Body shops say there is still a long way to go before current systems, which can automate some aspects of estimating, can produce something closer to the repair plans shops need. But some say the systems still offer shops some time savings.
Darrell Amberson the LaMettry’s collision A Minnesota chain of shops said he has seen improvements in systems that help repair planners find the necessary OEM repair procedures for a given job, but he would like to see so-called “AI-powered” cost estimating systems move closer to creating detailed repair plans, rather than just the automated preliminary cost estimates they produce today.
“There are a whole bunch of things you have to know to see if they’re not included or require some judgment,” Amberson said during a Future Disruptions Committee discussion at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) this summer. “When could we automate more and more of these?”
Darrell Amberson of LaMettry’s Collision sees numerous opportunities for greater automation in the collision repair industry.
Current photo estimating systems, he said, essentially automate only the required “write what you see” part of the process, which is probably more helpful to insurers than repair shops.
“I use the analogy of an egg in a bag,” Amberson said. “If you put an egg in a bag and I break it open and write an estimate on it, I see that it needs a bag, but I actually know that it also needs an egg. Couldn’t we get to the point where that is reflected in the initial estimates as well?”
Quick creation of initial cost estimates
While some collision repair shops do not deny that current automated cost estimating systems are perfect, they see them as potentially useful for their shops.
Andrew BatenhorstManager of BMW workshop in Glendale, California, recently offered a demonstration at an industry meeting of how his business uses Mobile Jumpstart in the CCC ONE app to quickly generate initial estimates.
“They have a lot of data in their system that they can use to identify some of the easiest targets to reach, so we can very quickly determine what the repair costs might be,” Batenhorst said. “All it takes is a handful of photos and a few keystrokes on the phone.”
Andrew Batenhorst of Pacific BMW Collision Center said automating initial estimates saves time spent researching OEM repair information.
By quickly generating an initial estimate, time is freed up that can be used to research the OEM procedures for that job.
“You waste a lot of time learning the basics (of the initial estimate). That time could be better spent digging deeper into the repair instructions,” Batenhorst said.
He said the automated initial estimate can also be performed using the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) Blueprint Optimization Tool (BOT), which can quickly check estimates for overlooked operations or line items.
Michael Bradshaw from K&M Collision of Hickory, NC, agrees that the Mobile Jumpstart app only produces an initial estimate, not the full repair plan needed when a job comes into the shop. But he uses it to quickly identify potential total losses or when a customer comes in for an initial drive-by estimate.
“We really don’t like doing that because we feel like it’s a tremendous waste of time,” Bradshaw said. “And it’s not accurate because the OE research and scans have to be done and all the additional damage will be uncovered when the vehicle is disassembled. So we train our (customer service reps) to explain to customers, ‘We’re going to create an AI-generated estimate that’s extremely preliminary so you can start your claim process,’ and then explain the process all the way down to a repair appointment, disassembly and a repair plan that actually determines the appropriate repair cost.”
The app also provides an easy way to sort vehicles by the extent of damage right at the start of the process, he said.
Batenhorst said his shop has also used Mobile Jumpstart when checking in a customer’s vehicle to quickly provide an estimate for repairing unrelated damage. Since he’s a dealership-owned shop, he also has a junior estimator in the dealership’s service driveway who uses the app to provide initial collision repair estimates to those customers as well.
“I think it’s very easy for us as an industry to shy away from technology because we don’t understand it or because we’re afraid of change,” Bradshaw said. “But this is something that anyone can use, and it’s going to save 15 or 20 minutes at the start of each file, and a lot more time in situations where it’s doing a total before you get into it.”
He said it’s important to get the right settings in your CCC profile for Mobile Jumpstart to work well. “But if you’re a CCC user, you already have that capability and functionality,” he said. “This isn’t an extra add-on or anything like that.”
Automated cost estimation is just the beginning
Bradshaw and Batenhorst, who both sit on the SCRS board, demonstrated the Mobile Jumpstart product at a recent association meeting. SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg said that the presentation was not intended to promote a specific product, as there are other, similar tools.
“But I think there’s a lot of resistance to things like AI, and as some of our board members started using these resources in their company, we wanted to help people think about how they could benefit from it,” Schulenburg said. “Being a repair planner is a difficult job. Can we make their lives a little easier so they can focus on the things that are becoming increasingly important in their role, rather than some of the more routine functions that could be replaced by automation?”
Amberson sees such estimating tools as just one of the opportunities for greater automation in the industry. He said about 15 years ago, he sent a painter from his then company to learn about a virtual painting product the University of Minnesota was working on.
“He came back and said, ‘One day I might wear a tie to work like you do,'” Amberson said. “And I thought, he’s right, that could happen. We’re at a point now where I’m almost thinking, why hasn’t that happened yet? Why can’t we put robots there while he might be in control and (the process) is greener, cleaner and potentially more efficient? What has to happen before we get to automating post-processing?”
He said he has seen some products that automate some basic welding operations.
“How far are we from automating these things on the shop floor? I don’t think we’re anywhere near where we could be,” Amberson said.
He said automakers are currently sending inspectors to certified workshops to verify that work is being done according to factory repair procedures.
“But there are already technologies that allow you to put sensors in welding machines and other equipment that can check and report information without human presence,” he said. “I believe that one day we will get to that point.”
He believes that workshops do not perform as many vehicle measurements as they should and that there is also an opportunity for more automation to make the process easier and faster.
“There are just so many things that could happen and we’re not quite there yet,” he said.
