Page 6 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine July-August 2022

Editorial
6
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2022 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
EDITOR
Sam Street (02) 9213 8334 samstreet@yaffa.com.au
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
BOTTOM LINE,
IT’S LINE BY LINE
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of reporting on the Australian col- lision repair industry, seen shops as busy as they are now. I make that ob- servation because I’m going to bang on again with the ‘it’s time to politely de-
cline work that isn’t profitable.
There has been a lot of industry talk re-
cently about average repair price models – oh, er excuse me – ‘predictive price models’. AMA Group have handed back a heap of contracts that they can’t make work and seem to think that paying the insurer for the privilege of fixing their cars, rather than making a modest profit, is less than ideal. Yes, I know that in an earlier incarnation they were the ones ini- tiating the average cost contracts but that was a long time ago when you could have a repair production line and every other car didn’t need recalibrating. It was before the world’s supply chain got scrambled, before wages got onto the launch pad and blasted off and before the cost of paint, fuel, consumables, energy and even let- tuces went through the roof and contin- ued skywards.
I know that a guaranteed work volume is an enticing carrot but it seems to me that making the predictive price model work is a black art that the insurers, despite their
leanings to the dark side (mwha ha ha) have for the most part yet to master. They get it wrong more often than not sending shops the wrong mix of work and who suf- fers? The repairer of course and the person who is supposed to feel valued – the driv- ing customer. The repairer has no choice but to store the cars that and delay starting work on them if they will blow out the aver- age price and therefore they won’t be able to batch invoice.
On top of that, the vast majority of re- pairers I talk to say that these models just don’t work on complex repairs. What is the answer? Could it be going back to line by line quoting so the repairer can quote (us- ing pre-agreed times of course) sensibly for each job? If you are booked out months ahead then I suggest it’s time for you to have these conversations with insurers – and don’t even get me started on the miser- able rate increases that are beginning to be grudgingly offered. This boom won’t last forever. Be polite, be respectful but be de- termined and see what happens.
Sam Street – Editor
I
HAVE NEVER, IN OVER 11 YEARS
WHAT’S COMING UP IN 2022
EVENTS
• Capricorn Collision Repair Conference, Perth, 16 August 2022
• Capricorn Collision Repair Conference, Queensland 19 & 20 August 2022
• 2023 and Beyond Axalta event with Mike Anderson, Gold Coast 21 August 2022. • Motorclassica, Melbourne, 7-9 Oct 2022
• Paint & Panel Bodyshop Awards, Melbourne, 11 November 2022
If your company has any exciting new products or is involved in any innovative projects, contact Australasian Paint & Panel editor Sam Street on samstreet@yaffa.com.au.