An efficient, quality metal department is no accident—though sometimes it seems it could be given the number of diverse tasks that occur daily. Here are some tips to help you avoid common traps within this deceptively complex operation.
Someone asks what are the most common problems you deal with in your metal department, and you think about it for a minute. Is this person referring to technical problems? Glitches in processes and procedures? Personnel issues?
Analyze your operation too closely and you might just find yourself overwhelmed, because the metal department is one of the more complicated operations you’ll find in a small business—quality output depends on a multitude of diverse but interrelated tasks that must be coordinated perfectly. Dwell on that reality for too long and it might seem as if the department’s smooth functioning is a miracle—so many things can go wrong in so many areas!
Now take a deep breath and inhale some perspective. This isn’t a minefield you’re navigating, it’s your metal department. It may be full of potential pitfalls and traps, but in most cases, they can be avoided with a little bit of knowledge, experience and attention to detail.
ABRN asked a number of collision repair professionals to share some of the glitches they commonly see in the metal shop, with suggestions for how they can be avoided. Their answers covered a wide range of issues, from the technical to the procedural, reflecting the assortment of tasks that are carried out every day.
In the opinion of Gene Hamilton, owner of Sports & Imports in Chamblee, Ga., if a metal department is falling short of expectations, most times it can be traced to pressure to keep cycle times to a minimum. To his way of thinking, haste not only makes waste, it encourages oversights and shortcutting, and one of the first things that goes is clear communication—particularly between the service writers and body technicians.
“Since the damage report is the blueprint for a job, it should describe what the technician needs to do clearly,” he says. “But when the estimator is under pressure, it can lead to shortcuts in writing that leave the estimate incomplete or incomprehensible. The technician has to ask questions or pull the service writer over after teardown which wastes more time than was originally ‘saved’ and leads to confusion,” he says.
To help avoid such breakdowns and keep production disruptions to a minimum, Hamilton divides the responsibility for writing estimates. The service writer documents as much as he or she can in his or her damage report when the car rolls in, but an estimate is never considered complete until teardown occurs in the work stall. At that time the technician, together with the production manager, reviews interior damage and provides additional lines that form the supplement to the estimate.
“This procedure helps a number of ways,” explains Hamilton. “First, it relieves some of the pressure the estimator may be feeling from being overextended or rushed, allowing him to better concentrate on writing a comprehensive, detailed sheet. Second, the technician gets involved, which promotes his ownership and understanding of the estimate. And since this is a set, documented procedure in our shop, the personnel tearing down the car know they have to communicate their findings back to the estimator, which means there’s less chance something is going to slip through the cracks.”
In addition, Hamilton’s employees write with grease pencils on specific vehicle locations to help facilitate a common understanding of the repair. For example, a production manager may circle an area of the car with the message, “Wet sand and buff, no extra charge,” to make sure that an unwanted line does not appear in the final repair order.
David Schultz, owner of Elite Collision Center in Tempe, Ariz., uses an innovative method to improve communication between estimator and technician. A self-designed, wireless mobile management estimating system affectionately known as “R2D2,” is wheeled right into the work bay when necessary. “That way if a small structural part is found during teardown, to cite one example, the technician can point it out on the car to the service writer who can make the appropriate entries right there on the spot,” Shultz says. “It reduces the chance of communication gaps that might delay the repair or result in an incomplete damage report.”
Gary Wano, Jr., owner of GW and Son Autobody in Oklahoma City, found the productivity of his metal department grinding to a halt at the end of the week, when the paint department completed the bulk of its weekly schedule causing a bottleneck of jobs that were ready for reassembly. “On Thursdays and Fridays our body technicians would drop whatever jobs they were working on to get cars out the door,” he says. “It kept customers happy in the short term, but ultimately resulted in scheduling delays down the road.”
To solve the recurring problem, Wano organized his metal department into teams of A-, B- and C-level technicians, classifications that correspond to technical skill, from highest to lowest. Now, when a wave of cars is released from the refinishing department, the team’s C-level technician handles the reassembly process, allowing the other technicians to work uninterrupted on the more complex repairs, ensuring a consistent flow of delivery.
Like Wano, Schultz uses specialization in his metal shop, although to a slightly different end. Frustrated by inconsistencies in the application of seam sealer over welds in his facility, he finally came up with the idea of using one specialized individual to apply the material. “It keeps the appearance and quality of the work uniform, which in our shop means getting as close a match as possible to how it leaves the factory,” explains Schultz. “I don’t have to worry about technicians trying to hide their own sloppy welding work. Plus, with repetition, comes speed, so it’s helpful from a productivity standpoint, too.”
Another technique Schultz uses to ensure quality of finish is to buff out the car before it is reassembled. This is advantageous in several ways. To begin with, if the buffer burns through an edge, the vehicle can be returned to the paint shop for refinishing without having to be taken apart a second time. “You avoid a potentially ugly customer relations issue because you don’t have to phone the vehicle owner toward the end of the repair and tell them you’re holding their car hostage for just a little while longer,” Schultz adds.
Mark Olson, of VeriFacts Automotive, believes the modern metal department needs to avoid making repeated mistakes in preventing corrosion protection. The recurring flaw, as he sees it, lies in misunderstandings about the applications of weld-through primer.
“The use of weld-through primer is being hotly debated throughout the industry, but some manufacturers, such as DaimlerChrysler, are starting to make statements against its use in certain applications,” he states. “The concern is the integrity of the weld, which is weakened if weld-through primer is present. Porosity in the weld nugget can result, causing zinc evaporation and burn off at the weld site. These conditions make the sheet metal vulnerable to corrosion because it is not protected adequately.”
As an alternative, Olson prefers epoxy primer, which burns off at the weld site like weld-through primers, but provides better corrosion protection qualities. “Epoxies stick to bare metal with a minimum of preparation and provide the kind of corrosion protection that comes closest to the OEM e-coat,” he adds. “They performed far better in salt and corrosion tests conducted by I-CAR.”
Given his job, it’s no surprise that Steve Marks, research coordinator for the I-CAR Tech Centre, comes from a technical perspective when analyzing the snags that entangle a metal department. Of particular concern to him is the proper repair of sheet metal, which has grown in complexity with the increased use of light, high-strength steels by vehicle manufacturers. The metallurgy of this new breed of materials differs from that of mild steel or even the high-strength steels used in the past. Unfortunately, technicians often approach them as if nothing has changed.
“Their newness and variety can stump even the most seasoned technician, in part because—with the increased emphasis on replacing panels—repairing metal has become kind of a lost art,” he says. “Even the way cars are put together seems to discourage straightening—panel reinforcements, for example, impede the kind of rear access that is so critical for hammer and dolly work.”
Still, panel repair remains practical in plenty of situations, so Marks has some advice for dealing with the new metallurgy, which begins with a healthy respect for the underlying differences in the material. “Many of the metals used in exterior panels are strong but thin, meaning that complex bending and forming may be tough,” he explains. “Work the steel too hard, and it may thin out and stretch to the point that the integrity of the repair is jeopardized. As a general rule of thumb, the stronger the steel, the more brittle it is.”
To avoid problems when working with these kinds of steels, Marks advises the following precautions:
- Use a hammer-off-dolly technique in an effort to avoid excessive upward or downward panel movement. “You don’t want to get into a situation where you are overworking the panel to straighten it, because you run the risk of cracking it or tearing it,” says Marks.
- When possible, use softer tools made of plastic and wood as you might during the course of an aluminum repair.
- Use heat to shrink the panel to prevent cracking during re-shaping, although Marks emphasizes that much caution must be used with this technique. “Many metals are heat-sensitive and their composition may be weakened by the heat,” he says. “I’d advise using a heat-monitoring thermometer to keep the heat within a range, usually 800 to 1,200 degrees F. Forced cooling with an air gun during this process is a good hedge against overheating, too. And make sure you cover the surrounding areas with heat-resistant materials to avoid the possible outbreak of fires.”
- On the subject of heat-sensitive panels, Marks adds that resistance-welders should be used when repairing them, if possible. These powerful tools produce, as a rule, less heat than GMA/MIG welders, so there is less chance that heat will travel further than desired, say to the back of the panel.
- As a general rule when working with the new high-strength steels, remember that a little bit of finesse can go a long way.
OK. So sometimes the metal department feels like a danger zone where an incredibly wide variety of glitches can strike, usually when they’re least expected. But remember, the glass isn’t half empty, it’s half full—don’t lose sight of the countless things that go right.
“You don’t eat a hot fudge sundae in one gulp, so you shouldn’t expect to solve all your metal department’s problems with one gargantuan effort,” Hamilton says. “Take it one step at a time—a lot of little improvements add up. And don’t forget to pat yourself on the back. Chances are you’re already doing a great job.”
