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Recent Columns
- Data Confirms Pandemic Driving Patterns Have Resulted in Harder Hits, More Totals
- From the Desk of Mike Anderson: Have We Handcuffed Employees from Providing Extraordinary Customer Service?
- WIN Webinar Explores What’s NEXT for Auto Body in the Digital World
- Deciding Between Leasing and Purchasing When Adding Shop Locations
- 4C Collision Consulting Focuses on Growing MSOs Through Strategic Marketing
John Yoswick
John Yoswick is a freelance automotive writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing about the collision industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com).
He can be contacted at john@crashnetwork.com
Access and Use of Shop Data Raise Privacy Concerns for the Industry
Concerns about data privacy prompted the formation this spring at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) of a taskforce focused on the subject. At CIC in Chicago in July, Tony Passwater, an industry trainer and executive director of the Indiana Auto Body Association, said that the new taskforce that he chairs has in recent weeks been discussing and finalizing its objectives.
I-CAR Announces New Structure to Its Training, Recognition Programs
John Edelen said that three years ago when he stepped out of retirement to take on the role as CEO of I-CAR, someone well-known and respected in the industry asked him why he would “waste his time” with an organization like I-CAR that was “no longer relevant.”
Committee Prompts Discussion of Means to Implement Future Repair Standards
If the industry developed a formal set of “repair standards,” what then?
Voices of IBIS—The Annual International Body Shop Conference
Organizers of the annual International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS), face a difficult assignment: bringing together two days of presentations on industry issues that will be of interest and value to a diverse group of attendees—insurers, repairers and industry vendors—hailing from about two dozen different countries.
Leaner, Faster, Smarter: “It Can’t Be Lean if it’s Not Clean”
Much of what gets written and talked about regarding “lean” in collision shops focuses on recommended changes in the office and body department. But streamlining in those areas will only lead to backlogs if some lean-thinking isn’t done in the paint shop as well.
ABPA Conference Airs Aftermarket Parts Certification Issues Again
The fallout in recent months from concerns raised about non-OEM bumper and structural parts raised by industry trainer Toby Chess was clearly on the minds of the parts manufacturers and distributors gathered in Indianapolis, Ind., this spring for the Automotive Body Parts Association’s 30th annual meeting.
Insurers And Shops Don’t Always Speak The Same Language
On its surface, the proposal seems fairly straight-forward.
Yoswick --- NACE Weathers The Downturn; Organizers Optimistic About Future
Organizers of the International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE) say that even just weeks before the 26th annual event in November they were concerned that, given the economy, attendance could be down as much as 20% from last year.
It Pays To Understand What Your Business Is Worth
Owning a collision repair business shouldn’t just be a way to provide yourself with a job. It also should be an investment—with the “dividends” of a paycheck or other benefits as you go, but with the real pay-off at the end: When you “cash out” by selling the business, whether that’s to a family member, an industry consolidator, a trusted employee or other investor.
Yoswick --- Repairers Continue to Decry CCC Bumper Refinish Prompt
CCC Information Services continued to come under a barrage of criticism at the most recent Collision Industry Conference (CIC) for a change the company has made its Pathways estimating system.
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Yoswick --- Helping Vocational Schools Train the Technicians You Will Need
In the last 12 months, approximately 21,500 collision repair technicians—about one in every 9 currently working in shops—left the trade. That doesn’t mean they left to go to work for another shop; that means they are no longer turning wrenches.
Yoswick --- Women’s (WIN) Conference Looks at Trends in Collision Repair
About 100 women representing collision repair shops, insurance companies and industry vendors gathered in Dallas, Texas, in mid-March for a 2-day Women’s Industry Network (WIN) conference that included presentations on topics ranging from conflict management to networking, employee recruiting and process improvement.
Yoswick --- Measuring and Working to Improve Key Numbers for your Business
Having spent decades as a technician, claims adjuster, shop owner, I-CAR volunteer, jobber, industry trainer and consultant, Hank Nunn has a unique perspective on changes in shop management and measurement.
Yoswick --- Low-cost Ways for Shops to Keep Out Front in a Down Economy
If there’s anything positive about an economic downturn like the country is experiencing right now, it could be that for the business owner, it certainly focuses the mind. Extraneous (even if valuable) activities often get set aside as such core fundamentals as getting work to the door take precedent.