Subletting out certain steps in the repair process can hurt a shop’s operational flow and its bottom line.
Steve Dawson, Washington, D.C., regional manager for Hunter Engineering, stopped by The Collision Vision podcast, driven by Autobody News and hosted by Cole Strandberg, for the second episode in its “Operational Excellence: Shop Strategies for Success” series to talk about those profit centers some shops might be missing out on.
Pre-Scans
Pre-scanning a vehicle identifies all of the modules and systems on the vehicle that will need to be recalibrated based on the needed repairs. “The sooner we identify that it's an issue and we build a repair plan around it, the quicker we get the car done and out the door for the customer,” Dawson said.
Strandberg asked how performing pre-scans can contribute to a shop’s bottom line.
Dawson said No. 1, shops will be able to bill insurance companies for the step. “We're going to have all the appropriate printouts and things required for documentation,” he said. “We're going to not be doing this for free.
All three major estimating systems -- CCC, Mitchell and Audatex -- have a function to automatically add line items identified by the pre-scan to estimates, Dawson said.
“It’s a very common practice to be getting paid for those pre-scans,” Dawson said. “As long as you’re providing the documentation for that pre-scan, you're able to put that line item on the estimate and make sure that you're getting compensated for doing that.”
Pre-scanning allows shops to order any needed electronic components, just as they order other needed parts like fenders and the hood, before starting the repair, which gets the repair finished faster and the vehicle out the door, Dawson said.
Strandberg pointed out that meant even shops who can’t get the insurance company to pay for pre-scanning will see a profit gain in terms of cycle time.
Pre-scanning also identifies ADAS components that may have not been directly involved in the collision, but were impacted by ones that were.
“Something that is minor, maybe a camera or an ultrasonic sensor in the bumper, that's damaged may have an impact on three or four other systems. By identifying that early on, it really saves you a lot in the end of the repair,” Dawson said.
Alignments
Strandberg said alignments are “uniquely polarizing” among collision repairers, as some people say there’s no money in doing it in-house, while others say it increases profitability. Dawson said the latter viewpoint is a misconception, as repairers think the equipment takes up too much space and insurers would prefer they sublet it anyway.
“It’s that education process,” Dawson said. “Collision alignments are different in a lot of cases. Very few [shops] actually take the time to pull the repair procedure for an alignment, and specifically a collision alignment.”
Many OEMs have published repair procedures for alignments, with several more steps than one done for maintenance, Dawson said.
“I'm sure at some point, if you've been subletting your alignments out to a dealership or a local tire shop down the street, you've probably gotten the car back and they say, ‘Hey, something's bent and we don't know what's wrong with it,’ and you gotta figure it out,” Dawson said. In that case, the shop won’t have the data it needs from the suspension to figure out the problem.
But if the shop did its own alignments, it would measure all suspension components and be able to identify which ones were damaged. That would allow the shop to document it for insurance billing and order the parts before beginning the repair.
“We're making our cleanest first sheet right off the bat, and that's really what the goal is,” Dawson said.
It also removes potential liability issues with relying on a third party for alignments. “I've had horror stories of shops that have invested in alignment equipment mainly because the shop that they had been taking their cars to wasn't living up to the quality that they felt was needed for their customers,” Dawson said.
Putting a vehicle on an alignment system before writing an estimate or repair plan takes about five to 10 minutes and provides all of the measurements to determine which components are damaged, Dawson said.
“We're able to build that right into that repair plan right off the bat,” Dawson said.
It also tends to find hidden damage on the opposite side of the impact.
ADAS Calibration
ADAS has proven to reduce both frequency and severity of collisions, but it requires cameras and sensors that often must all be calibrated and working correctly for any of them to function properly, Dawson said.
Subletting out that work means it might not be done properly, which would affect the function of the vehicle once it’s returned to the customer, and, if it malfunctions, potentially set up the shop for a lawsuit.
“This is not a whole lot different than if we replace three brake pads instead of doing all four. We're responsible,” Dawson said. “When we follow those OEM procedures, we don't have to worry. We know that we did it right. It's critical to have a tool that gives you the documentation, if it's through photos or actual readings of where those targets were placed.
“It's critical to have that documentation to ensure that what you're providing to your customer is spot on. And if, God forbid, you got pulled into a lawsuit with it, you'd have documents to say, ‘This is why we know what we've done is correct.’”
Space requirements for proper static calibration can vary between OEMs, Dawson said, but all calibrations require indoor lighting and level floors.
It can also be expensive and time-consuming, Dawson said. He cited a “Who Pays for What?” survey that found shops reported the average calibration costs $235. A vehicle that requires calibration of, for instance, five different systems could need 10 hours to do so.
“A car that's got a front-end hit's probably going to have at least two, could have four or five, six, seven of them,” Dawson said. “The equipment [on the vehicles] has gotten so much more sensitive that it's requiring a lot of these extra steps.”
Key Takeaways
Do pre-alignment checks to identify concerns early. It reduces cycle time by providing the cleanest first sheet.
Perform pre-scans, alignments and ADAS calibration in-house to keep the repair in your control, which also contributes to reduced cycle times, as well as increased customer satisfaction.
The alignment and calibration bay may be your most lucrative bay in the shop.
Abby Andrews