The concept of an MSO having one or more calibration centers is still very new, but the rapidly changing vehicle technology is attracting immense attention within our collision repair industry. There are a number of ways for an MSO to address calibrations including various dealer and independent sublet resources as well as contracting with an outside vendor to provide a technician to perform the work in-house. But there are those of us who find appeal in creating our own department or separate business as a source to handle such needs. The obvious benefits include process control, convenience, improved cycle time, a higher level of independence, better quality control, an internal source for high tech knowledge, and the opportunity for another profit center. Therefore I believe it worth our while to look further into this topic.
In part one of this topic — “Consolidating calibration,” October 2018 — we reviewed the state of the industry regarding the increasing frequency of the need to perform calibrations. We covered site requirements, staffing, administration and equipment. Because it is critical, let’s review what it takes to be Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) ready, as suggested by Chuck Olsen of Air Pro Diagnostics.
Being ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) ready
First and foremost, collision repair shops must be educated on what ADAS is, how to identify ADAS systems, when ADAS calibrations are required and how existing vehicle systems or sensors are integrated with ADAS functionality.
Second, shops should identify optional ADAS equipment on a vehicle. This can be done in several ways or a combination of methods.
Third, shops should review OEM information ADAS calibration requirements:
- ADAS component replacement or removal and re-installation
- Disconnection/reconnection of ADAS components
- Alignments, or steering/suspension repairs
- Related system repairs to ABS, Traction Control or stability control
- Document performed procedures.
Fourth, before any (dynamic road test) or (static target placement) calibrations of ADAS cameras, radar, lidar and sonar inputs, a shop must have the ability with a “compatible scan tool(s) and technical expertise” to electronically check, repair and clear all DTCs from all systems (post-repair scan) and perform any basic calibrations or programming before proceeding to the additional and separate operation of ADAS calibrations.
After all of above have been addressed and applied, your organization is ready to address and plan for ADAS calibrations. You can determine if you prefer to sublet to an ADAS capable facility or take the next steps to become ADAS capable in your own facility.
Considerations for getting into the business, demand
As with any new business venture, it is prudent to consider what sales opportunities exist so that a plan can be developed that eventually leads to a successful operation that provides a reasonable return on investment (ROI). This is what causes me to have immense enthusiasm for the concept. I see abundant opportunity.
New Toyotas all have a full complement of ADAS features as standard equipment. ADAS is increasingly popular on all other brands. The number of available ADAS systems is growing and some are required by law in upcoming years. The need for calibrating these systems is increasing dramatically.
Situations that require calibrations are becoming more frequent. Obviously when components such as radar systems are replaced they require calibration. But there are many circumstances aside from replacement where it is required. Some are just now being defined by manufacturers. Because I was having a hard time with clarity I reached out to Michael Kramarz, Supervisor, Toyota North America, Quality/Collision Repair and Refinishing Training. I asked about when we need to calibrate systems when the actual system is not damaged by physical impact.
“Good question,” he said. “It really comes down to which vehicle is being repaired and which system is the vehicle equipped with. Over the past few years there have been many advancements and some vehicles have technology variations within the same model year. The repair manual will give specifics for each system. It’s not always easy to find and there should be time dedicated to researching the repair.
For your question I used a 2019 Camry with blind spot monitoring and PCS for an example,” Kramarz continued. “In the service repair manual found on TIS (https://techinfo.toyota.com) misalignment and handling details will be found in the precautions section. For PCS, the millimeter wave radar sensor is required to be ‘adjusted’ (or calibrated) when being removed, installed or replaced. The repair manual has this listed in the removal section:”
Blind spot monitor:
This is a classic example on a very common model. Impact in “the surrounding area” adds many vehicles to the list of jobs requiring calibration. The sensitivity of sensors does as well.
Honda specifies some calibrations “if the vehicle is involved in a collision.” Consider the typical Honda or Toyota collision job in our shops and it appears that in the future most of them will require one or more calibrations. Immense opportunity!
There are some manufacturers that require some ADAS calibration as part of a wheel alignment.
Some industry experts, including from Honda, predict that in the future 60 percent of labor on a typical collision estimate will be related to electronic components. Many experts predict a reduction in collision frequency due to new safety equipment, but also an increase in severity. We are already seeing the severity increases, but so far little or no reduction in frequency. Indications are that it will take a number of years before high tech safety equipment is prevalent enough to see a significant frequency reduction.
At LaMettry’s Collision, where I work, we have a somewhat lower average age of vehicle due to our OE certifications and dealership relationships. We are at a point of about 25 percent of the vehicles we repair requiring at least one ADAS calibration. It seems to be increasing every month.
Considering this evidence of what we are dealing with now, and what we will in the predicted future state of affairs, it is obvious that there will be immense need for calibrations and other high tech work. Frankly it causes me to ask, why wouldn’t we get into this business? Especially since there may one day be a reduction in frequency and an increasing percentage of repair labor will include this type of work. As collision repair labor decreases electronic labor will increase.
What kind of business is it, collision or mechanical?
Technically it has elements of both but in reality it is a new category unto itself. I suggest that you open your mind and think of it as something completely new and unique.
Though in practicality, it is closer to a mechanical business. Traditional body techs and paint techs are generally not known for having either great electronic systems skills or diagnosis abilities. (Their skills are in metallurgy and straightening and fitting panels and in finishing.) It makes sense to have people who specialize. In our company we structure our ADAS and other high tech work within our mechanical departments, which also do some retail work and the majority of mechanical tasks from our collision shops. It is more than handy, probably a necessity, to be able to handle steering and suspension and alignment work as many calibrations require that be done first, including a proper alignment. We use a mechanical management system and price our work more in line with traditional mechanical philosophies. We have mechanics performing our air conditioning work and our high tech people handle air bag restraint system work. Our mechanical managers have come to us with experience in traditional independent and dealer mechanical businesses and have learned about the collision business including the collision estimating systems and insurer relations. They’ve gained knowledge of insurer estimating philosophies and pricing and negotiation and documentation expectations. Again, the business is in many ways a hybrid, mixing collision, mechanical, and new computer and electronic work.
Training and education
I am pleased to report there is rapid growth in the number of classes and training opportunities, even within the months since part one of this article appeared. I-CAR has created many new classes and there are more on the way. AMI has many new offerings. OEM’s are even helping by arranging specific training, and some are partnering with I-CAR and/or AMI for specific needs. Some are starting to incorporate ADAS training requirements into their certification requirements. Michael Kramarz of Toyota reports that Toyota is also developing a class on the subject.
There is a great awakening taking place regarding this type of work. Many entities in the traditional mechanical world are recognizing it. As a result there is a lot of good training available through traditional mechanical training entities as well as from parts suppliers like NAPA and Advanced Auto/Carquest.
While all the training is of help, especially with getting started, learning about scans and calibrations shares similarities in how one learns about operating personal computers and I-phones. Training will help you get started but a great deal is learned through experience, utilizing one’s intuition as well as trial and error. The key is reading, specifically reading vehicle manufacturer repair procedures. These repair procedures walk one through the steps and the more you do it the more competent you become.
Another great resource is having competent staff mentoring and training new people. At our company our goal is to consistently have at least one person in training. It can take months to bring someone to a level where they can function independently. As the prevalence of ADAS and other high tech work is rapidly growing we have no fear that we will be able to utilize more staff.
When considering training needs it is good idea to provide training on “mentoring” and “teaching” to the more competent techs to maximize their effectiveness in this growth strategy.
Staffing
Here is just a brief point to consider as you contemplate this new opportunity. We are experiencing shortages of body techs, paint techs, mechanics, and other shop staff. Many of us are working to get young people to consider our trades despite the messages of many to attend traditional college and get into other fields. It’s a struggle. But how many young people are engaged with computers and other high tech devices? Frankly nearly all of them are to some degree! Many are absorbed by it. Many of those people could be a candidate for this new role. It doesn’t come with the baggage of our other roles. It is new and sophisticated and centered around computers and other high tech devices. It’s relatively clean. It pays well and doesn’t require a four year degree with the typical debt. With an open mind towards recruiting people I don’t see that we should be concerned about shortages of techs.
Equipment
This is another area where the industry is experiencing a great awakening. Many of the traditional mechanical tech equipment providers have taken notice of the immense opportunities on the collision side. I see their representatives involving themselves in industry meetings and events such as CIC as well as writing articles in collision trade publications such as this one. They are advertising their new equipment in these places. They are interacting and forming relationships with collision repair information providers and with OEMs and insurers. They recognize that this is a developing industry on its own.
At LaMettry’s we utilize many different scan tools, some factory and some aftermarket. We’ve also been acquiring a lot of calibration equipment. Again some is from the OEM’s and some from aftermarket sources such as Autel and Bosch. Yet, no matter the tool, we use OEM repair procedures. We recently acquired a calibration station from Autel that has immense capabilities and so far we are pleased with how it functions. It seems that every few weeks we are acquiring another target system, scan tool, or accessory to increase our capabilities. We work on virtually all makes of vehicles and feel that we are currently capable of performing most calibrations on most cars. At this point we feel that we are getting a reasonable rate of return on our equipment purchases.
Pricing
Pricing is an area of challenge for this new business in that various independent services and dealerships and collision shops have very different structures and rates. Information providers who analyze such data confirm this. Frankly it feels like the ‘wild west’, which in many ways is fun as it is new and exciting. We often are creating solutions and pricing as we go, with few or no sources to reference. Some people price calibration and other operations based on labor hours, usually at a mechanical rate, and others price upon various or set dollar amounts. Some shops price in ways that include several various operations and some price in a more a le carte fashion. Common items to consider are repair procedure research and retrieval, post repair scans, battery support, road tests, programming, and more. Dynamic calibrations require driving the vehicle as part of the calibration. It is always a good idea to test the systems after collision repair to confirm proper operation and often refer to it using terms such as ‘dynamic systems verification’. While there may be some overlap this is not the same as a dynamic calibration. Such an operation is more than a traditional road test as the operator must understand the characteristics of various ADAS systems and engage them accordingly while driving to verify their proper function.
From my experience some insurers are looking closer at pricing as calibrations are becoming more common. Information providers have publically announced that they do not intend to assign times within their systems for scanning as there are too many variables. We don’t know yet if they will take such a stance on calibrations.
At LaMettry’s we’ve been inclined to price scan and calibration and programming operations based on a dollar amount. As much as we can, we try to find out what independent services and dealerships charge. We consider labor and equipment expense. We prefer that to basing each operation based on actual time or some assumed amount of labor hours as this method is inconsistent and lends itself to negotiation and potential friction on each repair when interacting with insurers. Like our traditional paint and material pricing methods it may not be precise for each situation but it averages out and is therefore overall reasonable and minimizes friction.
Conclusion
There are many ways for an MSO to handle calibrations and other such high tech work. But for those willing to take on the challenge of starting their own department or business there is great opportunity. The industry is awakening to this and quickly changing. I personally am having a lot of fun with it as we research, develop, implement, and operate. To me the future looks bright.
