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www.grecopublishing.com September 2015 Volume 9, No. 9 $5.95 The Cost of Social Media Rental Time in the Real World A Torque Wrench Tutorial www.wmaba.com

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Official Publication of the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA)

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Hammer & Dolly September 2015

www.grecopublishing.com

September 2015Volume 9, No. 9

$5.95

The Cost of Social Media Rental Time in the Real World A Torque Wrench Tutorial

www.wmaba.com

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3September 2015

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4 September 2015

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COVER STORYIS ALUMINUM THE ICEBERG TO OUR “TITANIC” INDUSTRY?The F-150 and other aluminum-intensive vehicles are here. How is the industry handling them?BY JOEL GAUSTEN

36A look at the importance of using torque wrenchesfor body repairs. BY LARRY MONTANEZ III, CDA & JEFF LANGE, PE

TECHNICAL FEATURETORQUE WRENCH USE AND MAINTENANCE

Images © www.istockphoto.com

DEPARTMENTS6 Calendar of Events

7 WMABA Meeting Notice

10 Editor’s MessageJOEL GAUSTEN

12 Executive Director’s MessageJORDAN HENDLER

16 WMABA SponsorshipPage

17 What’s WMABA Up To

17 WMABA MembershipApplication

18 WMABA Board ofDirectors

19 Meet the Board:Torchy ChandlerJACQUELYN BAUMAN

26 Technician ofthe Month: Nelson FloresJACQUELYN BAUMAN

50 President’s MessageDON BEAVER

52 Vendor CornerJOSEPH J. KENNY, II

54 Advertisers’ Index

5September 2015

CONTENTSSeptember 2015

44

20

40Why succeeding on Facebook now means spendingmoney. BY LEE EMMONS

MARKETING FEATUREHOW TO GET MORE ENGAGEMENT FROM FACEBOOK – ON A BUDGET

NATIONAL NEWS BY JOEL GAUSTEN

SCRS TO GREATLY EXPAND COLLISIONPRESENCE AT SEMA The national event is breaking records even before doors open.

SCRS REPORTS MEMBERSHIP JUMP, CONTINUED WORK WITH IPS, OPT-ALT OE PARTS Steady growth leads to a greater impact on the industry.

24

30CIC RECAP

PARTS PROCUREMENT DELAYS, RISKSEXPLORED AT CIC

CIC PANEL UNCOVERS RENTAL TIMEINACCURACIES

CIC EXPLORES STEERING DILEMMA

32

34

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6 September 2015

September 1, 2015 AdheSive BondingSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

September 8, 2015Aluminum exterior pAnel repAir & replAcementSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VASectioning oF Steel unitized StructureSHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAWheel Alignment & diAgnoStic AngleSState Farm Silver Spring, Silver Spring, MD

September 10, 2015AdvAnced Steering & SuSpenSion SyStemS dAmAge AnAlySiSSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VAWAterBorne productS, SyStemS & ApplicAtionFrederick Co. Career & Tech, Frederick, MDWheel Alignment & diAgnoStic AngleSAutomotive Collision Technologies, Randallstown, MD

September 15, 2015Wheel Alignment & diAgnoStic AngleSHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAAdheSive BondingCanby Motors Collision Repair, Aberdeen, MD

September 17, 2015AdheSive BondingFrederick Co. Career & Tech, Frederick, MDhAzArdouS mAteriAlS, perSonAl SAFety & reFiniSh SAFetyUni-Select USA, Baltimore, MD

September 22, 2015Full-FrAme pArtiAl replAcementSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VASqueeze-type reSiStAnce Spot WeldingHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAFull-FrAme pArtiAl replAcementKeystone Linthicum, Linthicum, MD

September 16, 20152015 WmABA golf outingthe timbers at troy golf course6100 marshalee drive, elkridge, md 21075For more info, visit www.wmaba.com

october 22, 2015online marketing Basics: Website, video, Social mediaprecision collision 7901 Kincannon place, lorton, vA 22079For more info, see facing page or visit www.wmaba.com

Industry training opportunitiesand don't-miss events.

www.i-car.com or (800) 422-7872 for info

CALENDAR OFEVENTS

September 24, 2015plAStic & compoSite repAirSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA AdheSive BondingKing Volkswagen, Gaithersburg, MD

September 26, 2015Blueprinting proceSS & dAmAge diScoveryO’Donnell Honda Service Center, Catonsville, MD

September 29, 2015vehicle technology & trendS 2015Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VAcolor theory, mixing tonerS & tinting Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

October 1, 2015replAcement oF Steel unitized StructureSSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

October 6, 2015AdheSive BondingHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAAdheSive BondingCoxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VASectioning oF Steel unitized StructureSSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

October 8, 2015Aluminum exterior pAnel repAir & replAcementHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAplAStic & compoSite repAirFrederick Co. Career & Tech, Frederick, MDSqueeze-type reSiStAnce Spot WeldingSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

October 13, 2015Steering & SuSpenSion dAmAge AnAlySiSSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

CLASSLISTINGS

AdvAnced Steering & SuSpenSion SyStemS dAmAge AnAlySiSHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VASqueeze-type reSiStAnce Spot WeldingCoxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

October 15, 2015Full-FrAme pArtiAl replAcementHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VASqueeze-type reSiStAnce Spot WeldingFrederick Co. Career & Tech, Frederick, MD

October 20, 2015AdvAnced Steering & SuSpenSion SyStemS dAmAgeAnAlySiSCoxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VAWelded & AdheSively Bonded pAnel replAcementSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

October 22, 2015Automotive FoAmSSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VAunderStAnding & preventing reFiniSh deFectSFrederick Co. Career & Tech, Frederick, MD

October 27, 2015meASuring Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VAplAStic & compoSite repAirHarrison Body Works, Richmond, VAFull-FrAme pArtiAl replAcementCoxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VAreStrAint SyStemS dAmAge AnAlySiSVirginia Farm Bureau, Richmond, VA

October 29, 2015Steel unitized StructureS, technologieS & repAirSouthern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

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7September 2015

WMABA Presents…Online Marketing Basics: Website, Video, Social MediaPresented by Absolute Perfection Media

6:30pm Networking • 7:00pm Presentation

Location: Precision Collision7901 Kincannon Place, Lorton, VA 22079Questions? Contact Jordan Hendler at (804) 789-9649 /[email protected] / www.wmaba.com

Register online at www.wmaba.com

Lee Emmons is vice president incharge of AP Media based inSykesville, MD. He and hisagency are certified Google Partners, with certifications in AdWords and in Google’s Video Advertising Advanced Certification. You can visit hiscompany’s website at AbsolutePerfectionMedia.com.

Information and updatesfrom WMABA.

NEWSLOCAL

SAVE THE DATE!October 22, 2015

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8 September 2015

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Rodney Bolton ([email protected]) 410-969-3100 ext. 250Mark Boudreau ([email protected]) 703-671-2402Kevin Burt ([email protected]) 301-336-1140

RT Plate ([email protected]) 703-929-8050Phil Rice ([email protected]) 540-846-6617

AdminiStrAtionexecutive directorJordan Hendler ([email protected]) 804-789-9649WmABA corporAte oFFiceP.O. Box 3157 • Mechanicsville, VA 23116

StAFFpuBliSher thomas greco

[email protected]

director oF SAleS Alicia [email protected]

editor Joel [email protected]

mAnAging editor Jacquelyn [email protected]

Art director lea [email protected]

oFFice mAnAger donna [email protected]

PUBLISHED BY TGP, Inc.244 Chestnut St., Suite 202Nutley, NJ 07110973-667-6922 FAX 973-235-1963

Reproduction of any portions of this publication is specifically prohibited without written permission from the publisher. The opinions and ideas appearing in this magazine are not necessarily rep re sen ta tions of TGP Inc. orof the Washington Metropolitan Auto BodyAssociation (WMABA). Copyright © 2015Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc.

WMABA HITSTHE ROAD

Over the years, I’ve written many mes-sages for Hammer & Dolly regarding WMABA’snational reach and influence in the collision re-pair industry. Each time, I have stressed the factthat association representatives work on yourbehalf not only in your state, but in variousplaces across the country as they attend andparticipate in the industry’s largest events. Fourtimes a year, WMABA directors and memberstake a plane to wherever the Collision Industry

Joel gausten(973) 600-9288

[email protected]

MESSAGEEDITOR’S

10 September 2015

WmABA oFFicerSpreSident don Beaver

[email protected] 443-539-4200 ext. 17061vice preSident torchy chandler

[email protected] 410-309-2242treASurer mark Schaech Jr.

[email protected] 410-358-5155SecretAry John Krauss

[email protected] 703-534-1818immediAte pASt preSident Barry dorn

[email protected] 804-746-3928

BoArd oF directorS

Conference (CIC) is being held, making it a point to get actively involved in CIC commit-tees and discussions. Several members of WMABA (including Board members Barry Dornand Mark Boudreau) are also heavily involved in the Society of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), a prominent national group whose current executive director, Delaware industryveteran Aaron Schulenburg, is a past member of WMABA’s Executive Board.

(It’s important to note that Board members get involved in these activities on a strictlyvoluntary basis, without financial support. In an industry consistently crying out for change,these individuals literally put their money where their mouths are and support repairers atthese events at their own expense.)

Looking through the material for this month’s issue (which offers great information onhow various WMABA members impacted recent CIC and SCRS gatherings), I felt it wasimportant to remind our readers of just how active WMABA truly is – even during the “slow”summer months. If you’re unable to personally attend these great get-togethers through-out the year, Hammer & Dolly is here to keep you updated on what goes down in meetingrooms and on show floors. If you’ve ever wondered what kind of effect your membershipdues have on the greater industry, just have a look at the national content in this issue.These happenings are as much a part of the WMABA experience as attending a meetingin your hometown. When you join the association, you’re connecting to the largest networkof auto body professionals in the United States. There has never been a better time to bea part of re-shaping this field for the better. For more information on WMABA membership,please contact Executive Director Jordan Hendler at (804) 789-9649. H&D

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11September 2015

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issues with a particular insurance com-pany? Any and all questions are possiblehere, as well as the answers.

It’s not that you’ll be asked to get upand speak in front of the hundreds in theroom. You can nudge me to do that for you;it’s the importance of getting the actual dialogue with your own ears. Every singlerepairer who has ever gone to the meetinghas gotten something from it that they’veused to improve their personal business.Meeting another shop owner turned friend,hearing a particular presentation or simplyhaving the knowledge that there is a placeto go with concerns – these are all reasonsto show up.

Looking for a Bonus? There are other meetings in conjunc-

tion to attend, too. This most recent meetingwas with the NACE Expo. As always, you

can attend the Board meetings of several ofour nation’s top associations like the Society of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS) or the Collision Industry ElectronicCommerce Association (CIECA), both ofwhich WMABA strongly support and are active with.

All of the groups getting together arefor one reason: to advance the collision repair industry. If being here five, 10, 20years from now is where your mindset is,then your goal for the rest of this year andthe next is to make it to a meeting. Ourlocal meetings are great, and we do our best to relay the knowledge to ourmembers, but this is a place you could retreat to for support.

If you want to talk about it, please feelfree to call me anytime. We will get youwhere you want to be; that’s our mission.

H&D

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S Jordan hendler(804) 789-9649

[email protected]

IS CIC ACRYSTALBALL?

Heading to the industry meetings in Detroitwas not something I was really looking forwardto. The town itself is not on my list of places I’vewanted to visit. But when you are traveling forwork, it’s just a venue, not its content.

Being in the room for the Collision IndustryConference (CIC) meetings made the trip totallyworth it, and I realized after its conclusion thatthis truly is the place where repairers get aglimpse into the future.

Seeing some of our prominent members atthe Conference is a bonus for me personally,but this meeting was full of valuable informationany repairer would want to know NOW (as op-posed to later, when there’s less that can bedone about it). In addition to talks on parts pro-curement and pulse synergic aluminum weld-ing, there was discussion of steering laws, cycletime calculations, training advancements anddata privacy. All of these topics are going to af-fect your future in this industry.

i’m there, But you’re not. Yes, you can get the summary coverage

here in our magazine or from other newssources, but you aren’t getting what reallycounts. Making it to just one CIC each yearwould be invaluable to you.

At these meetings, there are folks fromevery far-reaching corner of our industry (fromOEM to online marketing). The one-stop shopdoes exist, and it is the CIC meeting. Do youwant to reach out to a committee member about the parts procurement debates? Did youwant to talk to a rental car provider about themanagement system integrations? How aboutthe effectiveness of voicing concerns for your

MESSAGE

Check the WMABA website and newsletters for regular updates and reports from theExecutive Director’s perspective.

12 September 2015

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13September 2015

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14 September 2015

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THANKS

YOU

16 September 2015

WMABA thanks their Generous Supportersof the new Corporate Sponsor Programfor 2015! We encourage YOUR SUPPORT

of those who SUPPORT US!

For more information about the sponsorship program,please contact Executive Director Jordan Hendlerat 804-789-9649 or email [email protected]

3M Automotive AftermarketCertified Automotive Parts AssociationFinishMaster

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

www.wmaba.com

Mid-Atlantic Paint & SupplyNational Coatings and Supplies

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17September 2015

WMABA MEMBERSHIP: GET YOUR QUARTER BACK

It’s always a good time to get involved with WMABA. If you’rereading this, your first benefit is already being realized: staying up onthe news in our area and beyond.

Get Your Team JerseySupporting WMABA is an investment in the future of your busi-

ness, and your industry. By becoming a member, you are representedin all the places the Board or Executive Director goes. Whether at atradeshow like SEMA or locally at the state capital testifying at a hearing, your interests are at the forefront. Though repairers oftenfeel competitive, the association is a place for camaraderie and community. Here, we’re all on the same team.

The PlaybookThe association is your resource for all things. Whether you

have a question about current Labor Rate data, operations, customer

interaction, insurer relationships, vendor products or national news;your association is the place to ask first. Through our relationshipsnationally, we can even take issues to the forefront of places such asthe Society of Collision Repair Specialists, Collision Industry Confer-ence or national contacts for insurers and vendors.

Locally, we research the governmental regulations and oversightto make sure the repair industry is protected from any negative legis-lation. Represented in both Virginia and Maryland, WMABA proposesand opposes recommended bills that come into the legislature duringopen session. Also, we work with consumer-related entities, govern-ment agencies and other related industry organizations to ensure thatthe voice of the repairer and their customer are heard.

Call the GameAs a member, you decide your personal level of participation. Do

you have interest in committees to address particular issues you feelpassionately about? Would you want to be a Board member and as-sist in guiding the direction of the association? How about sitting onthe sidelines so you can focus on your own business? All answerscan be correct! While WMABA would like to encourage your spirit ofvolunteerism, it is solely up to you at what level you get involved.

The minimum is getting your membership. 2015 can WIN withyour commitment to the betterment of your business, and your indus-try. Sign up today! H&D

Find more association updates atwww.wmaba.com.WHAT’S

UP TO?

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18 September 2015

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19September 2015

Getting to know the industrypros who work on your behalf.

Being the oldest of five siblings (and with a crew of six grandchildren and two great grandchildren), family is very important toWMABA Vice President Torchy Chandler. Havingbeen active in the industry for over 40 years, automotive repair is important to her as well.Through her work with the association, Chandleris able to marry these two factors of her life together, working on her own and with others toimprove the Virginia and Maryland automotive repair family.

Chandler got her start in the industry overfour decades ago, when her husband camehome one day from his shift as a painter andsaid, “I quit my job; I’m going to open my ownbusiness.”

“Needless to say, we didn’t have a lot ofmoney,” Chandler recalls. “When he first opened,he worked at the shop all day and I came downat night to take care of the books and the paperwork.”

From humble beginnings, they are now located in Columbia, MD at Chandler ’s CollisionCenter, where they have a crew that includes fivetechnicians and a helper. Early on in their daysas shop owners, the Chandlers were visited bypast WMABA Executive Director Sheila Loftus,who gave them information about an upcoming meeting and essentially said to them, “I bettersee you there.” They attended the meeting andhave been members ever since. After they hadbeen members for some time, they attended anelection.

“I jokingly said to Sheila, ‘No females on theBoard except for you?’” Chandler says. “The nextthing I know, Sheila told me someone haddropped out and that I would take their place onthe Board.”

She credits her time in the association and her position on the Board for much of hersuccess in the business.

“A lot of people ask now, ‘What can the association do for me?’” she says. “The bottomline is, when it comes to this industry, you don’tknow what you don’t know. And with what we do,you need to know what’s coming down the pikeat least a year before it hits. Plus, if I walk into ashop and close my eyes, it’s all the same. Youhear the same things. Everyone is experiencingthe same problems, but no one has the solutions.Through the association, we are able to sit downand discuss finding a solution, a better way of doing things or a different way to run the business. People say they don’t have time, butwhen they’re not making money, I’m sure they’llfind it. Even if you don’t want to be gung-ho, atleast join the association and go to meetings and read the magazines. These are wonderfulpeople, and you need to take advantage of theirimpact.”

At one of her first big national meetings inSan Jose, CA, when Chandler had first becomeWMABA president in 2006, she sat at a dinneracross from late industry legend March Taylor.

“He spoke to me like he had known me formy entire life,” Chandler fondly remembers. “Hegave me tidbits of information that have stuckwith me ever since and have impacted how I runmy business and interact with this industry. Hesaid, ‘Give it your all, help anyone who asks andget involved.’”

Chandler urges anyone not involved in theassociation to attend a meeting or to contact aBoard member and ask questions.

“I love the association. If I didn’t, I wouldn’tstay as long as I have,” she says. “I like knowingwhat’s going on in our industry, I love our national presence and I love that we have an active executive director who processes what’shappening in our field and gets everyone onboard, so to speak. It’s important that shop owners join WMABA. It’s going to be the bestthing they ever did.” H&D

“Through the association, we are able to sitdown and discussfinding a solution,a better way ofdoing things or adifferent way torun the business.”

TORCHY CHANDLER

BOARDMEET THE

By JAcquelyn BAumAn

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20 September 2015

SCRS to GreatlyExpand CollisionPresence at SEMA

NATIONAL NEWS

Thanks to the Society of CollisionRepair Specialists (SCRS), the world’smost extensive automotive industryevent will soon be bigger than ever.

With two months still to go before thearrival of SEMA 2015 (November 3-6, LasVegas Convention Center), SCRS has al-ready succeeded in building the strongestCollision Repair & Refinishing segment everfeatured at the world-renowned show. Theassociation’s SEMA-exclusive 2015 RepairerDriven Education (RDE) Series will feature arecord number of classes – a direct result ofattendee feedback on the kind of coursesthey wanted to experience at the Show. Ad-ditionally, pre-Show registrations and Colli-sion Repair & Refinishing exhibitor signupsare already at an all-time high.

“From a vendor standpoint, there is ad-ditional space that had to be added to thesquare footage of the floor at the Show inthe North Hall area [of the Convention Cen-ter], extending over into additional space atthe Westgate Las Vegas Hotel,” says SCRSExecutive Director Aaron Schulenburg.“That’s really exciting; the added space pres-ents new opportunities for the companies ex-hibiting.”

With five strong years at SEMA undertheir belt, SCRS made it a point to greatlyexpand its educational offerings for 2015 byadding new class blocks on Tuesday,Wednesday and Friday mornings and selecting the best courses available from a

multitude of suggestions submitted by com-panies and speakers from every industrysegment imaginable.

“We work with collision shops who areclose to SCRS, and vet out the issues,” ex-plains Schulenburg. “We look at what wassubmitted to us and how [the suggestedclasses] address the real-world needs thatare current this year with our members.”

Naturally, SCRS’ desire to providemeaningful educational content has resultedin a strong focus on some of the industry’shottest topics, including consolidation (“Don’tLet Consolidators and MSOs Steal Your In-surance Work,” hosted by Michelle Nelson ofBB Automotive) and post-repair inspections(“Post Repair Inspections [PRIs],” hosted byLarry Montanez of P&L Consultants). OtherRDE speakers already signed on to partici-pate in this year’s program include SCRSmainstay Toby Chess (“Repair Planning Considerations for Welded Components,”“Welding Technologies – A ComprehensiveTutorial on Modern Equipment”), Mike An-derson of CollisionAdvice (“Business Finan-cials: Balance Sheets, Income Statementsand Cash Flow”), Dave Gruskos of ReliableAutomotive Equipment (“Removing, Replac-ing and Joining Advanced Materials”), LeeRush of Sherwin-Williams (“In-Process Qual-ity Assurance,” “Process-Driven CollisionRepair”) and John Niechwiadowicz of QLC,Inc. (“Understanding Numbers and What They Tell You About Your Growth

Opportunities”). One of the greatest highlights of last

year’s SEMA, the SCRS-sponsored OEMCollision Repair Technology Summit, isslated to return to this year’s Show on No-vember 5. The day-long event will focus onemerging trends in vehicle construction andtechnology and how both of those aspectsinfluence vehicle repairability and collisionindustry preparation. The program is de-signed to put SEMA Show attendees in aroom with innovators in automotive structuraldesign and technology, providing one of the most unique networking and learning opportunities available to the collision repairindustry.

The 2015 program will provide three dif-ferent segments, which can be selected indi-vidually or collectively as part of the RDEFull Series Pass. The sessions will featurecompanies and individuals with rich historiesof producing sophisticated advancements inthe automotive and collision repair fields,and will highlight architectural and techno-logical developments in modern vehicles andhow those advancements intersect with therepair process. SCRS and show organizersbuilt this year’s Summit to provide greaterconvenience for those attendees who mayneed to juggle multiple commitmentsthroughout the day.

“The evolution of the Summit wasbased on attendee feedback on how tomake it more accessible and usable from a

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21September 2015

The national association addressesindustry demand at Las Vegas trade show.

By Joel gAuSten

scheduling standpoint,” he explains. “It isgoing to be a full day that’s still focused onOEM collision repair technology items.However, we broke it up into a couple ofdifferent segments so that if somebody justwants to come for the morning session orjust wants to come for the aluminum orsteel section, they can break their dayapart a little bit.”

While SEMA 2015 will surely attractveteran attendees from the collision repairfield who know how to maneuver throughthe unforgettable spectacle that is SEMA,Schulenburg has some useful advice forthose who will be experiencing it for thefirst time.

“Plan out your trip and pre-register foryour classes, because I think it gives a bet-ter framework to the week,” he says. “I talkto a lot of people who go to SEMA for thefirst time and say, ‘I’ve never been here, soI’m just going to plan it as I go.’ Inevitably,they come back to me and say they wishthey had mapped it out in advance. It’s abig show, and it can be a little overwhelm-ing. There are so many opportunities therethat it’s easy to feel pulled in a lot of differ-ent directions. The most flexible option isto get a Full Series Pass and identify whichclasses you want to go to, then leave your-self some free time because you are goingto want to explore the show floor and settime aside for meetings. Pre-planning witha little bit of flexibility is probably thebiggest key that I can offer – along withrecommending that you bring multiplepairs of comfortable shoes!”

A complete list of RDE classes andSCRS-related SEMA events (as well asregistration information) is available attinyurl.com/ok53z9z. H&D

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24 September 2015

It is the best of times for the Societyof Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).

Currently boasting 45 state affiliates andextensive activities on a variety of fronts, theassociation offered an intriguing update ontheir recent past and projected future at aJuly 23 Open Meeting in Detroit, MI.

During his report to members, ExecutiveDirector Aaron Schulenburg noted a substan-tial growth of new membership in the previ-ous quarter, adding that entrance interviewsindicate a strong interest in the association’scurrent endeavors on behalf of the nationalcollision repair community.

“More often than not, the response [fromthese new members] specifically is, ‘We’rereading about, looking at or seeing some ofthe things that SCRS is working on that areimportant to our business,’” he said. “It’s agood affirmation for those sitting around thetable that the work that we’re doing is res-onating with our members – and in the indus-try with those who are not our members,which is just as important.”

One area of considerable action by theassociation is investigating ways to addressdata privacy concerns in the collection ofEMS data. At SCRS’ April Open Meeting inAtlanta, Schulenburg reported that one mem-ber’s facility faced suspension from a particu-lar DRP due to complaints from a consumerwhose loss was identified on a VIN reportingdatabase. According to a July 7 SCRS pressrelease on the matter, “the reporting com-pany responded in writing that while theycouldn’t release the names of their sourcesfor vehicle loss information, neither the colli-sion repair facility nor the InformationProvider [IP] was a source of the data. Thiswas enough to dissuade the carrier’s concerns over the repair facility’s role in

releasing data, but it further reinforced theneed for collision repair business owners tohave [a] protocol in place to maintain controlof information and data generated by their business.”

Although many shops are aware of obvi-ous and intentional data pump sources in-cluding rental car companies and partsproviders, it is possible that these busi-nesses’ information is also being collected byunknown or unintended third parties. SCRShas been working with the major InformationProviders to identify and implement possiblesolutions to the problem, including reconfigur-ing the current EMS directory and establish-ing a new connection to essentiallydisconnect any other data pumps that werethere in the past.

“As we started looking at solutions andtalking with some shops, we realized that alot of them don’t know what’s on their systemthat may be collecting that information,”

explained Schulenburg at the most recentOpen Meeting. “There really is no good wayfor a collision repair business – unless theyare highly technically skilled – to identify adata pump that’s hidden, because they couldbe hidden deep within the directories on theircomputer and not very easy to locate.

“We encourage that if you [pursue re-configuring your system], you make sure youtalk to each of the parties you interact with sothat you don’t have any loss of service bymaking those changes,” he added. “Eachcompany is going to be different, both on theIP side as well as on the other third-party ap-plications that are collecting the information.”SCRS’ full press release on their currentEMS-related work is available attinyurl.com/o7z8u37.

The past several months have seenSCRS also devote time to working with vari-ous OEM parts manufacturers to gain in-sights into their efforts to combat the ongoingappearances of “Alt OEM” and “Opt OE”parts in estimating systems. Schulenburg be-lieves that the presence of these terms withinthe estimating systems creates confusion atthe shop level.

“Some manufacturers will have surplusor optional OEM parts, whether they’re re-manufactured or outlet or things along thoselines,” he said. “However, there are third-party suppliers who are seemingly poppingup more and more that are offering ‘OEM,’but who may not be authorized OEM suppli-ers. This presents a concern because, forboth a shop and a consumer, it’s important toknow that if we’re ordering an OEM part, weare in fact getting an OEM part and more so,an OEM part specifically intended for use inthis country rather than perhaps a part that’sgrey market or came from a different supply

SCRS REPORTS MEMBERSHIP JUMP,Continued Work with IPs, Opt-Alt OE Parts

ScrS executive director Aaron Schulenburgupdated attendees on the association'sprogress in the previous quarter.

NATIONAL NEWS

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Detroit Open Meeting seesSCRS quarter in review.

By Joel gAuStenchain...The challenge is that the estimatingsystems are allowing more and more suppliersto integrate into their systems, but there are notunique identifiers to help us understand whichparts are which. They’re all just categorized as‘Opt OE.’”

Additionally, Schulenburg noted that theconfusion is exacerbated by parts suppliersdiscounting and relabeling parts as “OptionalOE” or “Alt OE” to accommodate downwardpressure on the market to adjust pricing. (Thepotential dangers of using a part that was notdesignated for the American market are ex-plored in a recent Repairer Driven News reportavailable at tinyurl.com/q3wkeek.)

In other Information Provider news, Schu-lenburg offered an update on the association’sreaction to AudaExplore’s new feather, primeand block option. Earlier this year, AudaExplorebecame the first IP to include the procedure intheir system, leading to accolades from SCRSand other industry representatives. However, amore in-depth review of the functionality hasalso led to some concerns over the approachthe Information Provider used.

“It is still a huge step forward for the in-dustry; however, after looking through the waythey approach it, we did have some concerns,”offered Schulenburg. “The system requires youto calculate the time for feather, prime andblock into your repair time [and] essentially es-tablish what percentage of that repair time wasallocated towards it. Then, it would be redactedout of that repair time. Our concern is that,based on member feedback, this isn’t howmost shops approach that operation, or the for-mulation of repair times. It’s typically two sepa-rate operations; it’s accounted for differentlyrather than lumping all of it into one time.”Schulenburg reported that the association hascommunicated its concerns to AudaExploreand further discussions are underway.

In an ongoing project by the association,SCRS is working with the Database Enhance-ment Gateway (DEG) administrator to bringbasic-level understandings on IP products bydistributing special “Estimating Tips” to theirmembership via email on a weekly basis.SCRS encourages member companies to forward these tips to their client bases as aservice to the industry.

The Open Meeting also included an extensive, interactive presentation by SCRSTechnical Committee members Toby Chessand Kye Yeung on the current state of aluminum repair and training. (Highlights from

the discussion are featured in our cover storyon page 44). More information on SCRS activities and events is available at scrs.com.

H&D

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At Rosslyn Auto Body in Alexandria, VA, it doesn’t matter whereyou’re from, only what you bring to the table every day. Rosslyn AutoBody owner and past WMABA Board member Kris Burton knows this,as technician Nelson Flores is one of the biggest assets to his team.

Flores got his start as a body technician in El Salvador, learning from a friend. It was in his home country that he got his firstcollision repair job, building the foundation that would ensure him suc-cess later on. A little over 10 years ago, Flores became employed atRosslyn Auto Body and has been there ever since.

“I think I was nominated for Technician of the Month because Iwork hard and I am dedicated to what I do,” he explains. “I can workon various repairs, no matter the size, and I stay on track until theyare completed in a timely manner.”

Flores believes in getting it right the first time with no exceptionsand is constantly striving for perfection. It is this aim towards excel-lence that will help him in his future goal of becoming a mentor foryounger technicians. In the next decade, Flores sees himself acting asa teacher and advisor for new automotive service technicians enteringthe shop, passing down the gifts he was bestowed to the future of theindustry.

Striving for flawlessness in repairs is admirable, but Flores ac-knowledges that it is certainly difficult in this industry, especially notingthe constantly evolving nature of the technology he services. Regard-less, the best part of the job for Flores is seeing the customer at theend being satisfied with the quality repairs he has accomplished.

When he is not in the shop, Flores enjoys spending time with hisfamily and attending his son’s soccer games, standing on the side-lines and cheering him on. Grateful for the opportunities he’s beengranted and the talents he has acquired, he has a few people he’d liketo thank for helping him to reach the level of success he has attainedin his career.

“I am thankful for several of my coworkers, as well as my manager, Kris Burton,” he says. “Together, we work to create ateam. For that, I am very happy.” H&D

nelson Flores enjoys being able to see his customers’ faces after they receive their vehicle back

in better condition than when it went in the shop.

THE MONTHTECHNICIAN OF

NELSON FLORES

By JAcquelyn BAumAn

Hammer & Dolly chats with theWMABA community’s best and brightest.

If you would like to nominate someone as Technician ofthe Month, please contact Hammer & Dolly Managing EditorJacquelyn Bauman at [email protected]

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Examining the various twists and turns ofelectronic parts procurement is no easy task,but it is one that the CIC Parts & Materials Com-mittee is committed to facing head-on.

During their July 21 presentation to CIC atten-dees in Detroit, members of the Committee offeredupdates on their work to develop a “value streammap” of the parts ordering process to better identifycommon inefficiencies and risks that shops experi-ence when sourcing products during a repair.

According to Committee Co-Chair John Bosin,one interesting element to his group’s efforts is therealization that the collision repair industry remainsa predominantly “fax and phone” business despiteconstant evolutions in online parts procurementtechnologies.

“I want to reassure you that while some of usmay consider electronic parts procurement a 21stcentury item and the faxing [from the] 20th century,the fax machine is still very much alive,” he re-marked. “If you talk to your parts suppliers and askthem how many faxes they get in a day with orders,[you’ll see that] not only is the fax machine stillbeing used, but the phones are being used and alot of the parts salespeople and delivery people arebringing orders back into the office. It’s not all doneelectronically, for sure.”

cic parts & materials co-chair John Bosin feels thatthis is still a “fax and phone” industry.

30 September 2015

Going through the exercise of parts procurement stream mapping may seem like a diversion, but really, this is how the Committee is going to articulate the problems with the advancement of systems being mandated, or even just used inthe industry. I think this is a good thing! - Jordan Hendler

RECAP"Value stream map" developed to identify

inefficiencies in parts procurement systems.

To illustrate his point, Bosin added that one of the members of his BASF perform-ance group is known to pay for every part delivered to his facility by check.

“If we all think it’s all super-streamlined and [electronic] parts procurement is justrapidly sweeping the industry, it’s not,” he said.

Discussing the risk analysis area of the Parts & Materials Committee’s work,member Amjad Farah (AkzoNobel) encouraged attendees to consider the true cost offailures and inefficiencies at their businesses. He noted that one of the greatest fail-ures experienced on the shop floor in terms of efficiency occurs when that facilitymakes its parts decisions based on price alone.

“When you source based on price only, what kind of effect can that have on ourprocess?” he asked. “What happens when the part is not delivered in a timely fashion?If [the decision] is based solely on price, it may end up that we get poor service fromthe vendor and we have a delay. What does that cost you every time that happens?”

Farah noted that inefficiencies can be caused in unexpected ways, includingwhen some shops order OEM parts “just in case” the part on the estimate doesn’t fit. Ifthe cheaper part ends up working, the shop has to return the OE part, causing anotherstep along the way. Farah stressed that every delay in the procurement processmeans something in dollars.

“You’ve got to realize that when there’s delays or re-work or any time we have tore-do something in our process, there’s an actual cost to our company,” he said.

“If that delay causes youto miss your promise date, weknow the CSI’s taking a hugehit,” Bosin added.

Bosin encouraged industrystakeholders to reach out tothe Parts & Materials Commit-tee and offer feedback and di-rection on identifying andaddressing inefficiencies in theparts procurement process.Contact information and pastParts & Materials Committeepresentations are available atciclink.com/parts-materials/.

H&D

Parts Procurement Delays, Risks Explored at CIC

Amjad Farah (Akzonobel) discussed the importanceof eliminating inefficiencies in parts ordering.

Executive Director’s Thoughts

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What happens when an insurer speci-fies a rental car period at the start of a jobwhen the shop already knows that it is anunrealistic amount of time? How are the in-surers’ times even developed? On July 21,the CIC Insurer-Repairer Relations Commit-tee attempted to address these and otherquestions during a special panel discussionof repairers, insurers, association leadersand rental car representatives at the Cobo Center in Detroit, MI.

Moderated by Marcy Tieger of Sym-phony Advisors, the panel examined the pur-pose behind rental formulas in today’sindustry – and whether or not these formulasshould be updated or done away with alto-gether to provide a more legitimate view intohow long customers need to be in rental vehicles.

The discussion began with an overviewof how some insurers develop the rental time formulas they apply to repair jobs. For

example, if an insurer requires three hours oflabor per day on a 30-hour job, the repair/length of rental will be 10 days, plus applicable weekends and holidays; if an insurer requires six hours per day of labor ona 30-hour repair job, the repair/length ofrental will be five days. Panelist Frank LaViola (Enterprise Rent-A-Car) sharedCommittee data that indicated that laborhours across the country ranged from a highof 3.08 hours (Minnesota) to a low of 1.77hours (Louisiana), for an average of 2.25 average labor hours by day per state. Theaverage estimate labor hours per job rangedfrom a high of 31 hours (Rhode Island) to alow of 21 (Iowa).

“You’re talking about a 10-hour variancebetween the top and the bottom, with an average for the industry at about 25.77,”LaViola said.

For more than a few CIC participants,these numbers illustrated a growing chasmbetween what insurers expected out ofshops and the realities of actually repairingvehicles in 2015. Panelist Darrell Amberson(LaMettry’s Collision) opined the heart of theissue is that the formulas shops are given touse typically fall within four to six hours perday – much higher than the average notedabove.

“Frankly, I find the current formulasridiculous because we create this sense ofmisconception, which we as repairers arekind of dancing around,” he said.

Panelist Aaron Schulenburg (SCRS)voiced concern that the rental formula cur-rently used by some insurers often leadsshops to feel pressured to give unrealisticcompletion dates to customers.

“More often than not, we’re giving theman answer that we absolutely know will bewrong based on the formulas that we’reusing,” he said. “In fact, most people who areanswering those questions to the consumersare doing so [while thinking to themselves], ‘Iknow I’m giving you the wrong answer.’ For

that purpose, [the formula] definitely needsto be redefined, because consumers aren’tgoing to stop asking the question...We needto be able to give them a reasonable an-swer.”

WMABA Board member Mark Boudreau(Spectrum Collision Center) said that thecurrent formula structure forces him to do“Disneyland-like acting” in putting on a posi-tive face for his consumers when he knowsgoing in that the rental will end up beinglonger than the insurers initially determine itto be.

“At my business, we spend a lot of timeat the front end educating the consumer toovercome the misconceptions that they havealready been given before we start the re-pair...That creates friction in the repairprocess and the relationship we have withthe consumer, reducing the satisfaction ofthat consumer on behalf of both the repairerand the insurance company...We’re diggingourselves a hole before we’ve even begunthe repair process.”

Members of both the repairer and in-surer sides of the discussion acknowledgedthat more needed to be done to addressrental-related issues.

As panelist Randy Hanson (Allstate)said, “I think for a lot of reasons, this conversation’s time has come.” H&D

RECAPDisparities in rental car times permeate

discussions in Detroit.

32 September 2015

CIC Panel UncoversRental Time Inaccuracies

WmABA Board member and ScrS directormark Boudreau offered animated feedback on how unrealistic cycle time expectations impact customer service.

panelist darrell Amberson called current insurance rental time formulas “ridiculous.”

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34 September 2015

RECAPIf steering is illegal in all 50 states, why is it still an issue? Is

there a place for legitimate shop referral systems in this industry?When does an insurer cross the line in suggesting a facility to aclaimant?

To gain insight into how the industry at-large views the steeringdilemma, CIC Governmental Committee members Steve Regan(Regan Strategies) and Janet Chaney (Cave Creek Business Devel-opment) hosted an interactive discussion on the matter during theJuly 22 Collision Industry Conference in Detroit. The open and oftenfrank discussion offered a variety of opinions on how repairers, man-ufacturers, insurers and consumers are affected by the controversialindustry practice.

Getting the ball rolling, Regan suggested that the concept of in-surer body shop referral does have a place in today’s industry if han-dled properly.

“When a policyholder asks an insurance company, ‘Where doyou think I should take my car?’ [it’s] as natural as somebody askinga concierge, ‘Where should I get dinner?’” he offered. “For them tosay, ‘I can’t tell you’ puts them at a disadvantage; the customer thinksthey’re not helping them out.”

But what happens when a line is crossed? Offering an insurerperspective, State Farm representative George Avery insisted thatwhile his company is proud of its Select Service program and worksto include shops that do things that are in the best interest of con-sumers, the choice of body shop is ultimately up to the customer.

“What happens [with State Farm] is [we say], ‘We have a pro-gram that offers these benefits. Are you interested? Have you de-cided where you’d like to have your car repaired?’ In steering, you

really try to change some-body’s mind, and that’s wrong,”he said.

Speaking from the CICfloor, WMABA Executive Direc-tor Jordan Hendler noted thatsteering often causes a cus-tomer to place undeservedtrust in that recommendedshop’s abilities.

“If [customers] are given ashop name that they can taketheir car to, their perceptionand understanding is that it’s a reputable business that the insurerhas vetted for quality and that their car is being repaired to a mar-ketable pre-loss condition,” she said. “I think that the perception isthat they are going to trust that referral based on the information thatthey don’t have, which is that the shop is probably not vetted for thethings they care about.”

Hendler added that the current DRP environment has led somerepair facilities to focus more on insurer scorecards than on providinglegitimate customer service. This creates an issue for the consumer ifhe or she is steered to one of these shops. The discussion thenturned to the OEM referral systems gaining momentum. In Hendler’smind, these systems encourage customers to utilize facilities thathave been approved/certified/recognized by that manufacturer towork on their specific vehicles based on equipment and training.They also have the potential to provide the suitable checks and balances needed to ensure that a participating shop is capable ofproviding the appropriate level of professionalism during the repairprocess.

“With the numerous comebacks and re-repairs that our associa-tion has been made aware of in our area for multiple insurers, I knowthat there is a problem there,” she shared. “[With] an OE referral, thethings [the manufacturer] is vetting for are to protect their brand, andthey want those customers back like the insurer wants their customerto stay with them.”

Although steering remains one of the collision industry’s mostcomplex problems, SCRS Board member Dustin Womble (RogerBeasley Collision Center; Austin, TX) suggested that the industry first needs to go back to basics if it hopes to accomplish anything insolving it.

“The issue is not stopping steering or stopping recommenda-tions or referrals,” he said. “The issue is making sure that the peoplewho are ‘in our industry’ are qualified to be called a collision repair facility.” H&D

CIC Explores Steering Dilemma

The industry's most common problemis addressed at Detroit gathering.

WmABA's Jordan hendler voiced concern over the quality produced

by some insurer referral shops.

Janet chaney and Steve regan presided over an interactive discussionon steering at cic.

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FEATURETECHNICAL

TORQUE WRENCH USEAND MAINTENANCE

We hear a lot about aluminum repairand procedures. Many of us have been re-pairing steel vehicles (and even some com-posite vehicles) for years. One thing we seeoverlooked 99 percent of the time is torquewrench usage when installing body andstructural components. It seems that mosttechnicians know that a torque wrench is re-quired for steering, suspension and enginerepair, but many do not realize the impor-tance of using torque wrenches for body re-pairs. Aluminum components such as (butnot limited to) doors, deck lids, hoods andbumper reinforcements can all be damagedfrom over-tightening during installation. Fol-lowing the OEM’s torque ratings and proce-dures is paramount to ensuring the aluminumpanels do not become damaged, warped orembedded into steel components, which willcause galvanic corrosion. Many of today’ssteel-intensive vehicles contain aluminumbumper reinforcements and hood panels. Ad-ditionally, many may also have aluminumdeck lids and door assemblies, so care mustalways be taken during the installationprocess. When you finally decide that theproper thing to do is to use a torque wrench,you will need to understand their operationaluse and maintenance. Let’s take a look atsome torque wrench information.

A torque wrench is a precision instru-ment designed to apply a specific amount offorce to a fastener (nut or bolt) to ensure itstays in place and does not back off or be-come loose. Whether tightening head boltson an automobile engine, attaching engineaccessory components, replacing or adjust-ing steering and suspension components (orlugs for tire and rim installation), inspectingfastener tolerances on high-performanceequipment or fastening aluminum or composite body components, it is extremelyimportant that proper care is used and youadhere to tolerances.

Guidelines noting acceptable torqueranges, the order in which specific fastenersare tightened and the number of times a fas-tener must be tightened and loosened to en-sure uniform torque application are typicallyprovided. In some cases, a fastener may re-quire a torque to angle or a combination of atorque to value/torque to angle followed byanother torque to value. Failure to properlytorque fasteners can lead to equipment damage, personal injury or – worse – a component failure.

It is important to follow acceptable main-tenance and use practices, such as (but notlimited to) the following:

Safety glasses or goggles and glovesshould be worn at all times when using anyhand tool.

Always follow the manufacturer’s direc-tions regarding torque direction, proper force,torque pattern/sequence, use or non-use oflubrication on fasteners, torque “tighten/re-lease” cycles and torque to angle values.

Do not exceed the recommended workingrange of the torque wrench. Reliable meas-urements are based on a percentage of theworking range. In general, most mechanicalwrenches have a useable range from 20 per-cent to 100 percent of full scale. Most elec-tronic wrenches have a useable range from10 percent to 100 percent of full scale. Readall instructions prior to operating the torquedevice.

Do not use accessories or handle exten-sions unless specifically allowed by thetorque wrench manufacturer.

Always take the time to inspect the tooland check for worn or cracked sockets. Re-member to properly lubricate and replace

any worn or inoperative torque wrench components.

Avoid dropping, sliding or striking a torquewrench. Dropping a torque wrench on a hardsurface can cause the instrument to lose reli-able calibration. If you suspect that a wrenchhas been dropped, have the tool inspectedby the manufacturer or reputable calibrationservice. Additionally, never use a torquewrench to “break free” corroded fasteners.

Always store a torque wrench in a protec-tive case and/or location when not in use.

Avoid exposure to temperature extremes,high humidity, fluid immersion and corrosiveenvironments. Never clean the tool withcaustic fluids such as lacquer thinners orgasoline.

If using a click-type torque wrench, alwaysstore it at the lowest level on the scale to pre-vent loading the spring.

Avoid marking, etching or placing labelson torque wrenches.

Use a torque wrench to apply a specifictorque value during the final assemblyprocess. Do not use a torque wrench as theprimary means of tightening or loosening fas-teners; that’s what breaker bars and ratchetsare intended for.

As most torque wrenches are length spe-cific, always grasp the torque wrench in thecenter of the handle. If two hands need to beused, place one hand on top of the other.Make sure the tool does not slip and causeyou to fall off balance and impact yourhands.

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Apply torque in a slow, methodical manner andavoid sudden, “jerking” type movements or forc-ing the wrench to tighten a stubborn fastener.

When the wrench signals (by clicking, beep-ing or lights) that a specific torque has beenreached, stop applying force immediately.

Snap-On warns that “after 5000 cycles or upto one year of use, whichever comes first, haveyour torque wrench inspected and recalibrateby the manufacturer or reputable calibrationservice.”

With proper care, a high-quality torquewrench should provide accurate measure-ments for many years, if you adhere to what isin this article. Remember that torque wrenchesare precision instruments; care must be takennot only in their use, but also in their applica-tions, storage and maintenance.

HOT TIPSCalibration: Torque wrenches come from

the factory calibrated, but almost every manu-facturer recommends checking the calibrationonce every year. There are testers that you canpurchase to ensure your torque wrench is accurate.

Storage: All torque instruments should bestored in their original cases. This will preventthem from becoming damaged and will keepthem dry and dust/moisture free. “Clicker” typewrenches must be stored with the lowest pos-sible setting.

Usage: Inspect the tool visually before andafter every use. Look for any signs of corro-sion, bends or wear. Also check for any bindingor rough operation.

COMMON REASONS FOR FAILUREUse and abuse: The more use and wear,

the more maintenance that it will require. Drop-ping the wrench will damage it and change thecalibration. Never use a pipe extension or hitthe wrench with a hammer.

Improper storage: Storing the wrench in adrawer without its case will cause other tools to impact it during the opening and closing ofthe drawer. Additionally, technicians have atendency to toss some tools in their drawers,

and this could impact the wrench. Moisture is always an issue.

Improper maintenance and care: Failureto properly store and calibrate your torquewrench will lead to incorrect readings. Youshould never fail to repair the wrench when it is not operating properly.

We hope this article has explained theproper way to use torque wrenches, maintenance and applications. As always, feelfree to contact us if you have any questions.

H&D

Larry Montanez III, CDA is co-owner of P&L Consultants with Peter Pratti, Jr. P&L Consultantsworks with collision repair shops on estimating, production and proper repair procedures. P&L conducts repair workshops on MIG & resistance welding, measuring for estimating and advanced estimating skills. P&L also conducts investigations for insurers and repair shops for improper repairs, collision repairability and estimating issues. P&L can bereached by contacting Larry at (718) 891-4018 (office), (917) 860–3588 (cell), (718) 646–2733 (fax) or via email at [email protected]. The P&L website iswww.PnLEstimology.com.

Jeff Lange, PE is president of Lange Technical Services, Ltd. of Deer Park, NY (www.LangeTech. net).Jeff is a Licensed New York State Professional Engineer who specializes in investigating vehicle andcomponent failures. Lange Technical Services, Ltd. isan investigative engineering firm performing forensicvehicle examinations and analysis for accident recon-struction, products liability and insurance issues. Jeffcan be reached at (631) 667-6128 or by email [email protected].

Nuts and bolts, tips and tricksfrom our resident industry experts.

By lArry montAnez iii, cdA & JeFF lAnge, pe

37September 2015

As simple as a torque wrench? Not in ourindustry. Tool maintenance, especially withadvanced technology like welders, is an absolute must. Having a calendar reminderfor each tool’s maintenance schedule willhelp relieve concerns when a tool may bequestioned for failure. Catch it before it’s aproblem. - Jordan Hendler

Executive Director’s Thoughts

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MARKETING FEATURE

If you’ve used Facebook to pro-mote your business, you’ve noticedthat it has become increasingly difficultto get your followers to engage with yourposts. As you’re probably aware, as soon asFacebook began offering paid advertising op-tions like “promoted posts,” they also an-nounced that “pages organically reach about16 percent of their fans on average.”1

Many small business owners report aneven lower percentage reach on posts thatthey haven’t paid to sponsor. Recent casestudies have shown that the organic reach forposts ranges between three and nine percent.2

Is this move towards Facebook as a paidadvertising platform frustrating? Yes. Is this areason to abandon your Facebook page? Ab-solutely not. Facebook is still a great way toconnect with potential customers in your mar-ket and build your brand.

Even though you may have to pay tomake sure your Facebook posts reach your au-dience, the necessary budget isn’t going tobreak the bank. If you’re using an approachthat would have gotten you a high rate of or-ganic engagement in the “pre-paid” days ofFacebook advertising, you can get great re-sults with boosts as low as $5.

How To Be “Engaging”The first step in developing the most cost-

effective and engaging Facebook strategy is to

think about the kind of content thatyou’re going to post. You should ask

yourself, “What kinds of things do peo-ple respond to on Facebook?” or, “What

kinds of things do people prefer not to see intheir Facebook news feed?”

Facebook has been asking themselvesthose questions as well, and has concludedthat what people don’t want to see is overly“promotional” material.3

In an announcement on their blog in Janu-ary, Facebook announced, “As part of an ongo-ing survey, we asked hundreds of thousands ofpeople how they feel about the content in theirNews Feeds. People told us they wanted tosee more stories from friends and pages theycare about, and less promotional content.”4

What Makes a FacebookPost “Too Promotional”?

Facebook identified several traits thatmade posts feel too promotional to the peoplethey surveyed, including:

posts that solely push people to buy a prod-uct or install an app;

posts that push people to enter promotionsand sweepstakes with no real context; and

posts that reuse the exact same contentfrom ads.5

Many business owners will look at thesethree criteria and say, “If we’re not supposed topromote our products and services, and aren’tsupposed to post about offers, what are wesupposed to post about? Isn’t that the purposebehind posting to a company Facebook page –to promote the business?”

Yes, the purpose behind posting to a com-pany Facebook page is to promote the busi-ness, and some of your Facebook posts shouldpromote your products and services or drivepeople to sign up for things like coupons orspecial offers. Although you can still get en-gagement and a return from these kinds ofposts, there are two factors to consider:With Facebook’s January 2015 algorithmchange that limits the organic distribution ofpromotional posts, those posts will reach signif-icantly less than 16 percent of your followers.In order to get those promotional posts toreach a significant audience of potential cus-tomers, a budget must be set aside to sponsorthose posts.

What Kinds of Posts AreMost Engaging?

While there is still an important role forpromotional posts on Facebook as paid ads,you’re probably also asking yourself, “Whatother kinds of content are there for my busi-ness to post, if we’re not being promotional?”

40 September 2015

How to Get MoreEngagementfrom Facebook– on a Budget

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Making the most of the Web’s mostpopular social networking site.

By lee emmonS

41September 2015

And if you’ve put some time into answering thequestion, “What kinds of things do people re-spond to on Facebook?” you’ve probably al-ready got some ideas.

Know Your Audience, Know Your Strengths

Your objective should be to understandthe audience that has liked your Facebookpage so that you can give them the kind ofcontent that they’ll respond to. Know that manyof the people who have liked your page havedone it because they are past customers6 whoappreciate the work you performed on their ve-hicle. For the Facebook page of an auto bodyshop, your audience is also very likely to be in-terested in cars in general. You can use thisknowledge of your audience to identify the con-tent that you can create that will be especiallyengaging to them.

One of the great natural strengths for yourauto body shop’s social media efforts is thecars themselves. Videos and photos of carshave always been among the most popular,and naturally engaging, types of posts you cancreate on social media. Furthermore, when youconsider the audience for an auto body shop’sFacebook page, they are very likely to like orshare content about the most interesting andpopular cars that come through your shop.

If you give your audience content that it’snaturally interested in, like a video or picture ofa $200,000 Porsche you’ve just repaired anddetailed, they will be much more likely to re-spond to it by liking and sharing it with theirFacebook friends. Whenever possible, giveyour audience the kind of content they wouldrespond to if their friends posted it. It just takesa little creativity to come up with something thatfeels more like an interesting interaction than ahard sell.

Pictures vs. VideoConventional wisdom has always sup-

ported the idea that photographs are the most

engaging form of content. As recently as lastApril, studies showed that photo posts ac-counted for 87 percent of engagement on thetop 10 percent of brand posts.7 In the pastyear, however, studies have shown that therehas been a major change in the organic reachfor photographs on Facebook.

Since at least October 2014, video hasbecome the most engaging form of posts onFacebook, with 8.71 percent of video posts or-ganically reaching a page’s followers versus anabysmal 3.73 percent for photos.8 (Granted,you may feel that an 8.71-percent organicreach is abysmal, but we’ll get to the solutionfor that below.) CEO Mark Zuckerberg signaledthis huge push towards video content, recentlysaying, “Five years ago, most content on Face-book was text. Now it’s photos. Fast-forwardfive years, and it will be video.”9

Auto body shops that want their Facebookpage to have a better unpaid, organic reachshould consider increasing their video output.Of course, this doesn’t mean creating a hugeproduction every time you want to post some-thing. It might be as simple as putting youriPhone in video mode instead of taking a stillpicture of that Porsche.

While this does mean that body shopsshould seriously consider increasing their videoposts, it doesn’t mean that they should stopposting photos to their Facebook pages. Eventhough Facebook has reduced the organicreach for photos, this hasn’t changed the factthat people still find images compelling. If theysee great images of interesting cars, they’restill very likely to like or share them. The trick isto make sure they see your photos in the firstplace.

$5 Goes a Long WayFacebook is a paid advertising platform.

This is a fact we all have had to accept. Somepeople are, understandably, frustrated by thistransformation, feeling that they’re suddenlybeing extorted, no longer able to reach their

audience without paying. The bad news is, there’s nothing we can

do about this change but move on, acceptFacebook for what it’s become and assign abudget. The good news is, you can have an ef-fective Facebook strategy without breaking thebank. Boosting posts for as little as $5 hasbeen proven to have a big impact on perform-ance and reach. A recent case study showedthat a $5 boost can consistently increase thatpost’s reach by over 10 times.10

If you implement a strategy using naturallyengaging posts that are of genuine interest toyour audience, boosted for $5, you’ll go far withFacebook. Even a boost of only $5 can ensurethat a significant number of people see yourengaging post. Then, when those people likeand share that post, their Facebook friends willsee it and engage with it, creating a mini-viraleffect. Without that initial boost, however, prac-tically nobody will ever see your post, making itimpossible for that mini-viral effect to occur.

If you’re still not sure about a paid Face-book strategy, you can test it at very little risk.Give yourself a budget of $20/month, choosefour engaging posts (posts that don’t feel like“hard sell” advertisements) and see if $5 getsyour audience to interact with them. Comparethem to other posts that you don’t promote,and see if your boosted posts get more organicengagement in addition to the increased paidengagement. Test some promotional posts withinformation on special offers and deals, think-ing of them as paid ads. Keep in mind that 45percent of people who like a Facebook pagedo so for inside information on deals.11 Just be-cause Facebook doesn’t deliver promotionalposts organically, that doesn’t mean they don’thave value as paid ads.

This is an opportunity to be creative andconnect with potential customers, especially forbusiness owners who want to use Facebook inthe most cost-effective way.

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Lee Emmons is vice president in charge of AP Mediabased in Sykesville, MD. His public relations and marketing efforts on behalf of collision repair shopsthroughout the Mid-Atlantic have gained industry presscoverage for those shops in trade publications and localmedia. He and his agency are certified Google Partners,with certifications in AdWords and in Google’s Video Advertising Advanced Certification. Marketing for autobody shops has become his passion and personal areaof expertise. You can visit his company’s website atAbsolutePerfectionMedia.com.

How is $5 a day going to buy peace of mind? By advertising andpromoting your business to your potential customers without anythird-party interference. Owning your customer for $5; what’s notto love?! - Jordan Hendler

Executive Director’s Thoughts

42 September 2015

Think about why your audience is on Facebook, and whythey share things with their friends. If you can treat your companypage like a community of like-minded people, interested in auto-motive content (rather than as a platform for delivering promo-tional ads), you can go further than ever before with Facebook.It’s just that it’s now going to cost you a little bit of money. H&D

1. https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=101506757276372172. http://marketingland.com/want-maximum-reach-facebook-dont-post-photos-1185363. http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/11/news-feed-fyi-reducing-overly-promotional-page-posts-in-news-feed/4. ibid.5. ibid.6. https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media/facebook7. http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/2149-photos-are-still-king-on-facebook8. http://marketingland.com/want-maximum-reach-facebook-dont-post-photos-1185369. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10101991653731751&set=a.529237706231.2034669.4&type=1&permPage=110. http://www.digitalmarketer.com/facebook-organic-reach/11. https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media/facebook

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43September 2015

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There comes a time when hype and words need to bereplaced by action and investment.

After months of industry news articles, forums and discussions onaluminum, the moment of truth has arrived. Who got trained to take on the2015 Ford F-150? How different is aluminum compared to steel? Aretechnicians hitting the target, or are they falling flat as the demands of alu-minum repair overwhelm them? With I-CAR’s F-150 training recentlypassing the one-year point and more and more of these vehicles turning

up at shops all the time, Hammer & Dolly takes a look at what worked(and what didn’t) during aluminum’s major moment in the spotlight.

THOUSANDS SERVEDAs the much-hyped 2015 Ford F-150 began hitting America’s road-

ways, thousands of repairers were ready for their arrival thanks to I-CAR.Working directly with Ford, the training organization developed a specialcourse (2015 Ford F-150 Structural Repair Training [FOR06]) designed toget repairers up to speed quickly on how to professionally handle thetrucks once they started appearing in bays. More than a year after theprogram’s launch, I-CAR President and CEO John Van Alstyne is pleasedwith the endeavor’s progress.

“We have a constructive working relationship with Ford,” he says.“They were working on the development of their new vehicle severalyears ago, and they reached out to I-CAR because of our relationship[with the industry], and asked us to help them with the development oftraining and channels for the dissemination of knowledge to the industry inpreparation for launch of the F-150. We worked with Ford through the finalstages of their product development process so that we would have train-ing and Ford would have the proper repair information for the industry. Inthe late spring [of 2014], we launched our F-150 training programs. One is

COVER STORY

44 September 2015

IS ALUMINUM THE ICEBERGTO OUR “TITANIC”INDUSTRY?

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45September 2015

the effects of the industry’s latest andlargest change — one year later.

what we call FOR06, which is what you need to know to repair a 2015 F-150. Secondly, we adapted our standard aluminum welding training andcertification program to be more Ford-specific. We’ve been about a yearinto that, and that’s been a great success. The F-150 course was our mostpopular in 2014, so a lot of folks took that training.”

As of this writing, over 20,000 students have completed the six credit-hour course since its launch in May 2014. Of that number, 63 percent arefrom the collision repair side, while insurers make up 30 percent and“other” segments comprise the final 7 percent. According to I-CAR data,over 5,000 organizations had at least one student complete the course.Additionally, nearly 4,000 students have already completed their certifica-tion in Ford Aluminum (GMA) Welding (WCA05) or Aluminum (GMA)Welding (WCA03).

Although FOR06 remains I-CAR’s most in-demand course, Van Alstyne is quick to caution readers that much more work needs to be donebefore the industry is even slightly where it needs to be in terms of thenumbers needed to properly address the volume of aluminum-intensiveautomobiles hitting the roads.

“Quite frankly, we’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg in terms of

the training requirements,” he shares. “By no means have we penetratedthe industry to the level that’s going to be ultimately required to deal withaluminum vehicles...The F-150 has a high profile; it’s a high-volume vehi-cle. But there are other aluminum vehicles out there, and there’s going tobe more coming.”

Based on I-CAR research, Van Alstyne expects that about 75 percentof all pickups (and 25 percent of other vehicle segments) by 2025 will havealuminum body closure panels by 2025. In the meantime, I-CAR is stayingactively engaged with OEMs to be of assistance in developing other F-150-type training programs as needs arise.

“I think you’ll see other OEMs come out with aluminum vehicles thatmay want to do special things with their repair networks, which might in-clude I-CAR aluminum training and certification-type programs and/or anykind of custom course work that might be required,” he says.

While the 2015 F-150 continues to grab headlines and the majority ofattention in current inter-industry discussions on repair trends, it would bea foolish – and perhaps professionally fatal – error to think that aluminumis the only advanced material that repairers need to keep on their radars.

“We talk a lot about aluminum and steel because those are structural

Sink or swim: i-cAr worked with Ford to develop courses to properly train repairers on the intricacies of working on aluminum.tens of thousands of automotive professionals have embraced this training in the past year. (images courtesy of i-cAr)

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components and important, but quite frankly, just the notion of working withultra high-strength steels and advanced high-strength steels is differentthan working with regular steels,” offers Van Alstyne. “While we’re all wor-ried about aluminum, we should also be worried about high-strength steelsand derivatives of steel, and the fact that hybrid combinations of materialsare being used in vehicles as well.

“Folks like Honda are quite adamant about the industry really under-standing how to deal with the advanced steels they have in their vehicles,”he adds. “I’m not sure that has the level of industry attention that it needsacross all 35,000 shops that might be repairing a vehicle, but there’s nu-ances to even dealing with the steels that are in place today versus thesteels of old.”

With I-CAR already riding high on better-than-usual student figures,they hope to expand on this recent success with the just-launched Produc-tion Management role in their Professional Development Program (PDP).According to an I-CAR press announcement, the new role and curriculumgoes beyond technical training and “was developed using direct industryinput, collaborating with production managers, shop owners and expertsfrom the collision repair industry.” The role is designed to provide “insightinto critical issues and multiple areas of the shop floor, while enhancingcritical-thinking and problem-solving skills, enabling participants to quicklyaddress complex problems shop personnel face in collision-repair produc-tion.” Some of the Production Management Role courses include “Match-ing the Repair to the Team,” “Optimizing Processes, Equipment andCompliance,” “Problem Solving for Workflow Changes” and “Synchroniz-ing Workflow through Team Communication.”

“This industry has a strong, immediate need for production manage-ment training,” said Josh McFarlin, I-CAR director of curriculum and prod-uct development, in a prepared statement. “By working directly with shopowners and experts across the shop floor, we were able to build a uniquecurriculum that accurately reflects critical areas and challenges the indus-try faces.”

Although the Production Management role isn’t specific to aluminumrepair, it certainly fits in well with the process-focused mentality of many fa-cilities that engage in working on advanced-material cars.

“[A shop with] a culture that really embraces sound production man-agement processes, techniques and mindsets is going to be better pre-pared to deal with the technology advances that our industry isexperiencing and will continue to experience,” Van Alstyne says.

Although some shops in today’s industry still wait until an issue ortrend is already knocking at their door before they react, I-CAR is workingnow to identify the trends that will impact repairers years down the line.Van Alstyne notes that the organization is taking a very serious look at howthe development of new electronics – including accident avoidance tech-nologies – will soon necessitate new training environments.

“The electrical requirements associated with repairs are becomingsignificantly more complex,” he explains. “All of those electronics aresafety-related, and they’re sensitive to proper repair, installation, align-ment, calibration with control systems, etc. All of those have to work in unison; otherwise, you have a vehicle that is not safe.”

As for the here and now, Van Alystne sees an industry that is slowlybut surely succeeding in getting itself fully equipped to handle the very obvious differences between the aluminum of today and the steel of yesteryear.

“I think the industry generally understands that there are differencesbetween aluminum and steel,” he says. “At the end of the day, those whohave their heads around being a well-equipped, capable repair facilityhave their head around this.”

LIFE AFTER TRAININGOf course, the best training in the world is only as good as a

student’s practical application of what he or she has learned. There’s alsoa whole lot of practice involved in order to truly become a competent alu-minum welding technician – a truth made clear during a special discussionat SCRS’ July 23 Open Meeting in Detroit. After more than a year’s worthof experience on the front lines of the aluminum issue, SCRS Board mem-ber, past SCRS chairman and former WMABA President Barry Dorn hasseen both successes and failures on the shop floor. In his mind, talent asan aluminum repairer doesn’t come from just attending classes, butthrough diligent practice and refinement of those acquired skills – no matter how advanced you (or your certifiers) think your facility is.

“It is not like riding a bike,” he offered. “If you don’t use it, you will loseit.”

Dorn stressed that constant practice is especially important whenconsidering that with a sensitive material like aluminum, one false movecould mean throwing away your entire job.

“It’s one shot [with this material], and you’re done,” he said. Dorn’s comments came after a special presentation by Toby Chess

and Kye Yeung of the SCRS Technical Committee, who also went to greatlengths to convince industry attendees that aluminum is not the same aswhat technicians are traditionally used to repairing. For example, becausealuminum is much softer than steel, shops must adhere to specific proce-dures performed with dedicated equipment. Also, because aluminum weld-ing is fundamentally more difficult than steel welding, there is agreater-than-ever need to always make sure your technicians’ skills are ata high level. And it takes much more than I-CAR certification to make thatpossible.

As SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg noted at the meet-ing, “It isn’t just about strengthening a skill set through training; it’s aboutdeveloping the right culture within your business.”

Naturally, the increasingly obvious fact that aluminum training is not aone-time commitment raises major concerns for shop owners hoping tocapitalize on the trend. What is the cost of regular training versus a rea-sonable return on investment? And how exactly is this regular practice ac-complished? Does the shop need to purchase aluminum pieces fortechnicians to practice on – at a cost that will add up in no time? Also,keep in mind that these added expenses are on top of the six figures theshop has likely already invested to become aluminum-ready in the firstplace.

47September 2015

continued on page 49

(imag

e cou

rtesy

of i

-cAr

)

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Simply put, the decision to become an alu-minum repair facility should never just be a mat-ter of keeping up with the Joneses – whosepoorly trained technicians might be burningthrough more cars than they’d ever care toadmit. The decision should be made only if youhave the time, energy and financial resourcesnecessary to handle one very intense learningcurve.

(As a service to the collision repair industry,Toby Chess has developed a special documentcomparing the prices and specifications of vari-ous aluminum welders current available in themarketplace. This document is available attinyurl.com/no44ygp.) H&D

COVER STORYcontinued from page 47

It is increasingly more difficult to makeblanket statements about our industry, es-pecially when the disparity between shopsis growing like the Grand Canyon. Thosewho participate, tool, educate and have aculture for repairing the vehicles the rightway are becoming further removed fromthose who “just want to fix cars” their way.Soon, that referral they’re used to getting isgoing to be replaced by the OEM recom-mendation. - Jordan Hendler

Executive Director’s Thoughts

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THE PROBLEMWITH PARTSPROCUREMENT

MESSAGEPRESIDENT’S don Beaver

(443) 539-4200 ext. [email protected]

I appreciate WMABA working on my behalf at the state capitol(s)!Here is my contribution to the legislative efforts.

Name: ______________________________________Company: __________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________________

City:____________________________________________State: ______________________Zip: ________

Phone: ______________________________Email: ____________________________________________

Donation Amount: $50 $100 $500 Other ________________

Check Enclosed Credit Card (Visa, Amex, MC)# __________________________________________________________ Exp: ________

Name on Card: ______________________________Signature: __________________________________

WE NEED YOUR LEGISLATIVE CONTRIBUTION!

P.O. Box 3157 • Mechanicsville, VA 23116

When does it end? Once again, we have been given the runaround from an insurance companyover parts procurement. As usual, with this particular insurance company, we were tasked with installingrepair brackets on an HID headlight instead of replacing it. (This is no real problem, other than that Idon’t think the insurance company is making their insured whole again, but that’s a whole differenttopic.) Anyway, two of the four needed brackets did not match the existing broken brackets and couldnot be used, requiring us to replace the lamp. Knowing this company’s policies, we wrote it for a reman-ufactured lamp and ordered it. Less than two hours later, we received notice that it was available from adifferent vendor at a lower cost. However, that vendor is not only someone we don’t have any relation-ship with, but they are in California. It just makes no sense to me that a shop is forced to deal with com-panies that they know nothing about. Not only that, but we have to use a credit card to order it. Who isresponsible for erroneous charges on our card or the cost of shipping back a wrong or damaged part?Also, how does this affect our cycle time? Who is paying the associated admin fees? You get the idea.

Yesterday, we wrote an estimate for an insurance company that uses a third-party desk review.When we received a copy back of the reviewed estimate, it was written with optional OEM parts, usedparts and aftermarket parts. Not only that, but nearly each part was sourced from a different vendor.There were literally eight different vendors sourced for this one repair. What I’m getting at is the need forour industry to say enough is enough. There are a number of states around the country working on andmaking progress toward legislation to prevent insurers from requiring the use of a particular source orvendor for parts and materials. I hate beating this horse, but please pay attention to these things. Onlywith your help will we ever take back control of our shops. The requirements benefit only one thing – theinsurance company’s bottom line. It’s bad for our customers and our industry. It’s bad on localeconomies and businesses.

WMABA has been trying to change (and is succeeding in changing) some of these things for along time, so when you once again hear our call to arms, take heed. You will be able to stay anony-mous without fear of repercussion. So I say again and again and again: If you’re tired of this unneces-sary intrusion into our business, say so when we ask for your help.

50 September 2015

Tired and frustrated,

H&D

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In previous articles, we have discussedbeing proactive with regard to OSHA regulationsin the shop. The basics included hazard commu-nication (a.k.a. “Right to Know”), personal pro-tective equipment (PPE) and respiratoryprotection. Though there are many other regula-tions, these are some of the most commonlycited laws in the automotive industry.

OSHA’s Isocyanates Enforcement Program(or IEP) has been a national priority since June2013. The goal has been to reduce or eliminatethe adverse health effects of occupational expo-sure to isocyanates used in catalyzed productslike bedliner and activated paints. This IEP hasput body and paint shops squarely in the sightsof OSHA, increasing inspections.

We have received more than a few emailsand phone calls regarding this increased level ofshop inspections. Some questions included, “DoI have to let them in my shop?” and, “What can Ido if the inspector shows up?”

Firstly, OSHA has a legal right to inspectworkplaces – and businesses have a legal rightto require a warrant. While that may be true, onemust realize that beginning a relationship on anadversarial note is generally not a good idea.The vast majority of inspectors are dedicatedsafety professionals and not there to “bust” you.Most also realize that if you are legitimately toobusy to give your full attention to the inspector,he or she will make every reasonable effort toaccommodate you.

What do you do if an inspector is at yourdoor? If they aren’t there yet, you have time toprepare!

The first step is to evaluate where you areagainst each standard. Look at your safety pro-grams and training records. Are they current?Look around your shop for violations. Some willbe obvious, such as trip hazards and employeesnot wearing PPE, while others are more techni-cal in nature. Ask your employees what they seeas dangers in the workplace. Most businessowners and employees genuinely care abouttheir work family. If you demonstrate this, the cul-ture will be evident when the inspector speakswith your people.

If the inspector is there, here are some ba-sics that should make things go easier:

Be respectful. Give the inspector your undi-vided attention, or at the very least assign asenior manager.

Be honest. Lying to an inspector is a federalcrime.

Have your safety programs handy. This willconvey the sense that you take what they dofor a living seriously.

It is crucial that you accompany the inspec-tor. Take notes and feel free to ask for clarifi-cation on items you do not fully understand.Eliminate any hazards as soon as you havebeen made aware of them. For example, ifthere is a frayed power cord, cut it to make theequipment unusable. Be sure to unplug it first!

Don’t be defensive. Thank the inspector forpointing out a potential violation and explainhow you will correct it. During the walk-through, explain your efforts to make yourshop safe and compliant.

A regulatory inspection can be a stressfulevent. When it happens, take a deep breath.Hopefully, knowing what the process is will makeit easier to prepare for and to get through.

Next time, we will discuss what happensafter the onsite inspection. I hope this informa-tion is helpful. If you have any questions or needassistance, give me a call. H&D

Joseph J. Kenny, ii is president of Safety Regulation Strategies, Inc., a nationwide safetyand environmental training and consulting firm.He has helped thousands of businesses createsafe and compliant workplaces, and can bereached at (800) 723-3734 or on the Web atSafetyRegulations.com.

A view from the supplierside of the industry. VENDOR

CORNER JoSeph J. Kenny, ii

WHEN OSHA COMES KNOCKING

52 September 2015

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54 September 2015

ADVERTISERS’INDEX

Air-Tech Products ................................23

Alexandria Toyota ................................54

All Foreign Used Auto..........................49

AP Media ............................................42

Audi Group ..........................................31

Audi Silver Spring ................................IBC

Axalta Coating Systems ......................OBC

BMW Group ........................................28-29

BMW of Silver Spring ..........................IBC

BMW of Fairfax....................................3

CAPA ..................................................27

Car-Part.com ......................................7

Chesapeake Automotive Equipment ..21

Empire Auto Parts................................21

Ford Group ..........................................22

Future Cure ........................................25

GM Parts Group ..................................33

Hendrick Honda ..................................23

Honda Group ......................................35

Hyundai Group ....................................38

I-CAR ..................................................46

Koons Ford ..........................................49

Malloy Auto Group ..............................8

Mazda Group ......................................13

MINI Group ..........................................9

Mitsubishi Group..................................43

Mopar Group ........................................11

Nissan Group ......................................51

NUCAR................................................15

O’Donnell Honda ................................54

P&L Consultants..................................37

Packer Norris Parts ............................4

Porsche Group ....................................14

Porsche of Silver Spring ......................IBC

PPG ....................................................IFC

Safety Regulations ..............................52

Subaru Group......................................39

Toyota Group ......................................53

VW Group............................................48

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