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The Automotive Service Association will provide its members and other attendees direct access to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) representatives and training at this year's Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW) events in October. Several OEMs have selected to show their continued commitment to repair professionals by participating in the second annual OEM Pavilion during the ASRW Expo. To date, confirmed participants include General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

"Toyota is extremely pleased to have the chance to meet face-to-face with both our collision and mechanical customers," said Jerry Raskind, wholesale development manager, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. "Qualified experts will be available and ready to field questions on service, parts and repair techniques uniquely designed for the Toyota family of vehicles. The dual platform ASRW makes available in reaching all facets of the automotive service and repair industry is not only valuable, but will prove most efficient."

Fragmentation, frustration and apathy once characterized Florida’s various collision industry associations. Regional groups were created but eventually withered; others started up briefly then stalled. A strong statewide group, fully supporting the individuality of its regional chapters, was unable to get traction.

The Brevard Autobody Association is illustrative. It operated from 1989–2002, with approximately 35 active members. “We were probably the longest running association in the state of Florida at the time that we disbanded,” recalls Steve Long, whose Rockledge-based Long Wholesale Consultants has been serving the state since 1990. The Brevard association spun off from an Orlando association which operated approximately from 1989–1999.

Today, dissolution and distrust in Florida is patiently being replaced by unity and a commitment to longevity. Long is the treasurer of the new Space and Treasure Coast Chapter of the growing Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA).

FACA comprises six state chapters centered by larger cities. Formed in August 2009, Long’s Space and Treasure Coast represents collision-industry members from Titusville south 100 miles or so to Stuart along the Atlantic Coast. The other chapters are FACA of Jacksonville, Mid-State (Lakeland), FACA of Tampa Bay, Central Florida (Orlando) and South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale). Approximately 200 members regularly attend regional meetings statewide.

This year, FACA plans to open chapters in the Miami, Ft. Myers, Pensacola, and other areas. hold a first state convention and hire a full-time executive director, says Dave McBroom, president of FACA and the Jacksonville chapter.
FACA is an affiliate of Prosser, Wa.-based Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) and the National Auto Body Council, headquartered in Princeton Junction, N.J.

McBroom notes that George Avery and Chuck Sulkala at NABC and Barry Dorn and Aaron Schulenburg at SCRS have been particularly helpful during the formative period. “We receive a lot of guidance and assistance from both those organizations,” he says.

We’re back on part two of three on our Shelby Series 1 project that we started in the last issue. We left off last month having the car ready for our base color. I chose a House of Kolor Orion Silver paint. Now a lot of guys think it’s only waterborne that we can use in California, but there are companies such as House of Kolor that have additives we can use to make it [low VOC] compliant. To do that we’re going to use one part paint, one part KU150 catalyst, and two parts KV1 reducer. This way we can use these familiar custom colors and still be compliant with the low VOCs. Of course this will also work in shops outside California, who want to be more environmentally conscious and safe.

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I have watched our industry take two steps backwards and one step forward for over thirty years. Because of this “every man for himself” attitude that runs predominately within the collision industry, we are unable to control the repair process even when it comes to safety. I have heard it said that most shops really would fix the cars correctly but they are being hindered because they are not being paid enough. I say “Bull.”

Either you fix the cars correctly or you are lying to yourself and risk resembling a crook. Sounds tough? Not really. It’s the truth. The choice is yours.

We are the ones that know how to repair collisions. When something is denied by the insurer we scramble to figure out a way to make enough money on the repair to make it worthwhile. Many shops have moved safety issues to the back burner and profit becomes their main concern. They move to the damage control mode because they still need to make money. If you go against the grain and make a stand for safety issues and the integrity of the repair, you risk looking like the bad guy when in fact you are the good guy, and the real ones qualified to do the repair.

After my February column (see related here) on spray-gun choices appeared in Autobody News, I was asked to clarify a point I made on CFM availability in the shop during peak air consumption.

CFM stands for cubic feet per minute and a spray gun’s peak performance is depending on proper air volume. Each spray gun is engineered and tuned, just like a carburetor, for a specific CFM consumption. Some spray guns ask for 8-9 CFM and others want 17 CFM or more for optimum performance. Less CFM consumption doesn’t automatically translate into a better quality spray gun; it simply means that it could be the better choice for your situation. Most manufacturers’ spray guns will consistently perform well and do exactly what they are designed to do, as long as you provide them with their basic pressure and volume requirements.

In the 1940s, in the Spring the Missouri River, in the vicinity of Kansas City, would overflow from heavy Winter snows and Spring rains. The result was serious flooding of the surrounding land. One factor that made the flooding worse was the meandering nature of the river, and one of the worst meanders was locally called “Jackass Bend” where severe flooding was nearly an annual event. To resolve this situation, the U.S. Corps of Engineers dug a straight new channel several miles South of the old one called the Liberty Bend cutoff, and dammed up the old channel. And they built a new bridge across the new channel called the Liberty Bridge.

I’ve noticed that a number of shops put their customers through a few “Jackass Bends” just to get their vehicle repaired. Forms must be filled in and a customer may have to wait for an estimator and then wait for a rental car. The popular buzzword of the day is “Lean Procedures,” with a focus on eliminating unnecessary steps and delays. Much of the emphasis is placed on lean production, but lean customer processing is equally important. Many shops thrive on customer referrals and a customer subjected to a series of “Jackass Bends” is not likely to go out of the way to refer the shop.

Here’s another true story from my book. It reminded me that the true sign of a craftsman is no wrinkles in the duct tape.

A few years ago a nurse dressed in her scrubs came into my Tulsa auto-electric shop early one afternoon. She had just finished her morning shift at the hospital. She told me that things were kind of tight at her house financially, and she didn’t have a lot to spare for car repairs. I told her I would help her out as much as I could.

Her problem was that her headlights didn’t work, and she really needed to take her old Datsun (Dats before Nissan) to work in the early morning hours, regardless whether or not she got a ticket for having no headlights. She explained that she had to leave for work at ‘Oh-dark-thirty,’ as we used to say in the Marines, so I was thinking she had some sort of lighted route that would keep the prying eyes of the law off her tail.