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CCIF Toronto 2020: Fresh Perspectives

Autosphere » Collision » CCIF Toronto 2020: Fresh Perspectives

Another successful edition of CCIF Toronto came to a conclusion at the end of January 2020.

The Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF) hosted CCIF Toronto 2020 on January 30 (Thursday) and 31 (Friday) at The International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. The 760 attendees, 54 exhibitors and 6 speakers made the event a grand success.

To encourage high attendance at all booths and presentations, CCIF offered an innovative incentive this year. Guests could download the CCIF app and collect codes from every booth they visited and presentation they attended. The highest number of codes collected would provide an opportunity to win an iPhone.

Information, networking and charity

On Thursday evening, the event floor was opened up for attendees to visit the CARS & TECHNOLOGY SHOWROOM showcase. Key players from all segments of the collision repair industry in Canada set up their stations to discuss the latest products, technologies and services they have to offer. As attendees made their rounds from booth to booth, they had the opportunity to network and build connections in a relaxed setting. Leading companies such as ALLDATA, Audatex, Axalta, PPG, CARSTAR, Pro Spot, SATA, NAPA CMAX, Mazda, Toyota, Mirka and Symach, to name a few, were amongst the long list of exhibitors.

This year, the association has decided to host its CCIF Business Development Series workshops that are dedicated to enable industry stakeholders strengthen their businesses further. The first of this series was held during the CCIF Toronto event on January 30. The three-hour long workshop was conducted by Steve Trapp, North American Strategic Accounts Manager at Axalta Coating Systems on the subject “Make More Money: Optimizing Cash Flow”. During the course of the workshop, Trapp discussed ways for collision repair shops to improve cash flow in their business. He also proved strategies to manage cash invested in equipment, inventory and shop operations, wisely. A key part of his discussion focussed on how various industry stakeholders could tackle the issue of tech shortage.

Guests were treated to a multi-cuisine buffet dinner. During the course of the evening, SATA auctioned a custom designed SATAjet 5000 B gun for $3000 dollars. The proceeds from the auction were donated to charity.

A warm welcome  

On Friday, guests were warmly welcomed with a hearty breakfast-spread early in the morning. The showcase floor was also left open for browsing before the presentations began.

CCIF Director Caroline Lancasse presented the welcome address and thanked all the sponsors who helped put the event together.

Paul Prochilo, Simplicity Car Care and CCIF Chair took to the stage next to present the opening remarks.

“CCIF has established itself as a primary resource for the collision repair ecosystem as a forum where all stakeholders can come together to discuss industry challenges and collaborate for innovative solutions,” noted Prochilo.

“In CCIF’s 21st year of existence, there have been an abundance of successes that have come. And throughout the history of CCIF, leading into its maturation of the forum, there has also been a tremendous level of change. These days change is definitively the new norm. With the proliferation of OE-certified programs, to the level of technological advancements, which are no longer options, finding their way as a standard into all new vehicles today, are contributing to the higher level of complexity of the repair. The clients demand of faster, more available service due to disruptors coming in like Uber and Amazon. CCIF is committed to providing resources for the entire ecosystem to assist in adapting to the change,” he added.

He further went on to say, “We are going to build off the successes of CCIF by offering additional support. As CCIF Chairman, my vision for the next two years will be to provide the same mission critical data that we’ll be exposed to today for all attendees as well as to arm all of our attendees with practical solutions for collision centres to execute in their businesses. To ensure that CCIF attendees are not just managing change, but to ensure that they are leading change.”

Prochilo added that the CCIF Steering Committee will be aiding in these efforts. The position of the Young Leader in Collision Repair has been recently added to the committee and is currently occupied by Nick Dominato. He will be acting as liaison and representative of all young leaders in the collision repair industry.

Prochilo was followed by past CCIF Chair Patrice Marcil who provided updates on CCIF’s Industry-Education Connection project for 2020. Marcil noted that the action items for the year would focus on

  • Instructor development through training seminars
  • Workforce ecruitment and retention through on-going surveys to students, school visits, career days and promo videos on different roles in collision repair
  • School improvement and support through sponsorship programs
  • Scholarship program
  • Education series, which is the workshop series that started with Steve Trapp’s presentation on Thursday

The Scholarship Program is new and will begin from CCIF Montreal in May 2020. CCIF will award three scholarships of $1000 each per year, one each for western, central and eastern region. The scholarship will be awarded at the corresponding CCIF event in each region.

The new workshop series will be featuring professional speakers, educators and facilitators. This will take on Thursday afternoon of each CCIF event.

Marcil noted that CCIF also plans to host around two to three webinars in a year. CCIF is updating its surveys which are expected to be launched in March this year.

A global perspective

The first presenter of the day was Jason Moseley from International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS). Speaking on the topic “A World of Opportunity—Insights from the global collision repair industry”, Moseley discussed how modern vehicles were changing the face of the collision repair industry across the globe. Some of these changes include the steeper cost of repairs due to technological advancements, changing repair sales order mix and impact of new materials. Moseley noted that the industry was shifting from severe repairs towards smaller cosmetic repairs. However, he added, that these cosmetic repairs would be more complex and would require different tools and skill sets.

Moseley noted that 80% of the repair work in mature markets like North America, UK and Australia are directed to “all brands” independent facilities. In contrast, Asia and Middle Eastern regions still depend on OE-facilities. This is slowly changing.

An oft-discussed subject in the context of global collision repair is who has the control, remarked Moseley. This, he said, was weighed in terms of OEMs versus Insurers. He added that market maturity would play a role in this. The industry begins from the stage of broker led sales with no network steering. The ultimate goal is to have OEM-Insurer collaboration for betterment of consumer, technology and telematics by the final stage.

Moseley also discussed how autonomous vehicle technologies would impact the industry. Responsibility of accidents would shift to OEMs; insurers on the other hand would have to consider issues such as cyber liability.

Insightful Presentations

Shifting the focus of the event to human resource development, Craig Dowden presented on the topic “What Makes People Tick?” Commenting on how good intentions might drive bad results when a message is not communicated properly, Dowden encouraged guests to be more self-aware. He noted that people should beware of their blind spots and self-serving bias. Through an interactive activity, Dowden encouraged attendees to differentiate between a ‘judger’ mindset and a ‘learner’ mindset. While a learner is open to changing themselves, a judger focuses on finding faults in others. Dowden also demonstrated the importance of choosing the right words when communicating.

A key advice he provided was: “Break the golden rule-Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Follow the platinum rule—Treat others the way they wish to be treated.”

Justin Jakubiak from Fogler and Rubinoff LLP, presented on the subject of “Law and Liability of Repair”. A key point he stressed on was that the goal of the repair shop should always be to repair the vehicle safely. When selecting replacement parts, whether OEM or aftermarket, Jakubiak noted that the repairers should weigh the pros and cons and use their best judgement. Jakubiak also discussed several important legal considerations such as the Repair and Storage Liens Act, Liens Rights, and Safety Standards, Consumer Protection Act and Consumer Warranty. He ended the presentation with important tips on best practices that help in shielding repair shops from liabilities.

That final major presentation of the day was conducted by Steve Trapp on the subject “Make More Money: Optimizing Gross Profit”. Trapp offered insights on sales mix optimization and improving gross profit. He suggested weighing the profitability of repairing versus replacements, noting that insurers are demanding more repair-work. A major part of the session focussed on the recruitment and retention of talent. For this he stressed on the importance of rewarding employees who are responsible for keeping the shop profitable. He also suggested a reward plan for new recruits and their mentors for the full duration of the training period. Trapp also spoke about improving gross profit on parts and the importance of the pre-closing process.

Daniel Chudy from Centennial College held two fifteen-minute sessions to test the knowledge of correct procedures of collision repair, with attendees participating enthusiastically.

At the end of the day, all guests were able to take away a wealth of information that was shared during the 2020 CCIF Toronto event.

 

Categories : Collision

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