Collision repair is a balancing act. Repairers have to please the vehicle owner and the insurance carrier by performing a high-quality repair in a time-efficient manner. There are always the traditional bottlenecks of the frame rack and the paint booth, but the root causes of most cycle time delays are not in the collision repairer’s control: parts. While parts make up roughly 45% of the repair order, they can cause 90% of repair cycle time delays. Those delays are primarily due to:
Incorrect Part Ordered
The VIN decode on most estimating systems narrows down the choice for the estimator to a few options, but leaves significant room for error. That error is unfortunately often found only when the ordered part arrives and is compared to the damaged part, and frequently that is on final assembly. This is one of the most frustrating times to discover the problem and scramble to order the correct part, which often involves that uncomfortable call to the vehicle owner advising them of a delay. The advanced VIN decode and validation that happens in the PartsTrader system helps to ensure the correct part for the vehicle is ordered the first time.
Quality of Part/Poor Fit
Salvage part quality is at the core of this issue, as several parts catalog systems do not display part quality grading. Selecting a competitive price without a clear representation of the quality and cleanup needed may lead to additional labor hours or returns and always means delays. PartsTrader displays the salvage part grading supplied by the salvage yard, enabling a better decision that takes into account the potential repair hours and cleanup required, rather than just making a decision based exclusively on price.
Phantom Parts
A ‘phantom part’ is a part listed in a catalog locating system that is not actually available at the price shown or is not available at all. The phantom part phenomenon is common with stale parts catalog systems that are at the core of many alternate part locating systems in use today. This ‘bait and switch’ is a major driver of supplements and delays and is avoidable when using the PartsTrader system on which parts suppliers actively bid for your business, and supply what they quote on.
A Better Way: One-Stop Shopping
Think way back to when you last booked a vacation or business trip—about a year ago for most of us (B.C.—Before COVID). If you had to book airfare, rental car and hotel, it was unlikely you phoned each vendor or went to their individual website to book each part of your trip. Not only would this be time consuming, you’d also miss out on key options like the best departure times, hotel location preferences, vehicle choices and perhaps most importantly, competitive offers. A convertible for the price of a mid-size? Upgrade to a larger room? Simply put, the more options presented, the better the decision made. Options and competitive pricing are at the heart of the PartsTrader’s platform—why miss out on this huge advantage.
Are You Missing Out?
Based on all the above, is it any wonder that the fastest growing segment of PartsTrader’s business is the independent use of their parts locating system by collision repair shops? Some shops may have started using PartsTrader as part of a specific Direct Repair Program insurance partnership, but quickly found the PartsTrader platform a convenient way to source all of the parts for their collision repair needs. With no fee for a collision repairer to place an order in PartsTrader, why wouldn’t you give it a try?
Learn more about PartsTrader by visiting partstrader.com or calling 855.932.7278.
