Page 22 - Australasian Paint & Panel Magazine

IBIS WORLD SUMMIT
CHALLENGING PERSPECTIVES
Nearly 400 delegates attended the 2018 IBIS Challenging Perspectives conference in Munich on 11-13 June. Sam Street reports on some of the informative sessions delivered during this annual global summit.
AS AN IBIS media partner Paint & Panel also contributed to the 2018 Global Focus and over the coming weeks we will be publishing the reports on the state of the bodyshop industry in a number of key international markets both in the magazine and online.
The IBIS Summit spreads across a Monday night of networking drinks, a full day conference with formal dinner and entertainment and a further half day of sessions. There was a strong delegration from Capital S.M.A.R.T attending as well as the Fix Auto team from around the globe. Apart from that we didn’t spot many Australians.
The conference kicked off with a session from Paul Steele of TurstPilot talking about the change in consumer car buying habits and the key elements of creating online trust for you business.
Steele described trust elements as: web design (ie have a good one or people are immediately put off), updated content, ‘browseability’, easy to find contact, company and location information, a humanised brand, accessible FAQ, T&Cs and data security, trust seals (approvals, awards etc) and the presence of social proof (reviews). He said 92% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing. He said, ‘The most important trust element is having social proof, having a community of reviews is a big confidence booster for customers.’
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Ford’s Jennifer Boyer announced a global body repair network at the summit.
Next up data experts ICDP predicated an average of 23% reduction in collision repairs across EU countries by 2030. Much of the thinking behind the reduction doesn’t apply to Australia.
PROFITING FROM AUTOMOTIVE CHAOS
Andrew Marsh, director of Auto Industry Insider who produces Ezi-Methods, gave a cracking presentation on how the disruption caused by current technology should be seen as an opportunity by enterprising bodyshops. He encouraged delegates to ‘embrace’ electronics, software, system networks, big data, new commercial partners, recruit or invest accordingly and, in his own words, ‘above all: enjoy.’
He pointed to the ever-increasing complexity of repair highlighting a host of calibration points including the potential for lidar, radar and camera fitments both front and rear of a vehicle. ‘A vehicle could have all of these systems fitted or could have none of it fitted – we really don’t know until it lands in a collision repair centre,‘ said Marsh.
Discussing the variety of sensors, Marsh highlighted three groups: those from 2000 onwards which require static recalibration; those from 2008 onwards which need dynamic recalibration; and those from 2017 onwards which are self- calibrating. ‘Self calibration is where vehicle manufacturers need to go because when it becomes standard they need to be capable of covering it with a warranty,’ said Marsh.
‘As a future trend we will see more sensors per vehicle,’ said Andrew, ‘but due to a lack of consistency in technology and fitment there is no one standard of how to recalibrate the systems.’ This, he suggested, was where the value would lie for profitable businesses in the future.
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