Canadian collision repairers have seen insurance repair values recover for a second consecutive month in September, while work in progress has climbed to its highest level since February, according to the latest Pulse of the Industry report, produced by Collision Repair magazine in partnership with AutoHouse Technologies.
Average insurer-paid repair orders reached $5,338 in September, an increase of $44 from August and 2.2% since July. The average remained $11 below the preceding six-month average.
Mike Gilliland, president and founder of AutoHouse Technologies, said the recovery in repair values has not been accompanied by stronger production results.
“Repair values are showing signs of recovery, but production efficiency remains a concern,” Gilliland said.
“While encouraging, repair values remain below their spring peak.”
Customer-paid repair orders fell $107 from August and were $4 below the preceding six-month average.
Average cycle time, measured from vehicle arrival to delivery, reached 13.4 days, up 0.7% compared with the preceding three-month average. The top 10% of performers averaged 5.7 days, unchanged against the same comparison period.
Average touch time, which measures labour hours produced per repair per day, remained at 2.5 hours. That was 0.4% below the preceding three-month average. The top 10% of performers averaged 4.4 hours, down 5.3%.
The work-in-progress ratio reached 12.0:1, up 7.5% compared with the preceding three-month average.
The ratio compares the repair hours on site with average daily output. A ratio of 12.0:1 represents approximately 12 days of repair inventory at the current production rate. Top-performing repairers typically maintain between 7.5 and 11 days.
“The result is more work tied up in production without a corresponding improvement in daily output,” Gilliland said.
He said the September results underline the opportunity to improve profitability through better control of existing work.
“For repairers, the opportunity remains clear: more profit doesn't necessarily require more sales,” Gilliland said.
“Better WIP control, improved repair readiness and more consistent production can unlock capacity and profitability from the work already in the shop.”
The figures are drawn from operational repair-order data rather than surveys. Data is normalized, with variance thresholds applied to remove anomalies.
The report draws on more than 60,000 monthly repair orders from across Canada. All financial figures are presented before tax.
View Pulse of the Industry and learn more about benchmarking your shop’s performance.
