Remove Repair Frustrations with Blueprinting and Repair Planning 

In discussions with collision repair center managers, more and more I am hearing frustration about change requests and processing multiple supplements to get reimbursed for required repair operations. To help alleviate some of this frustration, I am recapping a few of my previous articles to give you some thoughts and insights.  

As I look at the repair documentation provided, I see many opportunities for the third-party payer to have questions about repair items. In my February 2023 FenderBender article, 5 Critical steps in blueprinting: the 'who, what, where, why and how of the repair,' I emphasize the need to identify the specifics of the repair. I believe the most important of those is the why! 

In many cases, we know exactly what needs to be done to accomplish a repair according to OEM repair standards and return a safe vehicle to the customer. However, we often have difficulty following a protocol that identifies all the repair requirements up front and provides the reasoning — the why — a repair process is required. Blueprinting and repair planning is what brings everything together and helps remove the frustrations of a repair.  

Is the vehicle repairable?

The critical first steps of blueprinting are performing a health scan, validating structural dimensions, inspecting suspension alignment, determining ADAS calibration requirements, and reviewing OEM repair procedures. Performing those five steps will help you validate if the vehicle is repairable or not, which avoids needless disassembly. In my July 2020 FenderBender article, Determining the repair cost of vehicle systems, I explain that repairing ADAS and customer convenience systems is often 50 percent of the total repair cost. To accurately assess the vehicle damage repair costs, you will need to include scan procedures, diagnosis processes, and calibration requirements. When added to the initial damage assessment, these costs could trigger total loss indicators.  

After performing the first four critical steps, it is very important to learn about the vehicle by reviewing the OEM repair procedures. I explain in my May 2021 FenderBender article Understanding the repair processes defined by OEMs, paint suppliers is crucial that understanding the repair processes — defined by the vehicle manufacturers and paint suppliers — is vital to performing a complete repair. As vehicles become more complex, it will be increasingly important to understand the repair processes and realize we will not get all the information we need from an estimating database. I mention this in my July 2025 FenderBender article The intricacies of Damage Appraisal.  

Once a repair strategy is created through the OEM research, a meticulous disassembly process is required. Failure to perform a complete disassembly will bring frustration, as the repair will stop waiting for an additional supplement approval for the newly discovered repairs. Stopping a repair midstream to supplement additional repairs creates disharmony throughout the shop and causes a bottleneck from disrupted repair plans. 

Keeping repairs moving

The repair plan is what coordinates the who, what, where and how of the repair. Using the detailed blueprint, you can now determine who will perform the repairs, what equipment is required, where the repairs will be accomplished (i.e. sublet, mechanical or structural,) and the how or process required. The purpose of the repair plan is to keep the repairs moving through the shop, ensure all technicians are working, and eliminate any choke points or bottlenecks. I discuss this in my May 2020 FenderBender article, Production management considerations, where I also explain that you need to be flexible in your repair plan to keep things moving forward in the process.  

As project manager Glen B. Alleman states, “A plan is a strategy for the successful completion of a project; any project without a plan is a project wandering in the wilderness.” To be successful we need to stop the wandering by validating repairs through a blueprinting process and developing defined repair plans. When doing so, I am confident that you will see a reduction in change requests and the associated frustration.