The collision repair industry hasn’t seen any significant technological innovation in a decade. Cycle times are too high. Every estimate requires the attention of multiple employees. Rekeying is a slow, inefficient, and largely inaccurate process. These—and many more—are problems that can be solved by technology. Those that prosper in this new age of collision repair will do so by embracing new simplifying, efficiency-driving technologies.
Don’t be a Dinosaur
Times they are a changin’. A new breed of collision repair employees are coming into this industry. They are tech-savvy, they can type, they have Gmail—not AOL— accounts, and they expect their tech tools to be at least as sophisticated as their iPhones. These workers, who represent the future of the industry, are open to the possibilities of technology and they are the ones who will be repairing the computers on wheels that we used to call automobiles.
Estify, which provides auto collision repair efficiency software and services, believes that the answers to some of the industry’s biggest tech problems lie with these new workers and their willingness to apply technology to longstanding problems.
“This industry is clearly starved for talent,” says Randy Adams, part of the senior management team at Estify. “We absolutely must give the younger generation the tools they needs to succeed, not the tools that were used by predecessors.”
A Time for Change
The collision industry is plagued by imprecision, says Adams. For example, if you take a damaged vehicle to three different shops, you are most likely going to get three radically different estimates.
“I understand labor rates are different,” admits Adams. “But the procedures and parts are all over the map. It makes no sense at all and it is time for a change.”
Until now, the industry has been comfortable relying on the estimator or technician’s own knowledge to drive the repair process, says Adams. As vehicles become rapidly more complex—particularly as the promise of autonomous cars looms—the industry desperately needs standard repair procedures. This need is echoed in requests from OEMs, who need to put the safest versions of their products on the road at all times.
“There’s a need for software solutions that will allow a less experienced technician, or even a non-technician, to write a perfectly correct and consistent repair plan,” Adams says. “The industry is dying for a solution to this.”
