CARS Cooperative has announced a new partnership agreement with ComputerLogic to provide the paint and materials calculator PMCLogic to CARS shareholders. This paint and material estimation/invoicing application was developed by ComputerLogic based on input over the past eight years from hundreds of paint and material manufacturers, industry training experts and auto body repair professionals.
PMCLogic is a software application enabling collision repair specialists to track and invoice all paint and materials used during the repair process. The program calculates the estimated costs of paints and materials consumed while replacing, repairing and/or refinishing each specific body panel and/or structural section of the vehicle. Costing is based on the most currently released material manufacturers’ "suggested list" price and paint companies’ "refinisher" price, and paint pricing is color specific based on OEM color codes.
To achieve accurate estimates, a detailed list of the materials used on the replaced or repaired panel or structural part has been benchmarked by ComputerLogic’s group of collision industry experts. This data is continually updated as new materials are developed and repair processes change.
“CARS shareholders have, for years, expressed concerns about the price increases incurred each year for paint and material products and the lag time in recovering these costs as they occur,” said Orville Manuel, executive director pf CARS Cooperative. “The antiquated system used for determining compensation for paint and materials dictates an extended timeframe, weeks, months or even years, for the methodology to provide an adequate increase. Additionally, by the time it does, more increases have occurred. The ability to track and invoice paint and materials used in the repair and to assess a true cost estimate for each would enable the shop to stay on top of the issue and provide a basis for adjusting prices accordingly. We believe PMCLogic provides the solution to enable the shop to achieve a professional and comprehensive tracking and invoicing system."
“This is an excellent way to quantify your actual paint and material costs and use the information in the billing process,” said Chris Donnelly, owner of BodyWorks Collision Centers, an MSO with three locations in the Oklahoma City area. "The key for us is to know the true cost for all of the items we used to repair a specific vehicle and be able to quantify the amount to bill, based on a fair gross profit margin we believe is honest and not greedy. You need to build credibility with your customers and the insurance community that you’re documenting what is used and charging only what is necessary to repair the vehicle properly.”
Rick Palmer, president of ComputerLogic said, “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to work with CARS Cooperative, an organization focused on doing the right thing the right way to help its members provide their customers with documented proof of what paint and materials are actually used on a specific vehicle repair. Virtually everyone in the collision industry readily admits that we must get away from calculating paint and material compensation based on refinish hours times as arbitrary and unfounded dollar allowance and replace it with an accurate invoicing system. PMCLogic is the tool that will help them do this quickly and easily and, more importantly, accurately.”
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