The 45,000 square feet, free-standing Huffines Collision Center is part of the Huffines Auto Group, founded 75 years ago as a Chevrolet dealership. Run by J.L. Huffines, Jr., son of the founder, the auto group now includes seven different name plates, from Dodge to Kia. "A lot of our business is attributable to the dealerships' reputations," explained center manager Huggins. "A 75 year reputation for good service means a lot when someone is deciding where to fix their car."

Still, there are other large dealer groups but they don't have a body shop that grosses $11 million a year and consistently leads all departments in profitability. "We do quality work and people around here know that," explained Huggins. "When you start doing production, people think you have to sacrifice quality. Not true."

Huggins says that, because of their size, they are able to put people and systems in place to insure that every job is done right. "We can afford the latest equipment and we have a big training budget (it's an I-CAR Gold Class Shop). We also pay very well to retain the best people, and we don't cut corners on materials."

To insure that vehicles move through the shop smoothly, Huggins is assisted by two production managers, Spencer Boyett and Chris Houston. "It's a team of 65 people and many have been with us a long, long time. They do good work, consistently."

 

Chose PPG Global® system

The shop sprays the PPG Global line of paint. "We converted to PPG in March 2000 and I can't see us ever using anything else. It's a phenomenal paint, and very profitable. We offer our customers the PPG lifetime paint warranty. My painters really like the color matching. We do a lot of work on high-end cars - Lexus is big - and the color has to be right on. With PPG, it is."

Huffines is part of the PPG CertifiedFirst Network, the national marketing program put in place by PPG for its customers that requires third-party verification of shop equipment and facilities as well as an on-going CSI program to insure that member shops continue to meet high standard for quality and service.

 

Huggins also benefits from PPG's management program, the MVP Round Table. "We just joined a new MVP group with shops doing over $4 million, the ParaKaizen group. I don't have time to participate in a lot of industry groups and conferences, but ParaKaizen is worth my time. MVP is a good program. I recommend it."

 

Shop manager Huggins is unusual in the industry in that he doesn't come from an automotive background. "When I was young we moved from Texas and I grew up in Colorado. I started college there and then came back to Texas and got a degree in business from what was then called North Texas State in Denton." That was in '85, and after interviewing with IBM - "I didn't like the blue suits" - Huggins took a job as comptroller with a body shop. "In one year I was running that shop but I needed more of a challenge, so I joined Huffines Dodge as body shop manager in 1988. It was only doing $35,000 a month, so I figured there was both room and capital to grow. The Huffines have invested heavily in our growth."

 

"The insurers come to us. We are consistent here, and that's important to them. We try to accommodate them with alternative parts - aftermarket and salvage - when it's appropriate. You can't go putting OEM parts on a seven year-old Chevy. I mean, hey, our parts managers at the dealers would love it, but it's not practical."

 

Right now, Huggins is trying to accommodate one insurer who wants the shop to put in eight hours per day on their insureds' vehicles. "Every six months, some insurer wants to do some crazy thing. Four hours is reasonable, eight is unreasonable. We do our best to please both the customer and the insurance company just so long as the insurer doesn't expect us to do inferior quality work to save a few bucks. We don't step over that line."

Estimators are business managers

The well-paid estimating staff does far more than just write sheets. Each of the shop's estimators is responsible for one or more insurance clients. "My estimators are paid on the gross profit from each job - not the number of jobs or dollar amount of the ticket. They have an incentive not to miss things on the estimate. But they also have to collect from the insurer. Kind of balances things out." The shop's top estiators include Gary Gardner, Kevin Kidwell, Jeff Ball and David Moore. "All of these guys should write in excess of $2 million this year," said Huggins.

In addition to insurance work, fleet repairs make up 15% of sales, windshield replacement 5% and good-old fashioned repaint jobs a striking 20%. "We have a $1,500 scuff and shoot job," said Huggins. "To make money in that business you have to run volume, and we do!"