Auto Foam: Proper Application and Placement
Foam is showing up all over the modern vehicle. Although its presence adds a new level of complication to repairs, it’s imperative that it be reinstalled — and reinstalled correctly.
A Few Good Techs
Is there really a technician shortage or just a misappropriation of qualified techs? Is the pool of technicians shrinking faster than the collision repair market?
Will the end result be higher door rates?
Examining the State of the Industry
Too many shops, not enough work, not enough profit, too much insurer involvement and not enough business expertise on the part of shop owners are all contributing to the sorry state that is the collision repair industry.
Working on Hybrids: A Body Shop Primer
Hybrids account for only 1% of all U.S. light-vehicle sales, which actually presents a dilemma for shops: Because hybrids aren’t all that common (yet), shops aren’t as familiar with the potential hazards as they should be.
On the Spot
Due to the misconceptions and lack of knowledge regarding squeeze-type resistance spot welding and its equipment, we conducted a welding machine challenge — a test that would simulate working on a vehicle and help shop owners make
better decisions when purchasing a machine.
Your Lungs, Your Skin, Your Life
Many collision repairers still aren’t properly protecting themselves from isocyanates. It’s time that changed.
Going Head to Head
Collision repair consolidators seem focused on customer service as opposed to offering insurance companies even lower repair costs. They’re also concentrated on honing their operations to a razor sharp state of efficiency (which, incidentally, will lower repair costs).
A ‘How-To’ Guide for Increasing Labor Rates, BodyShop Business, February 2006
Rather than belabor the exhaustive list of reasons labor rates need to rise, let’s focus on what type of market conditions act to create higher – or more frequently increasing – prevailing rates in individual markets. By Tigger (from his view in the Thousland Acre Wood) No one in the collision repair industry would argue
Facing Your Fears
If you’re making decisions out of fear, you’re making bad decisions. Although this shop owner was referring to how repairers are agreeing to just about anything because they’re afraid — afraid of angering an insurer, afraid of losing work, afraid of going out of business — his comment, taken in the larger context, epitomizes a
Lowering Your Overhead
Earning money is one thing. Keeping it is another. You’d be surprised what shops can do to reduce overhead besides raising door rates