Holding the Key

Rekeying Redux is a most unusual title for this month’s feature article, brought back or being returned, from the Latin verb reducere, meaning to lead back. (Being the nerd that I am, it goes without saying that I studied Latin in school. And NO, Julius Caesar did not sit at the desk next to me!)

Languages can certainly be interesting and useful to study, but a language barrier can make the simplest communication extremely difficult. The question in our industry has to be asked often and loudly - Why do shops still have to translate, by hand, from one estimate to another? Having to do extra busy-work is annoying, but the problem is wasting more than time in the office. Time is money, and just look at what the CIC committee is saying rekeying costs the industry. (See page 12 for the results of a small survey done by the CIC Information Technology Committee at the last CIC meeting.)

It is past time to do something about this - let’s unlock the door - with ONE key.

The Boyd Group (page 4) has decided to make Gerber a name recognized across the U.S. for something other than baby food. The Canada-based North American body shop consolidator has decided to use the name of its recently acquired Midwest Gerber Auto Collision & Glass for Boyd operations in the States.

ABRA Auto Body & Glass is having a growth spurt, too (page 5). It seems that the major consolidators are happy with the work they have been doing on their business models’ quality controls, efficiencies, and centralization of office management.

Last month’s TrendLine marked a troubling “first.” According to shops that responded to our survey, May was the first month (at least since we started the TrendLine in May 1997) that all regions reported that business was down from one year ago, except for the West Coast, where there was no change. The last time that TrendLine results showed all regions up from the previous year was in 2001, in the months of March and June.

Collision repair facilities must be “key leaders” in quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction to prosper in the here and now. There is less work to go around - Work smart and be the best!