HOW TO SHAVE A DAY OFF OF VEHICLE
COLLISION
REPAIR
A new online parts management system helps body shops consistently
receive repair parts even before the vehicle arrives.
BY BILL LOPEZ
One Full Day Saved
T
here is no simpler truth in the auto rental
industry than “rental car revenue is
predicated on rental car availability.” No
one understands this wisdom—or pressure—
better than the commercial fleet managers
chartered with the daily maintenance and
damage repair of tens of thousands of rental
vehicles. These multi-tasking pros experience
firsthand the mantra that each day a vehicle is
down is a day of lost revenue.
So what would you, or your damage manager, say if you could eliminate a full day of a
vehicle’s collision repair without adding incremental overhead or expense?
To achieve this goal, car rental companies
have been using an online software program
called CollisionLink from OEConnection for
the electronic ordering of original equipment
(OE) crash parts from participating dealership suppliers.
The Goal: Cut Vehicle Idle Time
Jerry Bernacki is vice president of vehicle
maintenance for Avis Budget Group. Responsible for the maintenance and repair of more
than 350,000 Avis Budget rental vehicles that
generated more than $4.7 billion in annual revenue in 2008, Bernacki knows the relationship
of vehicle downtime to lost revenue.
Avis Budget, similar to other rental vehicle organizations, outsources its collision
repair to participating body shops while retaining management of the damage evaluation process. On any given week, Avis Budget’s 102 airport damage repair facilities each
manage a complex web of parts availability,
suppliers would then receive the order, fulfill it
and return electronic confirmation. This was
done without picking up the phone to ask a
question, verify handwriting, or validate a
part number. Avis Budget estimators now had
up-to-the minute order tracking with documented confirmations.
vehicle drop-off and pick-up and repair due
dates for 100 or more inactive vehicles spread
between 10-15 body shops.
Relying on phone and fax for shop communication, Avis Budget personnel generate the
estimate while body shop personnel typically
order the parts upon vehicle pick-up. As a result, a damaged vehicle could sit idle—with the
clock ticking—for more than a day before the
required parts arrive and repairs begin.
Online Technology Transformed
Booking—Why Not Repair?
From Bernacki’s perspective, there had to
be a better way. Online technology had already revolutionized the entire car rental experience, so why couldn’t a similar process be
used to automate the movement of “Collision
Part A” to “Body Shop B”?
24 ARN • 2009 TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK
Fred Cunha, damage manager at the Boston
facility of Avis Budget Group, inspects a damaged vehicle. Cunha says that cycle times at
his facility, which once averaged four to five
days, have been reduced to two to three days.
Bernacki realized this possibility with electronic parts ordering. In October 2006, Avis
Budget implemented a pilot program to test the
use of electronic ordering as part of the company’s damage estimating process. Selecting
CollisionLink, Avis Budget estimators began
the experiment.
Critical to success was CollisionLink’s ability to integrate with Avis Budget’s existing estimating systems. This allowed damage writers to
create the estimate as usual, and then automatically create the electronic parts order by pulling over such key information as the receiving
body shop and the vehicle unit number.
After a review of the order, estimators would
hit one button for electronic submission to
their participating dealership suppliers. These
And shops had their parts faster. CollisionLink also helped to reduce incorrect
parts and order supplements, both hidden
killers to cycle time, by automatically error
checking each part against the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
Within 60 days, the pilot results were in.
CollisionLink saved one full day in repair cycle
time. “The impact was undeniable,” says Bernacki. “It saved a day’s cycle time and made our
estimators more efficient; and there’s no cost to
Avis for use of the software. Instead, dealership
suppliers fund the program, making CollisionMANUAL COLLISION
Link fast and simple to implement.”
Fred Cunha, damage manager at the Boston facility of Avis Budget Group, says he saw
a dramatic improvement in cycle time once he
started electronically ordering collision parts
directly from participating dealership suppliers. His facility once averaged a four- to fiveday cycle time; it has been reduced to two to
three days. By ordering the parts electronically, Cunha’s staff is more organized—and
in better control of—each repair. Equally as
important, his staff now has electronic documentation on each step of the ordering process, which helps to make repair management
more automated and efficient.
“With our cycle time reduction, we are
achieving our ultimate goal of cars on the road
sooner,” commented Cunha. Electronic parts
ordering simplifies the entire process, which
saves my staff at least five minutes per estimate.
This really adds up when you’re estimating 60
to 100 cars weekly. Bottom line, I’m able to do
more with the same manpower.”
Miguel Luna, damage manager for the Los
Angeles Avis Budget location, agrees. Servicing
greater Los Angeles, his staff handles 250 inactive vehicles per week, 50 percent of which require some sort of collision repair. Outsourcing
to more than 35 local body shops, Luna readily embraced electronic ordering.
Today, his shops are consistently receiving
the parts before the vehicle even arrives. “Shops
are beginning repairs faster,” says Luna. “Due
PARTS
ORDERING PROCESS
dates are met or accelerated. And my idle percentage stays low.”
Better Tools to Manage Shop
Accountability
The Hertz Corporation has also adopted CollisionLink electronic parts ordering as a part of
its damage repair facilities’ standard estimating procedure. Currently in use by 88 Hertz
airport locations nationwide, CollisionLink
has replaced their traditional collision parts
ACCELERATED REPAIR CYCLE USING ELECTRONIC
PARTS ORDERING
ordering methods of phone and fax.
With CollisionLink, Hertz estimators now
have instant access to a time-stamped electronic audit trail complete with parts order
detail, dealership confirmation and order delivery dates. Shops can no longer use parts
availability, or delayed shipments, as an excuse for missed due dates.
Instead, shop communication is streamlined, and better controlled, at a time when the
rental car industry is increasingly challenged
to handle the same volume of vehicles—and
accident rate—with fewer personnel.
From Independents to the Major RACs
“Regardless of whether you’re a nationally
franchised organization with hundreds of locations or a single, independent location, the
dynamics of the rental car operation are the
same,” says Mark Tomasetti, vice president
and general manager, Collision Solutions at
OEConnection. “To maximize vehicle revenue,
you must maximize vehicle uptime.”
Dealership suppliers also welcome electronic parts ordering as a means of saving
time and speeding fulfillment, according to
Tomasetti. Electronic orders are automatically validated against the VIN, which flags incorrect or incomplete parts and allows counter personnel to more quickly and accurately
process the order.
“Given these time savings, it is the dealership supplier who funds the cost of electronic parts ordering,” adds Tomasetti. “So rental car operations incur no additional cost,
only savings.”
One Day of Downtime: $100
While it differs by rental car concern, on average, a day of downtime is $100 in lost revenue potential. Given the growing pressure on
greater operating efficiencies, why would you
tolerate an additional day of repair downtime
if you didn’t have to?
The good news, according to those who use
online software for parts ordering, is that you
no longer have to.
In his 20-year automotive career
Bill Lopez has held positions
within the insurance, collision
estimating and auto refinish
sector. Lopez currently serves as
OEConnection’s business and
product development manager
for the collision industry.
2009 TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK • ARN 25