Stacey Phillips is a freelance writer for the automotive industry based in Southern California. She has 20 years of experience as an editor including writing in a number of businesses and fields.
She can be reached at sphillips.autobodynews@gmail.com.
One of the universal issues in the collision repair industry and a pain point on every production floor is a lack of in-process quality control, according to Lee Rush, manager of business development for Sherwin-Williams®.
In 1979, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) was established as a result of the introduction of the front-wheel-drive unibody vehicle, according to Jeff Peevy, vice president of technical products, programs and services for I-CAR.
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S., employers must determine whether they will require vaccinations in the workplace and if they should set up a program to administer them.
With the rapid changes taking place in vehicle technology, training is an important investment that will help every business thrive, according to John Van Alstyne, CEO of I-CAR (Inter-Industry Conference of Auto Collision Repair).
Bill Park, co-founder and board member of Spartan Ventures, said his background is rooted in the auto body repair trade.
During the MSO Symposium in November, Vincent Romans, managing partner of The Romans Group, presented a macro-level view of the evolving U.S. collision repair industry.
Collision repair owners and managers across the country say hiring technicians and high turnover rates have become critical issues in their businesses.
Up until recently, it was common practice for technicians to plug in a dongle to the OBDII---onboard diagnostics---port to diagnose a vehicle.
A few years ago, when people talked about connected vehicles and self-driving, Elaina Farnsworth said it was perceived as a computer-based industry.
Several weeks ago, a local body shop owner asked Toby Chess to help set up a welder to repair an aluminum deck lid on a Mercedes-Benz.
Author's note: Over a year ago, Jeff Smith, a collision repair instructor at the Northeast Arkansas Career and Technical Center, reached out to me about the overwhelming shortage of technicians. As a result of our conversation, I initiated a new column for Autobody News, "Solving the Tech Shortage," which has since received an award.
The collision repair industry recently had the opportunity to attend the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) open board meeting, held virtually in July.
When industry veteran Erick Bickett was growing up, he aspired to be an airline pilot like his dad. He realized that a 9-to-5 job wasn’t for him.