to industry challenges.

61 Working together Collaboration is the first step on the road to long-term success.

67 TALENT PIPELINE Examining Service’s King new training and recruitment model.

77 RV repair It’s a fusion of luxury service and heavy-duty techniques.

55

NACE 2016 stormed Anaheim with the latest in tools, processes and more. Check out our exclusive report starting on page 55!

81 REPORT ON TRAINING Inside Axalta’s Master Refinish Certification program.

85 Carbon fibre Mass-market material is coming, but how soon?

NEWS 08 COLLISION REPAIR 91 Towing & Recovery 93 RECYCLING news

departments

51

CARSTAR unites as ‘1’ on the Cradle of Confederation.

73

Australia’s and Canada’s industries have striking similarities … and startling differences.

On the Cover: Johnny Kloeckes of CARSTAR Edmonton South.

Photography by David Mathew Bonner.

YOUR ONLINE SOURCE

Canada’s collision repair information resource.

New articles and top news stories daily.

Visit www.collisionrepairmag.com.

06 Publisher’s page by Darryl Simmons The best time.

35 Point blank Mourning a titan.

36 Who’s driving? by Jay Perry Happy company.

38 Prairie view by Chelsea Stebner Something different.

40 training by Andrew Shepherd The Canadian model.

100 Recycling by David Gold Productivity express.

HAVE YOUR SAY. We welcome your comments on anything you see in Collision Repair magazine. Send your feedback to editor@collisionrepairmag.com.

102 Industry insight by Jeff Sanford News watch.

august 2016 collision Repair 05

publisher’s page

TheBestTime It’s an exciting—and profitable—new era.

By Darryl Simmons

J

ust on the heels of NACE and the cusp of heading to SEMA, I can tell you with total confidence there has never been a better time to be part of the collision repair industry. The air at NACE crackled with excitement and enthusiasm.

The incre asing role for OEMs to play in the collision repair marketplace has long been forecast in these pages and elsewhere. It’s no surprise to see escalating involvement on their part.

It’s not just about selling OEM parts, but also their global moves to instill brand loyalty and keep drivers badge

OEM certified is one of the best steps for protection.

In addition to this, the right equipment and training must be in place. Those w ho invest in t he t raining and t he equipment will be flooded with work.

Insurers will have to pony up to the table in order to have their insured cars repaired, as the threat of invalid warrantees and educated drivers will become a priority. Add it all up and yes, this is an exciting (read that profitable) time to be in the industry.

“Scan in and scan out” will be the new mantra. And if you think that will

Insurers will no longer be the only big fish in the pond.

loyal. And to sell parts. Let’s not forget about that aspect. But price matching is all too easy, so it’s got to go deeper than that.

This newfound sense of urgency to play in the collision repair domain has all the earmarks of a territory skirmish in the making. Insurers will no longer be the only big fish in the pond. It was pretty easy for them to dictate the terms of engagement when there were virtually no rules for them to follow other than to provide a safe, complete and accurate repair. But the old rules are changing.

OEM repair guidelines are now readily available. As a result, reasonable ignorance of repair is no longer an alibi.

If a repair does not follow and meet or exceed the requirements set out by the OEM guidelines, the potential exposure for litigation lies upon the shop and perhaps the insurer. No one wants to take that type of risk, so becoming

raise the cost of repair—it’s only the beginning. The myriad of sensors on today’s cars will all have to be reset, even after minor fender benders. No one— insurer, repairer or OEM—wants to try and tackle the fallout of a secondary accident as the result of a repair done without following proper procedure.

All of this is a profit centre for the new generation of collision repair facilities.

No longer are paints, parts and material going to be the only thing on the balance sheet. S canning is the new horizon of cash.

Autumn is here, and to me it has always signalled the start of something new. The old rules are changing, and now is the time to start planning for your shop’s future success.

6 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

PUBLISHER DARRYL SIMMONS (647) 409-7070 publisher@collisionrepairmag.com PUBLISHING DIRECTOR JAMES KERR (416) 628-8344 james@mediamatters.ca EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MIKE DAVEY (905) 549-0454 editor@collisionrepairmag.com ASSISTANT EDITOR MIKE PICKFORD (905) 370-0101 michael@mediamatters.ca CREATIVE DEPARTMENT MICHELLE MILLER (905) 370-0101 michelle@mediamatters.ca STAFF WRITER Jeff Sanford jeff@collisionrepairmag.com VP Industry Relations & Advertising GLORIA MANN (647) 998-5677 advertising@collisionrepairmag.com Managing Director iMM/Director Business Solutions & Marketing ellen Smith (416) 312-7446 ellen@mediamatters.ca CONTRIBUTORS David Gold, Keith Jones, Jay Perry, Andrew Shepherd, Chelsea Stebner.

SUBSCRIPTION One-year $39.95 / Two-year $64.99 Collision Repair™ magazine is published bi-monthly, and is dedicated to serving the business interests of the collision repair industry. It is published by Media Matters Inc. Material in Collision Repair™ magazine may not be reproduced in any form without written consent from the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising and disclaims all responsibilities for claims or statements made by its advertisers or independent columnists. All facts, opinions, statements appearing in this publication are those of the writers and editors themselves, and are in no way to be construed as statements, positions or endorsements by the publisher.

PRINTED IN CANADA ISSN 1707-6072 CANADA POST CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES PRODUCT AGREEMENT No. 40841632 RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to: 455 Gilmour St Peterborough, ON K9H 2J8

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Collision Repair magazine is published by Media Matters Inc., publishers of:

NEWS

People on the move Uni-Select Vice-President Michel Charbonneau announced the company had brought in a new Director of PBE Sales for Eastern Canada in Jeff Murphy. late July, welcoming Jeff Murphy to the position.

Having spent the past 20 years honing and developing his marketing and business relationship skills Murphy feels he’s ready to tackle his new position.

“I’m extremely excited to take on the challenges of this position,” Murphy said.

US collision repair e quipment prov ider Car-O-Liner drafted in Frank Ponte as its new Key Accounts Manager Frank Ponte. in early August.

Bringing over 20 years of industry-related experience with him to the position, Pont e w i l l b e c om e t h e f a c e of t h e organization from a business standpoint and will be tasked with managing existing relationships between the company and its customers, as well as developing new ones.

Brigitte Pesant is the new Director of Collision Programs at AIA Canada.

Pesant will assume responsibility for the management of the C a n a d i a n C o l l i s i o n Brigitte Pesant.

Industry Forum, while also overseeing the CCIF Program and managing the sponsorships of AIA Canada’s other collision industry initiatives.

Mitchell International announced the app ointment of Jack Rozint in late August. He joins the organization’s Auto Physical Damage (APD) business unit as Vice President of Sales and Service, Repair.

Rozint has over 20 years of information Jack Rozint. service experience focused on the auto claims and collision industries and most recently was with

consulting firm RepairCar.com.

“I am very excited to join Mitchell at a time where the ADP market is experiencing significant changes due to industr y consolidation and rapidly changing vehicle technology,” Rozint said.

Industry veteran Brian O’Reilly has joined Colonial Auto Parts and A.P.M. as the org an i z at i ons’ new Senior Manager of Automotive, Fleet and Commercial Refinishing. Brian O’Reilly.

Officially taking up his new position on Sept. 1, O’Reilly brings more than four decades of experience to the company. In his role, O’Reilly will be responsible for all areas of the automotive, fleet and commercial refinish market.

Fix Auto World has named Ben Pugh as its new International Brand Manager In the role, Pugh will be called to support the implementation of Fix Auto’s brand standards into new and developing collision repair markets, Ben Pugh. helping the company expand its global activities.

Also joining the Fix Auto World team is Nick Spiers, who will take on Nick Spiers. the role of International Operations Manager.

Spiers will play a key role as Fix Auto expands its global activities, helping adapt the company’s model to local markets.

Spiers has experience in the UK collision repair industr y, most recently as Gneral Manager for Nationwide Crash R e p a i r C e nt re s and as Operations Manager for ABL Accident Repair Group.

8 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Regional News

British Columbia

Okanagan College celebrates 25-year relationship with Toyota Technical College It’s a relationship 25 years in the making. The first students from Toyota Technical College arrived at Okanagan College in 1992 for a summer program dedicated to collision repair training and improving their English skills.

Twenty-five years later, the relationship has only become stronger.

This year saw a record 110 students from Toyota Technical College completing the program. In total, more than 1,000 students have been part of the program since it started in 1992.

Kazunori Ikeyama is the President of Toyota Technical College.

He recently joined Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton at a special event to congratulate the participating students and offer thanks to the many instructors in both Japan and Canada who have helped to grow the program over the years.

“Today we celebrate and reflect on this great friendship and the many students it has benefitted over the years,” Ikeyama said. “It is a program and a partnership that means a great deal to both institutions.”

Five years ago the two presidents celebrated the program’s 20th anniversary by planting a Japanese Cherry tree—or Sakura —at the Okanagan College campus in Kelowna, BC. The tree serves as a year-round reminder of the friendship between the two institutions.

10 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Students from Toyoto Technical College and officials from Okanagan College and Toyota Technical College gather to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program that sees Japanese students travel to Canada for collision repair training.

“What started out as an educational partnership has become, in many ways, so much more,” Hamilton said. “The cross-cultural exchange that takes place has enriched our campus community tremendously over the years. The more than 1,000 students and the many teachers who have come here to learn about Canadian culture have been, and will continue to be, our honoured guests, friends, learners, and teachers.”

For more information on Okanagan College, please visit okanagan.bc.ca.

Alberta Regional News

Calgary collision repairers riding out economic downturn

By Jeff Sanford Alberta continues to suffer through a painful economic slump.

The price of oil is low and effects have rippled through the economy, creating interesting challenges for repairers.

Since 2008 the price of oil has generally fallen from the record high price of almost $150 a barrel in the summer of that year.

Rick Hatswell is the Chief Operating Officer of Craftsman Collision. “It’s been an interesting year. BC has been busy. It’s really rocking. But Calgary has been quiet,” says Hatswell.

Before the fire in Fort McMurray, oilsands projects were being scaled back and cancelled. The pool of available tradesman in the province has deepened. This is good news in a province that has a famously tight and competitive job market for tradespeople.

“With the oil slow down you’d think more employees would come in,” says Hatswell. The few who do come have outrageous expectations regarding compensation. “I’ve had people come to apply to be an estimator. They have no experience in this industry.

They’re like a lot of people in Alberta, they have a little bit of everything. But they come in expecting $90,000 a year to write four sheets a day.” Such is life in the shadows of the energy sector.

Also managing the ups-and-downs of the Calgary economy is Brenda Petraschuk, VP of PET Auto Body. Petrashuk says there was lots of work to go around during the boom years. With fewer projects underway, the Alberta economy is sluggish.

“The business in Alberta right now is not as it has been. It’s trickling in. There is not as much work being done right now.

No one is doing any more than they have to,” says Petrashuk.

“Customers aren’t spending money. They’re not upgrading equipment. If they have to fix something, they fix it, but they’re not doing anything extra.”

Shifts are happening across the auto service ecosystem.

Executives at AutoCanada, the Edmonton-based dealership group, began warning that car sales were weakening. As a result AutoCanada announced a management overhaul. Steven Landry, a one-time President of Chrysler Canada, took over as CEO as the company was said in a report to be working through one of the most “challenging periods in its 20-year history.” The company operates 48 dealerships across eight provinces, with roughly half of those stores in Alberta. And in that province, according to the report, “same-store revenue fell 12.1 percent and same-store sales of new vehicles plunged 21 percent.”

There are optimists out there that expect the situation in Alberta to turn around fairly soon. One of those optimists is Todd

Hirsch, Chief Economist with the well-known Alberta-based financial services organization ATB Financial. He addressed a meeting of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association and predicted that the “rising unemployment rate in Alberta will crest this fall.”

Hirsch went on to warn that Albertans “have become accustomed to exceptional Rick Hatswell, COO of Craftsman growth rates in the four and five Collision, notes that former oilpatch may have unrealistic percent range, people will have employees expectations of compensation. to readjust their expectations in the mid-term ... Moving ahead, 2017 to 2020 are going to feel sluggish, but the Alberta economy is going to look more like a typical Canadian province with growth in the range of one to two per cent. I believe in 2017 we will return to the positive side of the ledger … I do think the worst of this downturn is yet to come, at least in the labour market in the next four to six months,” Hirsch said. He went on to say that employment stability “will follow oil, stabilizing around $50 to $55 by the end of 2016... And then the unemployment rate will gradually start to come down in 2017,” according to Hirsch.

There are those betting on the price of oil recovering in the year to come. According to experts the current oversupply will be used up quickly. As currently-producing wells deplete, the lack of new drilling will see overall production levels drop. This will put upward pressure on prices.

Interest rates have gone to one percent in a bid to maintain growth. But even with radically low rates, the economy remains listless, unable to grow. Rates this low would have sent the economy into hyper levels of growth in the 1990s. The inability of hyper low interest rates to kick in a new round of growth is something that key peak oil activists predicted. The industry seems to be at a point of peak production.

A recent report finds some speculative hedge funds managers have begun buying up future contracts that will pay out if the price of crude oil hits $100 a barrel in the months ahead. That would be a welcome development in a province trying to keep up with the boom and bust nature of the oil industry.

AUGUST 2016 collision Repair 11

Regional News Sasketchewan

Transformed Nova transforms lives

The transformed Nova. Hands On Outreach & Development Centre plans to start a raffle for the completed vehicle.

The project put experienced technicians together with local youth.

The collision repair business doesn’t just repair vehicles. Sometimes it transforms lives.

Rick Langlais is the founder of Hands On Outreach & Development Centre, dedicated to serving the physical and emotional needs of Saskatoon’s inner city children and youth.

About five years ago, Langlais approached Tom Bissonnette of Parr Auto Body to see if some of the children that frequented Hands On Outreach & Development Centre could come to the shop and learn some autobody skills.

Bissonnette pointed to a couple of challenges with the original idea. The shop at Parr Auto Body is very busy and it would be difficult to transport the kids from the inner city core out to Parr Auto Body’s facility. Parr Auto Body is located about 10 kilometers away from Saskatoon’s downtown, in an eastside business area.

Instead, Bissonnette suggested that if Langlais could find a building downtown, he could see if there were volunteers willing to come down and work with the kids.

Over the course of the next year, Langlais found a property downtown, renovated it to house a “shop” area, got the necessary equipment donated and approached Bissonnette a second time.

Before starting the project, Langlais and Bissonette traveled to Vancouver to meet with Mark McKim and check out the Customs for Urban Teens (CUT) program. The CUT Program puts car enthusiasts side-by-side with young people to work on classic and custom car restorations.

Langlais and Bissonette returned to Saskatoon with a vision of what was possible, and they set about finding a good car to re-build.

It was at this time that Roger Braun got involved. A Senior Manager with Tiger Automotive in Saskatoon, Braun knew of a 1970 Nova that was available. He also suggested that Tiger Automotive could help out by sourcing and supplying the necessary parts.

With the help of many donors and members of the Saskatoon Auto Body Association the team raised money and recruited volunteers to work with the kids and re-build the Nova.

Working for two hours every Wednesday evening, the kids and volunteers stripped the car down to a skeleton. They rebuilt the engine, welded the frame and installed new panels. They even modified the car with some cool upgrades.

Four years later, over 1,500 hours of labour and about $40,000 in parts and materials, the project has produced a finished car.

Hands On Outreach & Development Centre plans to raffle off the car starting in August, with a draw date of April 2017, one week after the Draggins Car Show. Keep an eye on handsonoutreach.ca for a chance to buy raffle tickets.

The car was completely transformed over the last four years.

We suspect the kids and volunteers involved the project have undergone a transformation as well.

For more information on Hands On Outreach & Development Centre, please visit handsonoutreach.ca.

12 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

manitoba

Regional News

Boyd Group sales increased by 18.8 percent in Q2 2016 It looks like another bang-up quarter for the Winnipeg-based Boyd Group. The company has officially reported its financial results for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2016. Sales have increased by 18.8 percent to $331 million from $278.7 million in 2015. While some of this growth in sales comes from acquisitions, the figures also include significant same-store sales increases of 5.1 percent.

“With 38 locations added to date, strong same-store sales increases and overall solid financial results, we are very pleased with our progress thus far in 2016 towards our stated goals,” said Brock Bulbuck, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Boyd Group.

“With our new location in Kentucky we have also now entered our 20th state, representing yet another milestone for our company.”

Within days of Bulbuck’s statement, Boyd Group had added another facility to the list in Slidell, Louisiana, moving the total

number of facilities acquired so far this year to 39.

Management held a conference call on Friday, August 12, 2016 to review the second quarter results. An archived audio webcast of the conference call is available through boydgroup.com until midNovember, 90 days after the initial call.

“Looking to the rest of 2016, we are confident that we will continue to make progress toward our long-term growth targets and operational plans,” says Bulbuck. “Our strong balance sheet, along with approximately $350 million in dry powder, positions us extremely well for continued growth and continued investment in our business.”

Boyd Group operates locations in five Canadian provinces under the trade name Boyd Autobody & Glass, as well as in 20 US states under the trade name Gerber Collision & Glass. For more information, please visit boydgroup.com.

august 2016 collision Repair 13

Regional News Ontario

Tropicana graduates new pre-apprenticeship class

The graduating class of 2016, with representatives of some of the program’s sponsors.

A number of new technicians are on their way into the collision repair industry, thanks to the Tropicana Community Services PreApprenticeship program, its sponsors and their own hard work.

The graduation ceremony for this year’s class took place at The Radisson Hotel in Toronto, Ont. The event kicked off with an opening address by Marc Tremblay, the program’s coordinator and emcee for the graduation ceremony.

He thanked the program’s sponsors for their continued support.

In addition to grants from the province, industry has stepped up to support the program’s efforts. The program’s sponsors include CARSTAR, MAX Auto Supply, Key Colour, CIIA, I-CAR and Collision Repair magazine.

Tremblay introduced a short video featuring program participants thanking the various sponsors, before welcoming Peter Wrong of 3M to the podium. Wrong congratulated the grads for their achievements, and welcomed them to the collision repair industry.

“I really look forward to seeing you guys in the shops,” he said.

“It’s a great career to be in.”

John Norris of Collision Industry Information Assistance (CIIA) was the next sponsor to take the stage. Norris discussed the difference between a job and a career, noting that the newly-minted Level I apprentices were on the career track. He also highlighted how the industry has developed and evolved and continues to do so, with new technology being introduced on a constant basis.

Norris also announced that in addition to the training the program’s participants had already received through Centennial College, each could attend one of CIIA’s Basic Estimating courses completely free of charge. He also presented a donation of $1,200 to Tropicana on behalf of CIIA. Industry sponsors have been generous to the program, donating money, equipment and tools to the students. I-CAR has stepped up its contribution this year. Andrew Shepherd of I-CAR presented I-CAR scholarships to five students from the program: Daniel Lara, 14 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Jesse Ellul, Kevin Samlall, Christopher Abdul and Daryl Romano.

The scholarships will take the fledgling techs to Platinum Status.

Two local politicians who have long supported the program couldn’t be at the event, but made an appearance by video. Doug Ford, former Toronto City Councilor, and John Tory, the current Mayor, both spoke on the program’s importance and congratulated the participants.

All of the program’s participants have reason to be proud of their achievements, but one student, Christopher Abdul, deserves special mention. He was first called to the stage to accept the CARSTAR Best-in-Class Award, presented by Collin Welsh of CARSTAR. This is the first year for this award. Students were ranked in four areas: grade point average, attendance, interaction and leadership.

Each of these criteria formed up to 25 percent of the total score.

The last two, interaction and leadership, are subjective marks given out by the students’ instructors. The final tally placed Christopher Abdul in the front.

This wasn’t the last time during the evening that Abdul was singled out. He also received the Director’s Award. Throughout the run of the program, Abdul didn’t miss a single day, was never late and frequently stayed after class to ensure his homework was done.

We suspect we’ll be hearing more from this young man in the future.

The graduating students have cleared the first hurdle of becoming fully licensed. However, they still have to complete Level II and Level III to become fully certified technicians. Tropicana and its sponsors unveiled a new program at the graduation ceremony cer that will encourage them to do so.

Tremblay called some of the program’s alumni from past years to the stage to discuss this new addition to the program. In essence, graduates of the program who show that they have completed Level II and Level III of their apprenticeship will receive a donation from the program towards 3M equipment. This donation will be matched by 3M, thereby significantly lowering the cost to the student.

QuÉbec

Regional News

CARSTAR expands in Quebec with St. Leonard location CARSTAR has expanded in Quebec recently with the opening of CARSTAR St. Leonard.

CARSTAR St. Leonard is located at 6585 Magloire St. in the industrial district of St. Leonard. The building is more than 9,000 sq. ft. in size and has been renovated and equipped with the latest technology, including a painting room and a prep area.

The waiting room offers Internet access and Wi-Fi to customers, a convenience rated very high by a recent J.D. Power study.

The owner, Sergio Panfili, took over the family business in 1999. He started working at the facility at the age of 15. Today the store has a production staff of seven people. In addition to autobody related services, CARSTAR St. Leonard offers full mechanical service and repair for all makes and models.

Panfili says he joined CARSTAR because of the vision of the company and the importance it gives to its customers, partners and franchisees.

“At CARSTAR, we feel we will be well supported while maintaining our operating autonomy” says Panfili.

For more information, please visit carstar.ca.

CARSTAR St. Leonard.

Carrossier ProColor

network unveils new contest

The Carrossier ProColor network has launched its Clichés d’étémarketing initiative, a series of monthly contests held on the organization’s Facebook page.The competition called for all participants to complete a registration form and submit a photo best representing the monthly theme provided by the network.

Launched on July 1, participants had until the end of the month to submit their favourite photo from a holiday trip. Two further contests were held, running from August 1 to 31 and September 1 to 30 respectively. The contest ran on Facebook.

“When we ask people what distinguishes the Carrossier ProColor network from the lot, the answer is almost unanimous: it is human dimension and the sense of family and camaraderie we feel among both franchisees and the Head Office,” says Mary Jayn de Villers, Director of Communications. “(This) is what we used to inspire us while developing this series of contests which, we hope, will bring us closer to our audience while entertaining them.”

October 2016 collision Repair 15

Regional News Atlantic

Colonial Auto Parts celebrates 90th anniversary

By Mike Pickford For the best part of a century, Colonial Auto Parts has served collision repairers all across Atlantic Canada. Later this year, the family-owned, third generation business will celebrate its 90th birthday.

Tracing its roots from its first location in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Colonial, alongside its sister company A.P.M. Ltd., has 20 locations across the eastern coast. Company President and CEO Douglas Squires said he was “incredibly proud” to be able to celebrate what is a momentous milestone.

“This is a big year for Colonial and all of its employees and partners as there aren’t too many companies that can say they are still active after 90 years,” Squires said. “We’re still the same proud, family-owned company we always have been. It’s difficult to put into words just how much this anniversary means to us.”

Colonial Garage & Distributors started in 1926 outside of the growing city of St. John’s, Newfoundland as a service and gas station. Under the leadership of its founder, Gordon Elton, Colonial started to grow in the late 1940s by bringing in parts for repairs. In the 50s Colonial opened its machine shop and just a short time later expanded its parts importing to a parts distribution department – the company’s bread and butter as of 2016.

Colonial was incorporated in 1960 and from there the organization rose up at a rapid rate. With several operations running out of its primary site, and with Elton’s two sons G. Douglas and William taking on positions with the company, the decision was made to expand into additional markets.

Through the 70s and 80s, Colonial tapped into three new communities: Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor in Newfoundland, and Sydney, Nova Scotia. Described as “a bit of a gamble” by Squires, it was one that paid off handsomely, with those moves serving as the bedrock for further expansion in the coming years.

“Following the success of (those) stores, with technology advancing the way it was and roads improving at a pretty decent rate, the company really started to look into substantially expanding its presence across Atlantic Canada,” Squires said. “We were doing a lot of business by way of on-the-road salesmen, so we started to look at the areas we did a lot of business, and areas with growing populations and identified potential locations that could help us expand our presence even more.”

By 1999, Colonial had acquired or opened seven more branches, taking them to a total of 10 locations. It was around this time that Squires took his place within the organization.

“I first took on the role of Finance Manager in 1997 and then to General Manager in 1999,” Squires said. “I took over daily operations from this point and relied on the guidance of my father-in-law Bill as Colonial continued to grow and expand.”

That growth was symbolized by the 2005 acquisition of A.P.M. Limited. The purchase gave Colonial a strong presence in New Brunswick and added another Nova Scotia location, to complement its existing locations in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. A.P.M. is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

“For two companies to have lasted so long in a highly competitive market place, it’s incredible. There has been so much change in this industry, so many technological advances, but we’ve kept up and remained just ahead of the curve,” Squires said.

He added, “But as much as we can say we’ve done well, this wouldn’t have been possible without our fantastic customers. Their loyalty and dedication over the years has been second to none. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”

Today, the Colonial Auto Parts/A.P.M. family boasts over 175 employees and they are PPG / Nexa’s only Platinum Distributors in Atlantic Canada.

Looking forward, Squires said he was particularly excited for the company’s centennial celebration in 2026, but in the short term he’s going to concentrate on building the Colonial and A.P.M. brand in Atlantic Canada.

“The future is going to be all about making sure we’re hiring the right people and exploring new avenues in which to enhance our companies,” Squires said. “It’s absolutely imperative to bring the right people in and offer the best training to our employees if we want to remain at the forefront of the industry.”

16 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

NEWS

LeMond Composites plans to bring high volume, low cost carbon fibre to market Carbon fibre has been showing up in the automotive industry for many years, but usually in the form of trim pieces or used in very expensive vehicles. The newly formed LeMond Composites is promising high-volume, low cost carbon fibre by the first quarter of 2018.

The US-based Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced in May that it had developed a new method of prepping carbon fibre for bonding, one that promised to significantly reduce its cost. News has broken that ORNL will partner with carbon fibre manufacturing pioneer Connie Jackson and three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond to bring high-volume, low cost carbon fibre to market.

The agreement will make LeMond Composites the first company to offer this new industry-disrupting carbon fibre to the transportation sector.

Surface preparation is actually one of the factors that makes carbon fibre so expensive, as previous methods required that the surfaces be prepared by hand, using abrasive pads, grit blasting and solvents. The new process uses lasers instead.

“We can provide the advantages of our carbon fibre to many industries by improving strength, stiffness, and weight reduction. If you imagine replacing steel, aluminum, and fiberglass with our carbon fibre, you begin to understand the scope of the potential market,” said Connie Jackson, CEO of LeMond Composites. “Our process will have global applications

18 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

and we are ready to move forward with scaling the technology.”

Jackson and several of her ORNL teammates joined LeMond Composites in 2016.

“We have assembled the only team in the world that has executed this proven technology which uniquely positions us to deliver a successful outcome for our customers and stakeholders,” said Greg LeMond. “From experience, I know that having the right team is a distinct business advantage.”

Carbon fibre is light, stiff and strong, making it almost ideal for automotive applications. The biggest obstacle to its widespread use has been the highcost of production.

Growing demand from the automotive industry is due in large part to the global push to increase the fuel economy of nearly every vehicle produced. More efficient engines help, but the single best way to hit those targets is to reduce the vehicle’s weight.

“We understand the growing demand from the automotive industry and we are currently in negotiations with several of the world’s leading automotive brands and their suppliers,” said LeMond.

A statement from the company says the first commercially available product will be ready early in 2018.

News

Toyota Collision Repair Conference looks at scanning, OEM procedures The importance of scanning in modern collision repair was reinforced a number of times during the Toyota Collision Repair Conference. The event took place at Toronto’s Centennial College.

Bruno Bonazza, Central Zone Parts and Service Manager, led off the day with a warm welcome and special thanks to Centennial College for assisting with this event. He also gave an overview of Toyota in Canada and some information about the number of dealers and units in operation in the province of Ontario.

Next up was Paul Stella, Collision Repair and Refinish Manager, with an outline of what attendees could expect, including information on Toyota Recommended Repair Procedures, the Toyota Certified Collision Centre program, the CollisionLink tool, tips and resources for Toyota collision repair and a discussion of scan tools.

Next up was an in-depth discussion of Toyota Recommended Repair Procedures, accessed through Mitchell Ultramate. The focus was on the importance of arriving at an accurate estimate and using Toyota’s recommended procedures for the repair. The system not only provides the correct procedure, but is also linked to any tech bulletins and repair procedures that might exist on the topic.

The topic of single-use parts was discussed; leading to a comment from an audience member that some insurers had indicated to him that they would not pay for every nut, bolt and other non-reusable part.

Stella noted that single-use parts have been in use by Toyota and other OEMs for years, but Toyota has recently stepped up its efforts to communicate this to the industry. Stella mentioned that another

Dave Samalea of Centennial College (left) conducts a tour of the school’s autobody labs. Centennial College served as host for the Toyota Collision Repair Conference.

20 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Paul Stella, Collision Repair and Refinish Manager for Toyota

session would be scheduled for insurers to receive education on this and the other topics under discussion during the conference.

Stella then showed a short video on Toyota Safety Sense, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). This led directly into a discussion of the importance of recalibrating those systems after a collision and the need to perform scans, both pre- and post-repair.

Stella outlined a number of information sources available online that had noted the importance of scanning, including Collision Repair magazine and I-CAR. Stella also pointed to a recent panel discussion at NACE 2016 on the importance of scanning. The panel was moderated by Mike Anderson of Collision Advice, who has long been a proponent of the importance of scanning. The panelists were representatives of various OEMs. It’s worth noting that every single participating manufacturer agreed that you must scan the vehicle both before and after the repair to ensure all systems are calibrated and the repairs completed properly.

Stella discussed the proliferation of various advanced safety systems, noting than even budget-priced models like the Corolla would soon have automatic braking systems. This means an increase in sensors in the car. It’s relatively easy for an external sensor to become damaged in an accident. It falls to repair professionals to repair or replace these sensors as needed to ensure the system works correctly. This again highlights the importance of scanning in the modern repair process.

The meeting broke for a tour of the autobody labs at Centennial College, led by Dave Samalea of Centennial College.

After the tour, Stella discussed what he sees as a crucial difference between an aftermarket scan tool and the Toyota factory scan tool, Techstream.

News

Stella said. “When we come out with the 2017 Corolla in a couple of weeks, all of the information will already be loaded into our scan tool.” He also mentioned that Toyota does not test the aftermarket scan tools so he could not comment on their performance.

The full dealership version of Techstream sells for around $6,000. However, a Techstream Lite kit is available for significantly less. This consists of a MongoosePro MFC Interface cable coupled with a subscription to the diagnostic service. When the interface cable is hooked to a laptop, it provides the same functionality as the dealership version.

Stella then looked at specific instances of single-use parts, referring to a recent Collision Repair magazine article that presented Toyota’s stance on the issue. Stella noted that many gaskets, hardware and other items are designed to be used only once. They must be replaced, not reused.

After lunch, Dave Samalea of Centennial College presented on some of the autobody and related programs at Centennial College including the Parts Technician Apprenticeship and the Automotive Parts & Service Operations, a brand-new post-secondary diploma program that starts in 2017.

Samalea also noted that students today have the same number of hours to devote to education as they did 20 years ago, but that vehicles are significantly more complex. This leads to a need to identify people with the right aptitude as early as possible.

“We’ve got to find the people who have the right skills, nurture them and bring them along,” he said.

Steve Giffin, Area Parts & Service Manager in Central Zone, then gave a presentation on the Toyota Smart Parts program. The program is powered by CollisionLink software. Giffin focused on the details and philosophy behind the program. In short, the program is designed to be competitive on price with aftermarket parts.

Giffin pointed out that they do not purposefully restrict parts from this program.

In fact, he told attendees there are over 183,000 parts currently on the program and new parts are added frequently.

“The program is price-competitive, and that allows body shops to convert aftermarket parts to OEM parts nine times out of 10,” said Giffin.

Chris Rae, Manager Parts Supply Toyota, discussed the company’s part distribution network, including improvements that Toyota has made recently, such as the addition of new staff.

Stella then returned to the front of the room for the final presentation of the day, outlining some of the free technical resources that Toyota provides online through crrtraining. com. The site is intended for the US market but provides a wealth of information, including access to Toyota’s Collision Repair Information Bulletins (CRIBS) and Toyota’s in-house publication, Collision Pros.

He then discussed the Toyota Certified

Collision Centre program. Stella provided some history of the program, noting that the original program looked at 18 different areas. One thing it did not do, however, was keep track of a changing industry. The program is being revamped to keep up with technology and trends.

Some changes being studied to the program are tools and equipment, training, process, access to technical information to name a few. A welder, for example, must be capable of performing certain operations and meet other standards. The actual brand purchased is up to the repairer.

Becoming a Toyota Certified Collision Centre, however, doesn’t just mean having equipment that can get the job done. A dealership sponsorship is absolutely essential and there is a significant amount of training that must be completed.

For more information on Toyota Canada, please visit toyota.ca.

October 2016 collision Repair 21

NEWS

CarrXpert launches cross-Canada expansion CarrXpert has announced the launch of its cross-Canada expansion. Founded in 2001, by the CCAQ (Quebec Dealers Association), CarrXpert is a network of new car dealerships and dealer authorized collision centres.

CarrXpert offers support to over 500 dealerships and 200 collision centres. A statement from CarrXpert says the company has put a plan in motion to double those figures over the next five years.

“This year marks an exciting time for CarrXpert Collision Centres as we extend our network footprint across Canada,” says Dan Pye, General Manager for CarrXpert North America. “We have enjoyed unprecedented success in the Province of Quebec and are confident that dealers across the country will find great value in our program.”

Wayne Loker is the Training and Operations Manager for CarrXpert. He points to CarrXpert’s ability to offer sales, marketing and operations support for dealerships and their associated collision centres. “It’s important that dealerships continue to evolve their collision centres as the rate of change in our industry continues to quicken,” he says.

John Clark is the Dealer Principal at Clark Chevrolet in Fredericton, New Brunswick and former Chairman of the Canadian Auto Dealers Association (CADA). He commented on the value of CarrXpert and why he chose to involve his dealership.

“What makes the CarrXpert program unique is the dealercentric approach to this business,” he says. “Dealers have the

22 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

greatest opportunity to offer a truly complete automotive experience for their clients. It is important that the facilities, processes and services of the dealer’s collision centre be fully consistent and in sync with the image projected throughout the rest of the dealership. CarrXpert strives to ensure that collisionrelated services are a successful part of the client offering.”

CarrXpert is pleased to announce the addition of the following members to the network as a result of recent expansion efforts.

Dan Pye, General Manager of CarrXPert North America. The company plans to double its network of new car dealers and collision centres over the next five years.

• Rallye Motors Mitsubishi

(Moncton, NB)

• Rallye Motors Nissan

(Moncton, NB)

• Rallye Motors Hyundai

(Moncton, NB)

• Rallye Motors Chrysler

(Moncton, NB)

• Tri-Mac Toyota

(Port Hawkesbury, NS)

• Canso Ford

(Port Hawkesbury, NS)

• Central Garage

(Atholville, NB)

• Central Kia

(Atholville, NB)

• Clark Chevrolet

(Fredericton, NB)

• Gateway Hyundai

(Port Hawkesbury, NS)

• Jim Hatheway Ford

(Amherst, NS)

NEWS

Fix Auto raises funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities at annual golf tournament Fix Auto held its 9th Annual Masters Golf Tournament at the prestigious The Club at Bond Head. The tournament drew together stakeholders Fix Auto’s 2016 Masters Tournament raised $10,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities from across the auto claims economy, including Fix of Canada.

Auto staff and store owners, vendors and insurers.

It was a great day of golfing and entertainment, but there was a charitable component to the tournament as well. Fix Auto, with Vice President, Marketing for Fix Auto Canada when Fix Auto the help of the tournament’s sponsors and participants, managed announced its partnership with the charity. “Our partnership with to raise $10,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RHMC) RMHC gives us all the opportunity to make a difference in our communities across Canada, and underscores our commitment to of Canada. Fix Auto is a national partner of the charity.

“Fix Auto is a network of family businesses that believe in Canadian families.”

For more information on Fix Auto, please visit fixauto.com. giving back to the communities we serve,” said Carl Brabander,

Report: J.D. Power study finds consumer want ‘connected experience’ A new report from J.D. Power shows consumers want a “connected experience” when it comes to automotive service. The J.D. Power 2016 Canadian Customer Service Index Long-Term (CSI-LT) Study focuses on the mechanical repair and service industry, but it seems likely that consumers will soon start to expect the same from their collision repair facilities.

“Consumers are demanding a connected service experience,” said J.D. Ney, manager of the Canadian automotive practice at J.D. Power. “From scheduling appointments to interacting with the service advisor to staying connected via unobstructed WiFi access, customers expect these services from their local coffee shop, so why wouldn’t they expect the same of their dealership or aftermarket service facility?”

Only 6 percent of service customers in Canada scheduled their last service visit via the Internet, but 14 percent—more than twice as many—indicate the Internet is their preference for scheduling future visits. Currently, 74 percent of customers schedule their visits by phone.

The study found that 21 percent of customers say their service advisor used a tablet device during their service visit. The use of a tablet seems to build a level of confidence in the advisor, as among customers whose advisor used a tablet and recommended additional work to their vehicle, 61 percent had the work done.

When the advisor didn’t use a tablet but recommended additional services, only 44 percent had the work done.

Furthermore, customers want technology such as computers and Internet access available while they wait for their vehicle.

Access to the Internet and electronic technologies are among the least frequently offered amenities, despite generating the highest service facility satisfaction scores. For example, only 42 percent of dealerships and 14 percent of aftermarket facilities currently offer wireless Internet access for their waiting customers. Additionally, only 17 percent of dealers and 5 percent of aftermarket facilities offer their customers computers with Internet access, yet the

amenity has the highest overall service facility satisfaction score among dealer customers and the second-highest score among aftermarket facility customers.

October 2016 collision Repair 23

News

Fix Auto Network to offer comprehensive repair solution Fix Auto has officially launched the Fix Automotive Network. The announcement was made by Fix Auto’s President and CEO Steve Leal at the Prime CarCare Group’s national conference in Montreal.

Fix Auto acquired Prime CarCare Group in May 2016. The company is the Canadian owner of automotive brands Speedy Auto Service, Minute Muffler and Brake, and the Canadian master franchisor for Novus Glass.

In essence, the Fix Automotive Network consolidates some of the Prime CarCare banners with established collision repair brand Fix Auto Canada, underscoring the company’s commitment to forming a comprehensive aftermarket solution for Canadian consumers.

“We are looking to build the biggest automotive aftermarket services franchise network in Canada,” said Leal. “Since the

acquisition, we have been working hard to define the direction for these brands and collaborating with our new members. We are proud to see it come together under one strong vision and to feel the positive energy building in the network, and we look forward to aligning these networks on a common course in the coming months.”

The formation of the Fix Automotive Network means a horizontal integration in the automotive repair sector. Collision repair frequently involves subcontracting mechanical and glass repair work. Bringing multiple services together seems like a natural fit.

“We’re very excited to work with this dynamic member base to build a complete automotive services solution for consumers and business partners alike, and to develop and grow these storied brands,” said Carl Brabander, Vice President of Marketing for Fix Auto World.

White & Peters awards scholarships Since 2007, White & Peters has offered scholarships to high-performing students at Vancouver Community College’s automotive programs.

This year, there were two recipients of the annual award. Enrique Ruiz Esparza Duenas and Jason Sherle will share the $5,000 offered up by the autobody and spray equipment supplier.

Generally awarded to students who may appreciate it most, VCC Foundation Director Nancy Nesbitt said the scholarship would go a long way to supporting the education of both Duenas and Sherle.

“Because of the generous gift White & Peters has donated, two

students were recently recognized for their achievements. Receiving financial support is special, but it is truly heartwarming to see students’ confidence grow when recognized for their hard work,” Nesbitt said.

She added, “The impact of your generosity reaches far beyond awards’ day.”

Since launching the scholarship almost a decade ago, White and Peters has donated close to $50,000 to students looking to form a career in the collision repair industry.

White & Peters is part of Color Compass Corporation.

October 2016 collision Repair 25

NEWS

CSN-Hutten Collision’s new facility hosts Grand Opening event CSN-Hutten Collision has held its Grand Opening event, officially opening the collision centre for business. The new facility, a purpose-built 10,700 sq.ft. building, is located in Fergus, Ont. John Hutten said it was a desire to be “bigger, better, more efficient” that lay behind the decision to erect the new building.

The new shop sits on two acres of land, situated on Glengarry Crescent in Fergus’s industrial area.

“There are a number of reasons, but number one is that we wanted to create a designated area for aluminum repair,” said Hutten. “The F-150s are aluminum, and we’re in a rural area. We see a lot of those trucks.”

Hutten started the business in 1983 in Elora, Ont. At the time, they had just one bay. The company outgrew their 2,700 sq. ft. location and relocated to a three-unit building on St. David St. North in Fergus in 1999. At that time, they occupied just one unit of 3,500 sq. ft.

Over the years, CSN-Hutten Collision Centre took over all three units, bringing the shop up to 7,200 sq. ft. However, the building was not suitable for further expansion, so the decision was made to build a new facility.

The new shop is efficiently laid out, with plenty of room for the new aluminum repair area. Hutten noted that creating a good work environment was also a consideration. A tour of the facility during the Grand Opening event shows that this was successful.

The entire facility is well-lit, bright and spacious. There are garage-style doors set into every exterior wall in the production

26 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Derek Bennie of CSN Collision Centres, John Hutten and Jay Hayward of CSN at the Grand Opening of the new facility.

area. This not only makes it easier to move vehicles in and out, it allows staff to enjoy the maximum of natural light and fresh air when the weather allows.

In addition, the new collision centre has LED lighting, heated floors and uses a Eurovac central vacuum system for all sanding, plus an HVAC system to manage air quality.

“This makes for a very healthy work environment for all employees,” says Hutten.

For more information, please visit huttenauto.com.

NEWS

‘Next generation’ management system launched

By Mike Pickford

Two tech organizations have launched a “next generation” management system in an attempt to simplify, streamline and improve administrative processes.

BodyshopConnect is a new cloud-based management system designed to “connect the dots” for shop owners, according to Sharon Ashley of Micazen Consulting and Technologies.

“The whole premise of BodyshopConnect is to build a new management system that’s both visual and versatile and will help collision repair facilities succeed by connecting their shops to the future with the right technology,” Ashley told Collision Repair magazine. “This is a revolutionary, next-generation management system designed by technical people who have actually worked in the industry and know what shops actually want and need in order to streamline their businesses.”

Ashley has covered all aspects of the industry throughout her career. Having graduated from Sheridan College with a degree in computer programming in the 80s, Ashley has spent much of the past 10 years consulting and training on a variety of software systems relating to the industry.

She combined her extensive knowledge of the business with her computer background to help develop the new system.

The other half of the design team is Paul Chow of LeanStone Technology, who previously worked as an information systems director at a multi-shop repair organization before launching his own company in 2008. Together they’ve built something Ashley believes will benefit the collision repair industry as a whole.

“Our single focus has and will remain to develop a next generation, state-of-the-art body shop management system,” Ashley said. “We decided to build the system because we love the industry and want to help shops out as best we can. We’re trying to eliminate the stress in the shops and help their streamline their businesses and we’re here for the long haul.”

The new multi-faceted program is completely customizable to fit each shop’s needs. Proven software in the marketplace, such as EstimateConnect, UpdateConnect and PhotoConnect, served as the building blocks of this new management system.

Sharon Ashley, one of the developers of BodyshopConnect.

UpdateConnect allows for real-time repair tracking and enhances automatic communication during the repair with fully branded email templates. EstimateConnect was designed to create quick estimates for small damage repair jobs or menu priced items, while PhotoConnect allows users to transfer, resize and sort images to either an online application or a shop’s server.

Ashley and Chow conglomerated and improved on the features and functionality of that original software to form BodyshopConnect. According to Ashley, BodyshopConnect could help a shop reduce training and administrative costs and serve to improve cycle times while increasing profits, office efficiency and customer satisfaction.

“The industry has been asking for a product like this for a long time,” Ashley said. “This has and always will be a fastmoving industry. Shop owners need a system that can help take some of the stress away by reducing their workload and helping to improve both their CSI and their bottom line. They need a stable, reliable management system that is going to continue to grow and change at the pace of the industry. At the same time, shops need a management system partner that understands what they are going through and loves this industry as much as they do.”

Ashley says it’s ready for its big launch.

“We know we have a really strong platform here. The customers that have seen and used it so far have loved it,” Ashley said. “We are excited about the product.

It’s completely bilingual and can easily be translated to other languages moving forward. Although it’s awesome just the way it is, we’re committed to continuous enhancements and the addition of new features on a regular basis. I think the industry is going to be really impressed with what they see.”

For more information, please visit bodyshopconnect.com.

October 2016 collision Repair 29

NEWS

Collision 360 to fund Centennial College scholarship

By Mike Pickford

A Toronto-area business owner is stepping up and doing his part to help funnel through the next generation of collision repairers, launching a new scholarship program for autobody students at Centennial College.

Anthony Iaboni, owner of the York-based refinish supply company Collision 360, has long been an advocate of helping those with an interest in the industry succeed. For the past year he’s been providing a mentorship program for individuals looking for a way into the business, but now he’s taken things one step further by pledging funds to kick start the Collision 360 scholarship.

Speaking to Collision Repair magazine, Iaboni said he was looking forward to launching the scholarship, stating he felt a certain responsibility as a business owner in the field to help deserving emerging industry prospects through their schooling.

“Long story short, I’m a business owner that cares about this industry, so I want to see the industry continue to thrive long into the future. The only way we’re going to see that happen is if we can bring more youth, more workers into the business,” Iaboni said.

Attracting prospective employees has never been a problem for the industry, with schools across the country recording stable enrolment numbers in recent years.

It’s ensuring those with an interest in the business actually stick around that seems to be the problem.

“For years now, I’ve noticed the biggest threat to our industry moving forward is keeping the youth of today interested in the business,” Iaboni said. “It looks like we’re attracting the youth, but they’re just not sticking with it.”

Iaboni said he first connected with Centennial College earlier this year to discuss the possibility of supporting the institution’s autobody program.

“When I started talking to people over at Centennial, I learned pretty quickly that enrolment in their shop program is high, but completion is low,” Iaboni said. “I’m hearing a lot of that has to do with kids running into financial difficulties. I don’t think we should ever be in a situation where promising kids are dropping out of courses 30 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Anthony Iaboni, owner of Collision 360.

because they can’t afford to run their car to school, or can’t come up with rent.”

He added, “I’ve always seen the collision repair industry as one that offers so much and gives so much. I just want to do my part and give a little back.”

The ‘little’ Iaboni will be giving back will come in the form of five annual scholarships of $2,500. While Iaboni said he envisages the money going to those that most deserve it, he will be leaving the distribution to Centennial College.

To apply, students must be enrolled full-time in the Autobody Techniques program and will be required to write an essay highlighting why they are interested in the automotive industry and how they think the program at Centennial will help them in their career.

While the funds Iaboni has put forth so far will cover one student’s yearly tuition, he hopes to bring more industry players on board to boost the program moving forward.

“I’d really like this initiative to grow into a more supported structure where other businesses come on board and contribute,” Iaboni said. “Whether it be manufacturers, shops, whatever… I see a lot of things happening right now that will make this industry better, but something like this, helping the workforce of tomorrow, that’s how this industry is going to succeed.”

Even if that doesn’t happen, Iaboni said he would have no qualms about continuing to support the program himself.

“The groundwork is all laid out, the agreement is there. The end goal here is to ensure we’re getting as many students through the system as possible. Is this a bulletproof solution? No it isn’t, but if it’s able to help even one more student a year transition into the industry, then it’s more than worth it.”

News

CARSTAR Okotoks exhibits the best of the collision repair industry

By Mike Pickford

One Alberta resident was all smiles recently as she had the opportunity to witness first hand just how generous the Canadian collision repair industry can be.

The unfortunate side-victim of an incident involving the Calgary Police Service earlier this summer, a beleaguered Ana Sosa was left literally picking up the pieces after her 2005 Jeep Patriot was damaged during a fatal shooting.

On the evening of July 15, police responded to a call from a local resident indicating there were four people prowling vehicles in a crowded parking garage. After blocking the exits of the lot, police began searching the building eventually coming across the four suspects inside a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle made several attempts to run down officers on the scene before police used their weapons and fired shots at the stolen vehicle.

One man was killed in the incident, while three others were arrested.

Shortly after the parking garage re-opened to residents, Sosa was one of many to discover her vehicle had been severely damaged during the episode. With dents and scratches covering most of the lower parts of the front, back and right side of the vehicle, Sosa found herself in a sticky predicament when she learned her basic liability insurance package would not cover the costs of a repair.

Enter Mark Kharfan and his team at CARSTAR Okotoks. When they first caught wind of Sosa’s story following contact with a local radio DJ, they knew right away that they wanted to do whatever they could to help a community member in need.

“We reached out to Ana pretty much right away after we heard about what happened,” said Andrew Northrup, Operations Director at CARSTAR Okotoks. “Whenever you park your car up at home, you don’t expect to come back out later and find it wrecked. We didn’t have to think too hard about deciding to help.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing from there though, with Northrup telling Collision Repair magazine that Sosa thought he was playing an elaborate joke when he first got in touch.

“She couldn’t believe it when I told her we wanted to help out, her reaction was definitely one of amazement,” Northrup said. “Once she realized we were serious, she was extremely thankful and incredibly gracious. She was surprised, especially in today’s day and age, that there are still organizations out there that help out their neighbours and their community members like this.”

The word ‘help’ may be putting it lightly. The team at CARSTAR Okotoks donated all the time, labour, materials and parts towards

CARSTAR Okotoks’ Director of Operations Andrew Northrup (left) is pictured alongside his colleague Curtis Williams (right) as they officially hand Ana Sosa’s (middle) fully-repaired 2005 Jeep Patriot back over.

the restoration with some “helpful” donations also coming in from the likes of All-in-One Auto Parts, LKQ Canada and Varsity Chrysler Dodge Jeep. When all was said and done, they had done almost $6,000 worth of work to restore Sosa’s Jeep back to working condition.

“We ended up completely redoing the front, rear and right side of the vehicle. That included replacing doors, bumpers, fender flares, the whole lot,” Northrup said. “The car was pretty much destroyed when it came over to us. If it had been an insurance claim, there’s no doubt it would have been a total loss.”

While there may be some people questioning why the Okotoksbased shop would step in to cover the costs of the repair, Northrup says it’s all down to the community-first mentality Kharfan has instilled in his business and encouraged amongst his employees.

“If there’s one thing that Mark has always pushed and encouraged it’s making sure we’re good, active members of our community.

That’s something he promotes within the Kharfan Group as a whole,” said Northrup, who noted the CARSTAR Okotoks locations was one of seven Kharfan locations in the Calgary area. “Ana found herself in a tough spot and really didn’t have a whole lot of places she could turn to for support. It makes me proud that we were able to step in and say ‘yes, we will help you out’.”

October 2016 collision Repair 31

News

Honda Canada releases scanning and calibration position statement Honda Canada has released a position statement that, in general, confirms what we’ve seen recently from major OEMs in the US: all vehicles involved in a collision must have diagnostic scans, inspections, and/or calibrations done to avoid improper repair.

The position statement defines a collision as “damage that exceeds minor outer panel cosmetic distortion.”

Honda Canada’s position Honda Canada has issued a position statement outlines the minimum statement regarding the need for scanning and calibration when making repairs. scans that must be completed for repairs to its vehicles: - A preliminary diagnostic scan during the repair estimation phase to determine what Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) may be present, so proper repairs may be included.

- A post-repair diagnostic scan to confirm that no DTCs remain.

- Any repair that requires disconnection of electrical components in order to perform the repair will require a post-repair diagnostic scan to confirm if the component is reconnected properly and functioning.

- Damage that requires body parts replacement will always require a post-repair diagnostic scan.

- Some safety and driver assistive systems will require inspections, calibration, and/or aiming after collision or other body repairs.

Honda Canada notes that the proliferation of electronic control systems has increased the number of potential DTCs beyond the point where a dashboard indicator can be installed and/or illuminated for every DTC. Dashboard indicators are intended for driver notification, not vehicle diagnostics.

Therefore, the presence or absence of dashboard indicators or warning lights is not an acceptable method to determine if post-collision diagnostic scans are necessary.

Many DTCs do not illuminate any dashboard indicators, but an electronic control system may still operate improperly or be completely inoperative. Because of the complexities of serial data networking, dashboard indicators that do illuminate may appear unrelated to the actual vehicle problem.

Some self-diagnostics require multiple failures, or other criteria such as a number of drive cycles, to be met before illuminating any indicators.

Honda Canada recommends the Honda Diagnostic System (HDS) scan tool to accurately determine the post-collision status of all Honda and Acura vehicle electronic control systems. However, it should be noted that not all of the electronic control systems can be scanned using the HDS. For example, Honda LaneWatch and earlier model air conditioning and climate control systems have self-contained diagnostics that are not accessible using the HDS. Refer to the appropriate electronic service manual available on the Honda Independent Repair/ServiceExpress website at techinfo.honda.com for recommended diagnostic procedures for these systems.

HDS scan tool software, as well as other service information, is available to independent repair facilities and others for use on laptop or desktop computer hardware. These may be purchased in three time intervals: 1 day, 30 days, and 365 days. The HDS software requires the use of a Bosch MVCI or Denso DST-i vehicle communications interface (VCI) device between the vehicle and your computer, which must be purchased separately.

HDS software and a suitable vehicle interface device are available for purchase through techinfo.honda.com.

October 2016 collision Repair 33

point blank with piercey BIG BUSINESS

InMemoriam Mourning an industry titan.

S

am Piercey, co-owner of Budds’ C ollision in Oakville, Ont., passed away on July 24, 2016, as a result of complications arising due to leukemia. Sam was well-known in the industry for his strong opinions and his willingness to voice them, both in person and through his regular column in Collision Repair magazine, Point Blank with Piercey.

J.R. Martino has been with Budds’ Collision for just over three years. He first “met” Sam through his column.

“I found myself agreeing with

years, thanks in no small part to Sam’s encouragement.

“Sam was a stalwart of the industry who could always be counted on for real information and solutions,” says Harry Dhanjal of BASF. “He could also always be counted on to raise your spirits with a joke or two. You always knew where you stood with Sam.” He w as a me ntor to many i n t he industr y. A frequent and long-time member of various performance groups, Sam always took the time to talk with even the greenest and least experienced

“A tireless fighter ... Sam was never afraid to speak his mind.” everything he said,” Martino says. “I went and visited him at one point and we spent the whole night talking about the industry. At the time, he was looking for someone to start managing the dayto-day operations, someone who shared t he s ame v ie ws and wou ld r un t he operation the same way he would. Sam was that person that you would never have to ask for anything from because he wouldn’t stop giving. Advice, time, love, etc. Under his rough exterior was a heart of gold. He will always be my mentor, hero and best friend.”

A tireless fighter for the collision i n du s t r y, S am w a s n e v e r af r ai d t o speak his mind, no matter the topic.

He was an early adopter of practices like lean processes and Six Sigma. His facility, Budds’ Collision, was always on t he c utt ing e dge of te chnolog y.

The facility was the first in Canada to install a full aluminum room. For many years, whenever an aluminum Jaguar was damaged any w here in C anada, it was sent to Budds’ for repair. They were considered by the manufacturer to be the only facility with the right equipment and training. Other repairers gained the capability over the following

of shop owners and technicians. He considered everyone in the industry to be his brothers and sisters.

One of many to have benefitted from his brilliance over the past few decades, Kelvin C ampb ell, owner of CSNChapman Auto Body in Halifax, Nova Scotia, says he isn’t sure the collision repair industr y is ready for a world without Sam Piercey.

“Sam was a real champion to the entire collision repair industr y - he wasn’t only completely ahead of his time, he was ahead of everybody’s time,” Campbell said. “With the changes to the industry coming so thick and fast, everyone is going to feel this loss on a professional level. On a personal level I knew Sam for 13 years, and, whether you loved him or not, he was just a great, genuine guy.”

It’s hard to imagine Canada’s collision repair industry without Sam Piercey.

“People on the collision repair scene used to have this saying - BASF, Better Ask Sam First. It was so true - whenever I had a question or a query, Sam was always the first person I would call. He was always there for his friends. He was always there for the industry. He’s going

to be missed immensely.”

Sam was well-known for taking the time to benefit his industr y. He was also always there for his family. His wife Diane was with him through thick and thin, and was his almost constant companion throughout his illness.

The annual Christmas party at Budds’ Collision demonstrated this attitude.

The guest list included suppliers, insurers and other partners, but fellow repairers were always welcomed with open arms.

Zubair “Zuby” Siddiqui is the President of Crescent Industries. As a supplier to the industry, he sees a lot of different facilities. He recalls Sam’s attitude when it came to dealing with all of the challenges that come with a career in collision repair.

“The industry can be tough, but Sam was always tougher,” Siddiqui says.

“There are a lot of challenges in the industry, but he overcame all of them and never let it wear him down.”

Sam’s passing leaves the collision industry with a hole that simply cannot be filled. He always encouraged us to do better than we had done before, and to stand up for what we thought was right.

“Sam may be gone, but one thing is for sure, he will not be forgotten,” s ays D ar r y l Simmons, Publisher of Collision Repair magazine. “His impact on Canada’s collision repair community was felt from coast to coast. Sam was always there, whether it was with a joke or a dead-on criticism of the industry.

As a true member of the industr y’s old guard, it will be hard to imagine the industry without him. I will never forget one of the best columns he ever wrote for Collision Repair magazine.

In the middle of a full blank page was his guide to responding to insurers’ requests ... Just Say No!!”

October 2016 collision Repair 35

who’s driving?

HappyCompany Changes to your culture have to be sincere.

By Jay Perry

O

ne of the main things that can be difficult for leaders in any organization to achieve is balancing the workload they carry with the development of their people.

Last issue we talked a lot about how people quit from bosses, not their jobs and that part of the solution would be to build a better boss.

Part of being a better boss is to ensure your place of employment is a happy one. Why is that so important? Very simple, it makes more money for the company. As reported in the Harvard Business

within it. You could do simple things like organizing BBQs or bowling nights, planning trips to baseball games, putting together picnics (summer in Canada is perfect for this) or date-nights providing movies as entertainment, going on retreats, offering rewards and devising ceremonies to support the staff receiving them and so much more. The list of possibilities is endless.

One thing to try and remember though is that nothing you do can be phony or inauthentic. It has to be real and sincere. If it is a “thing” you do for the

It will take different thinking to create A different circumstance within the company.

Review, printed in July 2015, economists at the University of Warwick in the UK found happiness led to a 12 percent spike in productivity.

If that were applied to your firm what would be the impact to the bottom line? Intriguing, no? I say yes.

There are many facets to being able to create an environment that promotes employee happiness.

One thing I think important to keep perspective of is that current thinking creates current circumstances and it will take different thinking to create a different circumstance within the company. This means you will need some kind of outside perspective that could be provided by professional resources or books or articles, seminars and workshops on the subject.

I think many small things can bring a giant impact over a short period of time. Just go and find one person doing something right at least once per day and make sure everyone finds out about it. You could report it in an email blast to the employees.

This kind of recognition is very powerful in developing happiness among the staff. It lets them know that their good work is appreciated.

Another way is to coordinate trips or gatherings to promote team building and togetherness within your business - something to celebrate the success of your company and the hard work of all those 36 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

sake of doing it and not genuine it will backfire.

People are not stupid and most are pretty intuitive.

They can see through charades so you must respect this and provide, from your heart, what feels right to support positive camaraderie, where the staff can build trust with one another through getting to know each other better.

Think of your personal experience. When someone genuinely appreciates you, you usually respond in a positive way and feel happier. When recognition of your efforts came from someone who was happy with what you provided in service or good product, didn’t you feel a special lift? Of course you did!

What I am saying is get creative and provide that for your team members. With the evidence showing that productivity rises 12 percent when bosses show their appreciation, then there is gold in the good feelings of your employees! Just another way for you to remain the one who’s driving!

Jay Perry is co-author of the book “Success Manifesto” with Brian Tracy, and the founder of Ally Business Coaching, a process improvement and leadership development firm. He can be reached at jayperry@a-b-c-inc.com.

PRAIRIE VIEW

SomethingDifferent The art of dance and the business of collision aren’t as different as you might think.

By Chelsea Stebner

I

am in awe of couples that can simply pick up on a song and fluidly, seemingly without thinking, just move together. I am not a dancer, in fact, I have two left feet. They are cleverly designed by the big guy to look like a left foot and a right foot but they are not. So watching great dancers together always amazes me.

They anticipate one another’s steps, the leader guiding the partner by gently touching her back or her arm in order to steer in the right direction. The partner, who often cannot see where she’s going, trusts the leader, knowing that he will not aim her in the wrong direction: into another couple, a wall or right off the dance floor.

Key requirements for being a good dance partner? Well, a left and right foot, a quiet, gentle leader, respect for each partner and trust of the direction headed.

I was at my daughter’s ‘Salsa and Street’ dance recital last weekend and I started thinking of how an efficient, smoothly running collision repair shop could be compared to a great pair of dancers.

So turning back to collision repair, we can look at the

38 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

similarities required in both the production shop and administration. So, what exactly does it take to run a lean, smoothly running shop? Trust. Leadership.

Communication. Visual Cues. Engagement. Listening skills.

In dance, there is a clear leader and a clear follower.

In a great collision shop, the same theory applies. Do you as a leader have a vision that you communicate clearly and that your team understands? As a leader, be confident in your abilities. Take the time to plan, to budget, to dream and to forecast for your business. You need to know the next step before it happens! And you need to communicate that with your team.

As a leader, whatever your style, building trust allows growth and opportunity for all teammates and the business. Does your team trust you to make good decisions on their behalf? Do they trust that there will be a pay cheque in the bank? Do they believe they will have fun at work? That they are empowered to make decisions? Do they trust you to listen to them about their goals in life and in their career?

PRAIRIE VIEW features

Do they trust that there will be a pay cheque in the bank? Do they believe they will have fun at work? That they are empowered to make decisions? Do they trust you to listen to them about their goals in life and in their career?

If that trust isn’t part of the equation, both in dance and collision repair, or any business for that matter, then the partner is moving backwards, terrified of what they’ll run into. So if they’re busy worried about what

fails and the trust fails. The process should include a sign off from each department. This will help enforce accountability amongst each of your teammates. Those are our visual cues. In the dance world, there are various touches on the back, the arm, etc. to communicate the next move. In business it is one thing knowing what you want, but another thing entirely to communicate that message to your team and then give them the opportunity to complete the task.

In dance, there is a clear leader and a clear follower.

In a great collision shop – the same theory applies.

they may hit, they may forget the other steps required to work their way across the room. It’s corny but it’s true.

In our production shop if a technician doesn’t know the rules or the process, how in the world do we trust that they’re following the right steps to produce a repair? The next technician, if they don’t trust one of their partners, can’t move forward confidently with their repair process.

If there isn’t a clear procedure moving from body to paint, for example, what grit should the repair be sanded with? If it’s not done correctly, then the process

Figure out how to dance with your team, plan it, but be ready to improvise if someone hits a wall or misses a beat. And enjoy the steps!

Chelsea Stebner is a co-owner/operator of Parr Auto Body, a collision repair facility located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

She can be reached at chelsea@parrautobody.com.

august 2013 collision Repair 39

TRAINING

THECanadianMODEL It’s a model for the modern world of globalization.

By Andrew Shepherd

G

lobalization is one of those lofty concepts that people study in second year Political Economy courses. Over the post-war decades and into t he Inter net age, markets have become homogenized (the Coca-Cola effect) and production has moved to lowercost regions to meet those common market demands.

International trade agreements (GATT, NAFTA, the EU) work to ease the flow of goods and services between countries, which are less and less able to isolate themselves from international pressures. On the “ground floor,” companies get bigger and bigger to meet global requirements and consolidation is the order of the day.

Collision repair is a great example of a sector in the

The answer surely lies in our community—the way we build consensus, the way we work together. “The Canadian Model” of collision repair has produced some notable, and unique, outcomes: 1. The Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF), which has emerged as a world-leading, consensus-based gathering of collision industry partners. CCIF includes OEMs, insurers, suppliers and repairers in building answers that fit our needs, our strengths and our capabilities.

2. AIA Canada’s Collision Council, which supports research and development projects, was designed to move the industry to success—together.

Why does the Canadian collision repair industry stand out in this world? The answer surely lies in our community. early to middle stages of globalization. The market is truly international, with predictions that Chinese vehicle manufacturers will release new models into the North American market within a year or two, and Western OEMs are working avidly in the reverse direction.

The globalization of auto production and sales in turn puts pressure on collision repairers. There’s pressure to service a wider range of vehicles, to meet requirements of offshore manufacturer headquarters and to adopt new global standards for equipment and training.

One might assume that we will soon be dominated by the “McDonald’s” model of collision repair —companies that operate with a common approach regardless of location, and what was once a very local craft business will be turned into a homogenous and industrial production scheme.

So why does the Canadian collision repair industry stand out in this world? Why were we one of the first to launch large and successful repair networks? How do we continue to produce innovative partnerships between insurer and repairer? How do we avoid legal acrimony in the development of repair standards? How is it that Canada is known for the highest level of collision research and solutions development?

40 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

3. A “Canadianized” version of I-CAR training—built to recognize a first-class national apprenticeship system, public insurance jurisdictions, major repair networks and suppliers.

4. The CCIF Skills Program, which has emerged as one of the most successful youth attraction vehicles of the industry.

5. The Canadian Collision Industry Accreditation Program (CCIAP), which will provide a “made-inCanada” solution to repairers, insurers and OEMs. As the global auto market evolves with lightning speed toward the advent of the autonomous vehicle, the collision repair industry will no doubt face even more demands, and more disruptions. Our Canadian capacity to face the future is unique in the world, and our answers —built in Canada by Canadians—continue to ensure that we lead the world in collision industry innovation.

Andrew Shepherd is the Executive Director of I-CAR Canada, a non-profit organization that provides collision repair training and ongoing education. He can be reached via e-mail at andrew.shepherd@aiacanada.com

Profiles of success

GOING THE DISTANCE CARSTAR MSO Johnny K of Edmonton has come a long way.

By Jeff Sanford

Johnny Kloeckes, AKA Johhny K, at CARSTAR Ellerslie. He’s come a long way since his days growing up in a plywood shack.

I

t was the week after the massive fire in Fort McMurray when Edmonton-area CARSTAR owner Johnny Kloeckes spoke with Collision Repair magazine. The interview was scheduled to discuss his three successful decades in the industry, but the talk quickly shifted to the epic events north of Edmonton.

The terrifying blaze had swept through the small city of Fort

larger-than-life personality is also someone who overcame real adversity in his early life. Today Kloeckes has the humbleness that a poor upbringing can instill.

Life started dirt poor on a farm outside of a small town in Saskatchewan called Frenchman’s Butte. His mother, grandmother and two sisters made up the family. His father was often away

Kloeckes pioneered the customization movement in the city two decades ago.

Back then they called him Johnny K. Locals still call him that today.

McMurray just days earlier. A chaotic evacuation saw streams of cars race out of the city and then south down Highway 63 through a hellish firescape. Several of those vehicles showed up at Kloeckes’s shops damaged from the disaster. “We had four assignments in one shop. Six altogether. Ash and debris damage, melted mouldings.

Some of them were driving through ditches to get out, causing mechanical problems,” says Kloeckes. “We’ll fix them up. We’ll have to ionize them to get the smoke smell out.”

Those in need found themselves in good hands. Kloeckes pioneered the customization movement in the city two decades ago. Back then they called him Johnny K. Locals still call him that today.

“It’s not Johnny Kloeckes, it’s Johnny K,” he says. But the jovial,

driving a truck. When his mother fell into a hard partying life she ended up fleeing the family. It was up to Johnny and his two sisters—one younger and one older—to step in and take charge.

“Over the years we didn’t talk to her a whole lot. She was into a bad lifestyle,” says Kloeckes. Grandmother was not well and so “It was up to us from an early age. We were really poor,” he says.

Sometimes his birth mother would return to contact the kids.

Kloeckes has a flash of memory of his grandmother hobbling behind the group down the street as Mom took the kids away. When the family finally moved to a slightly larger town it was to live in a tiny plywood shack. Local neighbours would help take care of the kids.

The hard, dark life of drinking and partying was never far away.

October 2016 collision Repair 43

PROFILES OF SUCCESS

“I think that I could have been a bad seed. But when I think about my early days, I had to do it myself. I had to do whatever I had to do to take care of my family. It just kind of seemed natural. If I wanted food I had to do something myself,” says Kloeckes. The hard lessons were tough to learn young, but the need to be self-reliant would be key to his later success in life. The sport of boxing also helped.

Kloeckes started fighting in the ninth grade. He was a selfdescribed, “skinny little dude.” But he began weight training and running. Soon enough he was in peak physical form. “I could run forever. I strutted around. I was 5’9”, but 135 pounds. Nobody picked on me,” he says with a laugh.

His name began showing up in the paper as he developed a career in the sport. “It was scary at the beginning. During the fight you black out. I see the guy in front of me. But everything else around is black. Going into the ring, you were very nervous,” says Kloeckes. He fought in the Diamond Belt and was being talked about as a potential member of the Canadian national team for the 1988 Olympics.

Kloeckes appreciates that the sport gave him the sense of dedication and discipline that kept him off the streets and out of trouble while planting the seeds for later business success.

“When it came to all those miles of running I had to do it myself.

Boxing came into my life and kept me out of that lifestyle. I soon realized that the only person that’s going to fail me is myself. I learned from boxing to never give up. I think it planted the seeds of entrepreneurship,” says Kloeckes.

The practical realities of being out of school and paying rent as a young kid would put the Olympics just out of reach. Kloeckes ended up losing a key fight that would have put him on the team.

He also had to find a job. “I got distracted by adulthood, girls and responsibilities,” he says. “I went from almost being on the national team to working in the industry.”

His first job was working in a motorcycle shop. He moved on to a NAPA store and started mixing paint. “That’s when I got the bug. I liked the colours, the lacquers. I’d go to a friend’s shop and spray a hood. I bought the hot rod magazines. And I just kept practicing,” says Kloeckes.

A government program that provided business owners halfwages to take on an apprentice saw Kloeckes offer to work for three dollars an hour (giving up his right to the half-wage from the owner). He started from the very bottom and did whatever was necessary to begin moving up in the industry.

“I said to this owner, ‘I’m just starting out. I’ll work for three bucks an hour. I’d sand cars. The owner didn’t speak good English so I handled the customers,” says Kloeckes. He began developing his skills. He had some diversions along the way. At one point he wanted to build and sell kit cars and invested some of his own money in the company, which didn’t work out. “I was naive. I was just 23,” he says. He learned another tough lesson and went back in auto body to gather a new round of cash.

Without a shop, he began doing repairs in the parking lot of the building he was living in, swapping autobody services for radio time to advertise his business.

“Someone would bring in a smashed up car. I made $1,000 in a week. I thought, ‘If I did this four times a month that would be a lot of money’,” says Kloeckes. He went all in on owning his own shop. To find a place he swapped more services for another advertisement in the paper, announcing that he was looking for a building. He didn’t have any money to put down. But people started contacting him. He ended up making a deal with an owner of a small and admittedly dodgy shop.

“He was one of those guys from the 90s. He lived above the shop.

There was no sign. He wasn’t open regularly. He had a huge guard 44 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Good staff means Kloeckes isn’t afraid to delegate responsibility.

dog. But it was $1,000 a month. I didn’t have it. I said, ‘How about I fix up that car for one month’s rent?’ It was a write-off, but I did it for a couple weeks and got the money together,” says Kloeckes.

He was in business.

It was not long after that an odd bit of luck would see Kloeckes running a full shop by himself in his early 20s. The owner had taken a customers car out, “drinking with girls,” as Kloeckes remembers it.

He ended up in an accident, called the shop to say he had hurt his head and that the police were looking for him. “He said, ‘I’ll give you one month’s rent. My friends will take over the rent collection. I’m going to BC’,” says Kloeckes. “He escaped and ran away.”

The owner had some fleet contracts and the work started coming in. “His buddies would contact me. At the end of four months I had a little business going. I was 23 and learning to do everything.

Something would come up and I would have to persevere and figure it out,” says Kloeckes.

At times he would work 24 hours a day for three days in a row, sleeping a bit in the shop, to make sure he got everything done.

“Eventually I was able to say ‘Now I’ve got some money to pay some bills’,” he says. He began to put together a bigger business.

Turns out reading those hot rod magazines were about to pay off.

Through the 1990s Kloeckes would develop a name for himself as the best custom guy around Edmonton. “Up to about 1995 we had a crazy influx of low riders. Kids wanted all this stuff done.

We got a bit of a reputation,” says Kloeckes. “‘Johnny K’s Custom.’

I would do a little script on the car like an artist signing his name.

We’d go to car shows. People would come to me and ask, ‘How much more to put your name on the back?’ and I’d put something like, ‘Splashed by Johnny K’,” he says. At car shows all the Johnny K vehicles would line up on one side of the street. “It was kind of a cult. This is the stuff Chip Foose does now. But we were doing it back in the 90s. We had twelve employees doing custom,” he says.

Eventually the business had to evolve beyond custom work, however. As anyone in the business knows, it’s hard to make money doing custom work only. “Restoration is even harder,” says Kloeckes.

One day the owner of the shop that Kloeckes apprenticed at called and said he was going through a divorce and wanted to sell

PROFILES OF SUCCESS

his business. “I had no money but I was able to make a deal by taking over his unpaid bills and pay him the balance over several months. But at the end of the year I took my shoebox full of papers to the accountant. We shut down the customization shop really quickly,” says Kloeckes.

The young entrepreneur was again near the end of his rope. He was wondering what to do when another blessed bit of luck kicked in. At one of his “worst moments” says Kloeckes, “something else came up.”

Executives from CARSTAR called and talked about a new direction for the shop. “I became a business man. Before I was just a mechanic, but now I began to think about it as a business. That’s where I began to hit supersonic speed,” says Kloekces.

The boom in custom work ended, and Kloeckes moved on to fixing the accidents and fender benders in the mainstream vehicle fleet paid for by insurance companies. The shop was flooded with business.

Sales exploded. “Before I was doing $20,000 and $30,000 in sales, and getting further into debt. Suddenly I went to $30,000, $40,000 and then $50,0000 a month in sales,” says Kloeckes. Eventually he went to $90,000 and then $150,000. “I remember telling Larry (Jefferies, former Executive VP of CARSTAR – Ed.) I hit $100,000 a month in sales. Not even the past owner did that,” he says.

Eventually the shop hit $250,000 a month in revenue (from a 7,000 sq. ft. shop). Kloeckes began to think about expanding the chain.

He realized he had the right people in the right place in the original business. He started giving up some control to key employees. “I’m okay with doing that. Usually an autobody owner is the first in and last out during the day. He’s there picking up the sandpaper off the floor. But once we started getting a good reputation and high demand, we plateaued,” says Kloeckes. He expanded in 2008 with CARSTAR South East and offered a partnership to his manager and the manager’s wife.

He also hired a business psychology coach who began helping him break down the sales figures. He began to think about the business at a deeper level of detail.

“I work well with a coach. I think it’s from boxing. I’ll always have a coach,” says Kloeckes. With the books in good shape, he ended up taking over a 19,000 sq. ft. dealership body shop on the best street in Edmonton. The business was losing $15,000 a month. But he came in, cleaned it up and doubled sales. “I went from $250,000 to $500,000 in a month. We went out of control. At one point I had 160 cars in there. The first year we made many mistakes. The second year we started putting in control measures. We’re at about $500,000 in winter and $550,000 to $450,000 in the summer now,” says Kloeckes. He also pieced out a chunk of the ownership of CARSTAR South East to the guy who runs it. “I sold a quarter to him and his wife. That’s a good way to share risk. These types of steps are progressive,” says Kloeckes. With spare cash ready to be deployed, he moved on to his crowning achievement: Construction of a greenfield collision repair centre, CARSTAR Ellerslie, arguably one of the most advanced facilities in the province of Alberta.

He brought in Anton Wootliff and Ming Xu, experts in information technology and process management, respectively.

The three started planning a 20,000 sq. ft. collision centre, one of the largest in the Edmonton area. Built to exacting standards, the shop is environmentally advanced, featuring LED lighting, a paperless office and Internet-controlled air quality systems.

“We did it strategically. We did the planning and got the store built on the edge of this growing city. It’s only half a kilometre from the nearest dealership. It’s near an affluent community. It’s surrounded by new developments. There’s an auto row nearby.

We’ve got radiant heating, good neighbourhoods and it’s starting

M e n t o r i n g i s p a r t a n d p a r c e l o f b e i n g a p r o g r e s s i ve o w n e r.

to get more traffic,” says Kloeckes. The team also managed to do it without outside investors. “We did it all on our own dime,” says Kloeckes, with obvious pride.

“When people come and look at this shop they say, ‘It’s unbelievable. Little Johnny K has got a top-of-the-line store.’

They remember me as the guy with tight pants, a tight shirt and a moustache. And I’m just little Johnny K, but man, I’ve done pretty good,” says Kloeckes. “I take it with a grain of salt. There’s a term that CARSTAR uses that we live by ... ‘Be hungry but stay humble.’”

Kloeckes chalks his success up to being in the right place at the right time. We’ll take it a step further. He was in the right place at the right time, but he was also the right person. Another might have let the opportunities slip past.

“Luck has come into my life many times. It’s tough for me to believe in a religion, but I am spiritual. I believe if you put out good into the world you get good back,” says Kloeckes.

If there’s one thing his life has taught him, it’s that staying true to the high road pays off in the end. It was a lesson learned through a lot of tough times and hard work.

“I don’t think anyone out there would say I haven’t worked hard.

I’ve treated people fairly. I think they think I’m a good guy,” he says. “People come and ask to work for me. They say, ‘I’ve heard about you. You have a good reputation.’” This is no small thing in an industry where shop owners bid and jostle for the best techs.

That good reputation, along with the new shop, should help him and the rest of his team weather the next set of challenges.

“This is all about what’s needed to get OEM certification. That’s where this is going. OEM certification is going to be the next big thing. OnStar will be out there with a tow truck, and they’ll take it to an OEM-certified shop, rather than the insurance shop. It’s coming down the pipe,” says Kloeckes.

Kloeckes has come a long way, but he says he couldn’t have done it alone. “I wouldn’t have the success I do without the support of my wife and the incredible staff I have,” he says. “They’re team players, leaders and among the best people in our industry.”

It’s been a long, hard road, and it’s not over yet. But Kloeckes is now at a point where he can take the occasional breather and reflect on just how far he’s come.

“Sometimes I park about a block away where I can see the shop and go, ‘Look what I’ve got. This is good,’” he says.

October 2016 collision Repair 45

EXECUTIVE VISION

Innovation

by Design Rick Orser of 3M on taking a proactive approach to solving challenges.

E

xecutive Vision focuses on discussions with key players in the auto claims economy and the auto industry, their views on the present industry and their vision for the future. In this issue our guest is Rick Orser, General Manager, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division.

Orser joined 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division in 2012 after several years with the company in other divisions. He holds a Bachelor of Business Management from Ryerson University and serves on AIA Canada’s Collision Council. In this article, Orser outlines 3M’s proactive approach, the importance of building a strong team and strong processes and discusses the company’s collaboration with Festool Automotive Systems.

Collision Repair magazine: What do you see as some of the most critical issues for the collision repair industry?

Rick Orser: At 3M, we see the three most critical industry issues as people, productivity and increased repair complexity. This is aligned with the priorities identified by CCIF and forms the focus of AIA Canada’s Collision Council.

3M takes a proactive approach to these priorities—through our involvement with Skills Canada and trade school programs, training the technicians of the future; our work with OEMs to develop products dedicated to collision repair; and our overall commitment to shop productivity.

CRM: In your view, what’s the single most important issue? What would you suggest to a shop owner who is trying to deal with that?

RO: The most important issue is people. It all starts with getting

46 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

great people. Once you have a strong team, you develop strong processes that allow you to manage the increased repair complexity which drives increased productivity. When we look at highly successful collision repair shops, they all have that connection and commitment to a strong team approach.

CRM: 3M is a big company that serves a lot of different markets.

Does this broad scope help the automotive aftermarket division?

Can you give us details?

RO: 3M has many divisions servicing many markets worldwide and the automotive aftermarket is part of our core. We bring our science, through our products and people, to the collision repair industry to help body shops advance their business. Our dedicated research and development teams work with the industry to create new products and enhance existing products to better meet the changing demands of collision repair.

EXECUTIVE VISION

Whether it is abrasives, masking, paint application and preparation systems, or adhesives, 3M has a history of innovation and leadership in the collision repair industry. In fact, last year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of masking tape and 2017 will mark the 15th anniversary of the 3M Paint Preparation System.

RO: The biggest change will be the continuing technological advances—autonomous vehicles, collision avoidance and advanced materials. Social change is also happening and it is impacting the number of vehicles on the road. Millennials are not buying as many vehicles; instead they are sharing or renting vehicles.

CRM: In your view, what are the most important steps for a shop to take to secure longevity?

CRM: What does the future hold for 3M? Can you give us any hints about new products we might see in the near future?

RO: Securing longevity is all about using efficient products with lean processes, making strategic investments in people, and continuing to embrace new and changing technologies. This facilitates increased customer satisfaction and positions you well for the future.

RO: We are always focused on increasing the productivity of our customers and bringing forward new technology is one of the ways we do that. An example of this is 3M’s recent launch of the Total Automotive Sanding System. We sought out the expert in dust extraction, Festool Automotive Systems, and combined our efforts to develop a holistic solution for the collision repair market.

3M is well positioned for success both in the short and long term.

Consistent with our corporate vision, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division is committed to 3M technology advancing every shop, 3M products enhancing every repair and 3M innovation improving every technician’s life.

We are a leader in the collision repair market and we want to continue to help shape the future of the industry.

CRM: What do you think will be an area of growth for collision repair facilities?

RO: Education, training and investments in technology are going to be the foundation for growth for collision repair facilities. As vehicle repairs get more complex and OEM certification programs advance, shops need to stay current.

CRM: Thinking solely of how it’s going to change the business, what’s the biggest change we can expect in the next few years?

“The most important issue is people.

It all starts with getting great people.”

– Rick Orser.

Rick Orser, General Manager, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division.

OctoBer 2016 collision Repair 47

Profiles of success

48  collision Repair  collisionrepairmag.com

Profiles of success

OctoBer 2015 collision Repair 49

INDUSTRY EVENT

United as ‘1’ CARSTAR North America comes together on the Cradle of Confederation.

By Mike Davey

C

ARSTAR’s US and Canadian operations are now unified under Driven Brands. It seems fitting that the theme for this year’s conference was “uniting as one.”

The conference theme was even more fitting when you consider the location. The 2016 CARSTAR Canada Conference took place August 24 to 26 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was at the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 that the Fathers of Confederation laid the roadmap for a unified country. They believed in the power of one, and 152 years later the CARSTAR conference echoed that sentiment resoundingly.

“We are one CARSTAR. We have one vision, one mission and one core set of values,” said Michael Macaluso, President of CARSTAR North America. “This is year one for CARSTAR North America, as we are venturing into a new beginning and a new journey, built upon the same culture of excellence and fighting spirit. For CARSTAR, it is not only about being number one in our industry, it is about being a part of one community, having one united focus and driving forward as one CARSTAR family.”

The conference kicked off August 24 with the annual Walk to Support Cystic Fibrosis. The theme for this year’s Walk was “Walk Lobster,” a fitting theme given the conference’s Atlantic location. During a media conference call, Macaluso noted the extraordinary success of the first Canadian conference under Driven Brands.

“This is one of the best attended conferences in our history, with over 600 delegates from across the country,” said Macaluso. “It’s great to see and interact with such a large and engaging group.”

This year’s conference was also the largest to date in terms of insurance partners, with a record number of companies choosing to attend.

Opening ceremonies were conducted by Matt Bell, Vice President of Human Resources. He discussed the importance of CARSTAR’s culture and how individuals have come together to leverage one another’s abilities and form strong alliances between both individual stores and the Canadian and US arms of the organization.

Bell then introduced Macaluso and Jose R. Costa, Group President of Paint & Collision for Driven Brands. Costa was only available via video due to a new addition to his family. Macaluso and Costa outlined the vision for CARSTAR North America. Currently, CARSTAR lays claim to the title of largest multi-store operator (MSO) in the world, with nearly 500 locations under one brand.

However, Costa and Macaluso made it clear that this was not a time for the organization to rest on its laurels. They instead outlined an ambitious goal for the next few years, to have over 1,000 stores across North America and over $1 billion in sales.

“The future is one of change, challenge and opportunity,” said Costa.

“We need to recognize the challenge and capitalize on the opportunities the future holds for us.”

Dean Fisher, COO of CARSTAR US, followed, noting how individual stores could now leverage not only the capabilities of the CARSTAR network, but the entire Driven Brands organization. The flavour of Fisher’s address can be captured in a single quote: “Build your team and go … go … GO!”

Johnny Kloeckes, winner of the 2016 “Iron Man” award and Colson Cole, CARSTAR Canada’s Vice President of Operations.

Matt Bell, Vice President of Human Resources for CARSTAR Canada at the Gala dinner and award ceremony. Bell served as emcee throughout the conference.

Michael Macaluso, President of CARSTAR North America.

Arlo Johnson, VP of Insurance for CARSTAR US and Gloria Mann of Collision Repair magazine.

Dr. Nick Bontis served as the opening keynote of the conference.

Etienne Berlinguit, Deputy Sr. VP of Claims for Intact delivered the insurance keynote.

Chris Moore, Director of Marketing for CARSTAR Canada, discussing multi-channel promotions.

Melissa Miller, VP of Operations for CARSTAR US.

October 2016 collision Repair 51

INDUSTRY EVENT

Next to the podium was Laura Skinner of the Driven Brands Charitable Foundation. She updated attendees on the work done by the Foundation since it was formed in 2012. Its primary purpose is to assist in raising money and awareness for issues impacting health and educational access for children.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Nick Bontis, followed Skinner’s presentation. Bontis outlined six trends that will, in his words, “blow up the industry.” The trends include intelligent automation, a “liquid” workforce, big data, the coming proliferation of “nano-sensors,” dynamic claims and the increasing number of “robo-advisors,” intelligent software that is increasingly being used to automate systems.

Matt Bell opened the second day of the conference before introducing Artemio Garza, Chief Brand Officer for Driven Brands.

Garza outlined the vision for the brand and discussed the future of marketing for CARSTAR. He credited the individual stores for their positive interactions with consumers, noting that it is this widespread dedication to providing an excellent customer experience that has enabled the brand to grow.

Chris Moore, Director of Marketing in Canada, and Hannah Ross, Director of Marketing in the US, were up next. Moore and Ross discussed identifying the keys of the brand and multi-channel creative promotions, both on the local level and across North America. Among these are the partnership with NASCAR and promotions with NHL hockey teams. Moore noted the increasing importance of digital marketing to the collision industry and the increasing impact of digitization on how business is conducted and how repairers, partners and consumers interact.

Lillian Haskett, Customer Experience Manager, discussed the fundamentals of providing consumers with an experience that not only meets their expectations, but exceeds them.

John Harvey, Vice President of Insurance Relations for CARSTAR, was next to the stage, discussing key strategic relationships and the need to keep up with trends.

“Think big. Start small and fail fast, but fall forward and keep moving. Don’t lose your momentum,” he said. “Be part of the revolution that will transform this industry.”

Harvey also pointed out how OEM certification programs are rapidly changing the landscape of the collision repair industry, and noted that CARSTAR has been in front of the trend. Currently over 50 percent of the network are part of at least one OEM program; or currently in the process of receiving that certification.

The insurance keynote speaker, Etienne Berlinguit, Deputy Senior Vice President of Claims for Intact Insurance, was next to take the podium. He reinforced the message that it is the customer experience that will lead to mutual success before diving into a discussion of the big trends that will shape the future of the auto claims economy.

These include machine learning and big data, as well as the coming era of on-demand 3D printing.

The Vendor Expo also took place on Thursday. It marked the most successful to date, with 43 vendors occupying 55 booths.

Matt Bell again served as emcee for the third day of the conference, opening by introducing Colson Cole, Melissa Miller and Ryan Anderson. Cole and Miller are the VPs of Operation for Canada and the US, respectively. Anderson is the Training and Development Manager for CARSTAR North America. The three presented on “the CARSTAR Way” and the resources stores can call on to help develop their businesses and their teams to become best-in-class.

“Focus on your most precious commodity, your people,” says Anderson. “Invest in your people, develop them and bring them along with you.”

The CARSTAR Way is a combination and alignment of the Canadian 52 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

The insurance panel. From left: Joe Carvalho of Economical, Dario Ricciutelli of TD, Tony Sutera-Sardo of RSA and Steve Wade of Intact.

John Harvey, CARSTAR Canada’s Vice President of Insurance Relations and Bill Davidge, National Technical Manager for CARSTAR Canada.

“Walk Lobster!” The charity walk in support of Cystic Fibrosis has become a regular part of the CARSTAR Conference.

Sam Mercanti, founder of CARSTAR Canada, Kristine Muscedere of AkzoNobel and Joe Carvalho of Economical Insurance.

CQS system and the US EDGE system. In brief, it rests on six pillars, encompassing people, process and technology. Five of those pillars have long been an integral part of CARSTAR’s strategy: lean processes, 5S, analytics, solutions and standard operating procedures. However, a brand new pillar has been added, that of training and education.

Dave Smith of AkzoNobel came to the stage to introduce the final keynote speaker of the conference, author Jay Papasan. Papasan is the coauthor of The ONE Thing, a book focused on how the results you receive are directly influenced by the way you work and the choices you make.

During his presentation, Papasan noted that the most precious resource anyone has is time, so it’s extremely important to make sure you invest it wisely.

Up next was the insurance panel discussion, moderated by John Harvey and Jeff Labanovich of CARSTAR. Sitting on the panel were Joe Carvalho of Economical Insurance, Tony Sutera-Sardo of RSA, Dario Ricciutelli of TD and Steve Wade of Intact.

The final day of the CARSTAR conference concluded with a gala dinner and awards given to stores and individuals who went above and beyond in the last year.

For more information, please visit carstar.ca.

Industry Event

Action packed Organizers declare NACE 2016 best in its revered 34 -YEAR

HISTORY

By Mike Pickford

Gloria Mann of Collision Repair magazine, Paul Stella of Toyota Canada and Darryl Simmons of Collision Repair magazine.

NACE 2016 took place at the Anaheim Convention Centre in Anaheim, Calif.

A

s the dust settles on yet another jam-packed NACE Expo and Conference, the collision repair industry as a whole has been left to reflect on what event organizers are calling the biggest and best spectacle in the show’s impressive 34-year history.

Setting up shop in Anaheim, Calif., from August 9 to 13, NACE welcomed well over 8,000 collision and service repair professionals from across the globe through its doors at the Anaheim Convention Centre, offering up five-day’s worth of full-on industry action.

With annual premier events such as the MSO Symposium, Technology and Telematics Forum, Collision Industry Conference and, of course, the Expo itself returning to much acclaim, it was several additional educational items such as the various complimentary OEM certification training programs and hot-button topic debates that brought so much attention to NACE this year.

It has long been said that the event has essentially served as a “buying show,” providing those in attendance with the perfect platform in which to promote their business.

Tim Morgan and Gordon Michael of Spanesi Americas.

While that aspect of the exhibit has not been lost, with more vendors than ever setting up shop on the showroom floor—228 this year, up from 189 in Detroit last time out— there has definitely been an added impetus placed on the teaching and learning facet of the business in recent years.

In addressing the show as a whole at the heart of the show floor on August 11, one of the men behind the annual event, Automotive Service Association (ASA) President and Executive Director Dan Risley, said he felt a significant amount of the unrivalled success of this year’s event could be attributed directly to this change in direction.

That was a sentiment shared by several industry members in attendance, with Kevin Taylor, of the Regina-based Taylor Automotive Group, telling Collision Repair magazine that he was “blown away” by some of the things on show at NACE. “NACE has always been one of those bucket list things for me – I’ve seen it come up every year and always thought it would be nice to attend and boy did it ever live up to the billing,” Taylor said. “I was very, very impressed with the educational side of the show.”

October 2016 collision Repair 55

INDUSTRY EVENT

Ben Gareau, Charlie Matus and Earl Chatlain of Advantage & JG’s Collision in Saskatoon.

The MSO Symposium is consistently one of the biggest draws at NACE.

Ron Olsson of Pro Spot demonstrates the company’s new dust extraction system.

A look at the future The event had barely gotten underway before the first of many educational seminar sessions kicked off on the opening day of the event, with many of those in attendance highlighting Greg Horn’s discussion on the immediate future of the collision repair industry as one of particular interest.

In the presentation, Horn, of Mitchell Industry Trends, analyzed the change in the Canadian and US buyers market, with consumers seemingly moving away from purchasing regular passenger cars in favour of bigger, bulkier models. The switch, Horn claims, could be attributed to reduced fuel costs over the past few months, with customers no longer focusing too much on the mileage they’re getting from their vehicles.

“I got a quote from Toyota recently stating that they wouldn’t be surprised if RAV 4 sales actually outpaced Camry sales in the US in the near future. The top selling car in Canada used to be the Honda Civic, but for the first six months of this year it was overtaken by the Hyundai Elantra, and (Honda’s) CRV isn’t too far behind,” Horn said. “We’re very close to that changeover, we could realistically see the CRV outsell the Civic in Canada.”

The end result of this could see more or less work for collision repairers moving forward, depending on certain variables and each shop’s primary line of work.

“If you look at most crossover SUVs, their bumper assemblies are literally almost a third of the front end of the car. What will happen is shops will potentially see more refinish hours than they would with a passenger car … However the offset may be that fewer parts are damaged. It’s going to be a pretty significant change,” Horn said.

Michel Gagnon of Mitchell and Will Simmons of Collision Repair magazine.

Marty Reddick of Supreme Collision Centres and Greg Horn

OEM Scanning Forum Another of those sessions that garnered much attention was a discussion between several OEM and insurance representatives regarding the perceived importance of scanning vehicles before and after a repair job.

Following hot on the heels of similar announcements from the likes of Honda, Nissan and Toyota in recent months, it appeared both General Motors and Audi would soon be following suit in backing the push to carry out pre and post collision repair scans, with John Eck of GM and Mark Allen of Audi each stating how crucial they feel the procedures are.

“Once the vehicle has been in an accident, it needs to be scanned pre and post (repair),” Allen told moderator Mike Anderson of Collision Advice. “We don’t have a position statement yet, but we will.”

Eck said simply that GM was “aggressively working” on getting a position statement out sooner rather than later

56 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Jason Bartanen and Dan Schwarz of I-CAR. I-CAR courses were a popular draw throughout the event.

Sergio Correa, Jan Srack and John Marlowe of Matrix Wand.

INDUSTRY EVENT

MSO Symposium A different kind of industry change was one of the chief topics of discussion at the annual MSO Symposium, with Vincent Romans, market researcher with The Romans Group, kicking off the event with a bold prediction that a fifth consolidator could surface within the business over the next 12 to 18 months to compete with the US’ ‘big four’ – Caliber, Boyd Group, Service King and ABRA. It has been a relatively slow year for collision repair consolidation so far in 2016, with Romans indicating most of the major players, ABRA particularly, had “taken a breather” after what had been “two aggressive years” of merging.

“We’ll see eventually what they’ll do,” Romans said.

Along with Romans’ industry update, the MSO Symposium featured the Insurer Panel, which covered topics including direct repair partner (DRP) strategy, the evolution of self-managed programs, long and short-term plans to address certification and how telematics are changing the insurance industry. Also included were both an MSO Panel and OEM Panel, while a panel discussing collision repair around the world and how those business models compare to those in the US market also featured.

Another prominent analyst on hand to offer his thoughts on the symposium was Supplement Principal Brad Mewes. Having attended “nearly every” MSO Symposium since 2012, Mewes said he finds the annual feature “incredibly valuable.”

“The level of talent in the room at the MSO Symposium is unmistakable. The attendees are business owners and executives who run some of the best businesses in the industry.

They are business owners who are focused on the future and looking to grow,” Mewes said. “I really enjoy being part of that environment.”

Charlie Matus of Advantage & JG’s Collision echoed those sentiments, stating he was incredibly impressed by all the information presented throughout the course of the six-hour event.

“We come to NACE every second year and this is by far better than the earlier ones we attended in Las Vegas,” Matus said. “It’s nice to see the show so vibrant, with lots of interesting conference materials and new items on the show floor. The MSO Symposium itself was incredible. Time just flew by.”

John Bedard of Mitchell with some favourite reading material, the most recent issue of Collision Repair magazine!

Ray Odette and Eric Yenchi of ASET.

Scott Sinclair of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and his daughter Kira.

OctoBer 2016 collision Repair 57

INDUSTRY EVENT

Technology and Telematics Forum Vehicle hacking, security and future technology were the main topics of discussion as the popular Technology and Telematics Forum took centre stage on the final day of NACE. Right up there alongside the MSO Symposium and Expo as one of NACE/ CARS’ premier events, the forum gave shop owners the opportunity to meet with OEM engineers and learn about new several new technologies that will soon be coming into the shop.

Several of the world’s leading automakers joined vehicle experts in vehicle security, telematics and technology and diagnostics and repair to discuss how advanced technologies, connectivity and the Internet are changing modern automobiles.

Featured topics for the forum included panelists discussing the growing influence of vehicle hacking in the world, the emergence of new accident avoidance technology in the market, the future of vehicle safety and a peek at two new technologies experts believe will take off in the months and years to come – a new program that will enable cars to see and identify objects around them, possibly moving us closer to fully autonomous vehicles, and Toyota’s take on the electric car using fuel cell technology.

Matt Bannister of Titanium Tools & Equipment discusses the Miracle System.

Complimentary OEM Training While it’s always good sitting around, listening and taking in a presentation from a specialist in the field, sometimes the best way to educate yourself is to jump right in and engage in a little hands-on learning. That’s exactly what several OEMs in attendance gave people the opportunity to do as they held several complimentary training sessions over the course of the two-day Expo extravaganza.

Top-level technicians representing Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Audi of America, American Honda, General Motors and Toyota were on hand as each organization held between two and three sessions in which they offered to walk dozens of attending collision repair professionals through a number of new programs.

Taking part in several of those sessions was Kevin Taylor, body shop manager at Taylor Auto Group. He said he gained so much from attending the individual training programs that he’s already looking forward to attending NACE next year.

“It became pretty clear to me through speaking to different people at NACE and attending different training and educational sessions that we’re going through a pretty big transition period in the collision repair industry,” Taylor said. “Everything is changing at a much quicker pace than it has done in the past due to evolving technologies and everything involved in repairing new types of materials and new electrical systems, so in that respect a lot of what was on offer was great.”

He added, “I would love to return to NACE. If it works out with my schedule, as it did this year, I’ll be the first name on attending list.”

Mike Anderson of Collision Advice speaking at the MSO Symposium.

Dan Hogg of Fix Auto World and Geoff Lancaster of Fix Auto Canada.

FOR NEXT YEAR With ASA President and Executive Director Dan Risley already declaring the 2016 NACE Expo and Conference an unwavering success, he will be hoping that most of the 8,000-plus industry professionals that flocked to Anaheim this year share Taylor’s thought process.

While he is clearly delighted with how this year’s event unfolded, Risley indicated there would be little time to celebrate with the organizing committee having already cast their eyes on next year’s NACE festivities. Taking place at the World Congress Centre in Atlanta, Georgia from August 2 to 4 in 2017, show officials are confident of building on the incredible momentum build in Anaheim.

58 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Kurt Lammon of Polyvance demonstrates the company’s nitrogen welding technology.

INDUSTRY EVENT

Stephane Jourdan and Bastien Dias Da Costa of Celette.

Michel Charbonneau of Uni-Select, Gloria Mann of Collision Repair magazine and Mike Gilliland of Autohouse Technologies.

Derek Naidoo, inventor of the NitroHeat system, and Sean Slaven of Arslan Automotive.

John Martinolich of Wedge Clamp Systems, Roger Turmel of Autoquip and Joe Flores of Wedge Clamp Systems.

Some of the team from Arslan Automotive. From left: Sean Slaven, Brendan Slaven and Jason Gray.

OctoBer 2016 collision Repair 59

OPINION

Working Together There’s more to be gained from cooperation.

By Keith Jones The following is an unedited submission regarding the collision repair training situation in BC. The opinions presented are those of the author and may or may not reflect the views of this magazine.The ownership of liability lies directly upon the author as the information presented has not been checked with third-party sources We always welcome submissions and reserve the right to adjust for length.

Please send any comments to Mike Davey at editor@collisionrepairmag.com.

I

recently read “Ready to Train? ICBC transfers training to ARA,” in the last issue of Collision Repair magazine and I feel it really missed the mark. The article ventured directly into my wheelhouse and struck a nerve. I would normally have let it slide, but I felt compelled to write a response. In my former roles at both the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and the Automotive Retailers Association (ARA), I was deeply involved in the subject matter, which I feel needs additional information and clarification. I was contacted by the writer, however after several emails back and forth about times to talk, I never heard back. It is unfortunate we didn’t connect.

Setting the record straight requires me to take a brief walk through history—please indulge me. The article makes several statements about the ICBC Material Damage Research and Training Centre (MDRT) that need correcting. ICBC opened the MDRT Centre in 1987 to provide collision repair upgrade training to the collision repair industry and ICBC staff. The MDRT facility included approximately 8,000 sq. ft. of classroom area, and a 7,500 sq. ft. collision repair shop where instruction on the latest technologies and repair techniques was delivered using the latest collision repair equipment, including resistance spot welders, aluminum welders, multiple frame machines and electronic measuring equipment.

In the early days, ICBC delivered I-CAR courses, and several ICBC managers sat on the I-CAR board of directors. However, that relationship ended in the early 1990s and ICBC began develop their own courses. None of this work was contracted out. All courses were developed and delivered by the highly qualified staff at MDRT. The staff were hard-working, dedicated and highlyqualified employees of ICBC. Their qualifications included Red Seal technicians (refinish, collision repair and mechanical), collision estimators, an engineering technologist, college engineering instructor and collision reconstruction expertise.

The training delivered was anything but basic. The courses

developed by the MDRT were some of the best in the industry, delivered by outstanding technicians and instructors. Each course was researched thoroughly and up-to-date, and most had a handson component in the shop. Collision repair upgrade training wasn’t exclusive to ICBC coursework. Many companies also provided collision repair upgrade training in BC, approved by ICBC for the c.a.r. shop accreditation program. A complete list of approved training and their providers can be found on the ICBC Business Partners site.

The quality of the ICBC developed courses far exceeded the I-CAR curriculum of the day. I am very glad to say that this is no longer the case, as I-CAR course quality has increased dramatically. I am a long-time supporter of I-CAR, since the days when my friend Robby Robbs ran the show. I was proud to represent ICBC as a member of the 2008 I-CAR Canadian Advisory Committee and the 2010 I-CAR International Board nominating committee. During my tenure at ICBC, I tried to bring I-CAR and ICBC together several times; however, the resistance I faced internally was too great to overcome. In any case, I did manage to approve many I-CAR courses for the ICBC c.a.r. shop accreditation program.

The writing was on the wall for MDRT shortly after ICBC appointed a new claims executive in 2007, who came with a very different agenda and claims management strategy. Then came the much publicized “Chop Shop” scandal of February 2008—enough said about that! About three months after that event, I was given the responsibility of the MDRT and tasked with redefining its mandate and developing the strategy going forward. The facility was rebranded the Collision Repair Learning Centre (CRLC), and over the next two years, the number of courses delivered increased by 100 percent. We worked with the ARA to develop a series of new online courses. The CRLC also developed the “Matrix” group of courses (four up-to-date and topical courses on the latest collision repair technology).

October 2016 collision Repair 61

OPINION

It was an uphill battle for the existence of the CRLC. The decision makers of the day placed very little value on what the facility delivered. When the large management cull occurred in November of 2012, ICBC experienced a huge loss of material damage history and knowledge. The knowledge drain continued, as many senior managers left in the following years. The belief and understanding of the true value of the CRLC was gone.

The loss of MDRT/CRLC is a greater loss than most know. Aside from the upgrade training, the MDRT/CRLC was who the collision repair industry contacted when they needed to find out more information about leading-edge technology and the latest repair techniques. The phones rang

motorists and the automotive aftermarket and service industries.

No one is attempting to reinvent the wheel here in BC. You have to remember that the training requirements for the ICBC c.a.r. shop collision repair accreditation program are set by ICBC. I lobbied senior management at ICBC back in 2009 to change the training requirements from what they were to the I-CAR Gold Class recognition. ICBC is one of the last holdouts in North America. Their collision repair accreditation program, once probably the best in the industry, has not evolved. While ICBC has introduced a DRP program (Express Repair) and a performance component, the accreditation standards remain virtually unchanged since the

When ICBC sought an opinion from the Competition Bureau and announced that due to changes in the Competitions Act they will no longer negotiate with trade associations or other industry representative groups on labour rates, they changed the rules of the game. However, the ARA remains the key stakeholder representative for the automotive industry in BC, and as an association, it continues to participate with ICBC in committee work and liaison groups. As far as collision repair, rates in BC remain some of the highest in the country, thanks to the continued advocacy of the ARA. ICBC is the only provincial insurer that has concluded that negotiating with a trade organization contravenes the Competitions

“As far as delivering training to the collision repair industry, it is time ICBC stepped away.” every day, answered by qualified staff who provided expert advice.

The centre also conducted valuable research in many aspects of automobile construction, collision repair techniques, and vehicle safety. ICBC was a member of the Research Council of Automotive Repairers (RCAR). RCAR is an international body of automotive research centres, whose primary goal is to reduce the human and economic costs of motor vehicle losses. You can find out more about the organization at rcar.org. Currently, RCAR has 25 members in 20 countries and five continents: Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Australia.

ICBC participated in many RCAR working groups and vehicle safety/collision repair projects that provided immeasurable value for drivers in BC and throughout the world.

Most notably, ICBC was the co-developer of the Head Restraint Measuring Device, which defined for automakers the correct head restraint geometry for safer seats.

As far as delivering training to the collision repair industry, it is time ICBC stepped away. The responsibility to train the collision repair industry belongs to the industry. At present there is no single entity in BC that provides ongoing technical upgrade training and education for the automotive industry. Trade schools focus mainly on training new technicians, and vehicle manufacturers provide training for their dealerships and repair networks.

The absence of a coordinated training and education plan presents a significant risk to the motoring public in B.C. Improperly repaired vehicles pose a danger to

introduction of the accreditation program in 1996. I am hopeful, as is the ARA and many other collision industry professionals in BC, that ICBC will move to accepting the I-CAR Gold Class recognition as their training standard in the near future.

The ARA training strategy has never been to hire a bunch of trainers and start developing ARA training. The association’s strategy is around facilitation and creating partnerships. To quote ARA Industry Relations Advisor Dave Ribeiro: “The vision of the ARA is not to become trainers, nor to hire a workforce to conduct this training, but to create a world-class automotive Centre of Excellence ... The ARA intends to do what we do best— provide the interconnection between trainers and industry to ensure that the correct and most current training is accessible to all of industry.”

The ARA has been working with the provincial government to make this Centre of Excellence happen by developing a strategy to fill the training gap and leverage its strength as an association representing over 1,000 automotive business in BC. I followed up with Rick Francoeur of CARSTAR Abbotsford and 360 Fabrication regarding his comments in the article.

After ARA representative Dave Ribeiro visited Rick’s shop and explained the ARA strategy around training and the association’s intent to utilize the I-CAR curriculum, he expressed satisfaction with the ARA’s direction.

The article stated that the “ARA lost its right to lobby on behalf of its members.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

62 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Act. Manitoba Public Insurance and Saskatchewan Government Insurance certainly do not share ICBC’s opinion.

ICBC placed a stake in the ground based on an opinion that very few have seen. I think it would be best for both the collision repair industry and ICBC if that opinion was finally shared, lifting a veil of mistrust from both sides.

That being said, the perceived inequality in bargaining power may benefit the ARA and give the association greater advocacy power with the provincial government. I would tend to agree, and I would even go so far as saying that it is ICBC who has lost their power because of their position over the Competitions Act, as they have lost a measure of control and influence over the industry. Also, don’t forget that the ARA also represents seven other sectors of the automotive industry in BC, not just the collision industry.

I am disappointed someone from across this great country would call into question the ARA and its strategic direction without getting all of the facts. The ARA has been representing the automotive industry for over 60 years in BC, and many seem to have forgotten its many accomplishments over the years. As the industry continues to face challenges and change, it is time for organizations to work together, worry less about territorialism, and look at the bigger picture and issues facing the collision repair industry.

Keith Jones is the Managing Appraiser of Crash Space Appraisals. He can be reached at keith.jones@crashspace.ca.

LABOUR

The Talent

Pipeline Would Service King’s new model work in Canada?

By Jeff Sanford Buffing may be a good place to start, but apprentices need mentorship and training to move up.

C

anadians have a habit of comparing themselves to Americans south of the border. It’s a national pastime.

So when Texas-based Service King Collision Repair Centers announced a new training program for apprentices, Collision Repair magazine spoke to some Canadian collision repair executives about the state of tech education north of the 49th parallel.

Service King has just announced the company graduated an inaugural class of apprentice technicians through what is called the Service King Apprentice Development Program. Each class takes three potential body technicians and subjects them to an intensive 52-week hands-on developmental program. The students work under a dedicated supervisor. They’re tested for competence along the way. At the end, the company has a fully trained tech ready to go to work at one of the chain’s 299 stores. According to a press release, the company hopes to push more than 50 new techs through the program by the end of the year.

“This is an extremely proud moment in the young careers of these talented technicians who represent the future of Service King and our industry,” said Jeff McFadden, Service King President.

Training techs in-house is a smart way to win the war for talent.

Not only does a company generate its own labour supply, but these programs also bolster the company’s reputation as a desired employer.

So, what are some of the bigger Canadian collision repair chains doing to train techs? Turns out, quite a bit.

Tony Canade, President of Assured Automotive, says his company is more likely to train painters and preppers in-house. “On the paint and prep side we’ve had a lot of success training our own,” he says. “If someone is green but has a passion we can take them on. Learning

skills on the paint side is generally less involved than on the body tech side. We can turn those around faster than a skilled technician.”

When it comes to techs, Assured is like many Canadian MSOs in that they rely on local community colleges and high school programs for talent. This is the Canadian way. “We’re big, big supporters of the high school and college programs,” says Canade.

The realities of the industry are that it is tough to train a complete newbie as a tech. “Because the learning curve is so long, it’s challenging. What we try to do is to engage our licensed techs to help out. It’s going to slow the senior techs down, and it can be difficult to get them to do that. They’re making less money in their job. But they all started out that way and we remind them this is good for the overall growth of the industry,” says Canade.

Assured also operates in the hyper-competitive Greater Toronto Area (GTA) market. “The challenge is the same anywhere in the industry. When it comes to compensation appropriate to what they’re doing, it’s tough. There are limited resources in this space compared to other trades,” says Canade.

Some trades offer high compensation right out of the gate, even to apprentices. This, unfortunately, is not the case in collision repair, even if the job is well-paying once the tech is trained. “Once a tech has gone through his apprenticeship, the sky is the limit … but they are making less than an electrician to start off, and that’s the problem,” says Canade. “It’s hard to compete with that, especially in really competitive markets.”

Assured Automotive does help out new apprentices by providing tools and job assurances. “They don’t have to spend on tools. And if they go through school we’ll make sure there’s a position for them. We can guarantee that before they go in,” says Canade.

October 2016 collision Repair 67

LABOUR

CARSTAR Canada takes a similar approach. The company makes a point of maintaining strong relationships with local community colleges to fill the talent pipeline.

“Our apprentices often come through community colleges like Centennial or Mohawk. We have relationships with those two schools,” says Matt Bell, head of human resources for CARSTAR Canada.

The company also has a relationship with the Tropicana program out of Toronto.

“It’s a pre-apprenticeship course for at-risk youth,” says Bell.

Disadvantaged youth are given a hand-up into the autobody trade.

“We bring them to head office for some training as well. We try to get connected to these youth who are interested in this industry,” says Bell.

The company also brings the parents of these kids into the office. It’s a way of putting minds at ease. “Frankly, it’s good for the parents. There is still this concern out there that this is a dirty, dingy industry,” says Bell.

At these meetings, the CARSTAR execs field questions from the parents and allay worries or concerns. “We show off our new facilities and we talk about the long-term opportunities in this industry. We’ll explain that once you’ve got five years experience as a body tech you can go into insurance, you can own a shop. You can go a lot of places. You start to show that if you start as a body tech it can be a job that opens doors to all these other opportunities

has what might be the most sophisticated and comprehensive apprentice training program in the country.

Rick Hatswell, Chief Operating Officer, designed the apprentice training program the company runs so that it is similar to what you find in other trades.

“We’ve been doing this for 10 years. I saw we were out of techs.

We had to do something,” says Hatswell.

Today the company has a full mentoring program. For the first month the journeyman will spend two hours a day each day with the apprentice. The journeyman watches, trains and helps the apprentice understand the job.

The hours the journeyman puts into training the apprentice tapers off over the four years of the contract. In the last year the time is down to five hours a month. The journeyman gets a percentage of the apprentice’s hourly rate, an amount that also decreases over time. “That gets them going in the first year,” says Hatswell. “I find if you don’t offer some sort of incentive the journeyman ... why would they slow down and help the kid? It’s too bad but it’s true.

The contract is a guidebook to how to do that.”

But the biggest thing that keeps the apprentices coming back, says Hatswell, is the new toolkit the company provides every apprentice. The toolbox is presented to the apprentice on his first day. “The thing that really holds them here is the $4,000 worth of

“With the average age of techs now above 50, this is necessary for maintaining long-term viability.”

in the industry. You can write your ticket,” says Bell.

The company also reaches out to trade-oriented students at events such as Skills Canada. CARSTAR sets up a virtual spray booth at that event. After the 2015 Skills Ontario competition the company invited all the participants and teachers back to head office.

“We invited all the auto body participants and the teachers to the office and gave them a day of I-CAR training,” says Bell. “Some of the teachers may be behind the curve on some of the latest procedures. So we give them a day of training as well.”

Maintaining the connections to the teachers in the colleges and high schools is a priority for CARSTAR. “The strategy for training is partly a matter of staying connected to college networks. The Calgary skilled trades centre is great. We’re always asking, ‘What are the programs? How can we connect?’

We’ll send staff in to talk to the professors and make sure the local owner knows the faculty. We’re assertive that way and it works well. We’ve seen our results improve through these approaches,” says Bell.

Having the local shop owner develop that relationship with the local school is encouraged at the company. “Some of our stores have done that for years. Their senior teachers know if they have a special kid to give us a call,” says Bell. “You have to set up a farm team system so you have new talent coming in all the time. You have to get that machine working.”

But there are also more intensive programs for apprentice training in this country. Programs similar to the hands-on, in-house Service King program that exists down south.

Craftsman Collision operates a chain of 40 shops stretching from western Canada to California and China. The company also 68 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

tools,” says Hatswell. “It’s through Snap-on. It’s a full tool kit with air tools and everything. It’s gifted to you if you stay for the fouryear apprenticeship and then one more year, for five in total ... they love their tools. It’s like Christmas for them,” says Hatswell.

This is the kind of program that has allowed Craftsman to become a leading brand throughout the west. Hatswell is already thinking about a second stage for the program.

Another important concern is helping out techs when they go down to school at a community college.

In the case of Craftsman Collision, a lot of the techs go to Vancouver Community College or Okanagan College.

“Here it’s mandatory to have government Red Seal,” says Hatswell.

“So the techs have to go to college. But that can be difficult. The next thing we’re looking at is to help them at school when they’re out of town.”

The company is looking at ways they might be able to cover accommodations and pay some wages while the apprentice is at college for five weeks.

“They can’t get employment insurance until they’ve been there for two weeks. And that’s tough. They can get stuck in Vancouver for five weeks. Accommodations for while they’re at school is expensive. They can’t afford a hotel. The drive from Chilliwack to Vancouver is 140 kms. It’s tough to commute everyday. So that’s the next thing we’re working on,” says Hatswell. The idea to help techs get their certification goes back to the 1990s when Hatswell was working on the floor.

“I thought we could do something here. I’m a tech and I grew up through it all, so I’m really focused on that,” he says.

It’s the kind of planning that will win the war for talent.

TECH TALK

Genuine Toyota Parts or Opt OE? If they didn’t come from a Toyota dealer, they’re not Genuine Toyota Parts and may not work as intended with vehicles sold in Canada.

Safety, Fit and Function Toyota says don’t opt for opt OE parts

O

pt OE is short for Option OE. These parts are also sometimes referred to as OEM surplus parts. Opt OE parts are any parts that come from a vendor that is not a Toyota dealer. Though these parts may be Toyota parts, they are not Genuine Toyota Parts that have been designed to be distributed in the North American market.

“Opt OE parts can be an issue for safety, fit and function.

Using these parts can be more trouble than they’re worth for a collision centre,” says Paul Stella, Collision Repair and Refinish Manager – Toyota Canada. “These parts may not be designed specifically for the vehicle you are working on and this can be a big cause for concern for items that are

integral to safety, such as headlights and airbags.”

Opt OE parts can seem like the real deal. They appear to be Toyota parts, but offered at a lower price than a collision centre would normally pay when ordering parts through a Toyota dealer. However, Opt OE parts may come with a hefty cost that isn’t reflected in the original price tag.

“The problem with Opt OE parts is that there is no way to be certain about where these parts are sourced from,” says Stella. “It is very likely that they are not designed for use in the vehicle a collision centre might be intending to use them for. Sometimes these parts are also imitation or counterfeit parts that are branded as Toyota Genuine Parts.”

ADVERTORIAL

70 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

TECH TALK

THE BOTTOM LINE The important thing to understand about these parts is that Toyota does not have an Opt OE or surplus program.

Any parts marketed as such are not part of a Toyota program and are not sanctioned by Toyota for use in vehicles sold in the Canadian market. Even though parts classified

comes to safety functions, these parts are designed with precise requirements in mind so that they can perform properly in the event that something goes wrong. For example, an Opt OE part might not trigger a warning light to appear on the dashboard because the part is not designed to communicate adequately with the vehicle.

“Using these parts can be more trouble than they’re worth for a collision centre.” - Paul Stella, Collision Repair and Refinish Manager – Toyota Canada.

as Opt OE might appear in various estimating systems or parts ordering documentation, collision centres should be aware that they are not considered to be legitimate by Toyota Canada.

The issue with these parts is that they are of unknown origin. Most of the time, they are parts that have been sourced from foreign countries and so they are not necessarily designed to be compatible with Toyota vehicles sold in Canada.

“Opt OE parts can be an issue for safety, fit and function,” explains Stella. “Using these parts can be more trouble than they’re worth for a collision centre. These parts may not be designed specifically for the vehicle you are working on and this can be a big cause for concern for items that are integral to safety, such as headlights and airbags.”

Toyota Genuine Parts are engineered to function properly with the entire system of the vehicle. Especially when it

“These parts can cause everyone a lot of grief, time and money,” Stella cautions. “The fit and function might not be quite right, causing the collision centre to spend extra time trying to make the part work, or causing the customer to be unhappy with the quality of the repair.”

In addition, if an Opt OE part is used in a vehicle repair, English Div this may cause warranty issues between the dealer and the customer at some point down the line.

If a collision centre is being encouraged to use Opt OE parts, they should communicate clearly as to why these parts are not recommended for use in Toyota vehicles.

Using Toyota Genuine Parts sourced from a Canadian Toyota Dealership and following Toyota Recommended Repair Procedures is the proper way to restore a damaged Toyota to its original factory specifications in the event of an accident or collision.

For more information, please visit toyota.ca.

ADVERTORIAL

OctoBer 2016 2015 collision Repair 71

GLOBAL VIEW

IBIS REPORT Australia’s collision repair industry has striking similarities … and differences.

By Mike Davey

N

o country exists in isolation. Technology has brought us all closer together, while at the same time dissolving barriers that prevented communication.

We live in an increasingly globalized world. Your insurance partners, and many of your suppliers, are frequently the local arm of an organization that’s global in scope. Some repair organizations are even expanding globally. Fix Auto’s recent entry into Australia is evidence of this increasingly global view.

The International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) draws together key influencers and thought leaders from across the globe to discuss the trends and factors impacting the collision repair industry both at home and abroad. Collision Repair magazine is the exclusive Canadian Media Partner for IBIS. In this issue, we are pleased to present information on Australia’s collision repair industry. The information was originally prepared for IBIS by Sam Street, Editor of Australasian Paint & Panel.

According to estimates from key suppliers in Australia, the country has about 3,000 body shops currently in operation. This includes independents, networks, dealerships and insurer-owned autobody facilities.

This is one area where Canada differs markedly from our cousins down under. The Capital SMART network is owned and operated

by Suncorp, an insurance company. It is the second large network in the country at approximately 30 sites as of the end of 2015.

October 2016 collision Repair 73

GLOBAL VIEW

Information in this article is taken from the IBIS Report, prepared by Sam Street, Editor of Australasian Paint & Panel.

The largest network, however, is AMA Group, which grew considerably when it purchased Gemini Accident Repair Centres in September 2015. The company operates various brands across Australia, including Mr. Gloss, which bills itself as “Victoria’s Leading Prestige Smash Repairer.”

This is the first thing you will notice when examining Australia’s industry: the use of the term “smash” where we would say collision.

The term is like almost everything about Australia when you compare the nation to Canada. It’s just different enough to make you sit up and take notice.

In total, AMA Group operates approximately 70 sites, making it the nation’s largest network. Sheen Panel Service is the thirdlargest network in Australia, with 25 locations.

This is likely the second thing you’ll notice. Consolidation has not proceeded at the breakneck pace that we’ve experienced in Canada.

Our national networks have over 200 facilities across the country.

Assured Automotive, which operates solely in Ontario, has around

74 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

60 locations, almost as many Australia’s largest national network.

That might be about to change. The IBIS Report identifies two of the biggest trends in the Australian industry: “Major trends are consolidation and a move to larger, higher volume repair facilities.

Increased pressure from insurance companies for repairers to improve cycle times and offer consistent average repair costs have led to many businesses increasing their shop footprint to allow for a higher volume of generally similar-style repairs.

“If shops repair both light and heavy hits, many have separated these processes either in different buildings or different work streams. In order to speed up key-to-key times there has also been investment in the latest infrared drying equipment and a heightened focus on ‘lean’ techniques.”

The report also states that the general trend towards larger shops is “squeezing out a huge number of smaller, traditional, family-owned single site operators as volume is channeled through the insurerapproved shops. Although there is no way of tracking through

GLOBAL VIEW

statistics, anecdotal evidence and feedback from suppliers indicates a significant number of smaller shops shutting their doors.”

You might see some similarities with what’s been happening in Canada over the last few years. In fact, the situations seem so similar as to be almost uncanny.

In addition to the operators listed above, there are major affiliation groups operating in Australia, Car Craft and Australian Accident Repair Network (AARN).

Car Craft is a buying and networking group which began in Western

Motor Body Repairer Association called National Shop Grading.

Turning to training, the report notes that “I-CAR considers that many repairers aren’t factoring in the impact of new vehicle technology as much as they should. The organization feels that only a small section of repairers and industry stakeholders are paying any real attention to the training necessary to repair new cars accurately.

Research indicates the majority of body repair technicians are five or six years behind where they should be in terms of knowledge, with many not understanding the basics of high strength steel repair and

“Consolidation has not proceeded at the breakneck pace that we’ve experienced in Canada.”

Australia and then spread to Queensland. Last year the group announced its intention to spread nationwide and to be a force that allows repairers to gain the buying advantages of MSOs while still maintaining total independence. Since then it has added members in the Australian Capital Territory bringing group numbers to just over 70 shops. It has also recently announced that all its members will comply with a set of shop standards developed by the Australian

joining methods, let alone the sophisticated electronics and driver aids currently seen in many modern vehicles.”

In conclusion, “the industry is at a crossroads with a number of directions possible which will depend on insurance industry trends, the success of affiliation groups and whether the relatively newly consolidated businesses can integrate, thrive and continue to influence market forces.”

October 2016 collision Repair 75

RV Repair

BIG BUSINESS

Recreational vehicles combine luxury and heavy repairs in one package.

By Jeff Sanford

The new 2017 Coachmen Mirada Select is one of the most luxurious RVs on the Canadian market. Pictured in its Auburn exterior colour, the Mirada Select is one of many such vehicles on show at Motor Home Travel in Bolton, Ontario.

E

very collision repair industry executive wants to make their business stand out. One way to do this is to find and exploit a niche sector in the wider industry. Doing so allows a business to create a unique model. Few in today’s collision repair industry have found as unique a market as Western Paint and Body Works has. The one-time heavy truck collision repair facility is one of the few shops in Alberta to focus exclusively on the recreational vehicle (RV) market.

If you thought keeping an auto-based collision repair centre on track and out of the ditch was a challenge, you’ve never had the humbling experience of putting a 45-foot home on wheels back together. For those with exceptional skills, the RV sector just might be the ultimate test.

Just ask the General Manager of Western, Steve Ray. In a recent interview, he took the time to explain how exactly the company came up with the idea of moving into the RV collision repair space.

The decision came after several years of dabbling in other sectors, including heavy truck repair and heavy equipment repair.

Western occupies a huge 12,000 sq. ft. shop on 1.3 acres in the Foot Hills industrial park in Calgary. “It’s humongous. We’re proud of that,” says Ray. Humongous is right. There is a massive 64-by-14 foot paint booth, along with 45-foot and 27-foot booths. Ray wanted to fill those bays and put the equipment to use. But he didn’t want to have to worry about DRP programs.

He explains, “What we’ve seen in the industry out here is a strong push from the insurers to go to direct repair programs. In the early 2000s there was no DRP work in the heavy truck collision repair space. Ten years ago about 30 percent was DRP. This year that number is predicted to be 76 percent. That’s a huge change. If you’re not on one of those networks, the amount of collision work is really small,” he says.

Venturing out Ray started looking for a business line that featured large companies running big fleets and that carried their own insurance.

The first idea was specializing in motor coach and school bus collision repair. “I felt there was an opening in that market for a shop that could provide a higher level of service to the discerning customer on their motor coaches,” says Ray. It didn’t really work out. Another experiment followed.

Western took on a contract to work on heavy construction equipment. In the 2000s, when the price of oil was higher, and the energy sector in the west was booming, the company agreed to paint and prepare more than 40 trailers, all of which were piled up with oilfield equipment. Western was at the heart of the action.

“We ended up in a fleet situation. These are self-insured longhaul companies that have warehouses, oil equipment transport companies and the oil companies themselves. They needed our services,” says Ray. The trailers were 55 feet long. Western had the parts delivered on a pallet, did the painting and final construction. “We painted a huge number of frack pumps, 42 of them,” says Ray. “It’s a very challenging bit of work in terms of equipment. The physical exertion by the workers is extreme.” Pallet upon pallet of loose parts arrived in the shop and had to be painted. The shop began running four booth cycles a day.

“These are not just 55 foot truck trailers. There are radiator units on them, huge diesel engines, a giant rad enclosure,” says Ray. The engines are six feet high, 12 feet long, and had to be hand prepped before going through a tri-stage painting process. “There were a lot of little parts around. We were putting in 240 hours on single units, and were turning them around in a week and a half,” says Ray. October 2016 collision Repair 77

BIG BUSINESS

The shop came up with a strict process for painting. “We systematized everything. When the loose parts were being sandblasted, the trailer was being prepped. When the trailer went in the booth, hand prepping began on the loose parts,” he says.

The trailers went into the largest of the shop’s three paint booths. The facility is equipped to handle a massive amount of refinishing, but the high volume frack work turned out to be too much work. “We had two shifts going. We were bringing the paint in by the pallet, hundreds of litres at a time. It was really hard on the equipment.

Our breathable air systems were doing ten times the work than what an average shop would. I looked at the cost of maintaining the facility … it’s a grind. You’re going all The fully loaded interior of the 2017 Coachmen Mirada Select boasts a full leather sectional sofa, the time,” says Ray. When the contract was complete widescreen television, electric fireplace and full kitchen, including a microwave, stove top, fridgefreezer and dishwasher.

Western assessed the opportunity and the costs and found the benefits didn’t constructed by hand in a factory. This means that at, “any given make it worth the effort. “We said it’s not panning out like we want. The costs are so high. We began to look time, at any point in the repair process, you can come across human error. There will be three different types of screws holding at changing our direction,” says Ray. He did some research. He spent a year and a half talking to various a part on. They’ll have Philips head screw here, a flathead there,” people. “I wanted to determine what the market needed. I talked says Ray. “The door gaps can be huge.”

Repairing one of these improvised vehicles often means techs end to independent appraisers. My conversation with these guys was, ‘I up bringing it up to factory quality for the first time. Because the know the car stuff is going DRP. That’s cool. But is there work that bills are huge, insurance companies want to see all the work being isn’t DRP-dependent? One guy said, ‘Sure there is, but it’s the work done.

Techs at Western often end up repairing an RV to a state that that nobody wants ...’, I thought, ‘Let me take a look.’” is even better than it was new. “Often we have to get it better than the factory,” says Ray. Moving onto RVs Ray investigated the RV sector; he found it was ripe for a serious competitor. The fundamentals of the market also seemed solid.

The baby boomers are retiring in ever-greater numbers. Many of those are hitting the road in RVs. This is especially true in western Canada where the market for RVs is especially large. The answer to Ray seemed obvious: “We have this big facility. It was already set up as a heavy truck shop. We’ve done a number of RV units at the dealership level. Speaking to people it turned out there was an opening here. I opened up a new avenue. We found a market where there aren’t too many guys. We really chase the RVs now,” he says He admits it’s been an adventure. “I can tell you the reason no one does it ... It’s damned near impossible.”

The number of RVs on the road may be larger than ever, and the vehicles are bigger and more complex. And they are all packed with the features of an everyday home. Repairing one of these home on wheels is one of the bigger jobs in the industry. There’s a lot that can go wrong.

“If someone cuts a corner too fast and hits a post all these aluminum sub-frames are crumpled. There are steel components that get bent. The HVAC and sewage system have to be repaired.

Talk about getting dirty, you should see what happens when the sewage system is damaged,” says Ray. “There is a lot more than just ‘remove and replace’ being done here.”

Jobs are so complex that a cycle time of four weeks is common.

Sure, the bills are big, but so are the headaches. Ray goes into detail about some of the eccentricities of the market. Each vehicle is 78 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Not just mechanical help Techs also need to have a wider range of skills than would be found in other shops. Often a job will include wood and carpentry work. “We’ll get your coffee table back to the way it was,” says Ray. Someone in the shop needs to know how to service an electrical system similar to a residential home. Modern RVs have wall outlets, air conditioning, cable satellite television, refrigerator, patio awning systems with a power lift, hot water tanks and now even heated floors. It all has to be repaired along with the standard vehicle 12-volt electrical system.

This is a lot to keep track of on one of these jobs. “I’ve got guys who remove and service the tech. I’ve got guys that all they do is remove trim. Some of these RVs will have 15 power locks and they all better work. I’m lucky to get quality employees. But every day is a challenge. There’s never a boring day,” says Ray. Even hail damage becomes a huge hassle when it comes to RVs. On the roof of a modern land cruiser are satellite dishes, vents, antennae and awnings. It all has to be fixed, even if original replacement parts can’t be found, which is often the case with these vehicles. “Sometimes you’re dealing with an aftermarket roof and so you can’t go to the manufacturer … and then you find the maker doesn’t exist any more. In those cases we have to go do the next best thing. But how do you communicate that to a client? They don’t understand why you can’t just put it back like it was,” says Ray. The hassles are endless, you can be sure. And then there’s

BIG BUSINESS

the oversight on the part of insurance companies that goes far beyond the auto collision repair sector. “It’s a different estimating procedure than the one in auto collision. There, repairers have a very set process for estimating cars. You’ve got Mitchell and Audatex systems where everything is automated,” says Ray. This is not the case here.

“In this industry every repair involves a conversation with the insurer or third-party appraiser. Every repair job has an independent review by the insurer, which is an old school way of doing things, but there is no other way to do it. I don’t foresee any automated system being developed because the industry is pretty small. The industry likely doesn’t warrant the investment,” says Ray. As result a lot of decision making is still done by humans on the shop floor. “It’s very different from a management perspective.

There’s a lot of labour in managing one of these jobs. You’re tracking down parts, many of which were only manufactured for one year.

If you can’t find the right part you have to an alternative. There is a lot more decision-making regarding what replacement part to use.

Administratively there are a lot more decisions to be made,” says Ray. He added, “You can’t just call up and say ‘I need this or that.’

There’s always a catch. One out of three times the part will have already changed and been discontinued. Knowing who to talk to when you call up the manufacturers, that’s 50 percent of the battle.”

Of course, once the repairs are done, the battle is only half over.

Once the RV is back together it has to be painted. Which is where things really get interesting.

Repainting an RV after a collision requires a highly skilled painter. Striping packages offered by the manufacturers are more complex and difficult to replicate than ever. High-end models will have five colours with fades and stenciled outlines. There is 45 feet of body to cover. There can be a blend of colours covering 10 feet of that. “You’ll have red in the middle, grey outside and then fade that together. This is a finish quality you’d have on a high-end car,” says Ray. “The standard is so high. It has to be. And so you have to develop the skills to match that. If you’re passing over the money for an RV you want it shiny, something you can show off.

When it comes down to it, it’s a high quality finish. The challenge is reproducing that.”

The big hassle when it comes to painting is that the manufacturers will change the paints used on a model line almost yearly.

According to Ray, “The manufacturers will buy from the cheapest producer that year. One year it’ll be AkzoNobel, then Sherwin Williams, then another.” Many US manufacturers are also noncompliant in terms of VOC standards. “Our problem is that they are using custom colours that are non-compliant and so I can’t get them here. That can be a problem,” says Ray. Western has been lucky in terms of staffing. The company has managed to find some “really skilled techs” who like the challenges and diversity of the work. The head painter comes from Revelstoke where he was painting helicopters.

There are benefits The big benefit to working in this sector is that the work is remarkably steady. RVs are expensive vehicles. Relatively few of them are written off. Which is different than the auto sector these days. “We’re looking at a lot more repairs these days. The thing is that the actual cash value, or ACV, is high. If a GM car is worth $10,000 and it needs $6,000 in repairs, the repair might not be financially feasible. When you’ve got an AVC of well over $100,000 and your repair is $10,000, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to a

new vehicle. The repair size is inherently large in this sector,” says Ray. Another neat little bit of business in this sector involves checkups on RVs that have been delivered from the factory. RVs can’t be shipped. They have to be delivered to the buyer. That trip can put some wear on an RV and often there will be some road damage at the end of the trip. But the manufacturers also want to deliver a pristine vehicle to the buyer and so the driver will bring the RV into the shop after the delivery run for an inspection just before it goes to the buyer.

Any minor work that needs to be done is taken care of, ensuring the RV looks like new and is dent-less when it’s delivered to the customer. “The clients are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has to be in perfect shape when it arrives. It’s good warranty work. You take care of the cracks and the chips that can occur on that delivery trip,” says Ray. Western techs often do work repairing roofs damaged from the high amounts of UV sun in the south. “You’ll have to do refinish work and polish peeling paint,” says Ray. “We get that a lot. But you do whatever can be done to make this major investment look good. Owners are hypercritical when it comes to their RVs. When the vehicles comes out of the garage, if they’re grinning you’re good. We don’t have many frowning customers, but we have a few.

Sometimes there are repairs you just can’t do. You’re limited by what’s available. You have to explain to the customer that sometimes there are issues and that they’ll just have to accept what’s on there.”

He added, “Customer education is important. You have to explain why this is the best replacement. You hope that they have realistic expectations. But what can you do? These people are fussy. They wash their RV by hand. They live in it. These guys know these things in-and-out. There is a reason not many shops are doing this work. It’s a unique business, that’s for sure,” says Ray. “It takes a certain amount of passion and pride in your ability to do this. You have to want to do well. That’s the spirit and attitude we’ve created in the staff. It’s a unique place in the collision repair sector. It’s not cut and dried like many DRP-based repairers. That was my sell for my staff. Use the skills you’ve developed.”

How many other shops are doing similar work? Ray suggests a handful. “My understanding in talking to industry people is that there are maybe a half-dozen in Alberta and that I’m one of three specializing in this,” says Ray. He sees other shops getting into the sector down the road. But he also sees those shops getting out again as soon as they realize how difficult the work is. “They get in, and then they get out. It takes dedication and some love. But it’s good business. The people in the RV business are good people,” he says.

Western has stayed in the game, partly by putting such a huge premium on client satisfaction. “The thing I cannot stress enough: Every repair is a ‘make it or break it’ thing with the owners of the vehicle. The problem with DRP in my view is that it takes the focus away from the quality of the repair and focuses only on repairer expense. You’re working for the insurers and all they care about are numbers. But it’s the person who owns the car who cares the most, and that’s the person you have to satisfy,” says Ray. He talks about the importance of listening to the customer the first time he meets them. “At that initial meeting and appraisal I try to be aware of what it is the owner is telling me. I really try to listen to what they’re trying to tell me. That’s the thing ... that’s the difference between a customer-focused approach and a production-based approach. I think that’s important. I’m interested in carrying on this business. It started back in 1989. It’s important to me we build a reputation for doing good work,” he says.

OctoBer 2016 collision Repair 79

Report on training

Advanced Programming:

New refinish curriculum offers painters a path to perfection

F

ollowing several months of development, Axalta Coating Systems officially launched its Master Refinish Certification program earlier this month, providing professionals and aspiring students across North America with the platform to perfect their painting skills.

In rolling out the new four-stage teaching initiative, Axalta has completely remodeled the way it offers its programming. Under the previous regime, trainees were required to spend three days training, while the newly refined course calls for just two days.

Speaking to Collision Repair magazine, Axalta’s North American Learning and Development Director Patrice Marcil said he couldn’t be happier with the new program, describing it simply as “a better way to present training.”

“Our customers asked for a program that would help develop talent in their businesses,” Marcil said. “Our new Master Refinish Certification program is going to do just that. By remodeling our entire training program, we’re looking at creating and developing the skills of the individuals enrolled in the most progressive way possible.”

He added, “When you look at the way the business is going today, you could have a job in a shop worth tens of thousands of

Axalta Coating Systems has unveiled a new four-stage training program for professional painters. Registration for the Master Refinish Certification program is open now.

Individuals will be required to hit the classroom from Level 200 onwards, with the second stage regarded as the “professional level” of training. Taking place in an Axalta Learning and Development Center, students will be taught the basic fundamentals of refinishing, as well as being informed about the skills needed to perform their jobs.

Level 300 is considered the advanced level of training and will require individuals

The final level of testing, Level 400, is the expert level decision-making course. This stage provides technicians with the tools to achieve preventative troubleshooting abilities using abstract concepts, resulting in professional, efficient repair.

Once all four stages of training have been completed, individuals will have earned their master refinish certification. Marcil says the organization has “special plans” for the final stage of testing.

“If we are able to shave five minutes per repair … over the course of a week, for a large shop, that is an awful lot of money saved.”

- Patrice Marcil, Axalta’s North American Learning and Development Director. dollars, so the people performing these jobs need to be very good. This program will ensure those enrolled, once finished, will be very good at their job.”

The first stage of training, named Level 100, is the entry-level course reserved mainly for field training and simply requires individuals to clue up on the basic training practices and facts related to refinishing. This stage can be completed in a regular shop, according to Marcil.

“The initial level of training will be straightforward work that you could complete right in-shop,” Marcil said. “We’ll come out and essentially (show someone the ropes) of refinishing.”

to learn to take basic concepts and apply them in a practical way. Training in this stage will once again take place at an Axalta Learning and Development Center.

“The level of complexity for the third stage increases a little bit from the second stage, so people need to start showing a real understanding of paint chemistry and an understanding of the equipment and work environment if they are to maximize the results and minimize mistakes,” Marcil said. “That’s what this program is about – essentially training people to such a standard as to eliminate the need for redoes and ensuring they’re getting the best results all the time.”

“We’ve decided we’re going to video tape Level 400, there’s going to be a real focus on the analysis of skills and looking in detail at how good each person is and how well they spray,” Marcil said. “It’s going to be pretty unique. It will present those taking part with the ability to troubleshoot and analyze their own skills, which is pretty much the ultimate prize here.”

Testing an average of 5,000 professionals across Canada and the US each year, Marcil said he hoped to see between five and 10 per cent (250 and 500) of those enrolling to reach master certification status sometime within the next 12 months.

October 2016 collision Repair 81

report on training

Currently costing $200 per day, regardless of the level of testing, master certification can be reached at a total cost of $1,200 – a small investment considering the vast return, according to Marcil.

“When you look at the requirements today and how the collision repair industry operates, right now every single second counts in a shop,” Marcil said. “There is a large emphasis placed on quickness and if we are able to shave five minutes per repair simply

by training individuals to do things right the first time, essentially avoiding any waste, then over the course of a week, for a large shop, that is an awful lot of money saved.”

He added, “Of course every good shop already has highly skilled employees. You cannot thrive in this industry without that.

What this program will do is optimize those skills, which should, theoretically, lead to better results.”

“I’d absolutely encourage anyone that

wants to better their skills to take part in this program. The goal of anyone in this industry should not be to just have the required level of skills, you need to be ahead of the curve. This program will set you firmly on that road,” Marcil said.

For more information on Axalta Coating Systems and their new Master Refinish Certification program, visit axalta. ca. To register for the program, visit axaltalearningcampus.com.

More facilities achieve I-CAR Gold CLass Five more collision facilities have achieved I-CAR Gold Class under the newer “Role Rep” program.

The Gold Class recognition is the highest role-relevant training achievement recognized by the collision repair industry. According to I-CAR’s website, in order to gain Gold Class recognition businesses must meet the network’s standards across each of the major collision repair roles: structural, non-structural, production management and refinish.

CARSTAR London East and West First up, two CARSTAR locations in London were credited with Gold Class status after completing the new I-CAR program in June.

Wayne Minogue, owner of both CARSTAR London East and CARSTAR London West, noted it was “quite the task” reaching the status, with I-CAR estimating only 10 percent of repair facilities across Canada currently meet the necessary standards.

“My two appraisers had to take eleven (additional) courses.

The body men had to take six or seven, including all the advance welding courses on structure and sectioning, so it was a lot of work,” Minogue told Collision Repair magazine.

He added, “They saw the training that was required, but they saw how bad I wanted it, and they were okay with it. I’m proud of what we’ve done at both shops.”

Fix Auto North Bay Fix Auto North Bay had the honour of being the first Fix Auto facility in all of Canada to reach Gold Status when it completed its training in June.

Having also been the first in the family to receive the Honda ProFirst designation, it’s clear to see that shop manager Kelly Roberts is passionate about leading from the front. He has been tenacious and relentless about organizing and getting classes to the North Bay area.

Speaking to Collision Repair magazine earlier this summer, Roberts heralded his staff for all the work they put in throughout the test period.

“We are extremely proud to have this prestigious certification. We worked really hard as a team to make sure we would complete the certification,” Roberts said. “It was truly a great team effort.”

82 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

CSN-Kingston Owned and operating by Pat and Patty Stenson, CSN-Kingston has been putting a huge emphasis on training, with the pair noting the ongoing investment in staff and equipment was a deliberate ploy to help carry the family business forward into the next generation.

Pat’s experience in the collision repair industry started prior to his career as a shop owner, having worked for a major automotive refinish manufacturer in both sales and management positions.

Patty left her career as a legal secretary to join him in opening the facility in 1994. Today, their children Shawn and Amanda, also play key roles in the operation.

A statement from CSN-Kingston says the credit for the facility’s success comes down to the great relationships they have built with employees, local OEM dealerships, insurance brokers and agents, as well as insurance companies.

“We constantly strive to improve operations and customer experience,” Pat says. “We want to commit to our employees training to have them grow with the shop.”

St. Claude Autobody Becoming only the second facility in Manitoba to reach Gold Class status, St. Claude Autobody is located in a small, vibrant community outside of Winnipeg.

Norm Bruneau is the owner of St. Claude Autobody. In a recent interview with Collision Repair magazine, he discussed his reasons for pursuing I-CAR Gold Class.

“We have an ongoing commitment to staying current with technology, repair techniques and training to keep pace with the automotive industry,” he says. “In my view, it’s going to become standard. A lot of the OEMs require you to be certified now, and I think more of them will come out with those programs in the future.”

I-CAR research has shown that customers that use Gold Class facilities have noted improved satisfaction scores of 5 percent.

Other key performance indicators show that repair times and touch times improved, while supplement counts fell.

In addition, a 2013 analysis found that Gold Class businesses outperformed other body shops by 47 percent in the CynCast Shop Performance Value Rating, which measures shop performance through several key metrics.

TECH TALK

The Carbon

Conundrum We’re certain to see more carbon fibre, but when?

By Mike Davey

Teijin’s concept car, with a carbon fibre body. The body structure of the car weighs just 47 kg.

C

arbon fibre has been a part of automotive construction for many years, but it’s rare that we see it outside of trim pieces or in extremely high-end automobiles. In a lot of ways, carbon fibre seems almost tailor-made for cars: incredibly strong and extraordinarily lightweight, there simply aren’t many materials that can match it. The only thing that keeps it from widespread use is the very high cost of production.

We’re certainly going to see more of it in the future. Get ready for that future. It’s coming, and very soon.

Japanese carbon fibre manufacturer Teijin has big plans. The company has announced it will purchase automotive composite supplier Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) in December 2016.

Make no mistake, Teijin’s plans are specifically geared towards providing in-demand materials for automotive construction. A statement from the company says it is targeting annual sales of $2 billion USD by 2030.

Teijin intends to use the acquisition to establish an automotive composite products business in North America, and to accelerate its expansion as a supplier of high-performance composites to the global automotive market.

CSP is a well-established player in thermoset composites for the automotive industry and the world’s largest sheet molding compound (SMC) manufacturer for automakers. The company is headquartered in Michigan and was founded in 1969. Surfaces produced by its SMC technology have been adopted by various automakers in the US, Europe and Japan. The company has 14 facilities in the US, Mexico, France and China, and approximately 3,200 employees. It posted consolidated sales of over $634 million

A dramatic demonstration of the relative lightness of carbon fibre.

Two people can easily lift the body-in-white of Teijin’s concept automobile.

USD in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015.

A statement from Teijin says the company will benefit from CSP’s established sales channels in North America. The acquisition will also allow the combined businesses to provide a broader range of solutions to the automotive industry.

CSP specializes in thermoset composites, while Teijin’s expertise is in thermoplastics. The difference between the two is that thermoplastics can be melted back into a liquid and reshaped.

Thermoset composites, however, remain in a permanent solid state after manufacturing.

October 2016 collision Repair 85

TECH TALK

Traditionally, most of the composites in the automotive industry have been of the thermoset type, although there are thermoplastics around as well.

“We are confident that the platform for automotive composite products business we will gain through the acquisition of CSP’s complementary technical expertise in thermoset composites and GFRP (glass fibre reinforced plastic - Ed.) know-how will trigger further development of our integrated high-performance materials business, one of our key strategic fields,” said Jun Suzuki, President and CEO of Teijin.

The company has been funding research into new processes to back up those goals. The Teijin Composites Innovation Centre was established in 2008, focused on developing leading-edge composite product technologies and applications.

That research paid off in 2011 when the company developed the world’s first mass-production technology for carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP), with a production interval of just one minute. The high costs of carbon fibre are due in part to the lengthy production time of traditional methods. New methods such as this will serve to bring the cost down and likely make it more attractive to automakers.

Teijin built a concept car in 2011, in part to demonstrate the capabilities of the new process. The body structure is constructed of Teijin’s thermoplastic CFRP. Carbon fibre structures have approximately 10 times the strength of an equivalent steel structure, but only about a quarter of the weight.

The total weight of the body structure of Teijin’s concept car is just 47 kg, or approximately 104 lbs. A lower weight body structure has benefits all down the line for auto manufacturers: a lighter engine, lighter brakes and suspension, etc. In other words, lightweighting

86 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Adrian Sabau and Jian Chen of Oak Ridges National Laboratory use a laser to prepare the surface of carbon fbre composites and aluminum to create superior bonds that can absorb 200 percent more energy than conventional bonds.

the body structure leads to lower weights throughout the vehicle.

This is vital as the OEMs try to hit various fuel-efficiency and lightweighting targets.

Teijin is by no means the only runner in this race. Recently, LeMond Composites partnered with Oak Ridges National Laboratory (ORNL) to provide commercial carbon fibre applications for the transportation industries, including automotive. The company says it expects to start selling it to vehicle manufacturers by 2018.

For more on this, please see page 18 of this issue.

It looks like carbon fibre is going to be rolling into your shop sooner rather than later. Make sure to check out the next issue of Collision Repair magazine for an overview of what’s needed to provided safe and effective carbon fibre repairs.

Profiles of success

October 2015 collision Repair 87

Profiles of MITCHELL ROAD success SHOW

MITCHELL ROADSHOW

18th-annual PTAO Tow Show an overwhelming success

By Mike Pickford Over a hundred professionals involved with the towing industry took over the Markham fairgrounds on August 26 and 27 as the Provincial Towing Association of Ontario (PTAO) hosted its 18thannual Tow Show.

Welcoming guests from all across the province, the PTAO provided the perfect mix of business and entertainment for those in attendance, with several “fun” competitions taking centre stage alongside the organization’s AGM, the announcement of a new provincial initiative and an extremely popular business management training program. Speaking to Canadian Towing and Recovery magazine following the annual event, PTAO President Joey Gagne noted this latest Tow Show was right up there alongside the best the provincial association had ever put together.

“The show this year was just awesome. We had people coming out from all across Ontario to join us for what was a great, great weekend,” Gagne said. “The turnout was right up there with the best we’ve ever seen. We really buckled down and came up with a great schedule for this year’s show and our members really responded to that.”

The association kicked off the event a little differently than it has done in the past with a special press conference introducing Tow Safety Week - a new initiative developed by the PTAO, CAA South Central Ontario and the provincial government.

“Essentially, Tow Safety Week is exactly what it sounds like it would be – a brand new initiative designed to create a little bit of public awareness around the Slow Down, Move Over laws, as well as promoting safety as it relates to Bill 15 and just really making sure everyone is doing what they can to help keep drivers and tow truck operators safe,” Gagne said.

Pressing forward, the association launched right into its AGM, with discussions surrounding Bill 15 – also knows as the ‘Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act - upcoming association legislations and the PTAO’s annual elections taking centre stage. Gagne was re-elected for a 12th straight year as president, while newcomers Bryce Weber, of Aces Heavy Towing, and Andrew Vink of Herb’s Towing replaced the outgoing Gadi Cohen, of Co-up Towing Services and Duncan Cooper, of Cornwall Towing, on the association’s 9-person board.

“I’m really pleased with the addition of Bryce and Andrew to the board this year. Alongside some of the other new additions over the past couple of years, this makes up one of the youngest boards we’ve ever had,” Gagne said. “They’re all bringing some great new thoughts and ideas forward and it’s looking like we’re going to have a very bright future here at the PTAO.”

Several towers from across Ontario took the opportunity to show off some of their equipment at the show.

Daniel Dion, Shawn Baker, Mark Graves, Derek Didone, Barry Money and Salvatore Fedele make up the rest of the PTAO board for the coming year.

Running alongside the AGM was the bread and butter of the annual event – its main trade show. With over 20 vendors on hand from all across Canada, Gagne said there was a fantastic mix of industry professionals on hand to promote their product and offer their expertize to the members in attendance.

“We’re extremely fortunate as an association to have such a loyal group of vendors that consistently come back year after year after year,” Gagne said. “The trade show was once again a huge success.”

The event came to a fitting end with the presentation of this year’s Towman of the Year award. Andy Gobbo of the Sudburybased Gobbo Towing was recognized for all his years of hard work in the industry.

“Andy is one of the most genuinely kind, honest and dignified people that I know. He’s a very professional man and a great leader in the towing industry and a fine member of our association,” Gagne said. “He’s very well deserving of the Towman of the Year title.”

With yet another hugely successful Tow Show in the bag, Gagne said the organization wouldn’t be resting on its laurels, declaring instead that the board was already focusing on the year ahead.

Following a successful inaugural session this past weekend, Gagne said the PTAO would be bringing its “incredibly popular” business management program back once again in the fall.

“The business manager training seminar we hosted on Saturday was probably the hottest event we had at the show this year – it sold out and was very, very well attended. It was so well attended and there was such a demand for it that we’ve already decided we’re going to be hosting another one this October at our head office in Bracebridge,” Gagne said. “It’s very exciting.

It’s a great way for us to carry the momentum of this year’s Tow Show forward and into the future.”

October august 2013 2016 collision Repair 91

Contents Recycling News....................93 - 98

Auto recyclers head to Malaysia for 9th-biennial International Roundtable

Despite quarterly loss, Fenix doing well

By Jeff Sanford

Global leaders from the recycling industry traveled to Malaysia this past summer to participate in the 9th International Roundtable on Auto Recycling. Pictured above right is Ed MacDonald of the Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC), one of many national association representatives in attendance.

Auto recyclers from around the world traveled to Malaysia to attend the 9th I nter nat iona l Rou ndt a ble on Auto Recycling (IRT). The event took place at Hatten Hotel Melaka.

The IRT brings together the leading i nt e r n at ion a l aut om ot i ve re c yc le r associations, industry players, officials, guest speakers and local auto recyclers to discuss global auto recycling issues.

Each IRT is unique to the local hosting association. The event takes place every two years and provides a platform for recyclers to share information about emerging technology, regulatory trends a nd busi ness oppor t u nit ies. It a lso provides a place to recyclers to showcase and share industry best practices.

T he 2 016 I RT w a s ho s te d by t he Ma laysia Automot ive Rec ycling Association (MAARA).

E d MacDona ld at tended t he I RT

on behalf of the Automotive Recyclers o f C a n a d a (A RC). A l s o a t t e n d i n g f r om Nor t h A me r ic a w a s M ic h a e l Wilson, Executive Vice President of the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), the US equivalent to ARC. “Canada, the United States, Malaysia, Austra lia, Singapore, China, and of course Japan were represented and there were several dignitaries from various levels of government, academia and businesses,” says MacDonald.

M a cD on a ld not e s t h at t he s he er nu mb er of veh ic le s b ei ng re c yc le d worldwide is astounding. China alone expects to be recycling 14 million vehicles by 2020. Plans are underway in that country to build a new plant that will recycle a vehicle every six minutes.

The next IRT will be held in Niagara Falls, Ont., with ARC and ARA serving as joint hosts of the event.

Auto recycling conglomerate Fenix Parts has announced its first quarter 2016 results. While the company reported a loss, the underlying business seems to be doing well.

The company recorded a net loss of $41 million for the quarter, or $1.97 per share. The losses were tied to “significant non-cash amortization” and a “goodwill impairment charge” of approximately $43.3 million initially triggered by a decline in the company’s stock price. That is, the losses were largely paper ones. Looking at the company’s underlying business, there was reason to be positive about the performance of the company over the latest quarter.

Some of the highlights from the first quarter of 2016 include an increase in net revenues. The amount of money flowing through the company from sales increased by 9 percent to $32.8 million.

This is up from $30.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Company executives pointed to the recent acquisitions of recyclers Ocean County, Butler and TriCity as driving growth in revenue.

The company also reported that overall sales of recycled OEM products improved, rising to $28.8 million for the first quarter of 2016, up from $26.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $27.3 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Sales from other activities such as scrap sales into the commodities market were approximately $4 million in the first quarter of 2016, up from $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $4.1 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Continued on page 96.

October 2016 collision Repair 93

Profiles of success

Research team at Georgia Tech develops new way to recycle carbon fibre

By Mike Pickford

Accord ing to repor ts, a g roup of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology may be responsible for one of the most ground-breaking discoveries relating to the collision repair industry in recent memory after it was revealed the team had developed a method to recycle almost 100 percent of the materials found in certain forms of thermoset carbon fibre composites.

As reported in the US university’s Research Horizons magazine, the group discovered they were able to separate carbon fibres from the epoxy that binds and holds the metal together by soaking it in alcohol. This process slowly dissolves the epoxy and allowed the researchers to strip the carbon fibres away and reuse them.

Carbon fibre has long been a popular material choice for those in the collision repair and aftermarket industry thanks to its its unique abilit y of providing

st reng t h wh i le rema i ni ng lightweight. The metal though has never truly taken off as an everyday material in the business, thanks in large part to its expensive cost and poor recycling potential.

With this discovery, many in the industry will be hoping that second cha llenge will soon be a thing of the past.

Perhaps the most promising revelation in the report is the Kai Yu, a former postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech, research team’s theory that shows off a new method of recycling carbon fibre immersing they should be able to recycle composites in alcohol. large pieces of carbon fibre using the method, with one of the men a billion-dollar discovery with Georgia behind the project Kai Yu stating the Tech professor Jerry Qi stating his belief process is “simple” and “straightforward.” that the new recycling process could “It’s very easy to operate, so there’s no size reduce thousands of tons of carbon fibre limit,” Yu said. “It can be easily scaled up.” waste generated each year in Europe and The discovery has the potential to be across North America.

94 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

Profiles of success

Automotive aluminum recycling over 90 percent New research from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) Centre for Resource Recovery and Recycling confirms an overall recycling rate of 91 percent for automotive aluminum. The peerreviewed study, funded by the Aluminum Association, examines how much aluminum used in the light-duty automotive sector is recovered and recycled from end-of-life vehicles. This new study supports findings from earlier third-party government and auto industry reports to confirm aluminum is the most sustainable choice for the environment.

“We set out to detail exactly how aluminum is separated and recovered at the end of a vehicle’s service life and findings show it

helps automakers improve the sustainability of their operations and products, while also providing supply chain security. Once produced, aluminum can be recycled repeatedly without any degradation while maintaining significant economic value.

“Aluminum continues to show its fundamental value as a sustainable solution at every stage of an automobile’s life,” said Tom Boney, Chairman of the Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group (ATG).

The aluminum industry continues robust investments in innovations and technologies designed to reduce its overall environmental footprint. Current data commissioned by the

“Aluminum continues to show its fundamental value as a sustainable solution at every stage of an automobile’s life.” Tom Boney, Chairman of the Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group. is highly recyclable and is recovered and reused at very high rates,” said Professor Diran Apelian, Founding Director of WPI’s Metal Processing Institute. “This study confirms that as aluminum use continues to grow in the automotive sector it also enhances energy security and environmental protections.”

Aluminum use in cars and trucks continues to rise and has seen consistent growth during the last 40 years, in part, because of its consumer and environmental benefits. Recycled aluminum

Aluminum Association confirms the energy needed to produce primary aluminum is down more than a quarter since 1995 with carbon emissions down nearly 40 percent due to expanded use of hydroelectric power sources for aluminum production.

In an independent life cycle assessment conducted by the US Department of Energy, use of aluminum in new vehicles to boost fuel economy was found to offer the smallest total carbon footprint among competing materials.

October OctoBer2016 2015 collision collisionRepair Repair 95

features

Continued from page 93.

In a recent press release issued by the company, Kent Robertson, the CEO of Fenix Parts, was quoted as saying, “We were pleased with our first quarter revenue growth as favourable industry dynamics and the continued execution of our growth initiatives

drove sales of recycled OEM parts at nearly all of our facilities.”

In a conference call following the release of the latest numbers the company noted that, “In the first quarter, we once again saw strong sales growth of recycled original equipment

96 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

parts, driven by the successful execution of our growth initiatives and continued favourable industry dynamics....despite the soft January, several of our US locations had all time records in both February and March for part sales. Our core business continues to do well, and we’re gaining momentum. In the second quarter, we’re seeing very positive trends on a sales side and beginning to show leverage on the cost side.”

Scott Pettit, the Chief Financial Officer of Fenix, also addressed the conference call.

He pointed out that in the last quarter Fenix, “...bought approximately 4,600 vehicles from auctions and paid an average of $2,300 per vehicle compared with roughly the same number of vehicles in Q4 ’15 and at an average price of $2,070. For self-service operations, we bought approximately 7,000 vehicles and paid approximately $200 per vehicle in Q1, compared with the purchase of 7,600 vehicles at an average price of approximately $180 in Q4 ’15.”

All in, though the company recorded a loss in the latest quarter, looking under the hood, there is reason for optimism.

“We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Fenix Parts,” said Robertson on the call. “Our first quarter results began to show the strength of our model and the opportunity to grow Fenix Parts into a large profitable business. And I’m pleased that we’ve continued to see that sales momentum throughout the second quarter and the overall improvement of the business.”

Investors seem to understand this. According to recent reports in the financial trade press, Sanders Morris Harris has purchased a new stake in shares of Fenix Parts during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Fenix Parts by 6.7 percent. State Street Corp (one of the world’s largest institutional investors) added its position in Fenix Parts by increasing its stake by 9.3 percent in the first quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. also increased its position in Fenix Parts in the first quarter.

features Profiles of success

Impact Auto Auctions launches enhanced online platform Impact Auto Actions has launched a new website with a modern interface and an array of enhancements.

The new site also offers Impact’s buying customers access to two new tools: My Auction Center, a personalized dashboard designed to streamline the process of sourcing and purchasing salvage vehicles, and Impact AuctionNow, an online bidding platform that helps buyers optimize their time online. The company says Impact AuctionNow integrates with My Auction Center, ensuring all account activity is easily accessible.

“We are delighted to launch our new online buyer portal which not only simplifies the bidding process for our customers, but reinforces our commitment to investing in our diverse and growing buyer market,” said Terry Daniels, Impact’s Managing Director. “Together these enhancements constitute one of our largest investments in our buyer base to date and we are already getting great feedback from buyers.”

The updated website includes an advanced search function which allows users to find vehicles by choosing from several pre-

defined categories, as well as a “saved search” option which stores users most frequently used search terms to improve the online experience. A statement from Impact also says the site offers a simplified registration process for new buying customers which eliminates the need to complete extensive paperwork with a fast and secure online registration to access the company’s auctions.

Building on the company’s previous LiveBlock Hybrid Auction system, the site now has a contemporary interface and new features that enable buyers to find and purchase salvage vehicles through Impact’s website with greater ease and efficiency.

In addition, AuctionNow allows customers to gain faster and easier access to Impact’s vehicle inventory, streamlining the buying process and providing a better customer experience.

Through the upgraded platform, buyers can now view and bid on multiple auction lanes or sales from one screen, track active bids across all auctions sites, pre-bid on a vehicle from the moment it is posted until its auction date, and monitor upcoming buying opportunities via an automated Watch List.

Copart Canada releases new national website Canada has announced the launch of a new website tailored to Canadian members. The new website, copart.ca, continues to use Copart’s proprietary VB3 auction technology. The new site features Canadian inventory and content specifically chosen for the Canadian market.

“This new website is an investment to better serve our Canadian members with direct and easy access to the inventory that is available at our six auction locations across Canada,” said Steve Macaluso, Managing Director of Copart Canada. “The new website

98 98 collision collision Repair Repair collisionrepairmag.com collisionrepairmag.com

is also available in French and will exclusively feature Canadian specific content.”

Copart Canada members will now have access to week ly Canadian auction updates, specialty auction announcements, and updates on i ndu s t r y ne w s a nd re g u l at or y developments.

“We are committed to providing our members with a great selection of vehicles using our industry leading auction technology in a safe and transparent online marketplace,” said Macaluso.

recycling i

ProductivityExpress Good business people are riding the freight train to success.

By David Gold

T

here isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t speak to a collision repair customer, business person, professional or friend that expresses how busy they are from a work perspective. Most of the time we all acknowledge how lucky we are that we work in a field that we are subject matter experts in and that we are passionate about, as we agree that the opposite – not being busy, is a much less envious position to be in.

This article is dedicated to my fellow columnist and customer, Sam Piercey who passed away last month. Sam was never afraid to tell you how he viewed the trends in the collision repair industry and we often spoke candidly about the pressures good business people were under on a day-to-day basis. Sam expressed to me how business just keeps getting more complicated and intensely scrutinized from all perspectives – and this sentiment was expressed without even getting into the actual repairs! The net result of it all was clear and that was in order to flourish in the business, repairers needed to push the boundaries and themselves in an ongoing and often unsustainable way.

The productivity issue is an important one and it is clear that repairers and recyclers alike will continually have to evolve and incorporate best practices, to do more with less. In order to survive in the business we will have to work harder and smarter to meet the requirements of our customers, or a competitor will seek to gain the business.

For repairers, the emphasis on cycle time has contributed in many ways to the dynamic change many repairer friends of mine do business these days. One drastic change is the necessity to have their shops open and working around the clock including evenings and weekends – seven days a week to push the cars through the system. Aside from all of the paperwork required on a repair, the hands-on labour portion of the work is also required and needs to be appropriately scheduled.

Consumers, businesses and insurance companies alike want to do business with good business people. Most repairers these days are engaged and taking the business very seriously as corporate stores and large independents take a larger share of the marketplace. These businesses will most certainly incorporate lean principles and help find that much needed work - life balance that eludes many repairers at this time. One sole proprietor

100 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

told me recently that he works 75 to 80 hours a week as that is what is required of him. He’s a friend who is very aware of the trends in the hypercompetitive collision repair industry and feels the need to be at the shop and keep things in order even though it comes at the expense of less family time and wing nights with his friends.

The truth is that in most auto-related businesses and certainly in the auto recycling and collision repair segment – there is never a shortage of tasks to be done in our facilities. No matter how refined and professional we all become, we are still dealing with unique and challenging tasks daily. The fleet of vehicles is ever evolving as is the expertize and know-how required to work on these vehicles, more so now than ever before.

As I headed to NACE I looked forward with great interest to learn more about the heightened level of manufacturer involvement with respect to education for collision repairers, moreover than anything else.

I will also attend the MSO symposiums and stay upto-date on the rapid changes that your industry (like many others) is facing at this time as independents move to corporate entities. What better place than California to host NACE where that state is robust with innovation and tech companies. In Sam’s lifetime he witnessed vehicles as high-tech and going forward we will come to know vehicles as computers on wheels, as the fast pace the car companies are rolling at will only escalate more rapidly.

From a productivity standpoint, it’s a vicious cycle we are all a part of these days. All businesses are looking for that slight advantage and in the repairer’s case that means more vehicles being sent their way. So that’s the reward, be more productive and there will be more work. It’s the free enterprise system at its finest and that’s the North American way. Let’s just all keep this in perspective and realize that we must find that balance that we can sustain. Thank you Sam for everything you have done for the industry you loved and for the inspiration you gave me to write this article.

David Gold of Standard Auto Wreckers is a founding member of Fenix Parts and holds the title of President for Canadian Operations. Locations in Canada include Toronto, Port Hope and Ottawa. He can be reached at 416-286-8686.

Industry insight

Advertiser Index Company

Page

3M................................................. 17 AADCO..........................................98 AkzoNobel.......................................7 ARSLAN .......................................24 Assured Automotive..................... 10 Auto Quip........................................8 Automotive Recyclers of Canada...96 Axalta..................................59, OBC BASF...............................................4 Boston Auto Wreckers..................98 Canadian Hail Repair....................50 Car-O-Liner................................... 15 Car-Part.com................................92 Carcone’s Auto Recycling............ 74 Cardinal Couriers..........................31 CARSTAR Canada...................48,49 Celette...........................................19 Collision 360................................. 41 Cresent Industries........................38 Collision Solutions Network.........66 Color Compass.............................86 DV Systems...................................42 D&E Distributors...........................20 Dominion Sure Seal......................60 EMM International.........................84 Eurotech Spray Products.............72 Eurovac......................................... 12 Fix Auto Canada...........................69 Formula Honda.............................37 Garmat..........................................21 Global Finishing Solutions............25 Global Refinishing Imports........... 13 Herkules........................................ 11 Hollander.......................................97 Impact Auto..................................99 Island Clean Air............................87 Kia Canada.....................................9 Krown............................................30 Martech.........................................29 Mercedes Benz.............................32 Micazen.........................................28 Mitchell International...............88,89 Monidex........................................27 Ontario College of Trades.......22,33 Peter Kwasny Inc..........................76 Polyvance......................................63 PPG Canada............................ IFC,3 Pro Spot International..................83 QRP Canada.................................94 Rust Check Corp..........................80 Saint-Gobain Abrasives................75 Scout Environmental....................57 Sherwin-Williams..........................26 Spanesi Americas.........................53 Stark Auto Sales...........................90 Steck Manufacturing....................23 The Brimell Group....................64,65 Thorold Auto Parts.......................95 Titanium Tools & Equipment........34 Toyota....................................... 70,71 Valspar Refinish..........................IBC Wedge Clamp...............................39 Wurth Canada............................... 16

newswatch Interesting items you may have missed.

By Jeff Sanford

T

his time around, we’re taking a look at some of the more interesting items to cross our news desk in recent weeks, including Tesla’s need for the entire planet’s supply of lithium.

- A memo written by an Alcoa executive ended up on a forum for owners of the Jeep Wrangler this week and ended up going viral. According to the leaked document the new version of the Jeep will feature a hood and inside door panels made of aluminum. This wasn’t unexpected.

The CEO of FIAT-C hr ysler, S erg io Marchionne, has indicated the vehicle will begin to use more aluminum parts.

- Mitchell just issued another of its always-interesting trend reports. Some of the interesting items: By 2025 OEMs will use 90 percent more advanced highstrength steel in their vehicles. Also by 2015, “projected percentage of body and closure parts for light vehicles in North America that will be made of aluminum by 2025 (measured by volume rather than weight),” will be 26 percent.

The rep or t a ls o s ays t hat, “More c onsu me rs are l o ok i ng for out s i d e information sources to aid them in making decisions on what collision repair shop to work with, and social media is increasingly influencing this decision ... collision repairers are going to need to be smart about how they leverage social media and their presence on the web in order to position themselves for success.”

Another trend that’s having a big impact on auto casualty insurers is the fact that “both frequency and severity [of claims] continue to rise. There has been, “about a 12 percent increase in bodily injury claims costs over the last five years. The average use of medical services is up about 18 percent, and many injuries are becoming more expensive to diagnose and treat.”

The Mitchell report also notes that insurance adjuster workforce demographics are starting to change. “Many seasoned adjusters are now reaching retirement

102 collision Repair collisionrepairmag.com

age, so there is a loss of expertise in an extremely complex space. It’s becoming imperative for the insurance industry to adopt technologies that allow them to codify in a system the best practices of their third party adjusters.”

- Lithium shortages could turn out to be a big challenge for the electric car industry.

The material is widely used to make highquality batteries. Demand is currently outstripping supply by about 15 percent and that’s likely going to get worse. Chevy is releasing the Bolt this year, and that will eat up some of the supply, but it’s Tesla that will really put the pressure on lithium producers.

The company has already pre-sold around 500,000 Tesla Model 3s, and the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly stated the the company is going to need the entire world’s supply of lithium to meet demand.

- A US couple had to get the local media involved when they couldn’t get their damaged car out of a bankrupt collision repair business in Pittsburgh.

“It’s horrible. It’s just horrible. We haven’t had our car in more than a month,” says Helen Frazier in an article carried by the local CBS affiliate. The couple, “brought their Kia Sorento to West View Auto Body for repairs after a fender bender. The car needed about $1,000 worth of work on it ... Turns out, the owner of West View Auto Body went broke. The business was bankrupt, auctioned off at sheriff sale.”

The couple couldn’t get anyone on the phone, so they turned to the television station, which, “called the new owner, who agreed to open the building ... Shults Ford of Harmarville towed the car from the garage and agreed to finish the repairs for free.” All’s well that ends well, and good publicity for Shults Ford.

Jeff Sanford is the Staff Writer for Collision Repair magazine. He can be reached at 905-370-0101 or at jeff@ collisionrepairmag.com.