MANAGING MACHINES

ARE YOU A.I. PREPARED?

Software plays a crucial role in modern automotive collision repair, streamlining processes, enhancing accuracy and improving overall efficiency in repair shops. From estimation and quoting, to parts sourcing, repair documentation, procedures and management, diagnostics, and more, it’s abundantly clear that we are living in the digital age.

The collision repair industry has been profoundly influenced by technology in recent years through the use of computerized estimates and repair planning, 3D scanning and printing technologies, advanced laser welding techniques, and data analysis. While artificial intelligence may still have a long way to go before it reaches true science- fiction status, more and more areas of the automotive industry are working on integrating its features into mainstream collision repair.

Just this past fall, for instance, Repairify— a company dedicated to diagnostics, calibrations, programming, and automotive intelligence for the collision and mechanical repair industries—announced the launch of asTech Insights, a generative-AI product designed to enhance OEM compatible scans by using data from over 6,000,000 repairs and 40,000,000 DTCs—the equivalent of a technician training 24/7 for 25 straight years. Comparatively, software company, Progi, announced new features to help auto shops display their OEM certifications through updates to its ProgiSync software.

While training on technologically advanced systems can seem daunting at first, Collision Repair magazine spoke with Joe Saputo of CARSTAR Ancaster who stated that, “if I bring a green person in and hand them a grinder, a hammer, a dolly and goggles, they’re going to spend maybe a day in [the shop] and quit. Now, if I give them a laptop, shiny tools […] and every procedure on how to do the job, they are incredibly interested in sticking around.” Welcome it as a sign of the times, the robots are here to stay.