June 21, 2022—A body shop in Utah is working to simultaneously balance high customer repair demand and supply chain disruptions.
According to Fox 13, West Valley Collision Repair in West Valley, Utah, understands that circumstances are not easy right now for shop owners or their customers.
"Parts on back order, sometimes with no date at all, some of the vendors can't even tell us a date that the parts going to be arriving," said Randy Wareham, production manager at West Valley Collision Repair in the article. "It just takes a long time. We've had some cars taken three four months just to get parts."
Wareham has especially seen problems revolving around parts like seat belt brackets, air bags and large parts. He is grateful for the patience and understanding of his customers, and he noted that sometimes he is pleasantly surprised when he is able to order certain parts without much issue. However, with the ups and downs of the supply chain it can be difficult to anticipate when exactly a situation like that will occur.
Something that has proved helpful for Wareham is working with the connections that he has in order to get more information.
"We've made connections over the years of people we know in other states, or ways people that know how to get parts. I found three or four parts that had no release date whatsoever." Wareham said in the article.