Nearly every industry deals with some controversial issue that it resolves but doesn't eliminate. In the collision repair market, that issue would be sectioning.
Sectioning took center stage in a dispute between shops, insurers, customers and manufacturers in the late 1990's. Advanced and high strength steels had become standard components of vehicle structures. Because their unique makeup could alter if heated, thereby dangerously changing safety system dynamics, these steels couldn't be sectioned. Manufacturers didn't always fully communicated where these steels were located, forcing repairers to make potentially dangerous repair decisions. Repairers preferred to go with other part replacement options that guaranteed safety but tended to be more expensive. That put them at odds with customers and insurers who felt they should lean towards sectioning.
Over time, manufacturers updated their repair information and began creating vehicle designs that eliminated the need for many sectioning repairs. Sectioning slowly diminished as a core industry issue. But it hasn't gone away. Today, repairers still have plenty of questions as they try to locate updated OEM information and determine when sectioning can be performed.
I-CAR has always taken the lead in assisting shops with these problems. Here are five points I-CAR says shops need to know as they address sectioning in 2015.
Point 1: Sectioning recommendations continue to decrease
Jason Bartanen, I-CAR Director of Industry Technical Relations, notes that OEMs are becoming more proactive than ever making sectioning procedures available. As the information has become more accessible, the occasions when sectioning can be performed continues to decrease. In its place, Bartanen says I-CAR sees more partial part replacement at the factory seam.
Many new designs have helped eliminate sectioning where it was once commonplace. For example, OEMs are increasing the use of energy‑absorbent "crush caps." Typically featured on the bumper reinforcement or the end of a rail, these caps absorb the collision energy in a light-to-moderate collision. Since many crush caps are attached to the vehicle with mechanical fasteners, as opposed to welds, they can be easily replaced, thereby eliminating the need to section the rail.
The current arc of vehicle designs trends towards future engineering that will further eliminate sectioning. Bartanen explains that as vehicles become more advanced, some front rail designs likely will become more complex, reducing the potential for sectioning.
| Mastering the terminology |
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Are you sectioning or performing partial replacement? Even with all the attention paid to it during the past 20 years, sectioning still can mean different things to different techs. Terms like sectioning and partial replacement sometimes are used interchangeably. They are similar. Both involve partial replacement of parts. In fact, sectioning is a type of partial replacement. But there are distinct differences. I-CAR defines partial replacement as replacing a part at the factory seam. This requires removing the original attachment to disassemble an assembly at a factory seam. Sectioning is the process of cutting a portion of a part away from the seam. When sectioning a part, the technician creates a new repair joint that did not previously exist. This might mean sectioning the service part and installing the sectioned portion of that part on the vehicle using a sectioning joint. Most service parts are provided pre-cut based on the sectioning location, so cutting the service part is not necessary. |
As a counter point, Bartanen notes that OEMs have raised sectioning recommendations in some places, most notably in outer side panels. "This provides access to factory joints of the inner reinforcements and allows for replacement," Bartanen says.
Though in decline, sectioning remains a core procedure with the potential to increase in recommendations as manufacturers develop new ways to build vehicles with a wider range of materials. The greater lesson here is the importance of locating the most current OEM information, especially with the steady introduction of all new and updated vehicle models to the market.
Point 2: While more OEM information is available, it's not always complete.
Unfortunately, that information isn't always accessible. Hyundai, for example, has not made collision repair information available in the U.S. market. I-CAR is still researching what Smart Car, SRT and Tesla provide.
Regardless of brand, Bartanen says repairers need to stick to two hard and fast rules: One, only section when and where the OEM information recommends. Two, when information isn't available, parts should only be replaced at the factory seams.
Point 3: Help is available
The sheer number of vehicle models and ever-changing repair recommendations can complicate locating updated OEM information. Further, repairers still complain that OEM information isn't always available quickly enough. I-CAR has created a number of online sources to help lead repairs down the quickest path to answers.
At the request of the Inter-Industry, I-CAR developed a matrix that includes the types of collision repair information available by different OEMs. The OEM Technical Repair Matrix, published on the Repairability Technical Support Portal, provides general direction on what is available. (I-CAR emphasizes that the OEM information still must be consulted for every vehicle.)
If shops are unable to find OEM sectioning information or are unsure if a procedure exists, the I-CAR Repairability Technical Support Portal can assist. It connects repairers to searchable databases and matrices of OEM information. The ASK I-CAR technical team also is available for queries.
In addition, the I-CAR Repairability Technical Support (RTS) team reviews and archives every technical question it receives. For quick reference, the top ten vehicle and I-CAR specific questions are published at the bottom of nearly every RTS page. Bartanen notes that since the technical team began answering technical inquiries, most sectioning questions are for front or rear rails.
Point 4: Throw out the general guidelines
In 1997, I-CAR responded to the then-growing sectioning controversy by posting a list of general guidelines for this repair. Those guidelines included recommendations that sectioning only be done in a uniform area that allows enough clearance to perform welding operations. I-CAR also provided a detailed inventory of areas where sectioning should never be performed, including: in or near suspension, engine and drivetrain mounting locations; holes larger than 3 mm; compound shapes or structures; and reinforcements.
Last year, I-CAR revisited its recommendations with a message: Toss them out.
General guidelines were provided at a time when repairers needed professional direction on their best possible repair course and little help was available. Two decades later, I-CAR revisited these recommendations to demonstrate how vehicle designing had negated them. The use of advanced high strength steels now extended throughout vehicles and along with updated features like tailored blanks and crumple zones made sectioning less possible. The number of "uniform areas" available for sectioning had greatly diminished.
Aluminum parts, by themselves, invalidated the old guidelines. "The I-CAR general sectioning guidelines were never designed for aluminum and shouldn’t be used," says Bartanen. "OEMs that feature extensive use of aluminum must provide guidance on what can be sectioned and what must be replaced at factory seams."
Indeed, there is no longer anything "general" about sectioning decisions. Sectioning either is the OEM recommendation for a repair and can be performed or is not and therefore off the table.
Point 5: Keep training
Training is usually a part of the cure for most collision industry issues. Sectioning is no different. Bartanen says it needs to be part of a shop's standard business approach to these repairs.
"Structural technicians with up-to-date advanced sectioning training are better prepared to properly follow sectioning procedures, preserve vehicle systems and perform a complete, safe and quality repair that maintains passenger safety," he says.
Sectioning operations that are not performed properly can impinge on the safety of the vehicle very much the same way that performing non-authorized sectioning does.
The combination of training and accurate OEM information has gone a long way in resolving the industry-wide strife around sectioning. They're also the product of the long process manufacturers, shops and insurers worked through to resolve their differences.
Undoubtedly, there's still work to do. The course this resolution took is one the industry can look to as framework for resolving other disputes. At the heart of that course is current, accurate information which no one can dispute and that must guide all decisions and repairs.
