SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – An announcement regarding State Farm’s Select Service Program, a new direction under a new chairperson and a debate with an information provider over an estimating change marked a charged opening 2009 meeting of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC).
George Avery, Estimatics Consultant for State Farm, announced the following changes to provisions to the Select Service Agreement, which was originally put together in 2006.
- Because of shop practices such as blueprinting and lean processes, State Farm has put in provisions to permit time for teardown of vehicles. Avery says, “That’s perfectly fine for us. All we ask is that you take a picture of car before you take it apart.” Avery says that’s necessary to allow State Farm to handle injury claims and other issues from the claim process.
- Avery says that as the federal and state governments implement environmental rules, State Farm will ask Select Service shops to comply. “We aren’t making requirements,” says Avery, “We’re simply asking for shops to comply.”
New CIC chairperson Russell Thrall III modified the usual CIC schedule with brief reports from committees followed by an active morning and afternoon of discussions of issues CIC will take up over the next two years.
The Business Management Committee reviewed its work on reducing supplements, noting that each supplement increases repair costs by $737.50 per supplement, not including lost revenue for increased cycle time.
The Database Taskforce Committee reported it had worked with an OE roundtable on identification of substrates and was continuing to work on blend formulations.
The Education and Training Committee was continuing work on several different issues, including addressing recruiting programs.
The Governmental Committee told CIC attendees to expect more initiatives mandating the use of waterborne refinishing products under the incoming Obama administration. The committee also noted that the OEM One Stop Web site had attracted over 20,000 visitors last years, helping reduce interest in right to repair legislation.
The Human Resources Committee noted that probable passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which is supported by the incoming Congress and president, will change the shape and face of union building. The committee noted that previously, business owners would hear about a union being started at their businesses when they were notified of a union election. Now, they might not be notified until the union already was in place.
For his popular technical demonstrations, Toby Chess spoke about a recent event, sponsored by members of the collision repair community, where over 300 firefighters were trained on safely extricating victims from accidents involving newer model vehicles. Chess praised the community for its support. “Insurers, suppliers and body shops all worked together for a common cause,” he noted. Chess called attending firefighters and organization on stage where he awarded them plaques. One firefighter spoke about the importance of having newer model vehicles to train on.
“We don’t get to see these until the actual incidence occurs. We need all your help to get these vehicles in our hands so it’s a safer operation” he stated.
“If you want them to save you, we need newer cars,” said Chess. “ How can they help you if they’re being injured by airbags?” State Farm provides a Web site, www.SFsafetraining.com, dedicated to providing first responders with information on vehicle extraction. A free DVD is available from State Farm.
Following Chess’s presentation, Jeff Hendler presented a check for $1,000 to the Digital Enhancement Gateway (DEG) and challenged other shops to continue sponsoring the initiative.
The rest of the morning and afternoon were dedicated to raising issues to be explored at CIC meetings, Attendees suggested ways to expand attendance (including putting together a marketing committee), along with issues such as insurer consistency in regulating DRP agreements, parts delivery and cycle time, using databases in their entirety, steering and defining OEM recommendations. After these issues were recorded, attendees discussed which committees they would be turned over to.
The Thursday meeting concluded with an hour-long exchange between attendees and representatives of CCC over CCC’s decision to change its bumper refinish overlap deduction.
ABRN will provide a detailed account of that discussion along with more updates from CIC.