DALLAS, TX — The International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) has announced that this year’s Live Action Theater will conduct a “Profit Clinic” to tackle the issue of rekeying. The Live Action Theater (formerly known as the Action Demos), which will be located inside the Exposition, will feature both Profit and Process Clinics, designed to enable attendees to take away real practical knowledge.
Process Clinics are geared to certain on-the-job processes dealt with in every shop, every day. Profit Clinics will offer ideas to bring extra dollars into collision repair businesses and increase bottom lines. Each clinic is one hour in length and covers subjects ranging from weld bonding and rental cars, to mobile estimating and jigging.
Rekeying becomes an issue when a shop receives a paper or faxed estimate that requires being entered into the shop’s estimating system – otherwise known as rekeying. According to the CIC Electronic Communications Committee Whitepaper, shop personnel spend an average of 20-30 minutes rekeying a written estimate into one estimating system.
There are approximately nine million auto claims per year, and 28 percent of the nine million (2.52 million) are rekeyed into the same estimating system. The need to rekey into other estimating systems is often required and takes even longer. Rekeying into the same brand of estimating system can be eliminated through the use of the information provider’s proprietary communication network. It will take further cooperation from the information providers and “two-way” data communication.
The three major information providers (ADP, CCC and Mitchell) are all working towards the elimination of estimate data rekeying and will be demonstrating new products during the Profit Clinic in the Live Action Theater on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 12:30 pm.
NACE 2005 Chairman and Vice-President of Jerry’s Body Shop, Geralynn Kottschade said, “I encourage any shop owner or manager who has a computer system to attend. I applaud the information providers who worked together to develop the software. We will experience measurable time savings in our office.”
Darrell Amberson, ASA collision division ops division director and president of Lehman’s Garage added, “The issue of rekeying is indeed a hot topic that needs to be addressed – in fact, it’s way overdue. The NACE Profit Clinic will allow attendees a valuable opportunity to experience the solutions the three major providers will be on-hand to convey.”
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