Mitchell International has announced enhancements to its estimating solutions related to scanning and diagnostics.

The first enhancement clarifies that the stated labour times in Mitchell Estimating do not include labour time specifically related to diagnostic scanning. The current release of the Mitchell Estimating solution will include updated Procedure Pages noting that labour times do not include:

• Time required to aim, calibrate, diagnose, re-set or scan electrical items
• Time required to perform pre-repair and post-repair scan operations
• The time required for these procedures is in addition to the stated labour times

“We are committed to providing the most up-to-date information to the collision repair industry to help ensure that vehicles are repaired safely and properly with full transparency,” said John Gilmartin, Vice President of Service Operations for Mitchell International.

“While these changes are minor, they reflect Mitchell’s on-going commitment to create, aggregate and deliver the industry’s most comprehensive, accurate and consumable vehicle content.”

In the second enhancement, the current release will include Reference Sheet line items to allow repair facilities to document the times and costs associated with both pre-repair and post-repair scans. The Reference Sheet line items allow all participants to perform analytics and run reports, bringing a new level of transparency to the process at an estimate level.

For the first time, management reports will now be able to break out the costs of diagnostic procedures in collision repairs, providing valuable insight to underwriters, claims managers and collision repair facilities.

John Eck, Manager, Wholesale Dealer Channel for General Motors and Acting President of the OEM Collision Roundtable for CIC said, “Mitchell’s changes are great steps to ensure that all parties can communicate clearly and efficiently to ensure safe and proper repairs. Scanning and diagnostics is a topic of growing importance in the collision repair industry. Pre and post-scanning of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) help ensure that critical trouble codes are identified and corrected or calibrated to ensure the vehicle and its safety systems are returned to pre-crash conditions.”