Canadian Collision Industry Forum Discusses DRPs, Waterborne Paints

Just like in the United States, Canadian collision repair professionals are dealing with issues such as waterborne paint, recycled and aftermarket parts and DRPs.

These issues and more were discussed at the Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF), held in Toronto on Jan. 27. Over 300 people attended the event, which featured several speakers and seminars that covered all aspects of the collision repair industry.

Major paint companies were on hand to discuss the equipment changes and training commitments that body shops can expect if the federal government's VOC legislation comes to fruition. Although there will be formulation changes to many of the materials used in auto refinish, the conversion to waterborne basecoat will be the biggest challenge, according to Bruce Henderson of DuPont Performance Coatings, who added that the training of preppers, painters and management is critical.

Once a shop converts to waterborne, it must maintain separate waste streams for waterborne and solvent-based materials, and have an additional gun cleaner for waterborne equipment. Temperature and humidity control are recommended, says Mark Sceeles, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. (SWAFC).

To improve DRPs, a repairer survey from last year was discussed, which suggests that repairers want more involvement in building the programs. The survey was conducted by Carlew & Associates, and was sponsored by BASF, Coyote Vision Group, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, SWAFC and 3M. Beryl Carlew presented the survey at CCIF.

Recommendations for best practices focused on making DRP agreements more like a two-way contract, in which the expected behavior of both parties is laid out, there are frequent performance reviews, and there are clear corrective actions spelled out in the agreement.

Steve Fletcher, executive director of the Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association, explored the interdependency of recyclers, insurance carriers and collision repair operations, noting that if the goal is to use more recycled parts in order to reduce severity, then repairers need the right motivation to use the recycled parts. Recycled parts must offer the same total compensation as other types of parts, and the concept of total compensation incorporates markup, cleanup and total billable hours, according to Fletcher.

The Canadian Collision Industry Forum provides a venue for collision repairers seeking knowledge and ideas on improving the success of their businesses.

CCIF takes place four times a year in different provinces. It comprises a full day of presentations, open forum and breakout sessions, with networking opportunities.

The next CCIF meeting will be held April 21 in Vancouver.

Visit www.ccif.net/ for more.