Design dilemmas

Jan. 1, 2020
Shops can begin now to make the necessary preparations to invest in training and equipment to work with these new materials, or settle for finding a new line of work later.

Shops face an urgent need to update their training and equipment now. Fortunately, help is available.

Along with issues such as steering, waterborne paints and right-to-repair, you can throw in new vehicle designs as an issue repairers must handle. New vehicle technologies continue to create added complexities for repairers, ranging from "bit-busting" heavy metals to software glitches. How much will they affect you and how should your shop prepare for them?

A daily dilemma

A vignette recounted by Carroll Proctor illustrates the difficulties shops face when repairing new cars. This problem occurred when Proctor's crew at A.C. Proctor's Paint & Body Shop in Augusta, Ga., procured a salvaged door for a 2007 Saturn Aura. "Normally when you get a used door you just hook a battery jump box up to it and power down the window so you can disassemble the door," Proctor points out. "With this particular car you have to hook it up to the vehicle's computer; and here you've already got the dash and everything pulled out – we didn't know this problem was to crop up. We had to go back to the dealership and get them to put the door on for us."

And so it goes as shops deal with the newest vehicle technologies being brought to market by automakers intent on adopting the latest innovations in search of added safety, driver convenience, sturdiness-with-less weight and enhanced fuel economy.

This high-tech onslaught threatens to put independent repairers on a collision course with further market share declines due to the ability of dealerships to stay ahead of the technological curve.

Industry leaders are adamant about staying abreast of the new developments by making the necessary investment in the right tools and pro-actively pursuing the training to correctly operate them. "It's going to take very specialized equipment," says Mike Anderson, president of Wagonwork Collision Centers in Alexandria, Va. "You'll see some growth with the dealerships because the OEMs have deeper pockets to pay for this. A lot of shops will just take the vehicle to the dealer, but you lose so much cycle time when you do that."

Anderson serves on a slew of industry committees and conducts training sessions throughout the nation. He sees a distinct overall lack of enthusiasm among many of his colleagues. "People are more discouraged and beaten down than in the past – they're not investing in equipment and training."

The Wagonwork enterprise is a big operation, spending some $80,000 per year on training while obtaining the most-current certifications. And the techno-trend shows no signs of slowing down, making it critical for shops to keep up. "It will force people to operate more efficiently and more like a 'business' and less like just a 'repair shop,'" Anderson says.

"The ever-increasing amount of computers and vehicle technology will continue to pose challenges for repairers," notes I-CAR technical director Jason Bartanen. "Without keeping up-to-date on information and training, industry professionals will struggle when working around these systems. The continued and increased used of advanced high-strength steels also will pose a major challenge for industry professionals."

From a collision repair standpoint, he says, "the significant increase in these types of steels is quite possibly the most significant change in vehicle technology in the past 20 years."

Dedication to training

I-CAR's classes are keeping pace, according to Bartanen, citing courses addressing electronic stability control, advanced airbags, adaptive cruise control and collision warning systems. "In addition to the damage-analysis obstacles these systems may provide, post-repair inspection, aiming, etc. is vital to the system working properly. Improper repairs of these systems may not only be customer satisfaction issues, they may very well be safety concerns," he warns.

"In regard to steel, I-CAR introduced Steel Unitized Structures Technologies and Repair at NACE last fall. This program has been very popular and well received for its timeliness and relevance: In addition to being available throughout North America, I-CAR will be offering this program at NACE again this year," Bartanen reports.

"You have to adapt to the changes in the techniques," says Ben Steinman at Ben's Auto Body in Mexico, Mo. "The ongoing education and training is critical on today's vehicles."

Supply jobbers are another excellent instructional resource for obtaining relevant knowledge, he observes. "Sometimes the training is provided before we see the vehicle and sometimes it's after, but we try to stay proactive on that."

At Ben's, they take a special pride in staying on top of technological innovations, Steinman reports, joking about how the rise in sensors, navigational aids and collision avoidance electronics "is hurting our business" by reducing the number of crashes.

Third-party information providers are doing a good job of demystifying vehicle electronics, he says. "We can go to the schematic for troubleshooting," and the staff routinely turns to what the automakers recommend. "Several times a month we're logging on to an OEM Web site. That's fantastic on the mechanical side, but sometimes they don't have the information on the collision side. These add-ons do create more challenges for the industry."

A company-wide emphasis on training serves the shop well, according to Steinman, especially when electronics are involved. "We haven't had an issue yet where we couldn't handle those in-house," he says, citing as an example a question that may come up at any given shop: "How many times can you paint over a back-up sensor? You can paint over it, but not excessively, so we put a minimum amount of thickness on there just to be on the safe side."

Lighting systems, such as those on new Audis for example, require computerized equipment to restore the vehicles' illumination ability. "The software to reset some of these lights is definitely more expensive," says Anderson.

Challenging scenarios abound, according to Steinman.

"If we have a new car with a busted radiator you have to be careful about what fluids you put in back there. On some of the vehicles you can't just go to a parts store to pick up power steering fluid or transmission fluid – you have to get it from the OEM."

Failure to adequately handle these new-vehicle variables can create warranty and diminished value hassles, among other problems, he explains. In 2000, Ben's brought a mechanic on board to address situations going beyond typical body work-oriented repairs.

As vehicles become more complex, "we rely more on the mechanical technician than we used to. We now have a quicker cycle time and we're better able to control the process. If we have to sub-out a suspension repair and have it towed out of here, we might not see it for a week."

The mechanic spends about 40 percent of his time assisting with collision repairs; the other 60 percent is directed towards a mechanical repair department that the shop has going (towing is another new service being marketed). "We diversified to keep things flowing," Steinman says.

When a mechanical repair customer rolls in "you might keep that car for an hour or so; it's in and out really quick," compared to the typical collision repair. Also, "We have a lot more 'check engine lights' where the mechanic comes in handy at the last minute" as a fixed wreck is being readied for customer pick-up. "You can get a 'check engine light' if the gas cap is loose."

His staff stays up to date with whatever innovations are coming down the pike. The mechanic attends monthly classes while the collision specialists receive annual training sessions with an emphasis on certain targeted tasks.

"We have a technician who is a glue expert – he can glue ice cubes together," Steinman quips. "His job is to know the different adhesives."

Although hybrids have not yet made a big showing in the Show Me state, the shop has obtained the necessary education to work on them. "We've done several different varieties of those, and we haven't had a problem yet," he notes.

"The concern that is first and foremost on everybody's mind is safety," says I-CAR's Bartanen. "Knowing how to work safely around hybrids is the No. 1 concern for collision repair industry professionals (faced with a hybrid coming into the bay). Aside from the safety and knowing what to look for to ensure complete and accurate damage analysis, many of the structures on the vehicles are similar to conventional unitized structured vehicles."

"The jury is still kind of out on the hybrid vehicles," says Anderson. "That's a pretty big area of uncertainty for many shops," he adds, pointing to the demographics driving consumer acceptance. A college town or metropolitan region with a more liberal bent is likely to see more of these than other areas.

High-strength in high numbers

Like Anderson, Steinman also sees differences in a community's population base and how it relates to vehicle selection. "For some reason, in our particular market we have not run into Boron yet," he says. "But I do have access to the drill bits and such. We have a supplier who will rent us the tools when we need them, which is outstanding marketing for him."

Heavy metal is set to strike a chord on every shop's playlist if it hasn't already done so – and we're not talking about cranking up Black Sabbath on the classic rock radio station.

"We're seeing some of the super high-strength steels and Boron," says Jerry Burns, president of Automotive Impressions in Rio Rancho, N.M. "It requires additional training and equipment."

According to Richard A. Schultz, project consultant for Ducker Worldwide, advanced high-strength steels in vehicle body structures will increase from 11 percent of the body weight today to 40 percent of the body weight by 2015. "The total amount of steel content per light vehicle will decline from 2,300 pounds in 2007 to 2,100 pounds in 2015, as advanced high-strength steels replace other steels to save weight and improve performance. Aluminum and magnesium will only increase from seven pounds per vehicle in the body and closures today to 20 pounds in the body and closures by 2015," he reports.

A report prepared by a consortium of industry organizations and released by I-CAR and the Collision Industry Conference Vehicle Repairability Committee describes several lighter yet stronger steels that repairers must address, such as dual phase steel (DP), transformation induced plasticity (TRIP), complex phase steel (CP), martensitic steel (MART) and Boron (BOR).

These can be found on A-pillars, B-pillars, front lower rails, rear rails, crossbeams and rocker panels. Volvo, for example, uses boron-alloyed steel for the inner B-pillar reinforcement on the XC90 to help meet side impact standards, and it has been applied to body panels since 1999. Audi, Chrysler, Ford and Honda are among other automakers utilizing cutting edge metals in vehicle construction, with more innovations – and thus challenges for repairers – set to be rolled out.

"I-CAR is certainly keeping an eye on concept and future vehicle technologies," says Bartanen. "We meet with the vehicle manufacturers on a frequent basis, attend various technology seminars, and are active members of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)."

Bartanen relates how "all of these – and other external scanning activities – allow I-CAR to develop timely and relevant training programs. An example of this can be seen with the aforementioned Steel Unitized Structures Technologies and Repair training program."

He notes: "As the industry started asking a lot of questions on repair of these types of steels, I-CAR answered with this program. In regard to near-term engineering, the advanced vehicle systems and steels will continue to pose challenges."

Final word: your future

Repairers are used to hearing doomsday predictions and dire warnings of potential troubles that could sink their shops. Unfortunately, they may have become so used to these warnings that they no longer give them their proper heed. This could – or likely will – prove disastrous as shops face new vehicle technologies such as new high-strength steels. There's never any substitution for doing the right repair the right way.

As these new technologies will prove, there also will be no substitute for having the necessary equipment and training to handle these challenges. The choice repairers can make here is obvious. Shops can begin now to make the necessary preparations to do this work or settle for finding a new line of work later.

About the Author

James Guyette

James E. Guyette is a long-time contributing editor to Aftermarket Business World, ABRN and Motor Age magazines.

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