Room to Grow
Name: American Auto Body Location: Akron, Ohio Owner: Joe and Rocky Piscazzi Established: 1976 Square Footage: 20,000 Number of Employees: 10 Repair Volume: 60 cars per month Rocky Piscazzi recently learned that relocating to a new body shop can trigger Murphy’s Law of moving – everything costs more than expected. “Even though I’ve learned that
Working Smarter Not Harder
Name: Jerry’s Body Shop Location: DeLand, Fla. Owner: Jerry Doyle Established: 1976 Square Footage: 10,000 Number of Employees: 11 Repair Volume: 60 cars per month Average Repair Cost: $1,500 After 40 years in the collision-repair industry, you’d think a bright guy like Jerry Doyle would’ve learned not to help his competitors. Yet, several evenings a
When the Goan Gets Tough: the Goan Body Shops
The age of refinish technology has yet to dawn in India. With a population in excess of 900 million, labor is cheap and plentiful and money is scarce. Needless to say, specialized collision-repair equipment is virtually nonexistent. Although India has only 5 million cars and CVs, the demand for collision-repair shops is high. The roads
Seeds of Success: Redfield Collision Center
Name: Redfield Collision Center Location: Festus, Mo. Owner: Greg Redfield Established: 1976 Square Footage: 18,200 Number of Employees: 27 Repair Volume: 116 cars per month Average Repair Cost: $1,640 The first Harley-Davidson motorcycle was made entirely by hand by four men in a backyard shed. Although it started out simple, the now-mass-produced Iron Horse ended
Super Tech Tips
The best weapon, as always, is knowledge.
Shedding Light on Infrared
For a shop owner, not getting vehicles done on time results in upset vehicle owners, unhappy insurance adjusters and frantic times in your business.
Creative Recruitment
Your right arm. How important is it to you? An independent body shop owner recently said he would give his to find one good technician. If people are willing to give up body parts, you know things are bad!
Learning to Learn
If you would say to the typical collision-shop owner or technician, “You can have anything you want to improve shop productivity”, what do you suppose the most common answer would be? Chances are, it would focus on some new technological advance in equipment or tools.
Productivity Feeds Growth: Zara’s Collision Center
Ahhhh! The smell of a smoldering steak … The air is filled with its spicy aroma … You’re getting hungry, very hungry, aren’t you? This isn’t the description of a favorite restaurant or a backyard feast, but instead, of a once-a-month lunch at Zara’s Collision Center in Springfield, Ill.
Senior Service
The focus of automotive service – now and in the future – is to meet or exceed the needs of all customers. When it comes to a reality check, many of us would fall short of the mark when it comes to dealing with our senior-citizen customers.