United We Stand
Never forget and never go back.
Why Must We Fight for Every Dollar: Paying the Prevailing Labor Rate
It’s happened again! Some insurance companies still think they don’t need collision repair shops to fix vehicles. After years of progress toward common ground, Allstate Insurance has taken a reverse tactic: not paying the prevailing labor rate as they see fit. Sounds like selective p-page operations, doesn’t it?
The Spraybooth School of Hard Knocks
Everybody makes mistakes. (Trust me, I’ve been party to some big ones.) But if you learn from those mishaps instead of dwelling on them, you’ll come out ahead – and may even avoid a repeat performance.
From Classroomes to Computers
Employee education has evolved from printed manuals to virtual classrooms. But is virtual as good as the real thing?
Building a Case for Industrialization
When your competition industrializes their operations, their production efficiency will improve dramatically – possibly 37 to 50 percent in a single shift. With such fierce competition, can you afford to continue doing something because “that’s the way we’ve always done it”?
Two Lines, Faster Times: Separating Light and Heavy Repairs
Toyota claims that separating light and heavy repairs into two lines will increase shop productivity by 40 percent – but only if American techs can learn to work together as a team.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger! Ohio’s Jack Lundberg
Faced with the challenge of registering Ohio’s collision repair facilties, Jack Lundberg has been called a savior by some, the devil by others. Throw in a few death threats, and you know how Lundberg feels by 10 a.m.
The History of Sprayguns
If it weren’t for a maintenance supervisor at a department store and a doctor trying to cure sort throats, you might still be painting vehicles with a brush – taking up to a month per vehicle. Can you say “cycle time nightmare”?
Behind Closed Doors: CARA Collision & Glass Bankruptcy
Since CARA Collision & Glass filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, many in the industry are wondering what the heck is going on. Though the future is unclear, a few things are certain: Employees are out of jobs and former shop owners who took stock in the company are out of luck
Fill In The Blanks: Correctly Using Fillers
Today, fewer panels are repaired and more are replaced. Likewise, gone are the days when shops used entire 5-gallon pails of body filler weekly to avoid doing metal work. While today’s fillers are used in smaller volumes, a wider variety of styles can provide just what you need — if you know how they work, which to choose and how to use them properly.