How do you use your smart phone for estimating damage to vehicles?
I'll go out into the field and just write up an estimate on my phone like any other estimate being written on a PC. Because of the 3G and wireless Internet everywhere, it works all the time. I can take pictures with the phone, go to Web-Est.com to write the estimate, and download it right to my phone for the customer to see. I can then email that estimate from my device to the shop or to the customer from the road. It works so well that I actually don't even use the PC in our shop that much anymore. If a customer brings a vehicle to work on, I'll write estimate for them right there in the parking lot on my phone. It saves time for both the customer and I, rather than going in and out of the shop.

Does the size of the phone and the text on the mobile web browser cause you any issues with the readability of the estimating software and the estimate itself?
All Apple devices have a feature that permits you to magnify all the text of a page to as large as you want. As you do that, the text on the Internet page reformats to fit on your screen so you don't have to scroll left and right for every line you read. This magnifying feature is also available on just about every smart phone that's on the market. Getting accustomed to this feature is just like any new operation a shop takes on: it takes a little getting used to, but after awhile, it becomes second nature and you're able to utilize all the advantages that come with smart phone estimating.

Do you ever use a laptop for mobile collision estimating?
You certainly can, but once you master estimating with a smart phone, there's no need to. With laptops, you need an Internet connection either through someone elses wireless Internet connection, or you need a wireless card. A smart phone like the iPhone has the wireless capabilities, but it also has 3G and sometimes 4G Internet that can operate without a wireless connection. As a matter of fact, we only use our PC for printing and for when the customer is in the office. Other than that, we use our smart phone for estimating, which is about 90% of the time.

Does conducting smart phone estimating give you an edge over your competition with your customers?
Absolutely! Alot of times, in my community, the question is "Who can get you the best estimate the quickest?" The smart phone capabilities, coupled with the Internet technology of Web-Est Collision Estimating, gives us the opportunity to write estimates at the location of car accidents, vehicle break-downs and anything else that would prevent a customer from bringing it to our shop. The software is the biggest thing. It enables us to stay ahead of our competitors by being able to give estimates at up-to-the minute speed. Other estimating providers have no way to compete with that.

How helpful is Web-Est Collision Estimating Software to your mobile estimating operations?
Using Web-Est is a crucial aspect to doing smart phone estimating. It can't be done otherwise. I don't know of another estimating company that has the technology that Web-Est has, and yes, I've used them all. Without the Internet functionalities, writing estimates on your smart phone is not possible. Web-Est is ahead of the game in Internet estimating technology and is the only one out there that can handle this new estimating platform.

Are you satisfied with your experience using Web-Est overall?
Web-est is one of the few tools out on the auto-collision market that has helped make us recession-proof. It has cut our costs significantly. It has made our operations more efficient with the Internet functionalities and mobile estimating. They're Aftermarket and LKQ parts database gives me an edge over competition that only provides OEM parts. The list goes on and on. I feel comfortable attributing alot of our success as a business and in this community to Web-Est products and services. I love this program and this company. I would recommend them to anyone in the auto collision industry.

Mr. Siegler agreed to make himself available for contact.  He can be reached at (573) 707-0260.

The most significant change in the survey compared to last September was measures by the government to help the economy, which respondents carried overwhelmingly negative views of. When asked if efforts by Congress and the federal government have helped auto collision industry (through Recovery Act/Stimulus Bill, Auto Bailout, Troubled Assets Relief Program, etc.) 87% said it has not helped the industry at all. Another important finding from the survey was individual respondent's view of their volume of business compared to the previous six months. Of the shops surveyed, 42% believe that their volume of business is worse than the last six months; while 26% believe it is about the same and 36% believing it has improved. Those who say their volume of business is worse off saw a 20% jump when compared to the survey taken in September 2009.

Please see below for all the results of the survey:

Compared to the last six months, how would you describe your current volume of business (repairs/sales)?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. About The Same 26.00%
2. Slightly Improved 14.00%
3. Improved 16.00%
4. Greatly Improved 2.00%
5. Worse 42.00%

5How many staff members does your shop currently employ?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. 1 28.00%
2. 2 16.00%
3. 3 26.00%
4. 4 12.00%
5. 5 10.00%
6. 6 8.00%

Does your shop conduct any internet marketing activity to bring in new business (i.e. marketing on Google, Bing or Yahoo)?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. Yes 34.04%
2. No 65.96%

How much does your shop spend on advertising?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. $0 8.33%
2. $0-$100 14.58%
3. $100-$200 14.58%
4. $200-$300 8.33%
5. $300-$400 6.25%
6. $400-$500 4.17%
7. $500-$600 6.25%
8. $600+ 37.50%

For those using a Direct Repair Program, are you satisfied with the work provided?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. Yes 35.29%
2. No 64.71%

Do you think the efforts by the Congress and the federal government have helped the state of the collision repair industry? (i.e. Recovery Act/Stimulus Bill, Auto Bailout, Troubled Assets Relief Program, etc.)
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. Has helped significantly 4.08%
2. Has helped some, but not enough to directly impact the collision repair industry 8.16%
3. Has not helped the collision repair industry at all 87.76%

In your opinion, when do you thing business will improve to pre-economic conditions?
Frequency Analysis
Answer Percent
1. Has Already Returned 6.25%
2. By the End of 2010 2.08%
3. Early 2011 6.25%
4. Mid 2011 12.50%
5. Late 2011 33.33%
6. Never 39.58%

The Senate Standing Committee on Consumer Protection and the Assembly Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection held a joint hearing June 9 to hear testimony on the proposed New York State Automotive Right to Repair Act (SB 7302 and AB 6634).

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) opposes the New York State Right to Repair Act, while the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE) supports the legislation and claims that ASA members provided "misinformation" at the hearing. New York unions, automobile manufacturers and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles all submitted comments in opposition to the Right to Repair Act, ASA noted.

Donny Seyfer, ASA board member, Seyfer Automotive, Wheat Ridge, Colo., answered questions from the committee regarding service information requests and the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF). ASA says it has made several presentations to members and staff of the New York legislature in recent years regarding service information availability.

"I don't have problems of not having information because I only work on brands that I know I can repair," Seyfer told the committee.

CARE Executive Director Sandy Bass-Cors countered that without support from Right to Repair legislation, independent repairers' options could be severely limited.

"Unfortunately, that leaves independent repairers at the continued mercy of the car companies which may decide to eliminate certain brands or merge, leaving the independent repairers with even fewer vehicles to repair," Bass-Cors said. "Mr. Seyfer's statement sounds as if there are brands that he can't repair and therefore has 'settled' for repairing only a few models while telling the New York legislators that repair information is not a problem."

Matthew Godlewski, vice president of government affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) noted that Right to Repair hasn't been successful in the past in other states or at the federal level.

"Congress and the states have repeatedly said 'No' to the Right to Repair Act," he said.

CARE countered in a press release that no state has rejected the legislation outright, and it has been reintroduced in Congress.

The New York legislature has not scheduled any further action on the Right to Repair Act for this year.

ASA says it's working with New York state policymakers to establish service information training sessions in the state later this year.

In addition to being debated in New York, Massachusetts State Senate already passed the measure, with arguments against the legislation saying that it provides "a way for generic auto parts makers like Auto Zone and Pep Boys to get information that will allow them to reverse-engineer parts and manufacture them generically."

Do you think Congressional and State legislation would provide independent repair shops with the right solution to the problem of information access, as C.A.R.E. argues?  Does the legislation go far enough in providing a solution?  Or would legislation be unsuccessful as A.S.A. and A.S.M. argue?  Would the legislation provide auto parts makers with information they shouldn't have?

What are your thoughts regarding this matter?

One important aspect of having your business run efficiently is the way in which your employees work. If you have a larger shop with a large team of employees, you may be able to have them specialize in a particular area. Specialization will allow them to focus on a specific task for the majority of the time, making them work more quickly and make fewer mistakes. They will also be able to provide more information and assistance to customers with questions, and having an "engine specialist," for example, makes your business seem more professional from the customer's perspective.  At the same time, some shops choose not to go this direction with employee training, which might be common for smaller shops. In this case, body shops opt to train their employees to be "jacks-of-all-trades," where all the employees are experts and perform the work as it comes.  Going this route keeps you're employees busy with work, and can prevent jobs and issues from falling through cracks.  Quite frankly, implement whatever works best for your employees, your volume of work and your business model. Having an efficient system that permits work to flow in and out quickly and properly is key.

You can also optimize your auto body shop by having a tightly run office. The front office is the place in your business that will make the greatest impression on your clients, and having it be clean, tidy, and well staffed is important. If possible, have someone present in the office at all times, in order to answer phones, provide customer support, and deal with paperwork. Having a customer service representative shows that your business is invested in its customers, and dedicated to ensuring that they are satisfied with the service they receive.

The way in which you deal with customers and the way in which your employees function are the primary aspects of determining how efficient your business will run. Customer relations are a crucial aspect of developing impressions in their mind about your business, which have a direct impact on their decision to refer you to their friends, which thus means more business for you.  Equally important in developing that customer's impression is how quickly the work was done and how the quality of that work is.  By optimizing your business to be as efficient as possible, you will increase the amount of business you receive and enhance your relationships with customers.

Waterbone Conversion / Changeover
By Justin Jimmo

We had been putting it off for several months but now at crunch time with the Canadian legislation forcing a 3.5 voc basecoat compliancy, we couldn't drag it out any longer... The water is here, and the results are spectacular!

With so many paint systems available and so many different spraying conditions, problems are inevitable at some shops. There is a bit of a learning curve with spraying but with a good set-up I can't see why anyone would object to bringing this in. We choose to stay with BASF's RM brand of paint, Onyx HD. We migrated from RM Diamont and the reason for Onxy over Glasurit 90 line was because the crystal bases (shown below) work with both RM systems, we were happy to give Onyx a go and save the expense of changing our crystals.

You will notice the Glasurit M-5 blending clear, which works similarly to an orientation coat in our RM mix. The BASF reps recommend this product over the RM version and inform us there would be no compatibility issues so we decided to use this product in it's place.

I've got to say both our jobber (co-auto) and BASF provided us with outstanding service and support with the changeover. They were able to help us out with equipment and ensured we had two support reps for the entire week to make sure of a smooth transition. Co-Auto actually employs several reps whom are dedicated for this and paint troubleshooting (exclusively to Co-Auto customers).

So back to the system... The Onyx toners are surprisingly small, the entire system fits in two small boxes. The first thought is you'll be ordering cans of paint like a mad man but seeing what you mix up, you'd be amazed at how far a little bit of paint goes. The toners are extremely concentrated, you'd mix up a fraction of what you'd mix up with diamont and the bulk of your formula is a water reducer. Our rep claims that we will be surprised at how long the toners last. Some challenges the toners will present is tinting abilities, with the concentration levels now a tiny drop will change your color much, much more compared to a solvent paint. The same is true for over-pouring, a little over-pour can end up destroying your formula.

All of the gallon cans below are either primers or from my Diamont solvent line. Here are the other products used with the paint line (get the product ready for use):

The gun we are currently using to apply is a Devilbiss CVI with a 1.3 tip. The recommendations are to use a larger tip with this paint and we may switch up as time goes on but for now it's getting the job done:

The digital gauge is pretty sweet if I don't say so:

We are going to be purchasing a gun washer but for now we are just hand-cleaning the gun. We use a waterborne cleaner similar to what you may use as a final wash. This paint seems to be stickier and a bit more difficult to clean. We are using the PPS mixing system by 3M to make cleaning much easier, also the plastic liners are necessary for storing any waterborne paint.

We have also been given the blowers. They work by spiraling the air, the air movement helps speed up drying times of the water basecoat. We have two on an adjustable stand and one hand held for smaller jobs. The air flow in our booth is pretty good and the base actually seems to dry without the blowers on at a decent speed anyhow.

Before I get to the paint I should note we had to make a few changes to our preparation. Waterborne paint as most know is more susceptible to fish-eye and will not forgive any silicone / contaminants on the surface. Every effort has to be made to remove every contaminant from the panel. The masking paper must be a waterborne friendly masking paper or it will basically melt and stick to the panel it is protecting. We are using the carborundum masking paper:

We were surprised to learn the the brand of final wipe rags we used were found to cause problems with fish-eyes in the paint as well. We switched at the advice of our reps. (the ones on the left are the replacements to the roll on the right)

Other changes we had to make included eliminating aerosol primers for breakthroughs. We are told they will bleed through (for reasons unknown) when Onyx is applied directly over it. We've converted to a 1 part waterborne direct to metal primer for burn throughs to replace the aerosols (waterborne primer on the left, UV on the right):

We've stayed with the same finishing systems, 600 grit on metallics, 400 on solids and 1200 or finer and/or a grey scuff pad with RM 851 sanding paste. So now we are on to the paint, the first thing I noticed was the basecoat layed flatter then it would with Diamont. It was less prone to mottle and it blended out with very little effort.

We would typically spray 1 mist coat followed by one wet coat and then put the blowers on and allow it to flash off. Once it went dull we would apply the blending clear over the blend panel (door) and while wet then give the job another coat of base and bring the color into the blend panel. On tricker colors we can apply a drop coat afterwards to orient the metallics a bit nicer too if need be. From here its another flash off and clear like any other base/clear job.

Some other precautions we've been warned about would include humidity and the use of the Onyx basecoat hardener. Apparently the hardener will cause issues with the base staying gummy and practically impossible to tack. They normally advise you avoid tacking this stuff when possible and if you do make sure it's we'll dried. We've been mostly just tacking the blend panels before clear and once at the start of the job, if it's required we wait a bit longer then nomal. We haven't had a reason to sand it yet but are informed to only dry sand or else you'll end up with a big mess (wetsanding). The humidiy is going to slow down drying times, more water in the air will reduce the airflow's ability to extract the water from the panel. They've also cautioned us on tri-coats, make sure we give good flash time. If we clear too early and trap water it will result in nearly instant delamination of the clear, usually during the wash stages.

I must say that so far I am quite pleased with what I am seeing from Onyx and find the finish to be superb. Overall I do find it a bit slower compared to a solvent, but not by much. I don't anticipate many problems but time will tell. It certainly wasn't as big deal, i think most will find when your set up well this paint is quite simple to spray. Lifting, mottling and fighting with blends could very well be a thing of the past.

What have your experiences been with waterborne paint?  Share your thoughts with us...the good, the bad, the ugly.

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering two bills - S.B. 122 and H.B. 1043 - that would regulate the minimum labor rates for body, paint, unibody/frame and mechanical repair shops.

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Massachusetts and Rhode Island (AASP-MA/RI) supports the legislation. The association says that for over a decade, Massachusetts collision shops have received the lowest labor rates in the country, despite operating in one of the highest cost states. As of Sept. 30, 2009, the national average hourly labor rate for repairs was $45.02, while Massachusetts labor rates averaged $35.75 per hour. The association noted that only one other state, Tennessee, charges less than $40 per hour on average ($39.69).

The legislation proposes that an 11-member labor rate commission be created consisting of: the undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation as chairperson, two Senate members, two House members, three representatives of the auto insurance industry appointed by the Auto Insurance Bureau, and three representatives of the collision industry appointed by the AASP.

The commission would determine appropriate minimum hourly labor rates based on average national labor rates and other statistics. The commission also would create qualifications to designate three levels of shops - "A," "B" and "C" - with an application and inspection process for each classification.

Labor rates paid would be based on shop classifications as follows:

• Level "A" shops must be paid an amount not less than 100 percent of the indexed hourly rate in force.

• Level "B" shops must be paid an amount not less than 90 percent of the indexed hourly rate in force.

• Level "C" shops must be paid a labor rate that's fair and reasonable.

Tell us what you think.  What is your opinion regarding this measure by the Massachusetts Legislature?

Are you a shop owner that has recently bought a new computer or are thinking about buying a new computer? Are you a shop owner with a new computer who can't write estimates because your collision estimating provider doesn't have the technology to match your computing capabilities? Countless auto shops that have made technology upgrades have reached out to us to ask if we're able to provide them with their auto body estimating needs because they're estimate programs aren't functioning properly. Are you one of those shops?

Within the last five years or so, technology providers such as Microsoft, Google and Apple have pushed what's called 64-bit computer processing to their consumer product line. A computer's processing technology has to do with its ability to process information as it performs tasks for its user. Basically, the higher the bit, the faster it performs its users tasks. The processing technology that has been dominant for consumer computers has long been 32-bit, while super-computers and government computing stations have operated under 64-bit since the 1970's. A computer with 64-bit technology is able to process information much faster than 32-bit. With these recent upgrades by the major technology companies, everyday consumers, like auto body technicians, are able to perform everyday tasks with the technology that super-computers have operated under for last 30-40 years.

The problem that occurs, however, is that programs that have been designed specifically for 32-bit computers are unable to function properly on the new 64-bit computers that consumers have been flooding stores to get their hands on. Software providers have been blindsided by the technology upgrade and have been playing catch up to get their programs functionable on the new computing technology.

Collision repair estimating companies are having the same problems. Estimating providers that are still ancient enough to operate on disks are the ones still playing catch up. Those providers have not generated the technology to make their software compatible with the new 64-bit technology that allow auto body shop managers and technicians to perform their tasks with greater speed. In other words...they're slow and behind the technology curve!

Are you a shop owner that has upgraded your computers, yet have been blind sided by the fact that your estimate provider is not as technologically advanced as you are? Is your shop now equipped with the latest computing technology, yet unable to do something as basic as writing estimates because you're provider is too slow to provide the proper compatibility?

Our internet technology at Web-Est allows us to remain up-to-date with the computer processing advancements that have been taking place in the consumer market. If you have invested that boat-load of cash to upgrade your shop computer's performance, or you're thinking about it, then Web-Est can provide you with the estsimating capabilities that other providers cannot. Our collision estimating software functions to full capacity on the 64-bit processor, allowing you as a shop owner to take full advantage of the advancements that the market is pressing forward with. Our competitors? They're still playing catch up.

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In an incident last month, David Dee Smith of Smith's Auto Body in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, fought off a would be intruder at night. After responding to a silent alarm, Smith went to his shop and saw a man wandering with a flashlight. In attempting to confront the man, later identified as Anthony Lutes, Smith was charged at and was hit repeatedly. In an act of self-defense, Smith used a nearby log to strike Lutes to prevent him from doing any further damage. According to the Sequoyah Times, Lutes was later arrested and charged with second degree burglary.

While these two incidents are completely separate with two different outcomes, it begs questions of shop safety, namely, how should shop owners defend their property and protect their employees when immediately threatened? There are numerous stories like this that don't make the news, so this is not a new phenomena. What are some measures you take to maintain the safety of your shop and your employees? How do you protect your property when the shop is closed at night? Do you invest in a security system?  Do you have a properly licensed fire-arm on the premises?   The first thing we advise is that the police be called as soon possible, but what are some preventative steps your shop takes in hopes to avoid such situations?

We invite all to share their suggestions to help maximize the safety of auto body owners and technicians.

What do you think? I know shops in Connecticut aren't the only ones exposed to this kind of activity. What's your opinion on this matter? Are there any organizations or associations you know of in your state that are preparing to take similar action? Sound off with your thoughts.