COVER YOUR ADAS
All bodyshop staff should be aware of advanced driver assistance system calibration requirements, a team of I-CAR specialists said during a February Canadian Collision Industry Conference (CCIF) session. “The better question is who doesn’t need to know,” remarked Bud Center, I-CAR manager of technical research and development. “If the CSR answers a customer call, they must know the preliminary questions to ask and primary functions of the system. Estimators need to identify the systems, procedures and equipment. Technicians need to understand how repairs will affect the systems…and what needs to be recalibrated afterwards. Even porters need to understand how ADAS behaves when moving vehicles. “Everyone at the shop needs to have an understanding of how their roles play into ADAS,” said Center.
YOU COULD WIN
Women’s Industry Network (WIN) is once again ready to financially support the women who are breaking into the collision repair industry. Applications for the 2021 program are currently being accepted through to March 15. The scholarships offered by WIN are designed to provide financial support and educational opportunities to qualified applicants looking to advance in the industry. The successful applicants not only receive a $1,000 scholarship to go towards continuing their education, but they will also receive a complimentary one-year WIN membership to support them in their journey. In addition to that, those chosen will be awarded free registration to attend the 2021 WIN Virtual Educational Conference in May. The application deadline is March 15, and the application can be accessed via the WIN website.
HIGH FIVES FOR FUNDS
The 2020 recipients of the AIA High Five for Kids Foundation Recognition Awards are Lordco and AIA Canada Northern Alberta, Division. The AIA High Five for Kids recognition awards is given out to a member company and an AIA Canada division that demonstrated an exceptional commitment to fulfilling the foundation’s mission of bringing positive change and improvements to the quality of children and youth in their local communities.
FEELING BLUE
BASF released its 2020 Colour Report, showing off the most popular paint colours of the past year. The report covered trends reported from four distinct automotive markets: Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); as well as North America, Asia Pacific and South America. According to the report, the EMEA market is showing an affinity for blue coatings as it was reported that about “11 percent of new vehicles were coated in blue, making it the most popular chromatic colour.” In North America, blue vehicles have shown to be trending highly, edging out red as the most popular chromatic colour in the market.
DATA DEBATE
Tom Bissonnette, director for the Saskatchewan Association of Automotive Repairers, said automakers have every right to control their information—though collision centres are usually the first that have to deal with new technologies of this variety and adapt accordingly. “I can see that the OEMs would want to have a network of shops that have access to their proprietary information so that they can protect their brand—Tesla, BMW and Mercedes do that now to some extent,” said Bissonnette. “The challenge is that it is usually the collision centres that are the first repairer that has to deal with this new technology.” Regardless, Bissonnette says the independent repairer is long from being blocked by such measures from OEMs.
“I don’t think it will ever come to a point where they totally block out the independent repairer—there’s no way the dealer network could deal with all the vehicles that need to be repaired and recalibrated,” he said. The Automotive Industries Association was recently featured on CTV News as the aftermarket organization continues to advocate for vehicle data ownership and the consumer’s right to choose a repair facility. Through its ‘Your Data. Your Choice’ campaign, AIA Canada is calling on the federal government to acknowledge the importance of vehicle data ownership. The aftermarket organization says independent shops will be effectively shut out from repairing newer cars without proper data from OEMs.
