June 8, 2017—Mitchell announced enhancements to its estimating solutions related to scanning and diagnostics.
The first enhancement clarifies that the stated labor times in Mitchell Estimating do not include labor time specifically related to diagnostic scanning. The current release of the Mitchell Estimating solution will include updated Procedure Pages noting that labor times do not include:
- Time required to aim, calibrate, diagnose, reset or scan electrical items.
- Time required to perform pre-repair and post-repair scan operations.
- The time required for these procedures is in addition to the stated labor times.
In the second enhancement, the current release will include Reference Sheet line items to allow repair facilities to document the times and costs associated with both pre-repair and post-repair scans. The Reference Sheet line items allow all participants to perform analytics and run reports, bringing a new level of transparency to the process at an estimate level. For the first time, management reports will now be able to break out the costs of diagnostic procedures in collision repairs, providing valuable insight to underwriters, claims managers and collision repair facilities.
John Eck, acting president of the OEM Collision Roundtable for CIC, said, “Mitchell’s changes are great steps to ensure that all parties can communicate clearly and efficiently to ensure safe and proper repairs. Scanning and diagnostics is a topic of growing importance in the collision repair industry. Pre- and post-scans of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) help ensure that critical DTCs are identified and corrected or calibrated to ensure the vehicle and its safety systems are returned to their pre-crash conditions.”
