SCRS, EstimateScrubber.com partner to upgrade repair planning guide

Nearly four months after releasing its first public edition of the Guide to Complete Repair Planning, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) combined the data in its guide with the estimate "scrubbing" functionality developed for estimatescrubber.com, a product produced by VehicleOwnersGuide.com.

The free, digital guide offers an extensive amount of operational reminders listed in the 800+ items. "We view this collaborative project as the objective tool that can identify commonly missed estimating items needed for a complete repair blueprint, while providing common descriptions and procedures developed by collision repairers," shared Steven Siessman, Founder & President of VehicleOwnersGuide.com .

"The newly launched version of the SCRS Guide, which can be found at www.estimatescrubber.com , is a robust tool that mitigates many of the deficiencies in how estimating systems handle non-included items. Because omitted items are not a part of the estimating system databases, their descriptions are left up to the shop to define, making it harder to standardize the nomenclature. Using standardized descriptions makes it easier for individual shops to justify non-included items in their repair plans, by pointing to a standard description and procedure for including items." In addition to providing added functionality to the thousands of collision repair shops who have been accessing the repair guide since its initial launch, the enhanced version continues to maintain the same open access that SCRS and EstimateScrubber.com were both premised on with this version of the product remaining free of charge for any user. "The more we looked at the similarities between the objectives of our two organizations, the more it made sense to try and bring these two products together," added SCRS Chairman Aaron Clark.

"Since releasing the original version of the Guide in April, we have fielded numerous and ongoing stories from collision repairers all over the country sharing the ways they've put the information to use. This Guide was always envisioned as a "living document" that would grow in both information and application, and this seems like a great logical next step to make it even more user-friendly. We have actually already begun steps to take the combined program to another level adding more customizable features and profiles for shops, and we anticipate announcing that new variation hopefully in the next few months."

"We are very excited to be working with the SCRS to provide a set of tools to collision repairers developed by collision repairers independent of the estimating system or other information provider," added Siessman. "Many of the other review tools in the market rely on getting a big insurance account to drive their systems to collision repairers, often leading to multiple estimating, communications, and auditing systems in shops, along with the increased costs associated with redundant systems. The web site can be used with any estimating system using only a printed estimate and web browser, and is free for collision repairers to use." Perhaps most importantly, this audit service was developed by SCRS and EstimateScrubber.com to allow repair facilities to audit for completeness of the estimate to the repair facilities standards, rather than to audit for program or external KPI compliance.

It is also important for collision repair facilities to feel confident in their use of these tools, knowing that the information will not be used in the future to their disadvantage. EstimateScrubber.com adheres to the SCRS philosophy of confidentiality of repairer information and is adamant that no information is shared with any thirrd parties or stored in a database for further use. Our mantra is estimate information uploaded belongs to the repair facility, and isn't anybody else's business.

For more information on the SCRS Guide to Repair Planning, visit the new release at www.estimatescubber.com, or our website at www.scrs.com.