Estimating accuracy grows in importance

For the sake of overall throughput, cost reduction, customer service, and compliance with DRP agreements, creating accurate estimates the first time has emerged as a key issue that can be addressed through a combination of best practices (like adopting a blueprinting approach) and technology.

"If you want to go in and have a one-and-done scenario, that makes having an accurate estimate up front even more critical," says Rick Tuuri, vice president of industry relations at Audatex. "Everyone is being asked to do more with less in this economy, and you can't afford to have supplement after supplement to get something right."

Tuuri and Neal Lowell, Audatex senior director of product management, recently sat down with ABRN to discuss how estimating technology is improving repair shops' ability to create more accurate estimates while reducing operational costs. Those benefits can also extend to customers and insurers.

On the insurer side, accurate estimates eliminate costs associated with extra approvals and desk reviews, ensuring warranties on supplements. More accurate estimates also cut waste out of the system, and improve customer service by facilitating faster and more accurate repairs.

According to Tuuri, specific functionality introduced in Audatex Estimating has helped the company boost estimate accuracy significantly. First, 3D Intelligent Graphics help repairers isolate, select, and order the correct part, while color coding of substrate materials ensures proper repair procedures are identified. AudaVIN, on the other hand, uses individual vehicle VINs to identify complete vehicle information, including all options, to guide correct part selection.

Audatex has leveraged VIN technology to pull vehicle data and options-driven details directly from OEMs to ensure that the right parts and assemblies are ordered the first time around. "If you select a radiator support panel, and that is the only thing you select, you can get all the labor needed to get into and to replace that panel," Tuuri says. "There are no extra queries to get to the part you want. The only thing that stopped us from providing that functionality before was the inability to identify certain options. AudaVIN takes care of that. You get the build sheet from the manufacturer for that VIN. There's no manual intervention.

"The OEMs are getting more aware of the industry's needs for information on things like substrates through industry initiatives like the OEM Roundtable and CIC," Tuuri adds. "The OEMs are getting better at providing that information."

More accurate estimates also reduce part returns. "Returns just seem to be accepted by a lot of people in the industry," Lowell says. "They accept that 10 to 15 percent of parts will be returned. That's just how the business works. But if you look at it from a lean processing perspective, that's waste in the system. We want to see that cut down to less than 5 percent."

Having these capabilities can also provide other customer service benefits. According to Tuuri and Lowell, repair shops have used the 3D Intelligent Graphics to guide the vehicle owner through the repair process.

"This was a surprise benefit when we released 3D Graphics," Lowell says. "We knew it would help quickly identify the parts, what we didn’t' foresee was how shops would use it to communicate with customers. You can project how you are going to do the repairs on a TV in the lobby, and that leaves a good impression with the customer."

Finally, better information also helps reduce friction in insurer negotiations. If you eliminate manual intervention and guesswork, the shop is in a much better position to be reimbursed with less argument from the insurer.

"You don't have to worry about identifying the vehicle, getting the options right, or making sure the parts are right," Lowell says. "Everything is identified from the beginning, all of the included operations, and all the labor. That helps facilitate communication and build trust, so there's less time wasted on emotional communication."

"It provides consistency," Tuuri says. "You eliminate the subjectivity of writing the estimate."

There are still some areas where Lowell says the company hopes to make further improvements in the estimating process. "One final subjectivity point out there is repair time," Lowell says. "When you're repairing a panel, depending on the repair size and location, that time is manually entered by the user based on their experience and how the repair is done."

Overseas, Audatex offers an intelligent repair estimator that has automated this process. "It takes additional subjectivity out of the negotiation process," Lowell says. "We're looking at rolling that out in the U.S. but we have to do the research and build up the data set. That's the next step."