May, 2002 Archives - BodyShop Business
May the (Work) Force Be with You

The collision industry’s workforce is dwindling at an alarming rate, and journeymen are just about as hard to come by as Jedi Masters. To combat this shortage and to stay competitive in the years to come, take a cue from the Jedi Code: Pair an apprentice with a mentor.

Dent Fix Brings New Glue Technology to PDR

Let’s face it. The PDR, or Paintless Dent Removal, market is hot and getting hotter every day. Just open any trade magazine and you’re deluged with all the PDR tool offerings that exist. Manufacturers are offering every configuration of tool imaginable in exotic materials, color coded, titanium centers with kryptonite tips. It gets overwhelming when

E-Commerce Has Arrived

Can e-commerce solutions truly improve dispatch, load leveling and cycle time to impact throughput and profits? In a word, yes.

Monster First Impressions

Customers first impressions of your shop are formed during their first few seconds of contact over the phone or in person. Is your staff trained to welcome potential customers, or is Frankenstein manning your front office?

Auto Body Paint: Solvent Popping

Solvent popping occurs when trapped solvent expands and breaks through the applied paint film. Because there’s no quick fix (you need to remove all of the affected product from the vehicle), the best strategy is prevention.

Letters to the Editors

Does Your Shop Measure Up? Your article was incredible [“Does Your Shop Measure Up?” March 2002, pg. 40]! I found (literally) my first UMS the same way your picture showed it in early 1980 in a Toyota dealership in upstate Vermont. I had just closed my small shop because of the recession and was amazed

Don’t You Be the Judge

What do you do when an insurer only wants to pay half of what it actually costs to repair a vehicle? Charge for all the necessary procedures, educate your customer and take the insurer to small claims court.

More Jack-in-the-Box Hoods

If a sticker falls off a CAPA hood in the woods and no one’s there to see it blow away, is it still a CAPA-certified hood? CAPA will tell you no.

Stick With It

Repairers across the country are utilizing adhesive bonding technology for panel replacement. If you’re ready to give it a try, these step-by-step instructions will show you how.

Certifiable: Establishing IQ Prerequisites as Part of the Requirements for Earning a Driver’s License.

Most people can’t drive. Lucky for you. It keeps you in business. I, however, am a commuter – long on drive, short on patience. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, an even dumber driver comes along. Seventeen-year-olds behind the wheel with a cell phone glued to their ear and their turn signal still

Why Won’t They Pay Me

Over the years shop operators have learned to write estimates with strict adherence to estimating guides and P-pages. In our attempts to play by the rules, we’ve written for every task we perform in order to get paid properly. But what do we do when insurance companies simply refuse to pay for what we know

United We Should Stand: A Voice in the Collision Industry

about it — including me.