SCRS Repairer Driven Education (RDE) Series

 

Latest Press Release

SCRS REPAIRER DRIVEN EDUCATION (RDE) series will feature seminar offerings. Each of the courses has been individually selected or crafted by SCRS because the content specifically focuses on issues and information that are relevant to collision repair professionals operating in today’s marketplace, and appeals to the diverse array of marketplace perspectives that exist within the collision repair industry.

 

Register for the SCRS Repairer Driven Education (RDE) Series today. Please note that this link will only reserve your ticket for these events. If you have not registered to attend the SEMA Show you will still need to. Click here to register for the 2012 SEMA Show.

 

PRICING

RDE Headline Session: Innovation Forum = $75 each (advanced) | $85 each (after Oct 15/onsite)
1-2 RDE regular session tickets = $65 each (advanced) | $75 each (after Oct 15/onsite)
3-6 RDE regular session tickets = $50 each (advanced) | $65 each (after Oct 15/onsite)
SCRS RDE Sky Villa After-party* = $75 each (advanced) | $85 each (after Oct 15/onsite)

*All guests must have a ticket to enter; ticket is included with Full Series Pass

RDE Full Series Pass BEST VALUE! = $300 each (advanced) | $350 each (after Oct 15/onsite)
Full series pass includes 7 RDE regular sessions (one in each available time slot) + Headline session + Ticket to After-party on Thursday night. With Full series purchase, sessions are as little as $28.12 each

 

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, October 30 / 12:30PM - 2:30PM

RD1 - Hybrid Power & Platforms (David Gruskos, RAE Inc.)

For a shop and technician to have an understanding of how the manufacturing of the new car bodies and hybrid power train are combined together. With the future of many new hybrid platforms, it is critical to know how to identify the metals and/or composites when developing a plan for repair or replace. This presentation will show the OEM's plan on educating the repair facilities. Attendees will learn:

1. Proper tooling for new repairs

2. Where to find repair information

3. How to identify repair methods

4. How to develop a repair plan for working with hybrid power platforms

RD2 - Marketing: More Customers, Sales & Profits (Frank Terlep, Summit Software and Mobile Solutions)

By attending this session collision repairers will learn how digital marketing, social media, customer retention and loyalty tools, technologies and techniques that will result in increased customer counts, improved customer referrals, loyalty, revenues and profits.  

RD3 - Integrating Other Business Models into Collision Repair (Tom Myroniak, SEMA)

Industry events, such as the SEMA Show, demonstrate the greatest value to business owners when the value proposition translates into a tangible return on investment when you return to your business. As the collision repair market continues to be laden with small margins and undue pressure, many repair businesses are looking for opportunity to bring in added revenue streams while increasing the frequency of contact with their customer through expanded service offerings. This session will give the attendee an overview of:

1. Where to find unique and complementary businesses opportunities on the show floor

2. How to map out your strategy for finding the ideal opportunities for your business

3. How value added services can be integrated into your business

4. How to benefit from the marketing advantages of consumer oriented service offerings to bolster your collision business.  

Tuesday, October 30 / 3:00PM - 5:00PM

RD4 - Learn How to Make Sense of OEM Repair Information (Tom McGee, ALLDATA)

OEMs communicate their repair procedures in different ways. This session will help you interpret OEM procedures (symbols, supplies, equipment, etc...) and help in making a proper repair. Participants will:

1. Increase their understanding of OEM repair procedures

2. Aid in improving estimate accuracy

3. Aid in completing repair to OEM recommendations  

RD5 - Change the Way You Think at a CORE Level (Bill Park and Dr. Byron Bissell, MpowerU)

The purpose of this presentation is to provide a clear understanding of what junk thinking is, show evidence of existence in the market, and provide a clear direction for attendees to depart from the junk thinking environment. We believe, and can show that junk thinking is responsible for 80% of the problems in one's business, and throughout the presentation we will provide tangible insights that will allow the attendees to identify and remove those barriers in their business. The lack of quality thinking has led to enormous disasters and disappointments. And it's not only thinking through the solutions to the gnarly problems...more often than not, it's the painful reality you're working on the wrong problems. We hope to FREE their minds! Attendees will:

1. Leave understanding the premise of JUNK THINKING

2. Learn how to identify whether or not they are solving the wrong problems in their business

3. Feel empowered and confident to sift their thinking in order to break away from the herd  

RD6 - Numbers You Can Take to the Bank: Measuring and Improving Performance (Tom Hoerner, BASF)

A look at the data required, both financial and non-financial, to effectively manage a collision repair business. Ratios, percentages and tracking trends are explained within the context of running a business. Participants will learn how to use a solid understanding of their numbers to increase their profitability and the success of the business. Course attendees will receive the following objectives during the session:

1. Understand how to collect accurate and timely data from their business

2. Develop a working knowledge of collision center performance indicators, and what affects them

3. Understand how to use those KPIs to measure and improve their performance with the goal of increases net revenues.  

Wednesday, October 31 / 12:30PM - 2:30PM

RD7 - Paint Shop Throughout: A Quick Changeover Approach (Robb Power and Brett BiaLowas, PPG Automotive Refinish)

Quick Changeover, sometimes referred to as Setup Reduction, is a systematic approach to eliminate or reduce non-value added activities and time in the setup and/or teardown of any processes within production, allowing companies to more quickly and efficiently change from one product to another. Quick Changeover is a critical component of Lean Manufacturing and is a foundation for gaining critical capacity to meet customer demand and grow operations. This seminar will focus on applying quick changeover techniques and principles to the refinish area within collision, more specifically, to optimize booth cycles for any shop faced with needing to gain capacity and throughput while being held back by the current cycle time of their booths. While this seminar will focus on the refinish area, these principles can also be applied to other areas within collision where better transition and utilization of equipment and assets is involved. Participants will:

1. Understand the principles and techniques of quick changeover as applied to spray booth optimization

2. Learn techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of their refinish operation as well as learning to see opportunities for booth cycle time reduction.

3. Be introduced to the concept of flow and resource planning in relation to gaining throughput and capacity in the refinish operation of collision repair.

4. Learn simple methods to standardize processes and enable continual improvement.

RD8 - Marketing to Consumers - Supporting Customer Pay Efforts (Steve Trapp, Dupont Performance Coatings & Robert Rick, Gates Business Solutions)

With 35-40% of customers asking repairers to write a customer paid estimates and a historical 50% closing ratio on these estimates, improving sales skills for these more price sensitive customers is key. This course will review and practice the advisory sales process and how it uniquely applies to this segment of prospective customers. We will then discuss sales support tools which would be useful to help reinforce your unique value proposition to close more sales. Finally, we will reinforce follow-up strategies to help optimize performance. At the end of the course we will create a personal improvement plan per attendee. After completion of this session, attendees will be able:

1. To briefly review the customer pay segment its % of estimate traffic and closing ratio for this segment - Sell the why...

2. To explain the advisory and sales process to lay a foundation to a unique approach to these price sensitive prospects.

3. To role play using this process with fellow classmates to ensure both parties are comfortable with the sales process model.

4. To review various tools available to repairers to help offer proof that your repair center should be their choice.

5. To review various follow-up strategies which have proven effective in this segment

6. To gain alignment on the process tweaks in each person's selling strategy they would like to make when they return.  

RD9A - Understanding Design Based Repairs (Richard Perry, CHIEF Automotive)

The course will help attendees understand necessary information about the new metals being used in the construction of today's vehicles, and how they impact the repair process. We will discuss methods for metal identification and the proper repair methods by material. In addition, the course will focus on why automobile manufacturers have made such an aggressive transition to the use of the advanced steels in new vehicle construction. It doesn't matter who is working on the vehicle, whether it is the person writing the estimate or the technician performing the repairs, it is pertinent to first find out what the vehicle's structural content is before starting any structural repairs. Attendees will be able to:

1. Make sure they are able to find the proper repair methods, and that they have the right equipment before commencing repairs

2. Ensure that their technicians have the proper training and ability to perform the repairs correctly.

3. Leave with an understanding of why you cannot use the same repair methods on today's vehicles, as those that were being used just a few years earlier.

Wednesday, October 31 / 3:00PM - 5:00PM

RD9B - Going Green Doesn't Have to be Expensive (Steven Schilling, GRC-Pirk Management)

Shops can save a lot of money by greening their practices, rather than spending a lot of money. Marketing ricks and television advertising do their best to convince us that in order to become more eco-friendly we have to buy more stuff - but that's not true. If you replace a perfectly good item just to buy a new eco-friendly one, you aren't really doing anything to benefit the environment! So with that in mind, this presentation will discuss 101 ways that shops can save money by practicing green. Attendees will find many simple things to implement in their shop to go green and attain recognition on the www.findgreengarage.com public service website! Attendees will leave the session understanding of:

1. What it means to "go green" and to be a good environmental steward

2. What is sustainability, energy conservation and pollution prevention

3. That you can't manage what you don't measure: your carbon footprint = Greenhouse Gas

RD10 - Dedicated vs. Universal Fixtures: The Pros and Cons (Shawn Hart, Car-O-Liner Company)

This presentation is designed to explore the pros and cons of the dedicated and universal fixture repair systems. We will look at a number of different areas that shops, technicians, and insurance companies have issue with or questions about regarding each of the repair systems. These areas include: time, cost, and flexibility, ease of use, OEM recommendations, and accuracy. After completing this session participants will be able to identify:

1. The differences between dedicated and universal fixture repair systems.

2. The pros and cons of each type of repair system.

3. The difference between anchoring and fixturing.

RD11 - Lean Flow Concepts: Improve Your Hours Completed Per Day (Steve Trapp, Dupont Performance Coatings & John Sweigart, The Body Shop)

Repairers have been asked to focus on improving the hours completed or repaired per day, and this seminar will help you refine your administrative and production processes to improve performance. Looking not only at the value of the steps in the process, but also the flow of the processes is key to improving this number to industry leading performance. We will give very specific best practice recommendations to enable reduction and improvement of customer service provided. We also will discuss how to sell the change to your staff once you return and make them own the improvement and be supportive of the enhanced best practices. Objectives of completing this workshop are to:

1. Understand hours per day, standards for performance and what step change is possible

2. Understand both the administrative and production processes impacting hours completed per day and review best practices to improve

3. Understand how coordination of work flow enhances performance when you have large volume and need to keep flow moving

4. To re-sell the value of improving the metric to the technicians and office staff, and get them to see the value in change

5. To discuss how to prioritize the improvements and then to establish visual controls to keep them in place long term.  

Thursday, November 1 / 12:30PM - 2:30PM

RD12 - Maximize Tour Web Presence (Mark Claypool, Optima Automotive)

Having a website has one purpose, and only one purpose; bringing potential customers to your door. If your business is going to have an online presence, it is NOT enough to just have a website. To be truly effective, your site needs to bring you prospects, needs to be searchable by people looking online for the products/service you provide and, most importantly, it needs to convert website visitors to customers. After going through this session, you will learn:

1. Website essentials, such as what needs to be taken into consideration when building and having a website online

2. About Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Just having a website doesn't mean people will come to it. It must be optimized, and SEO is a science unto itself that few website developers get right. In this session you will learn what to look for.

3. Be prepared, participants will engage in live reviews of attendee websites and social media efforts.  

RD13 - Make More Money WITOUT Spending an Arm and a Leg! (Toby Chess)

Cultivating positive change in your business can come across like a daunting task fraught with challenge and expense that many businesses just aren't able to justify in the current economy. What if you knew that there were simple straightforward areas throughout your business that could streamline your operation, and increase your profit by reducing your waste and expenses?

For collision repair businesses there is a ton of opportunity to improve your business with very little investment if you know where to look. This session is going to offer a number of proven ideas that will decrease cycle time, reduce comebacks and increase quality; and the investment costs will be under $500.00! Forget about learning fancy buzzwords associated with process improvement, this session is going to give time-tested examples of ways to improve your business and make more money for very little, if any, up front expense.  

RD14A - He Who Controls the Data, Controls the Truth (Michael Anderson, Collision Advice)

Have you ever wondered where insurance companies get the data which they use to manage Key Performance Indicators they request from your shop? Have you ever been told your severity is too high in comparison to the market, or that your posted labor rate is excessive?

In this riveting session, Mike Anderson will outline the process in which your estimating and management system information can be harvested, aggregated, depersonalized and then reported on in the form of trending reports and data analytics. Using his background as a multiple location collision repair business owner, as a consultant, and as a participant on advisory councils for Information Providers and Insurance Carriers, Mike is going to illustrate how repair facility information is used to re-apply pressure on your business, and prepare you with the necessary resources and knowledge to counter that pressure. In fact, this course will help you outline an action plan to utilize your own internal data as a resource, and how you can establish processes in your business that produce more consistent and accurate estimate information.

Whether you have multiple estimators working out of one facility, or multiple facilities, having consistency in your estimating practices is critical to your success. By setting defined estimating practices, procedures and policies for your estimators, and following through with management practices which reinforce that those standards are followed, you will be able to better control the accuracy of your data output; producing data that accurately represents the charges and tasks performed in your business.

We will look at websites, tools, forms and technology applications that will allow your estimators to become more efficient and ACCURATE in their duties of writing a thorough damage analysis. Tools such as the SCRS Guide to Complete Repair Planning, blend within a panel refinish break down, Structural Repair Calculator and a variety of other documents and tools will be showcased.

This course will provide Collision Repair Facility owners the resources to consistently train their estimating staff how to reflect your standard of repair in the estimating process, while generating the most comprehensive and profitable repair plan necessary to return the vehicle to Pre-Accident Condition. "Writing it right" has an impact on the growth of your bottom line, but it also has an impact on the industry through the estimate data it produces. The information in your estimate can play a significant role in how the reports from the information providers reflect market practices, which is one of many reasons that having all the necessary and performed operations listed is critical to your success. This course is ideal for Owners and Managers.  

Thursday, November 1 / 3:00PM - 5:00PM

RD14B - Importance of Repair Standards in Completing a Safe and Seamless Repair (John Spoto & Shawn Collins, 3M)

We audit many repair facilities and see common repair practices that lead to improper and unsafe repairs. This session will expose the audience to some of the most common repair processes that result in improper repairs, and we'll review solutions around the man, machine, materials and methods to create seamless, safe repairs. Finally, we will introduce the audience to Job Instructional Training methods to sustain these repair standards. Our attendees will leave the room with:

1. An understanding of how to avoid common repair process mistakes that lead to improper repairs

2. An understanding of many repair standards

3. A roadmap to sustain adherence to these standards through Job Instructional Training

4. A benchmark of critical success factors in order to sustain proper repair standards  

RD15 - Waterborne Refinish Coatings: What Are You Waiting For? (Jeff Griffin & John Parran, PPG Automotive Refinish)

You are here at SEMA to learn about the latest and greatest technology. Do not let this session pass you by. This is your chance to learn about the latest technology that is having an impact in the collision repair and custom markets. You will learn about the capabilities and the unique advantages of water technology in today's demanding markets. Most important come and hear about what the masters in car building, such as Charley Hutton, have learned while making the move to waterborne finishes. Attendees will receive:

1. A brief history of water based refinish coatings which demonstrates the technology is over 10 years old and is in its third generation.

2. The advantages of water based coatings compared to current technology

3. The status of North American legislation

4. Answers to general questions fielded on water technology, on topics such as training, needed equipment, color match capability and more.

5. Color range for the custom market and where we see this going

6. A Question & Answer session with the presenters, accompanied by industry expert Charley Hutton, Painter & Owner of Charley Hutton's Color Studio.  

R16 - Bulletproof Your Company: Effective Human Resources, Policies and Procedures (Cory J. King, Fine, Boggs & Perkins LLP)

Lawsuits by current and former employees are skyrocketing. The financial impact of such suits on a company can be devastating. While an employer cannot stop a desperate employee from filing a lawsuit, they certainly can put themselves in a position to deter and ultimately win lawsuits before they ever get filed. It all starts with effective HR policies and procedures. Bulletproofing your company against employment claims is much easier than you think! Participants in this seminar will receive practical, real world instruction on what policies and procedures are essential to lawsuit avoidance, how to implement those policies and procedures, and what makes an effective policy and procedure in comparison to what gets employers into trouble. Participants are encouraged to bring their current employee handbook or policy manual for hands-on analysis and review for compliance. If you have employees, this seminar should not be missed!  

Friday, November 2 / 10:00AM - 12:00PM (HEADLINE PRESENTATION)

RD2012 - RDE Headline Session: Game Changers - Innovation Forum

Emerging ideas serve as the lifeblood for businesses and industries alike, offering the competitive edge necessary to enhance business growth and profit. Businesses that have the foresight to harness those advantages through rethinking products, services, processes, and business models are able to materialize the greatest level of differentiation between the remainder of the market in the eyes of your customer. So how does innovation prosper in the collision repair industry, and how can you foster innovation as a core value that shapes you're the framework of your business?

Join leaders in the collision repair industry for the RDE Game Changers - Innovation Forum headline presentation of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists' 2012 Repairer Driven Education series at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. At this highly interactive event, you'll learn:

1. What innovation can look like in the collision repair business - including technology, product, service, and business model innovation - and how it is becoming core to business strategy.

2. How leading companies manage for innovation, including the internal and external partners needed for success, overcoming barriers, and utilizing tools and technologies to accelerate implementation.

3. Key success factors for making your company a leader in your market through embracing ongoing innovation as a core function of your business.

4. Forum Moderators, Panelists and Participants will be announced at a future date.  

Friday, November 2 / 12:30PM - 2:30PM

Vehicle Knowledge for Triage, Blueprinting and Estimating (Larry Montanez III, P&L Consulting)

Participants will learn how to identify and understand the advanced material substrates in today's vehicles, how to diagnose the sustained damage by pre-measuring the vehicle to ascertain the amount of sustained damage, if any. Participants will learn the process and procedures of Triage and Blueprinting to ensure all sustained damage is accounted for and all associated repair procedures and materials are covered to ensure an accurate damage report is written, that not only ensures a correct safe repair, but ensures there will be no delays or missed items to increase the facility's profitability. Attendees of this session will leave with the understanding of how to:

1. Eliminate the need for supplements by writing complete damage reports the first time

2. Pre-measure the vehicle efficiently to increase profitability

3. Properly blueprint a vehicle to ensure no repair delays

4. Diagnose damage with a better understanding of applied collision forces

5. Apply logic from the estimating system procedural pages and use OEM repair information  

RD18 - Achieving Service Excellence by Applying LEAN Thinking (Steven Feltovich, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes)

This course is exclusively designed for SCRS/SEMA participants, and the workshop will provide participants the knowledge needed in order to achieve customer service excellence through lean thinking principles. Attendees will learn to use lean management techniques to transform or continue to improve your customer service delivery, and discover the extreme competitive edge in achieving service excellence the lean way! Understand the process driven approach to delivering the "ultimate customer experience." Attendees will benefit from the following workshop objectives:

1. Explain the driving factors behind the experiential service economy, and how to become more profitable with a customer focused strategy.

2. Establish a proven method for providing the value actually desired by each customer.

3. Learn how to build a strong brand based on customer service excellence.

4. Apply a simple process that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of your customer facing staff.

5. Find out how to identify service excellence professionals inside and outside your organization.

6. Attendees will leave this class with a self-assessment tool in order to evaluate their own organization's level of service excellence.  

RD19 - Bidding Wars: A Global View on the Possible Economic Impact of Insurer Involvement in Parts Procurement (David Newton-Ross, Collision Repair Specialists of Australia (CRSA))

Online bidding requirements for parts procurement has just entered into the U.S. market recently, but there are other countries, such as New Zealand, where the parts tendering practice was constructed by the country's largest carrier for its own use in 2003, and has since become a mandatory practice for all carriers. This session will provide attendees with a global perspective on:
1. The economic impact the online bidding program has had on repair facility margins in NZ
2. The procedural impact the program has had on cycle times and the estimating process
3. The changes the program has had on the repair facilities relationship with parts vendors
4. How the program has impacted part type selections
5. Why the program succeeded in NZ while failing to grab hold in neighboring countries such as Australia.
6. What the potential impact is that this type of parts procurement could have on the United States.