Eric Dawson bought his first collision repair shop, an existing facility called Double A Collision Repair, in 2004. In 2008, he built a new facility in a different part of town, next to the Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion, Neb., the shopping center that gave Shadow Lake Collision its name.
He said he had no plans to expand beyond one or two locations at the time, with young children at home. That changed when his sons, both graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with business degrees, joined the company. They're now part owners of Shadow Lake's second location, in Omaha.
That second facility, a 22,000-square-foot shop on four acres, has been open about a year. Dawson said he built it around customer-pay work rather than direct repair program volume.
"Total losses are off the charts, and I want to try to capitalize on as much storage as I can get," Dawson said. "I'm tired of writing estimates for free and storing cars for free."
Shadow Lake is an independent shop with 35 employees and holds certifications across nine automotive brands. Dawson said certifications drive some equipment purchases directly.
"To become certified, you have to have the correct tools and equipment," Dawson said. "You want to make sure when you buy a new welder or a new frame machine or whatever it might be, that it's on those lists to become certified."
THE STACK
Estimating and management
- Estimating: CCC
- Shop management: Nexsyis
- Parts ordering: CollisionLink, PartsTrader
- Accounting: Nexsyis
- DRP/insurer portals: Entegral, USAA, State Farm
Dawson has used several management systems over the years, including Summit and CCC's own management tool, before settling on CCC for estimating paired with Nexsyis for everything else.
"I feel like using CCC's management system is trying to manage your business with an estimating platform, because that's more or less what it is," Dawson said. "CCC and Nexsyis work well together. The estimate is king, so whatever's in CCC comes across that way. It will scrub your lines."
He described Nexsyis as a robust system with a built-in accounting package, used by some larger MSOs and Canadian operators, though he said he thinks it would be too much for a single-shop operation to take on. The shop went paperless in March, scanning every invoice and attaching it to the corresponding repair-order line.
"I'm not searching through PDF files trying to find that invoice," Dawson said.
For parts, Shadow Lake routes most orders through CollisionLink and CCC, reserving PartsTrader for State Farm claims, where it's required.
Communications and workflow
- Customer communication: Nexsyis (text and email)
- Internal team communication: Nexsyis
- Photo and documentation: Nexsyis
- Scheduling/capacity planning: Nexsyis
- Digital vehicle intake: Yes. Every vehicle is prewashed, mapped, and checked for prior damage, documented in Nexsyis
Every note, message and parts order tied to a repair file lives inside Nexsyis, Dawson said, and either location can schedule for the other.
"Every note, every message, every parts order is linked to that file," Dawson said. "It's got internal messaging that links to the file. You can text or email out of the system to the customer, and every text and email is documented in the file."
Beyond Nexsyis, Dawson said Google OneDrive holds the shop's SOPs, giving all staff shared access. He said he's interested in eventually adopting Microsoft Teams for internal communication, though he added that Nexsyis already covers much of that need.
Scheduling is built around adjustable, resource-based appointment slots. Dawson uses that flexibility seasonally, capping how many hail estimates or PDR jobs come in on a given day.
"When hail season comes, I'll create my own schedule," Dawson said. "I only want two hail estimates a day, and the rest I want collision."
That scheduling flexibility extends beyond the software. Papillion has run four-day, 10-hour schedules with split crews for five years, giving each employee a four-day weekend, though Dawson said it can leave Mondays and Fridays light on staffing. Omaha is still transitioning newer staff toward that model.
Nexsyis also carries the repair through customizable stages, from arrival to quality control to delivery, with photo requirements built into each checkpoint. Dawson pointed to paint-booth documentation as an example.
"Most insurance companies want pictures in the paint booth for blends," Dawson said. "Before that technician can move it off paint, he's got to take a picture. It's helped our staff become accountable."
Completed repairs move to a manager review before final sign-off, Dawson said, where staff check parts, labor costs and gross profit before the file moves to an accounts-receivable tab.
Repair and production technology
- Scanning and diagnostics: Mitchell MD-600, Opus, Hunter ADAS Ultimate
- ADAS calibrations: In-house (Hunter)
- Repair procedure research: Revv, RepairLogic, All Data
- Measuring system: Chief Meridian (Papillion), Car-O-Liner Vision2 (Omaha)
- Paint mixing and color matching: PPG Color Eye
Both locations run the Mitchell MD-600 scan tool, and the Omaha shop also has an Opus scan tool, required for Shadow Lake's Subaru certification. Dawson recently added two Hunter ADAS Ultimate machines, which he said are functionally comparable to the Mitchell tool for pre- and post-scans.
Shadow Lake began bringing ADAS calibrations in-house within the last six months, after years of sending the work to a third-party provider. Dawson said liability concerns had kept him from doing calibrations in-house, but pricing consistency and cycle time ultimately drove the change.
"I want to have the flexibility to give my customers a set price," Dawson said. "It's kind of the wild wild west what you get charged if you're not doing them in house. I think it gives you more flexibility to get cars in the door, and you're not held captive by somebody else."
Dawson said the shop recently signed on with Revv for a year to support that in-house calibration work, layering it alongside RepairLogic and All Data to cross-check repair procedures.
"I sometimes feel like I'm just throwing money out the window with all these subscriptions," Dawson said. "But I think it's great to have different tools to cross-compare and make sure the information's right."
For measuring, Dawson has run Chief Meridian equipment for years and kept it at the Papillion location. The newer Omaha shop runs Car-O-Liner's Vision2 system exclusively, a switch Dawson said followed an acquisition opportunity.
"I'm a Chief guy. I grew up on Chiefs here in the Midwest," Dawson said. "But I'm excited about the Car-O-Liner equipment, and I think it makes more sense. Eventually I'll probably buy a Car-O-Liner system for the other shop, too."
Both shops mix paint through PPG's Color Eye system. Papillion runs two USI Italia Chronotech spray booths; Omaha has an oversized Blowtherm booth built to accommodate tall vans. Dawson has been a PPG customer since becoming a shop owner and framed the loyalty around the company's support staff rather than the product itself.
"Paint's paint to some degree; it's all expensive," Dawson said. "It's who's in your corner when you really need them, and PPG's business development people are amazing."
What technology could you not live without?
Dawson pointed to Nexsyis without hesitation.
"I love it," Dawson said. "It's especially great for MSOs, multiple shops — people with two to five, 10 shops.”
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