By Joel Gausten
What a difference a year makes…
In September 2021, AirPro Diagnostics appeared at the Texas Auto Body Trade Show to provide a hands-on demonstration of AUGGIE, a new wireless device designed to revolutionize the world of vehicle recalibrations. The system promised a new direction by rendering a scaled-down, digital version of required static ADAS targets and presenting them to forward-facing cameras at the precise scale and perspective defined by vehicle manufacturers. One year later, AUGGIE continues to earn high praise from users across the country.
Industry professionals specializing in “everything auto glass” on vehicles ranging from Teslas to 18-wheelers, Missouri multi-shop operators Adam and Jamie Bone of Bone Auto Glass couldn’t wait to put AUGGIE to work.
“We saw AUGGIE and became obsessed with it! As far as we’re aware, we were the first business in our area that actually had the tool,” Jamie recalls.
AUGGIE’s presence at Bone Auto Glass has yielded impressive results. The Bones say they were recently able to perform a recalibration on a Honda in under a minute. Not surprisingly, they have made it a point to stress the benefits of the product to their customers.
“We show it off to them like crazy!” Jamie shares. “I have been posting a bunch of videos on our TikTok page.”
The Bones credit AirPro’s commitment to customer service for their businesses’ ongoing success with AUGGIE.
As Jamie says, “We love the leadership and the developers; we have really come to like a lot of the technicians, too. They’re always very communicative.”
Matt Howell, owner of High Country Calibrations and Fas-Break Auto Glass in Eagle, CO, is another AirPro customer who is committed to doing ADAS right. In October 2020, he decided to bring ADAS work under his own roof, and he utilized AirPro Diagnostics to help accomplish this goal. Since that time, his team has performed over 750 recalibrations.
“AirPro seemed like the easiest choice as we started up a whole new section of our business. We can always get someone on the phone to walk us through things. There’s a whole team of people to help us.”
Late last year, Howell’s escalating volume led him to incorporate AUGGIE into his services.
“Mobile glass repair is the majority of what we do, so being able to take the target to the customer and do the recalibrations on-site has been great. AUGGIE really takes no time; we start the scan right when we put in the replacement glass. We set the AUGGIE up, and then it’s done. I don’t have to take any measurements; I don’t have to make sure it’s lined up perfectly with the vehicle. I can use that extra time to finish up the auto glass replacement and put that vehicle back together.”
Additionally, Howell is quick to praise AirPro technicians for the high level of communication they provide to his operation.
“If we have any issues with our scan tool, AirPro sends out a new tool, and we return the new one – no questions asked. If anything goes wrong, they address it right away, and we’re back up and going again in no time.”
Corinna Reyes, owner of the New York-based A&A Auto Glass Plus (Amityville) and Action Auto Glass (Speonk), readily agrees with Howell’s sentiments.
“AirPro are good people; they get to the bottom of any issues we have.”
Reyes started using AUGGIE earlier this year and has remained impressed by the product’s ease of use.
“Last week, I calibrated a car with the AUGGIE, and it took me 10 minutes from beginning to end. I didn’t have to measure anything out; I put the machine on and set it up the way their technician directed, and it was perfect.”
Additionally, Reyes is pleased with AUGGIE’s positive impact on the work her mobile glass technicians perform in the field.
“I have other ADAS equipment, but I obviously wanted something easier for my techs when they go on the road. AUGGIE has worked out for me.”
“AUGGIE has helped to significantly increase my business by being able to service customers at their location,” comments Scott Schaefer of Schaefer Auto Group (St. Louis, MO).
Scott Schaefer
Schaefer Auto Group (St. Louis, MO)
This has created efficiencies and improvements to not only my CSI but my overall gross profit within the business.”
“AirPro offers a truly mobile ADAS calibration system,” adds Mike Howell of Best Glass (Phoenix, AZ).
Mike Howell
Best Glass (Phoenix, AZ).
With their tablet for dynamic and new AUGGIE for static, if you can drive a car you can do a camera recalibration. We now do the windshield install and calibration at the same time. Our customers love it, and we are taking business from our competition every day. I have been doing business with AirPro since October 2019, and in my 40 years in the auto glass industry, I have never worked with a better company. Their customer service and tech support is far superior to the other systems.”
The above comments are in line with the feedback that Ted McClintic, AirPro’s director of field support, has received over the past 12 months. He is pleased to report that numerous AUGGIE customers have expressed appreciation over the company’s onsite training. They have also shared their excitement over how the product drastically reduces the time and space needed to perform proper calibrations.
“AUGGIE fits a niche, which is being able to perform static recalibrations in the field – especially in a mobile fashion. This tool really enables the user to do static calibration anywhere ─ and in a way that truly calibrates that vehicle by removing the variables. You can set the AUGGIE up in just a couple of minutes versus placing a whole set of targets, which might take 30 minutes to an hour or more. The biggest benefit is really being able to take the recalibration to the car. We’re enabling glass companies to bring this in-house by simplifying it for them.”
Simplification is also the goal of AirPro’s latest innovation: AUGGIE DTS (Digital Targeting System), a mobile system that integrates AUGGIE with a shop’s preferred OEM/aftermarket scanning device.
“We worked with our customer base and put together this product where AUGGIE supplies the targets but the customer provides the calibrations with their own tool,” McClintic explains.
AirPro’s vast work in strengthening shops’ abilities to provide safe and professional calibrations – as specified by vehicle manufacturers – serves a critical role in helping facilities avoid the financial and legal pitfalls that could result from an improper repair. Automotive technology is destined to become more advanced, and any repair or service facility hoping to tackle tomorrow’s vehicles needs to get on board with doing things the right way today. AUGGIE strives to guide shops through that process in an efficient and convenient way.
As McClintic says, “The AUGGIE recalibration system is really one of the best and most cost-effective ways to mitigate liability.”
One year after providing its first demonstration of the AUGGIE system, AirPro Diagnostics continues to show the industry inspiring new techniques in recalibration practices and procedures. If you are new to the world of AUGGIE, now is the time to experience the next level of ADAS service and repairs.
For more information, call (904) 717-1711 or visit airprodiagnostics.com.
Joel Gausten has been covering the national collision repair/automotive service industry since 2000. He can be reached at [email protected]
