| Publishers Message |
Moving Forward
A t the risk of being labelled an eternal optimist, I truly believe these are good times to be in the collision repair business. Now, I didn’t say best time ever, because as anyone in the industry for more than the lifespan of a Lada knows, there were some amazing halcyon, glory years. According to the pundits and forecasters the world as we knew it was supposed to crash and burn as we watched. Well it sort of did, but there was a lot more smoke and mirrors than real fire and brimstone. Not to ...
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| Point Blank |
Game Plan
 As we begin a new year, I feel it’s time to take a look back at 2009 to try to get set for new goals in the year ahead.A lot of shops are having problems achieving and producing the numbers that are usually the norm in our industry today. Sales are down in some cases, and customers are not coming through the door as much to have their vehicles repaired.
Unemployment is up, which means the last thing on a lot of people’s minds is fixing their cars. All you have to do is take a look around ou
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| Health and Safety |
MachineGuarding
It is not hard to understand why machines are designed with guards in place. The purpose of a guard is to protect operators of the equipment, or people close by, from having their body parts become entangled with, or harmed by, the moving parts of the machines. What is truly baffling is the cavalier attitude of people using the equipment with respect to these guards. Even more distressing is the amount of energy workers devote to overcoming, by-passing or defeating
the guards put in place to ...
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| Whos Driving |
Lean Leadership
 As you will recall, this column is the second part of a discussion on lean leadership. In the first installment, we established the paradox of lean leadership: the existence of a pyramid structure within your business at the same time you (the leader) work to flatten that pyramid. This article is about how to solve this paradox in practical terms.If we continue to look at the job of the leader and the follower in tradition terms, we will continue to get traditional results. We must change our vi...
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| WOMAN OF THE INDUSTRY |
Tenacity & Drive
Every year around this time, Akzo Nobel announces the winners of its Most Influential Women in the Collision Repair Industry award. One of the women on the 2004 list is Sharon Wells, General Manager of The Collision Clinic in St. John’s, Newfoundland. What does Sharon think of her addition to this select group?
"Naturally I’m quite honoured," says Sharon. "But I don’t look at the industry gender wise. You get up every day and do what needs to be done. It doesn’t matter if you’re male
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| Training |
Known Unknown
I have sat back or laid down with many books and magazines many a night. Sometimes they hit me in the face as I fall asleep and I still don’t feel I’ve learned enough. I do this always thinking that one day I am going to write something for a magazine. But reading articles from respected people like Sam Piercey, who have so much industry knowledge, makes me question what I may offer that can make a difference. Well, after further thought on my background and work experience, I think I am q ...
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| Recycling |
Re-skilling the industry
Our planet is fragile. Issues of global warming and such aside, pollution of any kind is itself dangerous. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that the automotive industry is, in the aggregate, the single largest polluter on our planet. It is certainly not a legacy that any of us are proud of, and yet is it something that we do too little about. We all know about our planet, we know about what is happening with our planet, and we know that how we’re treating it is unsustainable. As the la
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| Recycling |
Teamwork
 Back on April 27, 2009 (Earth Day), a special group of proactive representatives got together to strategize on the best ways to support using used auto parts in the collision repair industry. Members from the insurance, collision repair and auto-recycling communities brain stormed and made
suggestions on how to improve the existing situation.The meeting was an open format discussion that centred on the Ontario Auto Recyclers Association’s (OARA) Green Parts brochure and how we can build on ...
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| Profiles |
Lean Rules
Anyone who is in the collision repair industry knows that there is a rarely dull moment when it comes to organizing details, parts and equipment—and the job doesn’t get any easier when you have limited space.For Kingsley Lloyd, it’s all about making it work for the customer and using lean tactics to manage his elite team as one well-oiled machine. With over 48 years of experiences in the industry, a lot can be learned from the operations manager of Don Valley North Lexus Toyota and Hyundai
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| View of the West |
Super Mario Brothers
 In 1986, when I was just a young lad, I had the privilege of taking over the management of Parr Auto Body. Being relatively new to the business it soon became very obvious to me that I was in over my head and I needed help. I asked my friend and mentor, Koos Reineking, “Who do you know in this industry that has got a handle on things and would actually share some information with me?”That’s how I met the Mario brothers at Regina Auto Body (RAB). Chris, Greg and Mike took me under their win ...
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| Profiles |
Reflections of a Brilliant Career
In this day and age, to have a successful career spanning almost four decades is a significant accomplishment in any field.To continue to be at the top of one’s game throughout that entire time, as Wilf Bedard was when he retired as vice-president of corporate claims for MPI in August 2009, is nothing short of remarkable.Then again, Wilf Bedard happens to be one remarkable guy. I know because for a significant portion of his 37 years of service with MPI, I had the privilege of working with h
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| Profiles |
Wilf Bedard: Retires After 37 Years of Service
Collision Repair Magazine would like to bid a fond farewell to a dear friend, Wilf Bedard, who retired from Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) August 28, 2009 after 37 of loyal service. This marks a new milestone for the former MPI vice-president of corporate claims, who’s best remembered by his colleagues as a far-sighted thinker and a positive force in the industry. I’ve known Wilf Bedard for 23 years. In that time, he’s demonstrated himself again and again as being endlessly knowledgeable a ...
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| Feature Article |
History Takes Flight
The black, glossy warplane took off to the sky from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, where it had been securely stored for decades. On the ground, a crowd of spectators applauded the successful late-November launch. One of the spectators was Sam Piercey, co-owner of Budds’ Collision Services and a columnist for Collision Repair magazine. It was fitting Piercey was on the guest list—he painted the museum’s Avro Lancaster 20 years ago. “When they were talking about it, I let them kno ...
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| Feature Article |
What Happened in Vegas
Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW) 2009 was a huge success again this year. The week, which consisted of both the International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) and the Congress of Automotive Repair & Service (CARS), drew a whopping 21,227 industry professionals this year.
About 350 exhibitors filled the 130,000 sq. ft. space dedicated to ASRW in Las Vegas from November 4-7. The keynote at the opening general session came from Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, wh ...
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| Feature Article |
Afterburn in Nashville
You’ll never hit your targets if you don’t keep an eye on the horizon as well. According to Jim “Murph” Murphy this same maxim rings the same truth for jet fighter pilots as well as collision repairers.In an intense presentation for over 225 participants at the most recent PPG MPV Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee, Murph cautioned to avoid task saturation at all costs by not letting one issue blind you to everything else that is going on. Founder and CEO of Afterburner Inc, Murphy d
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| The Last Word |
Learning Envirnment
 One story in particular stood out to me this issue. In Chris Wood’s “In With the New” (page 23–24), he describes, without naming names, what sounds like a horrible apprenticeship experience. Now, I might be more sympathetic to his story than most. I was an apprentice once (I was in tool and die) and I too had a miserable experience, though for different reasons. Soon after I began working, the shop underwent some restructuring that left a terrible residue on worker moral. The journ ...
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