Russell Thrall III, I-CAR director of industry relations, moderated the panel, which consisted of the following automotive industry professionals:

• Rollie Benjamin – co-founder, ABRA Auto Body & Glass
• Aaron Clark – president and co-owner of Collision Solutions
• Chris Adams – claims consultant, property & casualty claims, State Farm
• Al Motta – head of technical training, Chrysler Group
• Clark Plucinski – executive vice president of sales and marketing, True2Form
• Tom Riggs – senior vice president of operations, Universal Technical Institute (UTI)
• Jimmy Spears – assistant vice president, auto claims service, USAA

"Auto technology change drives continuing education and training needs. Repairers and insurers need a constant supply of entry-level technicians. And organizational performance drives competitive advantage," said Thrall.

ABRA's Benjamin described how his organization, over the last five years, has pursued lean manufacturing principles and defined how each and every ABRA store operates. A "playbook" defines nine processes, including customer sales and inventory management.

At morning board meetings, employees view a scoreboard that indicates the status of each vehicle. The key focus is on improving cycle time and CSI.

"The team is coming up with solutions to solve the problem, not the general manager," Benjamin said.

Clark of Collision Solutions also talked about his shop's conversion to a lean business model, which has been far from easy and has resulted in some employees leaving.

"We took the ground-up approach because the model we had been using was broken," he said. "We went from a flate-rate to an hourly team approach. I experienced a lot of turnover, partly because I'm the only shop that's taking this new approach in my area. People resist change."

In the new team environment, Clark said, everyone learns from each other and mistakes are documented so they can be reviewed and analyzed so they never happen again.

Said True2Form's Plucinski, "I think we spent too many years segmenting our training when, really, it comes together. We were more comfortable with the fist-on-the-table method. Our leadership needs to have the ability to allow our employees to figure out how to get there."

UTI's Riggs said his organization also turned over decision-making and problem-solving to its employees.

"About 10 years ago, we weren't doing well," he said. "Our CEO said that management doesn't have the answers, so he brought all our employees together, emphasized the need for 'breakthrough performance' and turned everything around."

With stores all over the country, Benjamin said ABRA has to utilize technology to make sure everyone gets trained. He said that meetings held via the web have been effective.

"We've established an educational culture, not a 'catch them doing something wrong' culture," he said. "Our main focus is how to be more effective cycling cars through the process."

For the benefit of those shops looking to embark on a new way of operating, Thrall asked the panelists what steps a shop should take to get going.

Benjamin said that shops should make sure they have the systems first, then define and standardize the processes, then create a playbook and back it up with video training.

UTI's Riggs summed up his advice by saying, "Perfect is the enemy of good," implying that companies shouldn't worry about being perfect with their plan and that the most important thing is simply starting down the path.

"Have a plan and know how you're going to show up and lead every day," he said. "Get started and understand you will make mistakes."

USAA's Jimmy Spears said shops should concentrate on strategy as the first step. "It's what you choose not to do, the paths you won't take, the places you won't put any resources or people. Then by default that's what you're doing. Then, when you know what to do, execute."

(Left to right) Panel moderator Russell Thrall III, I-CAR director of industry relations, and panelists: Jimmy Spears, assistant vice president, auto claims service, USAA; Tom Riggs, senior vice president of operations, Universal Technical Institute; Clark Plucinski, executive vice president of sales and marketing, True2form; Al Motta, head of technical training, Chrysler Group; Chris Adams, claims consultant, property & casualty claims, State Farm; Aaron Clark, president and co-owner of Collision Solutions; and Rollie Benjamin, co-founder, ABRA Auto Body & Glass.

Rollie Benjamin of ABRA: "Create a playbook and back it up with video training."