| PUBLISHERS PAGE |
Needed: A National Voice
It's time to break down the silos and band together for a common good. At no other time in the history of collision repair has the need for a single, unified national voice become apparent.
In early August, Constable Robert Plunkett was killed in Markham, ON during an early morning attempt to thwart a suspected airbag theft. This is a tragedy. ...
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| POINT BLANK |
Tool Time
Things are tough all over. It isn’t just the collision repair industry that’s having trouble recruiting young people to learn our trade. Just about every skilled trade is reporting difficulty with finding young people to become the next generation of tradespeople. Technology is getting more sophisticated every year. If our society doesn’t have the skilled workers it needs to build, maintain and repair this technological infrastructure we could all be in a big heap of trouble. ...
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| HEALTH AND SAFETY |
Just Another Day?
It was a normal day at the shop. Phones ringing constantly; customers and suppliers coming and going; workers going about their duties in the same way they had for years. Yet today was going to end differently and more dramatically than any other work day ever had. A new worker was going to end up in the hospital with serious burns to much of one side of his body. He would spend weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries and more weeks at home suffering with the pain. He would never work
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| WHO IS DRIVING |
Fight the Right Battles
This industry is full of good people. I believe there are some pretty bad people in it too; being an optimist I prefer to associate with the positive ones and do my best to mitigate the influence of the others. It is very important that we keep a balanced position when looking at the good ones in the industry too. Often I see good motives go astray with misguided actions. The intention is to do the right thing, which is good, but the actions end up hurting the business.
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| PROFILES |
Making His Mark
It’s been said that if you don’t move with the times, you’ll get left behind. That’s a saying that Mark Loewen seems to have taken to heart. Mark is the Owner/Operator of Loewen Body Shop in Steinbach, MB. It’s a good thing too that the facility has moved with the times, as the height of technology when the shop first opened its doors was the traditional tree and a length of stout chain. ...
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| VIEW FROM THE WEST |
Rise Up!
One thing I like about the collision repair business is that it is very easy to stand out; all you have to do is show up! Honestly, I believe that we work in an industry that has major challenges due to the apathy of the people that inhabit it. Check out any local, provincial or national collision repair meeting, only a handful of shop owners and managers show up (compared to how many could be there). In most cases the suppliers outnumber the shop people two to one!...
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| RECYCLING |
Sales Star
The used OEM salesperson is the link between auto recycling and collision repair. There are many factors that contribute to the success of a progressive auto recycling facility and no auto recycling business can flourish without solid contributions from all departments. The true voice of each respective auto recycling business, however, is the used OEM auto parts salesperson....
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