CollisionCast

Like many professionals, you probably thought about gathering the knowledge you gained during your time in the collision industry and passing it on to the next generation. If you want to know more about that transition, listen to Brian Pierce, the head of the collision repair program at Rosedale Technical College in Pittsburgh. He has valuable insights into being and becoming an instructor.

Tom Wolf, director of strategic accounts and OEM aftersales at PPG Automotive Refinish, joins the CollisionCast to discuss why it's important to research refinishing considerations that may affect ADAS. It's a step that should be undertaken during repair planning, and PPG is one of the sponsors of the inaugural FenderBender and ABRN Best Repair Planner/Estimator Award. Check out MORE CollisionCast...

The industry is constantly evolving through technology, often lacking the training or educational tools to maintain success, along with facing a shortage of young professionals entering the field.    Collision repair associations across the country help meet those needs.    For this CollisionCast, we speak with Megan Mueller, the founder and president of the Mountain States Collision Repair Associ...

Mary Mahoney, vice president of the Replacement & Leisure Division at Enterprise Mobility, and Matt Ebert, founder and CEO of Crash Champions, join the CollisionCast to talk about recruiting for the collision repair industry and the Collision Engineering program. The Collision Engineering program will be the primary beneficiary of the upcoming Crash Champions Golf Outing, Dec. 5 at Monarch Bea...

The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) made an impact at the recent American School Counselor Association (ASCA) conference, where school counselors considered alternative career options for the students they guide.

The I-CAR Academy curriculum is designed to prepare entry-level technicians for a collision repair career. I-CAR Director of Product Management Jesus Guerrero talks about how the Academy, with guided hands-on learning and gamification in five foundational learning areas, helps new hires become productive technicians.

AI is making an impact across all sectors of business, including collision repair. FenderBender speaks with Ryan Taylor, the founder and CEO of Body Shop Booster, to learn more about what he is doing to develop AI for collision repairers and how AI can impact the industry.

As the world is forced to adapt to climate change, it should spark interest among collision repairers on the matter of hail repair. FenderBender speaks to Dr. Stefan Liess, a climate researcher from the University of Minnesota, and Mo Kayeni of Elevated Hail Repair to learn more about the future of hail and whether collision repairers are up to the task.

In this episode, the team at Ratchet+Wrench, a sibling publication to FenderBender, interviews Sara Fraser of Haas Performance Consulting to dispel the myths about Gen Z workers and discuss five traits that make them among the best workers in the workforce.

Drew Barnes and Heather Sebben of the North American Council of Automotive Teachers discuss what NACAT is and how it serves the automotive industry. They are approaching their 50th anniversary of operation and plan to celebrate it at their annual conference this summer.

Data security and privacy may seem hard to achieve, but there are solutions to those issues in collision repair. Pete Tagliapietra, the managing director and founder of DataTouch, explains what data pumps are, how they operate, and what DataTouch is doing about it.

How shops approach repair planning is often not optimal for where collision repair is headed, with added repair cost and complexity. Although much of repair planning is currently focused on identification through the pre-scan, it needs to move to data-driven repair recommendations, says Sam Poradish, director of automotive intelligence at asTech, one of the sponsors of our inaugural Best Repair Pl...

The tech shortage is impacting many trade industries, including the collision repair industry. Eddie Hightower, the senior vice president of sustainability and social responsibility at Caliber Collision, shares how their Technician Apprentice Program (TAP) is making a difference in addressing the issue not only for their repair centers but also across the industry in the U.S.

If something is expensive to buy, it’s likely even more expensive to repair. This certainly applies to EVs. Kevin FitzPatrick, the senior vice president of North America operations at Opus IVS, explains why this is the case and how quickly one should get certified to repair them.

The Women's Industry Network provides great networking and connection opportunities for women in the mail-dominated collision repair industry. WIN 2024 Conference Chair Blair Womble and member Kim Frasher talk about what attendees can expect at the conference, May 6-8 in Newport Beach, California. For more information, check out the website at thewomensindustrynetwork.site-ym.com. Check out more C...

The first impression of your business often starts with your phone call-handling process. In this episode, FenderBender Columnist Drew Bryant, owner of DB Orlando Collision Center, expands on his February column and talks about why it's essential to implement a call auditing process that is regularly reviewed by the administration against defined standards. Check out MORE CollisionCast episodes on...

Events out of your control can happen that will keep your shop closed, such as storms, fires, and more. You may be covered to repair your building and replace its contents, but how will you keep the business afloat if you are unable to operate? David Willett, the chief underwriting officer at Spark Underwriters, shares how shop owners and operators leave themselves exposed to loss without this cov...

As new-car dealerships pull back from collision repair, are you developing relationships with local car dealers to ensure their customers come to you when they need your services? FenderBender Columnist Drew Bryant, owner of DB Orlando Collision Center, expands on his January column and talks about what makes for a relationship that’s beneficial to both the dealer and independent collision repair...

Check out MORE CollisionCast episodes online here!

 In this CollisionCast episode, Sam Poradish, director of automotive intelligence at asTech, talks about how AI can be used to increase quality and efficiency of collision repairs. With machine learning, the data gathered from millions of scans and hundreds of technicians can now be used to guide a technician down the appropriate repair path in mere seconds.  

Accudraft's Jeremy Winters rejoins CollisionCast to give some education on a topic of vital importance to any shop that paints cars: lighting.

FenderBender columnist Drew Bryant joins the show to expand on his May column about how referring to your employees as "team members" helps engender a culture of respect and accountability.

Accudraft Content Creator Jeremy Winters joins CollisionCast to discuss the differences in direct vs. indirect heating of paint booths and what shop owners need to know.

Industry expert Chris Maimone rejoins CollisionCast to discuss when to perform quality control checks during a repair and what to look for in each one to ensure safe, quality repairs are being performed every single time.

In this crossover episode with FenderBender's sister publication Ratchet + Wrench, Ratchet + Wrench editor Chris Jones talks with HR professional Deanna Baumgardner of Employers Advantage LLC about how beneficial it can be to get feedback from employees and how to encourage that feedback.