The complexity of today’s vehicle keeps Anthony McNee on his toes. As one of the blueprinters at his father’s shop, Ultimate Collision Repair, in Edison, New Jersey, he says managing the number of required repair procedures is the toughest part of his job, and it’s why the shop has implemented checklists.
“There are a lot of moving parts to an estimate, and I think it makes it a little more difficult when you don’t have time to sit down in one session to complete it. Another guy may be taking a car apart, so I have to stop now, go over there to take all my notes. And then I come back an hour later to kind of pick up where I left off, and now you’ve got to get back with the dealership and figure out the parts needed. There is so much stuff going on to disrupt your flow.”
After being selected along with five other finalists, McNee returned the most complete and accurate estimate exercise to be declared the winner of our inaugural Best Repair Planner/Estimator Award, judged in collaboration with Collision Advice.
McNee was nominated by Anthony Thompson, who works in quality control at the shop. On his nomination form, he reported that the shop has an average repair order of $8,000 and an average cycle time of just five days. Thompson noted McNee is an I-CAR Platinum estimator, a previous Outstanding Craftsmanship as a Vehicle Damage Assessor award from Verifacts (now part of OEC) winner, and also Rivian-certified. He praised McNee for remaining tireless in his efforts to keep the shop up to date with researching OEM repair procedures and processes.
“He’s attended OEM training throughout the year to stay current with updates and new vehicle technology,” Thompson wrote. “Whether it’s communicating OEM procedures or contributing at production meetings, Anthony is a vital part of our team here at Ultimate Collision Repair.”
The Concept for the Contest
Modern vehicles have never been safer. Multiple advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features help avoid a collision, and then if there is a collision, the cabin’s integrity and multiple restraint system components better protect occupants. But to retain those safety features once a collision-damaged vehicle is placed back into service, the demands on our readers have at the same time never been higher. The same features that provide built-in safety also require specific original equipment manufacturer (OEM) repair procedures for repair, replacement, and calibration, to name just a few considerations.
At FenderBender and ABRN, we wanted to recognize the importance of the repair planners and estimators who are models of professionalism and excellence in striving to make sure the vehicles repaired in their facilities are restored to as-built crashworthiness.
Industry Support
When our sales executives approached the collision repair industry to sponsor this new program, they were met with enthusiastic support. Thank you to this year’s sponsors, without whom we would not be able to give the recognition we do to McNee and to help bring attention to the need for quality, safe repairs:
AkzoNobel, asTech, Collision Careers, Elitek Vehicle Services, FinalQC, Goliath Carts, PPG, and Sun Collision. We’d also like to give a special thanks to Mike Anderson and his Collision Advice staff for their expertise and assistance with the estimating portion of the awards selection process.
Additionally, three sponsors are donating products and services to McNee. According to Elitek, its Elitek Remote Device offers the options of pre/post scans, programming, calibrations, and diagnostics to aid in repair planning for faster cycle times, with the ability to have a live chat with a Master Certified Technician while working on the vehicle.
It’s an easy-to-use device with a web interface from PC, smart phone or tablet, and offers easy-to-read scan reports. It’s valued at $1,995 for the device plus six months of service.
According to FinalQC, its Quality Control App helps optimize workflow, reduce costs, and provide exceptional service. Final QC includes line-by-line repair estimate auditing, pass/fail photos, instant messaging of repair quality concerns and their resolutions, customizable SOPs, and comprehensive QC reporting. And it seamlessly interfaces with smart phones, tablets and desktops. It’s valued at $1,800 for a six-month subscription.
SUN, a brand of Snap-on, Inc., is awarding a one-year free subscription to SUN Collision Repair Information. According to the company, SUN Collision software delivers complete, accurate OEM collision and mechanical repair information that auto body shops can trust to fix any vehicle with maximum efficiency. Powered by its exclusive 1Search Plus search engine, the online software makes it quick and easy to access current repair procedures, diagrams and specifications for all makes, including the majority of electrical vehicles on the market and vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). It’s valued at $2,400.
Selecting a Winner
Once we narrowed our selections to a half-dozen finalists, we enlisted the help of Mike Anderson and his staff at Collision Advice. They provided an estimate exercise based on one photo showing the damage on a 2022 Toyota Camry XSE found at a salvage pool website, along with a photo of its VIN label. Contestants were instructed to write an estimate to replace the right quarter panel, the right blind spot monitor, and the rear bumper using an estimating system of their choice. They were also instructed to write the estimate not according to insurance guidelines. Instead, the goal of the mock estimate was to refer to OEM repair guidelines and not-included repair operations. Standard rates for labor, paint and materials, and sales tax were used, such as $50 for body and refinish and $30 for paint and materials. We sent the mock estimate to the finalists. Most of the completed estimates were in the $16,000 range, but they ran a low of about $8,200 less tax to almost $20,000 less tax, which was McNee’s winning entry.
But more than being sure to include on the estimate items such as sprayout cards for the tinted-clearcoat Supersonic Red finish, what impressed Anderson at the time he analyzed the completed estimates about McNee’s entry was the comprehensive notation of safety-related operations McNee captured on his estimate. His estimate was 21 pages long, with 366 line-items and a total of $20,895.51 with tax.
As mentioned earlier, McNee, 29, has been recognized before for outstanding performance in writing repair plans. The shop has one other blueprinter and two estimators who are customer-facing and handle most insurance company interactions.
“The blueprinters here, including myself, typically just take care of cars coming into the shop,” he says. “We write the full repair plan with procedures, and then we present everything to the estimator to upload to insurance.”
He’s been writing blueprints/repair plans since Dec. 2019, and it was in his first year, he says, that Verifacts recognized him for its award. He said the Verifacts inspector checked for performance such as ensuring operations were followed, such as calibrations, position statements, battery disconnects, repair procedures were being followed, and more.
Tricks of the Trade
As previously noted, the shop has an average repair order of $8,000 and an average cycle time of just five days. As you can imagine, many puzzle pieces have to come together in the shop to make that happen.
McNee uses Goliath Carts’ ADAS Cart, which combines a laptop in the middle with two external monitors, which he calls a “big help” as he writes a repair plan and needs to refer to OEM repair procedures, position statements, bulletins, and the like.
In addition to the checklists employed throughout the shop, McNee says he has created a “note sheet” that assists in making sure all procedures are accounted for.
“On my note will be different things such as standard operating procedures or different types of calibrations per car, different types of bodywork, or different welding and stuff like that,” he says. One example he gives is Toyota’s Collision Repair Information Bulletin outlining a specific procedure for how close wires can be to the area being welded.
“I saved that note and I also save procedures like that in a folder when I come across a unique procedure like that so I can quickly research it. That way, I’m not having to scour Google or OEM websites and the like. It’s kind of like having a hotkey for it. It helps me be a little bit more efficient.”
Those standard operating procedures (SOPs) carry through to the rest of the shop, too. “We started implementing checklists for each department, which also helps keep me on track,” he says. “It’s just a secondary checklist for things like, ‘Did you get a scan?’ ‘Do you have the scan report?’ ‘Did you read it?’ ‘Did you research your DTCs?’ ‘Do you have your calibrations on there?’ It has a lot of these things that we can [otherwise] quickly overlook.”
At a glance, McNee can now remember where he may have left off in his progress.
“So, in case I have to go work on another car, or we have a long weekend, I know ‘X,’ ‘Y,” and ‘Z’ are already done and I know what is still not done.”
