Avoid writing supplements by performing a thorough disassembly during the estimate

Jan. 1, 2020
Avoid writing supplements by acting proactively and preparing a thorough estimate, which involves disassembling the vehicle.
Eber blueprinting proactive estimates

Another shop owner in my area, Terry Mostul, was generous enough to let my shop manager and I spend several hours recently with him at one of his three Artistic Auto Body locations in the Portland, Ore., area. Like our operation, Terry too is very focused on trying to streamline the office and administrative portion of the business. We both find that in our businesses there is a key struggle getting the paperwork handled as quickly as we can get the cars repaired.

During that visit, we talked about a goal of moving our shops toward 100 percent "proactive supplements" rather than "reactive supplements." Instead of just reacting to the additional damage and other items you discover that require a supplement as the vehicle moves through the shop, we're trying to be more proactive: getting the car fully disassembled before it moves ahead in production so that everything that needs to be included on the supplement is identified and handled upfront.

It's a process that some shops refer to as "blueprinting" or "methodical disassembly." Some shops have assigned one or more employees as "blueprinters," whose job is to complete disassembly of each vehicle to document all the damage and items needed beyond any initial estimate.

We haven't created such a position in our shop, but we are having our estimators work with our technicians on the same type of "proactive supplements." In order to work well, it requires the expertise that each of them brings. The technician needs to accurately identify all the damage by not skipping steps in the disassembly process, and the estimator needs a thorough understanding of the estimating system (including "what's included" and what's not).

The process has some clear benefits. Under a reactive system, the technician might come into the office as the car is going to the paint department to report that the latch on the quarter-glass broke when he took it off. Suddenly, the shop office staff is forced to take the time to create another supplement and to place another parts order – and we have less time to get that part delivered without holding up the car than we would have had if the need for that part had been discovered when the vehicle was fully disassembled upfront.

If that sort of thing happens two or three times with each job, you waste your technicians' time by forcing them to repeatedly stop to report additional items. Your estimator or parts manager faces more interruptions and more time spent placing multiple parts orders or preparing multiple supplements for a single job. Your shop becomes more costly for your parts vendor to serve, which can hurt your relationship with that vendor. You are often scrambling to get parts you need at the last minute when the vehicle could otherwise be reassembled and delivered. And your cycle time and customer satisfaction may suffer.

Being more proactive also can help estimators spot pre-existing damage or other potential "up-sell" opportunities to discuss with the customer upfront, rather than waiting, for example, for the painter to come in and ask if he's just supposed to paint over the rock chips on the hood or if the customer wants them repaired.

I like Mostul's reference to the process as "proactive supplements" because this term helps our office staff realize they can save all of us time and trouble by being observant and proactive. Rather than taking multiple calls from customers checking on their vehicle, for example, we can be proactive and save ourselves time (and provide better service) by systematically calling them with updates on set days, when those calls work best for us.

And rather than preparing reactive supplement after reactive supplement on every job, we can move closer to our goal of one supplement and one parts order per job.

Contact info: [email protected]

Sponsored Recommendations

Best Body Shop and the 360-Degree-Concept

Spanesi ‘360-Degree-Concept’ Enables Kansas Body Shop to Complete High-Quality Repairs

ADAS Applications: What They Are & What They Do

Learn how ADAS utilizes sensors such as radar, sonar, lidar and cameras to perceive the world around the vehicle, and either provide critical information to the driver or take...

Banking on Bigger Profits with a Heavy-Duty Truck Paint Booth

The addition of a heavy-duty paint booth for oversized trucks & vehicles can open the door to new or expanded service opportunities.

Boosting Your Shop's Bottom Line with an Extended Height Paint Booths

Discover how the investment in an extended-height paint booth is a game-changer for most collision shops with this Free Guide.