There’s a lot of opportunity in front-end maintenance work.

In much of Canada, weather conditions wreak havoc on our roads as well as our vehicles that are driven all year round. Snow and ice, as well as the rock salt, sand and liquid chloride used to melt and clear it, combined with quickly warming temperatures in the spring and hot summer conditions, cause road surfaces to quickly turn into something resembling moon craters. Combined with high volumes of traffic that’s prevalent in many metro areas, vehicle alignment becomes a regular and necessary maintenance requirement for many motorists.

Highly profitable

For independent service centres, alignments can be a highly profitable revenue centre, the key to maximizing them however boils down to several things. Firstly, how you educate your customers on vehicle maintenance requirements, secondly, the type of equipment you use, thirdly, the training your technicians receive, and finally how successfully your shop processes and procedures are implemented.

When it comes to alignments, it all starts with a vehicle inspection. At Eldon Ingram NAPA AUTOPRO in Stratford, Ont., shop owner Rob Ingram and his team have their fair share of customers who require alignments on regular basis and have been highly successful at implementing digital inspection technology that allows the service advisor and technician to clearly show what a vehicle needs in terms of maintenance and why it needs it.

“It comes down to showing the value and keeping the customer in control of their money,” explains Ingram. Therefore, the ability to clearly show a customer why their vehicle needs an alignment and the impact it will have on other components including tires and suspension and the cost that will add, can go a long way to selling the service and at the same time building loyalty with that client, since they can clearly see the value via a transparent and easy to understand medium.

Proactive versus reactive

Yet performing the alignment itself successfully, is an integral part of that process. In reality though, that’s often harder to execute. “Traditional service centres have often been reactionary when it comes to their customers,” says Alan Hagerty, Wheel Alignment Product Manager at Hunter Engineering Company. “They only tend to sell alignments when tires show signs of uneven where or when the vehicle needs a new set of tires.”

The reality is that half of the vehicles on the road are out of alignment when compared against their original factory specifications and to compound the issue, traditional service centres don’t take the time to invest in fast, highly capable alignment equipment that can check every vehicle that comes in through the door.

Duane Watson, Technical Trainer at Bosch Mobility Aftermarket concurs, noting that in order to maximize the opportunity of alignment service comes down to having that conversation with the customer. “Emphasizing the importance of regular alignment checks—especially in regions prone to more severe winter weather—can prevent future costly repairs for vehicle owners and reduce the number of comebacks,” he says.”

Additionally, like Hagerty, he stresses the importance of using high-quality equipment that can safely diagnose and correct alignment issues, particularly if vehicles frequently travel on roads littered with potholes and have to contend with icy and snowy conditions on a regular basis during the winter months.

ADAS considerations

Adding further complexity in today’s environment are the growing number of connected vehicles that incorporate a range of features, including electronic service reminders as well as Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) features such as steering angle sensors, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning sensors.

Alan Hagerty notes that while connected vehicles can predict when it’s time to replace the tires or change the oil and enables the customer to book an appointment at their OEM franchise dealer, these vehicles aren’t capable of measuring their alignment, which is why he says, aftermarket service centres have a huge opportunity in earning that business.

Investing in highly productive, durable alignment equipment ensures a shop is ready to measure every vehicle that comes in, every single day.

Doing this successfully however, requires a “futureproofing” mindset, particularly when it comes to equipment investments. Duane Watson at Bosch explains: “Investing in versatile, quality equipment that can service a wide array of vehicles will keep shops competitive and potentially lead to new customers,” he says. Additionally, by having and operating efficient and user-friendly alignment equipment, the alignment service can be conducted faster and more efficiently, potentially offsetting higher operating costs.

Step-by-step

At Hunter Engineering Company, Alan Hagerty notes that Hunter’s HawkEye Elite alignment technology features software that can guide the technician step-by-step through the entire alignment process, ensuring that it’s performed fast and efficiently, with utmost degree of accuracy.

Additionally, how well trained your staff are when it comes to operating the equipment and how easily they can adapt to changing vehicle technology and service requirements is also paramount. Duane Watson explains that shop owners and managers must know and understand the strengths and weaknesses of their team. For example, he notes that while one technician might have gone through extensive training and received certifications on ADAS—making them more qualified in performing an alignment on a vehicle equipped with this technology including the required calibrations to bring it back to spec, another technician might not have the same skills or mindset and will need to handle more routine alignments, including those on older vehicles that might not have these functions. “Fostering a learning environment can be mutually beneficial, ensuring that your greener technicians can hone their skills to grow and succeed,” states Watson.

He notes that on ADAS equipped vehicles, because the system relies on properly functioning cameras, sensors and modules that provide response to driver input, without a proper wheel alignment, ADAS systems will likely not perform properly and either overreact or in some cases, not react at all. That’s why he says, it is so important that service centres today invest in high quality equipment that allows ADAS calibrations to be performed properly when doing alignment work and that the technicians that are doing this work are thoroughly trained so they can do it safely, consistently and profitably.