Does it seem like summer is here yet? I have been up at the lake quite a bit and we have had a few nice days, but we have had some cool ones with lots of rain. 2020 has been a weird year so far!
Ok, where do I start today?
You all should have received a notice from SGI on May 15th that states:
SGI Paint Material Rate Change Please note, effective June 1, 2020 the allowance for:
a) Paint Material will increase from $51.73 to $55.25 per hour of refinish time. Included in
this figure is Hazardous Waste Disposal; and
b) Imron Paint Material will increase from $63.26 to $67.57 per hour of refinish time.
Included in this figure is Hazardous Waste Disposal. These new rates will be effective for all repairs with a “completion date” of June 1, 2020 or
later, regardless of appraisal date. The material rate changes will be reflected in original
estimates completed by SGI starting June 1, 2020.
Many thanks to the guys at SGI for acting on this as soon as SAAR got the paint price increase information to them.
Please remember that these rates also compensate your shop for hazardous waste material. SAAR will be doing a survey on hazardous waste costs soon, please watch for it and participate in it. To prepare yourself for the survey if you could start doing some research to determine what your disposal costs are for:
Gunwash waste?
Waterborne waste?
Booth filters waste - also get your costs for new floor and ceiling filters, how often do you have to change them and how much time does it take to service your paint booth?
Landfill disposal costs - do you have a firm that supplies a bin? How much does that cost you each month?
Do you have recycling bins for cardboard and paper? How much does that cost you each month?
Anything I am missing - send me a quick email to dir@s-a-a-r.com.
In the same SGI Bulletin SGI mentioned the Sask Polytechnic / I-CAR training package that qualifies for a government training grant. Even if you are well on your way to having your technicians trained to the Platinum level if you have not already done the Welding Certifications it is probably worth your time to check with Jeremy Shaw to see if you can save some money by enrolling in the Sask Polytechnic program. Here is the notice:
Saskatchewan Polytechnic and I-Car have partnered together and have composed packages that meet the guidelines for the Canada Saskatchewan Job Grant application process through Saskatchewan Polytechnic. The packages are for all the required Platinum roles necessary to achieve Gold Class status along with the other roles should you be interested in completing all the Platinum training available.
For more information on the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Programs visit our website at:
www.saskpolytech.ca/ICAR.
If you have any questions at all or to get started with your job grant application process please contact Jeremy Shaw at 306-659-4073 (Jeremiah.shaw@saskpolytech.ca).
Back on May 5th your SAAR Technical committee met with SGI to discuss the following items:
Destructive Weld Tests. Those of you that have taken the I-CAR Welding Certification are well aware of the need to do these test in order to verify that your welds will meet OEM or I-CAR (National Welding Association) standards. Those of you that are not aware of verifying your welds can refer to the attached document that I have prepared for SGI and you need to start implementing these tests as standard operating procedure in your shops immediately. Also, if your shop could send me some documentation on your techs doing the destructive tests and explain how much time it takes to perform it will help SGI understand this process and come up with a reasonable time allowance.
Justin Fitzgerald briefly mentioned that SGI is still working with Mitchell to come up with a two way estimate compliance program built into their CEG database. We first met with Mitchell and SGI on March 12th to discuss this program, but nothing happens fast in big corporate structures, so we are still waiting to hear back from Mitchell. In the meantime, you should check out Estimate Scrubber to see some of the great additions that have been made to that program. In addition, Joe Cardiff, and Jesse Loewen (from Manitoba) are working on fine tuning the Scrubber Wiki which is a user generated database of autobody tips to help each other solve repair issues.
R1234YF sublet to recharge was discussed. This issue is an ongoing problem for SGI. There seems to be very little consistency on what dealers and garages are charging to recharge an air conditioning system with R1234 and although it is considered a sublet item SGI reserves the right to have their body shop door rate and Mitchell times adhered to. The challenge is that most of our sublet suppliers do not operate on a contract basis with SGI and they can literally charge whatever they want. At this point all SAAR can recommend is for shops to call around to see if a local firm will do the R1234 recharge for the SGI rates. If a supplier cannot be found to do that simply show SGI your documentation to make them aware that at least you tried. SGI says they will be flexible and plan to report further on this issue as early as June.
Max to Repair amounts being shared with shops up front is an ongoing issue. For some reason SGI is having difficulty sharing this number with shops right now but they are working on developing a solution. For now shops need to do their part, get authorization to repair signatures from customers, find out if they want their vehicle repaired or if they are prepared to let it go and keep in constant communication with SGI (preferably by email) when repair jobs are Stradling the Total Loss threshold. If you have undue delays in hearing back from SGI send me an email with the Claim number and details, I will contact SGI to get some answers.
Adhesive Templates. SGI admits that they did a poor job rolling this program out. Moving forward they are looking at several options including doing some Lunch and Learns on how to use these products. I believe a video is available online at Adhesive Templates Canada that you can watch, and it appears that SGI Salvage along with other local auto body supply firms may be stocking these templates soon. SAAR has recommended that SGI Salvage could go one step further and install that new adhesive on templates at their various locations and sell them to the shops who in turn could bill SGI 60% of new for a refurbished nameplate. SGI was not too keen on that idea at this point, but I believe it is percolating in their minds. Stay tuned.
Finally, SAAR delivered the Paint Material price increases from the various paint companies and on May 15th SGI sent the price change notice out to shops.
I believe that sanitizing vehicles coming and going to your shop is going to be the new normal for the foreseeable future. My friend Dan Bernier, from Adhesive Templates Canada has come up with some unique products and procedures to sanitize vehicles. Check out his video here. If interested in more information, go to their website, and check it out.
I have been thinking that we should add a semi regular feature to Our Did You Know? Called Cool Tools where we can share ideas on tools or processes that we have implemented in our shops to help the production process improve.
I will start the ball rolling by sharing a piece of equipment that I bought at Parr Auto Body close to 8 years ago. The product is called Nitro Heat and it is available from Wedge Clamp here in Canada.
Rather than me try to explain what Nitro Heat does take 2 minutes and watch this video.
I can confirm that what the painter is saying in the video is exactly the results we had at Parr. Imagine using less material, with less imperfections, faster flash off times and with reduced overspray. As a bonus, we set up a nitrogen plastic welding station and we ran a line from our Nitro Heat system to run our plastic welder!
I encourage you to check this product and based on the size of your operation find out the ROI for your shop, you will be impressed!
Do you have a Cool Tool or a process that can help our members run a better business? Share it with me and I will showcase your suggestion in a future issue of Did You Know?
Many of you are on Facebook and you have “liked” our Facebook page. In fact, this week we just surpassed 200 “likes” and the following post reached over 1300 people at the time of me writing this.
In addition to our Facebook page we also have a SAAR Forum where shops can share information and take part in a conversation or get feedback from other members, you can check it out here.
Our industry is changing at a rapid pace due to the amazing technology that manufacturers are putting into their vehicles, yet we have never been more connected and able to access information. Take the time to get engaged and share with other shops, we can all become better together.
For all our new members (and existing members) do not forget that we have access to the Automotive Repair Association (ARA) of British Columbia’s extremely competitive group insurance program. SAAR members are finding savings of 20% or more plus the ARA plan pays out more money than most normal plans do.
For more information you can call the Saskatchewan Office at - 306-649-4000 or email Ken Campbell at ken.campbell@sunlife.com.
Contact us at K.M. Campbell Financial Services Corp. to discuss a Group RRSP for your business.
306-649-4000 x.111
leslie.deboice@sunlife.com
Tom Bissonnette
Executive Director
306-229-5254
tom@saskautorepairers.com saskautorepairers.com
