
Training and communication could be key to helping shops get accurate pay for blending
By onCollision Repair
There’s been a noted impact in the repair industry two years after the completion of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) blend study but more education and conversation are needed for many repair shops to influence compensation, according to a panel held during a Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting last week.
While many estimating platforms have removed prior guidance — replacing specific blend formulas with instruction to use on-the-spot evaluations — the market is facing growing pains as some insurance companies remain reliant on a now outdated approach.
Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director, said it’s common for a shop to receive a request from a billpayer asking them to change what is documented for the procedure. He shared an example of an insurance company asking a repairer to adjust blend times to meet CCC database times.
Yet, MOTOR removed previously published color blend formulas after determining they may not reflect the many variations encountered with modern vehicle finishes in April 2023, and CCC, which is based on MOTOR data, released subsequent notifications to the industry that the estimating platform adjusted with MOTOR’s changes, he said. He said it is now based on a spot evaluation.
“But you will have a billpayer saying please use times which don’t exist anymore,” Schulenburg said. “Well, this becomes complicated, right?”
During the presentation, repairers and insurers were asked if they changed their bill practices regarding blending since 2022, with 70% of repairers and 60% of insurers saying yes.
Despite the poll results, Darrell Amberson, president of LaMettry’s Collision in Minnesota, said very few insurers that he works with have changed their payment practices.
“Right now, we have one insurer that’s adjusted their normal pricing,” Amberson said. “We have some others that are on a case-by-case basis and may adjust their pricing based upon the study, but a whole lot of them are just not doing anything.”
Schulenburg said often just sharing the blend study is not enough to provoke a change from insurers.
“I think the study was always intended to create conversation that motivated the industry to rethink the process and the technology,” Schulenburg said.
Shops often need to share more detailed information with insurance companies about the blending process, he said.
The panel further dove into ways blending can be complex and how training can be used to educate not only technicians but also blueprinters, office staff, and even insurers.
Ryan Brown, AkzoNobel automotive coatings West Region technical services manager, said in the 1980s and 1990s mixing machines had 42-46 toners. He said it isn’t uncommon for a mixer to have more than 100 plus pigments.
Pastels are an example of colors that create a complex blend job, he said.
“Pastel colors have grown in popularity quite a bit,” Brown said. “Almost every manufacturer has a certain type of pastel color they’re using. A lot of these pastel colors have a lot more challenges when it comes to doing repairs with them than what we’ve ever seen with even some metallic colors.”
The colors have to be mixed to create opacity, he said, because there can be a shadow effect on the blend.
“Every manufacturer’s going to have a little bit different way to do it,” Brown said. “But the end result is kind of the same. I have to scatter that shadow out so far that the human eye can’t pick it up.”
Pastel operations take time to consider how each will be completed, he said. He provided an example of specific challenges stemming from pastel colors and four pages of instructions.
“They’re not hard to do, but they’re very labor intensive and you have to follow the instructions or you might not have very good results,” Brown said. “All of this adds more and more complexity and, at the same time, the amount of training that’s needed for our technicians is higher now than it’s ever been.”
Ralph Leija, BASF North American training manager, said as procedures become more complex it’s even more important to follow processes provided by paint manufacturers.
“A red is no longer a red, a blue is no longer blue, or green is no longer green,” Leija said.
Adding to the difficulty, technicians also have to pay attention to radars and sensors needed for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
“If we have the wrong metallics in there and color formulation, guess what happens? You won’t be able to have this system read correctly,” Leija said.
Leija said BASF tests its formulas to guarantee sensors and radars can read correctly. That information is then passed to technicians.
Another complex paint operation involves leafing metallics, also known as flash flake, Leija said. He said BASF can have six to seven pages of information on how to perform the operation correctly.
Repair shops need to make sure they have ample time and the right amount of knowledge to do the process correctly the first time.
“Because if you’re not paying attention and that Porsche color comes in or that Mercedes color comes in with that and your technician just does it as a regular sanding and prepping and blend, you’re going to be redoing that again because all of that texture and that sand and not having that refinement is going to come back for redo.”
Mark Jahnke, Axalta Coating Systems Great Plains/Canada technical coordinator, said panel location and size also play a large factor in each blend.
He said some vehicles might have a lot of style lines and others are flat panels with fewer contours. It also matters if a repair is located at the eyeline or higher.
The industry is also seeing more smaller vehicles, he said.
“The ability for the painter to handle all these complex finishes and be able to blend them within a relatively small amount of area given the size of vehicles and the shape of vehicles nowadays becomes a big consideration,” Jahnke said.
OEMs have different variations as well, he said.
“Paint technologies used at the OEM is not the same as aftermarket,” Jahnke said. “It’s a different type of paint technology. Different plants will have solvent, some will have water and different suppliers of paint.”
OEM defects also have to be taken into consideration, he said. He said the defects could be a result of cost-saving initiatives. It could include thin coatings which need different tools to work with.
The age and location of a vehicle can also create complexity, he said.
“A car in Florida is going to react differently to different degradation of that finish versus a car in the Pacific Northwest,” Jahnke said.
Multiple panelists said continued and updated training is needed for repair shops to complete and communicate blending requirements properly.
Schulenburg noted that technicians are often the people who receive the training.
“But the refinish technician is not often the one who’s having the conversation in the front office with an appraiser or with a customer or things along those lines,” Schulenburg stated. “How does that training information become available to somebody who is not the technician performing the task?”
Jahnke responded that front office staff can also attend training. He said his company has seen an uptick in front office staff doing so.
“I’d say for front office staff, it is very important because you can learn about the entire process,” Jahnke said. “You don’t necessarily need to go back there and do the hands-on portion, but you can learn about it.”
Leija also said that BASF offers bite-sized micro-learnings that can help staff, such as the front office, learn about processes quickly.
Jahnke said training is important for estimators. He said estimators often run back and forth from the paint shop asking questions. Training can give them a better idea at the start, he said.
Michael Lastuka, OEM/auto industry liaison, Automotive Research for State Farm, said training sessions about blending have helped him understand the process more.
“It does open your eyes,” Lastuka said. “It does make you realize that things have changed.”
Lastuka said he’s seen many industry changes throughout the years.
“We start a conversation and oftentimes there’s not much flexibility on the two sides,” Lastuka said. “And then after a lot of education presentations and discussions, we tend to evolve and find some kind of common ground. But we don’t do that quick enough and we don’t do it enough. We need more presentations like this.”
There needs to be more activities from the paint companies and more insurance companies attending the training, he said.
“Many times there’s a kind of a cool-headedness that, you know, we’re just not gonna accept a change…that’s not necessarily reasonable,” Lastuka said.
He said repair facilities with greater industry education and the ability to communicate well have helped him understand the industry better.
“Being able to attend training with technicians has been really enlightening and important,” Lastuka said.
Communication can take time to do it right, he said.
“I would just say both sides need to take the time to have that conversation to keep that line of communication open,” Lastuka said.
Images
Aaron Schulenburg speaks during the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting on July 10, 2024. Michael Lastuka, State Farm, and Darrell Amberson, Lamettry’s Collision also shown. (Teresa Moss/Repairer Driven News).