Automotive Recyclers Association ARA

Transcription

Automotive
Recycling
November-December 2012
™
Official Publication of the Automotive Recyclers Association
Demystifying De-pollution Systems • ARA Convention in Pictures
Automotive
Recycling
™
November-December 2012 | Volume 32 Number 6
ARA’S 69TH ANNUAL CONVENTION & EXPOSITION IN PICTURES
Co lu m n s
President’s Comments
Editor’s Notes
International
Auto Recycling
Final Thoughts
| 4
| 6
| 58
| 66
Photos By Caryn Smith
FOCUS ON DATA INTEGRITY
What is Data Mining? 22
A customer’s continuing business is no longer guaranteed.
To succeed, companies must be proactive and anticipate the desires of their customer.
Departments
At a Glance
ARA Action
Marketing 101
Advice Counts
Insure This
That’s My Opinion
Safety Matters
Certified News
Capitol Connection
Crossword Puzzle
Industry Calendar
Advertiser’s Index
Magical Memories 20
Here are a few picture highlights from the recent ARA Convention & Exposition.
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51
62
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By Kurt Thearling
Where’s the Gold? 27
Is Data Mining Relevant to the Auto Recycling Industry?
By Don Porter
Data and Details 29
Getting Sufficient Information to Make It Worth Surfing For.
By Greg Horn
Take Time for Results 32
What the Customer Sees Determines What You Get – A Sale or No Sale.
By Michelle Keadle-Taylor
Data that Sells 34
Increase Sales by Giving the Customers the Information They Want.
By Jeff Schroder
Making Dollars and Sense of Data Integrity 37
How Ensuring the Integrity of Your Parts Data Can Make Them Ripe for the Picking.
By Mary Moberg
Cover Image: iStockphoto.com
Updated Part Definitions 40
What’s New in the World of Parts Grading.
By Avi Pelc
INDUSTRY REPORT
Shopper’s Guide: De-Pollution Demystified 41
With so many choices, here is our look at some providers
of equipment and services to remove vehicle fluids.
SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE
www.facebook.com/
AutomotiveRecycling
Trails End Auto Truck and Salvage 54
Automotive Recyclers Association
9113 Church Street
Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA
(571) 208-0428 / (888) 385-1005
Fax (571) 208-0430 / www.a-r-a.org
November-December 2012 | Automotive Recycling 3
President’s
Comments
By Chris Wright, ARA President
Participation is Knowledge
I
would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity to have served on the Executive Committee
of ARA for the past three years and now as President. I am anxious to begin my service and to help
the ARA to achieve its goals and services to its members.
Many of you have just returned from the ARA 69th Annual Convention & Exposition in Orlando,
Florida. I hope that everyone who attended had a great experience and found something beneficial
to your recycling facility. Thank you for your attendance and thank you to the many sponsors, exhibitors
and speakers who helped make this convention a great success.
Over the past month, I have been studying some of the history of the ARA (or ADRA) by looking
through many of the Automotive Recycling magazines that my Dad (Ken Wright) has collected over the
years. Some of these date back to the early 70s. It is very interesting to see some of the topics that have
been discussed over the years. The most interesting find is that ARA (ADRA) has faced challenges and
obstacles over these years, but as a result of dedicated members and staff, the Association has found a
way to work through them. Areas of concern included membership growth, membership value, financial, public awareness, market influence, environmental, governmental, and many more. The ARA of
today is no different. We continue to be faced with many factors that influence our industry. As an
Association, we must be prepared to answer and act upon any situation that could have such an influence. We must continue to develop both defensive and offensive strategies. To achieve this we have to
educate ourselves and others, host strategic planning meetings, and support our Government Affairs
and the many other committees of the ARA.
These committees and the members who serve on them are the lifeblood of the Association. It is
my goal to offer the support and communication that these committees need to achieve their goals
to advance and grow our industry and Association. I had the privilege of working with the committees
as the Executive Committee liaison for the past two years which has offered me a wealth of knowledge
and understanding of our industry and Association.
An association is only as good as its members and I encourage you to take advantage of the most
valuable member benefit: knowledge of your industry. ARA offers its members the opportunity to get
involved, whether its serving on a committee, participating at the annual convention, or attending Hill
Days. Knowledge of your industry is one of the most important key elements for your recycling facility and one of the best ways to gain that knowledge is to be involved. Volunteering to serve is a powerful boost to our Association. Without volunteers, ARA would not be as active and successful as it is today.
Come be a part of the team of individuals who are working and learning to make things better for our
industry. Contact the ARA staff or one of the committee chairs to let them know you are interested in
serving.
It has been a pleasure working with Immediate Past President Randy Reitman for the past several
years. His determination to work through adversity has been an inspiration to many of us. I look forward to working with Randy this year and the other officers on the Executive Committee (EC), that
include First Vice President Ed MacDonald, Second Vice President Ricky Young and Secretary Mike
Swift. We are all dedicated to serving the Association and our industry. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have anything you would like to discuss.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friend and colleague Doug Reinert for his
exceptional service on the Executive Committee. Doug has just ended his five years of service to the
EC and ARA is very fortunate to have Doug for his leadership and his commitment to continue to his
service to the Association in other areas.
I am looking forward to serving the Association this year and having the opportunity to travel to visit
with old friends and meet new ones. We have a lot to accomplish but with everyone’s help we will achieve
our goals. Remember, this is your Association and what we do today will help us be prepared for tomorrow. Without our members nothing would be possible, so thank you for your dedication to your industry’s Association.
Chris Wright
ARA President 2012-2013
4 Automotive Recycling | November-December 2012
Officers
PRESIDEnT
Chris Wright
Capital Auto Parts
Thomasville, GA
chris@capitalautoparts.com
fIRST VICE PRESIDEnT
Ed MacDonald
Maritime Auto Salvage, Ltd.
Truro, NS Canada
edmacd@maritimeauto.com
S ECO n D V I C E P R E S I D E n T/ T R E A S U R E R
Ricky Young
Young’s Auto Center & Salvage/Car Crushers
Benson, NC
ricky@youngsautocenter.com
S EC R E TA Ry
Mike Swift
Trails End Auto and Truck Salvage
Des Moines, IA
mike@trailsendauto.com
I M M E D I AT E PA S T P R E S I D E n T
Randy Reitman
Reitman Auto Parts
Melbourne, KY
randy@reitmanautoparts.com
ARA Staff & Contractors
P U b l I S h E R /C h I E f E X EC U T I V E O f f I C E R
Michael E. Wilson
michael@a-r-a.org
D I R EC TO R , M E M b E R S E RV I C E S
Kelly Badillo
kelly@a-r-a.org
D I R EC TO R , P O l I C y & E X T E R n A l A f fA I R S
Betsy Beckwith
betsy@a-r-a.org
D I R EC TO R , P O l I C y & P O l I T I C A l A f fA I R S
Delanne Bernier
delanne@a-r-a.org
D I R EC TO R , S TAT E & G R A S S RO OT S A f fA I R S
Jessica M. Thomas
jessica@a-r-a.org
MEETInG & EXPOSITIOn
Kim Glasscock
kim@a-r-a.org
AU TO M OT I V E R EC yC l I n G E D I TO R I A l ,
A DV E RT I S I n G , D E S I G n & P RO D U C T I O n
Caryn Smith
Suko Creative Communications
ARAEditor@comcast.net
For advertising information or to submit
article ideas or member news, e-mail
Caryn Smith at ARAEditor@comcast.net
Or call (239) 225-6137
www.a-r-a.org
AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING (ISSN 1058-9376) is published bi-monthly by the
Automotive Recyclers Association, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 201105456 USA, (571) 208-0428 / (888) 385-1005, Fax: (571) 208-0430, Internet:
www.a-r-a.org. Periodicals postage at Manassas, VA, and additional mailing offices. Additional member subscription are $15/year. Non-member subscriptions
are $40/year U.S. Non-U.S. mailing address subscriptions are USD$55/year surface mail or USD$85/year airmail. $20 libraries and non-profits. Copyright ©
2012 ARA. All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Statements of fact and opinion are
the responsibility of the authors alone and do not necessarily imply any opinion
on the part of the officers, directors, staff, or the members of the Automotive Recyclers Association. Postmaster: Send change of address to Automotive Recycling magazine, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA.
Editor’s notes
By Caryn Smith ARAEditor@comcast.net
Making Sense of Information: Why bother?
rom issue to issue, my goal is to bring
readers information they can use to
improve opportunities for success. This
current issue, I must admit, has been a bit
of a stretch for me. My good friend
Virginia (Ginny) Whelan put the bug in
my ear some time ago about the subject
of data integrity.
I can say, data isn’t my expertise, or so
I thought. Figuring out how data integrity can be presented in a way that shows a
direct application to daily business was,
for me, almost like writing a research
paper with no hypothesis. My struggle:
What is the conclusion?
Then, at the Florida Automotive
Recyclers and Dismantlers Association
meeting this summer, speaker JC Cahill
made it clear for me. He spoke on
increasing sales by manipulating data
f
presentation through different platforms.
The lightbulb went on: there was my
“conclusion!” I realized I was making it
complicated when its very simple.
Without data integrity, there is no sale.
Maybe your data is in a very clean state
(either purposefully like JC’s, or completely by accident) and your sales are
strong. But maybe that isn’t the case.
Either way, data integrity can always be
improved. Details about your company
values and in stock inventory are broadcast 24/7 to the world on the Internet,
which directly impacts the sale. The completeness and ease of understanding it is
essential to success. Data drives every business transaction on the planet, and how
data is mined, presented, and qualified is
the core to making a sale or two at the
end of the day.
One aspect of data integrity is called
data mining. This concept says if you analyze your user data, you can statistically
determine who your customer really is, in
detail, and therefore market better to
them. The article on this subject (p. 22)
is worth the read, but don’t try this at
home – a trained analyst is required to
help you figure it all out!
After many years of work from the ARA
Electronic Commerce Committee on
Parts Grading, it has now come full circle
with a soon-to-be-launched online application that will help grade parts, and educate customers. Read about it (p. 40)!
And just for fun: A quote! “If we have
data, let’s look at data. If all we have are
opinions, let’s go with mine.” — Jim
Barksdale, former Netscape CEO. I will leave
you with that. Enjoy the read! ■
At a Glance
A S S O C I AT E M E M b E R
Umicore Autocatalyst Recycling: Earn More for your Catalytic Converters
micore Autocatalyst Recycling USA,
a division of Umicore USA Inc.,
offers two services that aim to enhance
the profits of an auto recycler’s business.
The first service provides an analysis, a
true value determination, and a high
return of the precious metals in your catalytic converters, while the second service
offers a safe and easy way to offload your
end-of-life electric car batteries.
The parent company, Umicore (www.
umicore.com), is a global company specializing in refining and transforming
non-ferrous materials from end-of-life
and secondary materials into reusable
materials. Originally formed in 1805, the
company today has manufacturing facilities employing some 14,600 people
spread over 77 industrial sites.
One of eleven North American sites,
Umicore Autocat Recycling USA, which
opened in the 1980s in Covington,
Tennessee, is now located in Maxton,
North Carolina.
U
Old business, new Approach
Mark Caffarey, Executive-Vice President of Umicore USA, says Umicore
adopted a new approach to handling
catalytic converters when they moved to
the facility in North Carolina in 2008.
“We used to buy catalytic converters
like everyone else, but we found that
there was a variance in the prices that
each cat was really worth,” said Caffarey.
“Some would pay $50 for a catalytic converter without knowing how much the
material was really worth. In some cases,
the converter might have been worth
$75 and or it might have been worth
$40. So, it’s impossible to know exactly
what its value is without doing a proper
sampling and analysis of the precious
metals contained in the catalytic converter. Recyclers could be losing money
on their catalytic converters doing business the old way.”
We encourage recyclers to come see what we do.
Umicore offers an open and transparent overview of all
sampling procedures and refining costs.
The new approach adopted by
Umicore goes back to its own core business: the sampling, analysis, refining and
recovery of precious metals.
All catalytic converters have any combination of platinum, palladium, and
rhodium in different proportions. That’s
why it’s important, according to Caffarey,
to do a correct sampling and an exact
analysis to find out in which quantity the
precious metals are present.
That’s where Umicore comes in. It
offers recyclers a sampling, analysis,
refining and recovery of precious metals
service for catalytic converters. Suppliers
of end-of-life catalytic converters remain
owners of the precious metals recovered
which, if preferred, Umicore can sell
into the precious metals markets on
their behalf. According to Caffarey, most
customers prefer to have Umicore sell
their precious metals.
The Umicore facility in Maxton is
Umicore’s North American collection
and sampling point for end-of-life catalytic converters albeit ceramic (honeycomb)and metallic (foils) converters.
Material is sampled in North Carolina
before the PGM containing materials are
shipped to Hoboken, Belgium, for recovery of the precious metals contained.
PGM is the Platinum Group Metals
which are contained to varying degrees
in any catalytic converter used for automotive emissions control.
“We need to do a proper sampling to
get a good analysis and we’d like to see
about 1,500 catalytic converters to make
it worthwhile for the auto recycler,” said
Caffarey. “Medium-size and larger auto
recyclers can really maximize their earn-
ings on their catalytic converters by using
our service.
“We encourage recyclers to come see
what we do. Umicore offers an open and
transparent overview of all sampling procedures and refining costs related to the
determination and the recovery of the
precious metal content,” he assures.
Umicore is also a producer of new
automotive catalysts, with plants located
in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Burlington,
Ontario, that are used for the new automotive emission controls, offering a
closed loop solution for the companies
interested. Their automotive catalyst
business has been busy developing, producing and engineering catalysts for a
wide range of engines since the 1960s
and is currently one of the world’s top
three players.
Going Electric
Earlier this year, Umicore launched a
new service for recycling rechargeable
batteries from end-of-life electric or
hybrid vehicles. The North Carolina
location has an electrical vehicle battery
dismantling facility servicing the nascent
electrical and hybrid vehicle industry.
The service offers recyclers a safe destination for their rather cumbersome
and large batteries, with assurance that
the batteries will be properly dismantled
in a safe and proper way. They will also
recover critical metals such as cobalt,
nickel, and rare earths.
For more information on Umicore’s
services, please contact Mark Caffarey at
mark.caffarey@am.umicore.com. ■
Michelle Keadle-Taylor is a freelance writer based in Northern Virginia.
ARA Action
Latest News and Reports from ARA
ARA Applauds Courts Dismissal of a California Case
Regarding Insurance Companies and Use of Repair Parts
A
recent ARA press release applauds
the ruling from a California federal
court that dismissed the Perez et al v. State
Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al case in which plaintiffs claimed
that insurance companies had violated
California’s antitrust statute and unfair
competition. Of particular concern in
this case to ARA was the statement made
by the plaintiffs’ expert witness that with
regard to six categories of aftermarket
parts and four categories of salvage [recycled] parts, “there is at least a 25% probability that the use of these parts will
lessen the quality of the automobile’s
repair as to safety, fit, structural integrity
or mechanical functioning than [sic]
would be experienced over the life of a
high-quality OEM repair part.”
ARA was pleased with the court’s
refusal to accept this and other statements from the “expert witness” as credible. In its ruling, the court noted that
ARA was pleased with the
court’s refusal to accept
this and other statements
from the “expert witness”
as credible.
the statements lacked an “articulated
methodology for choosing which
sources to rely upon” and it appeared
that the sources consulted may have
been systematically skewed towards
demonstrating non-OEM inferiority.”
U.S. Small business
Administration Staff Visits
local Auto Recycler
nsite at M&M Auto Parts, Inc. in
Stafford, Virginia, in late August,
ARA met with officials from the Small
Business Administration’s Office of
Advocacy (SBA). The SBA is an inde-
O
nMVTIS newly Reconstituted Advisory board Meets
he first meeting of the new National Motor Vehicle Titling Information
System (NMVTIS) Federal Advisory Board was attended by ARA staff in
September in Washington, D.C. The meeting was the first of the newly constituted group, which is comprised of almost fifty percent new members, including representatives from the insurance industry, auctions, and tow operators.
ARA has held a seat on the Advisory Board since its inception in 2010, and earlier this year ARA CEO Michael Wilson accepted another two-year term to serve
on the Board.
ARA is on the record in support of options that incorporate NMVTIS reporting in various state and local licensing and other regulatory requirements. For
example, the state of Alabama has made NMVTIS registration one of the requirements for obtaining a state salvage yard license. ARA believes there are other
options that might be worthy of consideration to help increase effectiveness of the
NMVTIS system in the states.
In addition to Wilson, staff joined ARA members Steve Levetan (Pull A Part,
Atlanta, GA) and R.D. Hopper (Sonny’s Auto Salvage, Jacksonville, AR) at the
full day meeting. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Hopper
and Levetan expressed a number of concerns with current NMVTIS provisions.
T
pendent office within the federal government working to advance the views
and concerns of small businesses before
Congress, the White House, the federal
agencies, the federal courts, and state policy makers. The tour included discussions
of the many regulations and issues
impacting the automotive recycling
industry and its small business owners.
Throughout the facility visit, SBA staff
saw first-hand the sophisticated equipment, personnel, advanced mechanical
and environmental processes, safety features, zoning and building details, and
many more aspects common to a professional automotive recycling facility.
The legislative and regulatory topics
discussed included implications of the
healthcare reform law on small businesses, OSHA, and EPA regulations, the
problem of unlicensed buyers at salvage
auctions, and storm water testing and
permits.
fTC Used Auto Parts Guides
Periodic Review
RA staff have met with Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) staff responsible
for the Used Auto Parts Guides to
defend our submitted written comments
and to urge FTC when finalizing the
Guides to hold vehicle manufactures
accountable for their public statements
inferring that used OE parts are inferior
to new parts.
A
national highway Safety
Program Reauthorization –
Recall Database
RA is consulting interested/integral
parties on how best to comment on
the proposed reporting requirements of
the government’s recall database. In its
comments, ARA is expected to urge
NHTSA to ensure that the recall information collected is made available to
third party entities in a usable, batch format. ■
A
Marketing 101
By Mike French
mike@mikefrench.com
The basics on Websites, blogging, Instant Messaging, and Texting
speak with recyclers all the time who
tell me they don’t know anything
about computers or other types of electronic technology that go along with
them. Many say they don’t understand
how these technologies can help them
sell auto parts and, quite frankly, they
don’t want to be bothered. I assure them
that it is the way many consumers prefer
to buy their parts these days. If they want
to grow their auto recycling business,
they must get up to speed with new technology as quickly as they can.
It is astounding to me that 60 percent
of the auto recycling industry is not computerized. Perhaps you are one who does
not use a website to sell parts, or you don’t
text or take advantage of instant messaging to communicate with your customers.
Well, you should be, and this column is
for you. Here are methods to engage your
customers in the electronic world.
I
web address, click on a link, or put a
query in a search engine.
The main page of a good website,
called a homepage, should be appealing
and inviting to make the end user want
to know more about your company. The
subpages of the site should contain relevant content, and should connect to the
homepage using hyperlinks, which are
spots on a page, usually in text or images,
that, when clicked, take the user to a different location. This can be to another
subpage, another location on the same
page, or another website altogether.
A website must be stored on a server
that is linked to the world wide web, and
maintained by hosting providers. Hosting
your website on a server, which costs a fee,
ensures that your website is open to the
public.
Think of your website as your online
brochure, catalog, or store that stays open
iStockphoto.com/E_Y_E
Website
Essentially, a website is a collection of
documents known as webpages that contain information in images, words, digital
media, and the like. A webpage is what
you see on the screen when you type in a
It is astounding to me
that 60 percent of the
auto recycling industry
is not computerized.
Blogs are used to explain things, to share ideas, to bring people of common interests together, or to share
your passion.
24/7, 365 days of the year. You can have
a simple site that provides visitors with
basic information about your business
such as contact information, what you sell,
available warranties, where you deliver,
and how you ship. Or you can have a
more complex site that will allow visitors
to search for parts and place orders
instantly using a credit card or an online
payment service.
There are many companies providing
different levels of web design and hosting
services, but I would caution you not to
grab just anybody to do a site for you
because you could pay a lot of money and
still not get what you expect or need. Try
to utilize someone who specializes in sites
for auto recyclers, with a track record of
satisfied customers within the industry.
Ask them for a list of their clients that you
can contact. You can also check with noncompetitor friends who have the kind of
system you’d like and use the same
designer for your site.
blogging
A blog is a word derived from web log
and is basically a website of information,
usually written from a personal viewpoint,
such as a journal. The content is arranged
in chronological order from the most
recent entry at the top to the oldest entry
at the bottom. They can be written by one
or more persons and should be updated
regularly to be relevant to readers.
Blogs are often, but not always, written
on a particular topic. For instance, they
are used to explain things, to share ideas,
to bring people of common interests
together, or to share your passion. Whole
blogging communities have sprung up
around mutually shared topics that put
people into relationships where they can
learn, share ideas, make friends, and even
do business with people of similar interests from around the world.
Unlike websites which are static, blogs
are fluid, allowing interaction between
Text messages can be used for marketing by sending either mass promotional
content or discount coupons via text format directly to individuals.
you and your followers. You can set up a
blog site using the free version of www.
blogger.com to get started. Blogs have a
commenting function that you can activate if you want feedback to develop consistent interaction with your readers. This
creates a feeling of community that you
can use to promote your business, products, and services.
Instant Messaging (IM)
Instant messaging, or IM, refers to the
sending and receiving of text-based messages in a synchronous manner between
two people or a group of people, usually
as part of a social network such as Facebook. IM messages usually have both parties connected where they can have a realtime conversation through a computerbased program such as aol, yahoo, or msn.
More advanced instant messaging allows
enhanced modes of communication,
such as live voice or video calling, video
chat, and inclusion of hyperlinks to media.
To IM, simply sign into a program, and
send a message to a person’s screen name
with your screen name. Type a quick message, hit “send” and a few seconds later,
your message pops up on the recipient’s
screen. Along with eliminating the lag in
e-mail response time, IM cuts out the necessary “chit chat” of a phone call and
often lets you avoid the tiresome game of
voicemail tag. In short, IM is a superb way
to quickly communicate with a colleague,
partner, or supplier. It helps you instantly respond to customer requests.
Texting
Text messaging, or texting, is the
exchange of brief written text messages
between two or more mobile phones over
a telecommunications network. To text,
you need a person’s moble phone number, with the other receiver able to accept
texts. You can also use texting to send
images and recorded messages. Texting is
different from IM. With IM, the recipient
must be online to engage in communication, while a text message can be sent,
read, and responded to at any time.
Text messages can be used to interact
with automated systems for ordering
items from certain product or service
providers, or for communicating directly
with a client in real time, and for marketing by sending either mass promotional content or discount coupons via
text format directly to individuals.
In my next column, look for ways that
social media – namely Twitter, Facebook
& LinkedIn, have changed how many
businesses communicate with the customers and prospects. ■
Mike French, President of Mike French &
Company, Inc., can be reached toll free at 800238-3934 or visit his company’s website at
www.MikeFrench.com.
Advice Counts
By Jim Counts
jimcount@wans.net
Please, Don’t Water The Rocks!
how Rocks Roll
We know the rocks are a problem, but
we often make excuses for them and give
them a third and fourth chance, hope
they will quit, or put them in another job
that will limit damage to the business.
And, yes, unfortunately, some rocks are
related to the owners.
We keep thinking if we give them “one
more chance” they will straighten up –
not wanting to recognize that we may be
one of the reasons they don’t. After all,
they may be a rock, but notice I didn’t say
they were stupid. They know they are
coasting through life and have little
incentive to take responsibility as long as
we will. Remember, there is a big difference between helping someone and carrying them.
I believe that “charity begins at home.”
k
iStoc
Avalanche
When we keep a rock employed, we
tend not to look for a replacement as
long as they are there. The result is that
after we have watered them long enough,
some start thinking “we can’t let them go
now, after all, they’ve been with us for 10
years.” Lack of action causes people to
lose respect for us, which affects our ability to run the business.
Occasionally, the rock is in the wrong
job. You needed a salesperson and they
needed a job, so they were hired without
any consideration as to whether they
have the temperament for sales. As a
result, they never quite measure
up. One of the top salespeople
in the U.S. used to be a delivery driver, another one used
to be a parts puller, and two
of the people who bought my
recycling operations were
once dismantlers, in the
same businesses.
The right people in the
right jobs produce better and
happier employees thereby we
can grow the business and make more
money. That does not mean we have a
place for everyone. Some rocks are quite
happy taking the easy route as long as
someone will let them.
Anyone who will not work, who is habitually late, or repeatedly makes careless
errors needs to be gone. Write them up
an
how flowers flourish
On the other hand the flowers grow
and are motivated and want to do the
job right. Yet when a flower sees their
efforts slowed down or undone by a
rock, they become frustrated and resentful. Eventually, they stop caring and
allow the rock’s work habits to become
the standard, or worse, they quit.
Stop and think what the results in the
business would be if we spent the time
and effort we waste on the rocks, and put
that energy into training and encouraging the flowers.
when they don’t show up or you catch
them not working or they drop the ball
“again.” Make sure to document what
they did, what is expected, and what will
happen if they fail to meet company
expectations within a reasonable time
limit, like 30 days. This is only fair and
sometimes they will straighten up. If they
don’t, the documentation is in place to
deal with unemployment claims or
wrongful discharge complaints. In most
states we can discharge an employee if
they’ve received two warnings and not
complied. Check with your state agency
to find out what is
required.
Holm
So if you have a relative who’s a charity
case please do keep them at home and
out of the business. Letting a family rock
hang around the business is unfair to the
other employees. Rocks normally blame
someone else for their problems and foul
ups. They depend on the rest of the
world to water them and then they get
upset when the world says no. After all,
they have been trained that someone else
will come along and pick them up, bail
them out, and clean up after them.
frey
n most businesses there are two types of
employees: I like to describe them as
flowers or rocks. Flowers grow and bloom.
They listen to instructions, ask intelligent
questions, try to do the job right, show up
on time, and normally perform their tasks
well. Rocks do not grow and basically
weigh the business down. We’re never
sure the rock will show up; we have to regularly check to see if they are working;
they can’t seem to get the job done or
they do it wrong.
eof
m/G
o.co
phot
I
I’m sure you will agree that flowers look
and smell better than rocks, and sure
make it easier to run a business. So, take
a minute to think about your workforce:
How many rocks are you watering? ■
Jim Counts, of Counts Consulting Ltd. provides
organizational and financial development for
dismantlers. He can be reached at 817-2389991 or visit www.countsconsulting.com.
Insure This
By Wells Fargo
Data Compromise Exposures
ames, social security numbers, credit
scores, bank accounts, and health
data – all of this personal information is
under increasing siege by computer hackers and identity thieves. A single loss of
sensitive data, whether through thievery,
technical malfunction, theft of a laptop,
or sloppy recordkeeping, could not only
damage your reputation, but also expose
you and your business to lawsuits that
could permanently cripple your ability to
function or to even continue operations.
Data Compromise coverage enables
you and your business to respond effectively if the personal information of others in your care, custody and control is
stolen or compromised.
In today’s litigious world, protecting
customers, employees and others from
identity theft is not just a matter of public
relations – it goes directly to your bottom
line. Lost or stolen data can produce
embarrassing media attention on you and
your business, legal complications, and
huge losses incurred to notify affected individuals, and help them repair and restore
their identities (which is required in most
jurisdictions today).
Data breach can occur 24/7! Are you
covered for these kinds of incidents?
iStockphoto.com/Maksim Kabakou
n
A single loss of sensitive data could not only damage
your reputation, but also expose you and your business
to lawsuits that could permanently cripple your ability
to function or to even continue operations.
• The company’s network is hacked,
and customer information contained in
the company date base is compromised
• A laptop computer containing customer and vendor names and social security numbers is stolen from an employee
• During an office move, several boxes
of employee records are lost or misplaced
• An e-mail containing employee payroll data is inadvertently sent to a customer e-mail distribution list.
Data Compromise coverage provides:
• Legal review and recommendations
on how to respond to a breach of data
• Forensic information technology services to research the cause and scope of
the breach
• Notification to all affected individuals
Cyber Liability Insurance is easily tailored to fit the needs of your business.
The better news? It is affordable insurance! A typical policy with a $100,000
limit of liability costs between $1,200 and
$1,500 per year for a small business!
As your company grows and succeeds,
savvy business people understand that a
higher technological profile leads to
higher risk. Take a look at this increasingly important coverage to assure that
your current insurance portfolio is actually growing with your business. Chances
are you have left yourself vulnerable in
today’s cyber business world.
Wells Fargo Insurance Services represents several, if not most, of the insurance
companies that specialize in writing Data
Compromise coverage. We would be
happy to have you complete an application and work up a proposal for this exposure which is growing rapidly in today’s
world of technology. ■
For more information on how Wells Fargo Insurance Services can benefit your business,
contact Bill Velin at 800-328-6311, ext. 3039,
direct 952-830-3039, or by e-mail bill.velin
@wellsfargo.com.
That’s My Opinion
By Ron Sturgeon
rons@rdsinvestments.com
Getting the Proverbial free lunch
hoever said there’s no such thing as
a free lunch apparently didn’t have
a very good banker. As a customer who
has cultivated a healthy relationship with
your banker, you should expect to be
taken out to lunch by your banker at least
twice a year.
This isn’t just about getting to eat on
your banker’s dime; it’s a positive way to
stay in touch about what is happening
with your business and deepening the
bond that needs to exist between the
banker and his customer. Make sure this
lunch happens at least 90 days before
your annual review.
Making lunch Count
Ron Sturgeon (entrepreneur): It’s really important to go to lunch with your
banker at least twice yearly. Again, it goes
back to that relationship. When we’re at
lunch, my banker’s going to ask me how
business is going, then he’s going to talk
to me about the wife and the kids and the
hunting trip and the new boat ... that’s the
contact sport that we’re talking about.
You need to work at having that kind of
relationship with your banker.
That being said, you’d be amazed at
how many banks I do business with that
don’t ask me to go to lunch.
Greg Morse (banker): If they don’t call
you, you should call them.
Ron: I do! And I make them feel like
crap about it, too. I’ll call them up and say,
“Hey, what do I have to do to get a lunch?
My other two banks have already taken
me.” And every time they will immediately offer to take me to lunch, and I
make them feel like crap about me having to ask them. And they should! I always
tease them, saying I should get at least
one lunch annually for every million in
loans, that puts things in perspective.
Greg: A good banker is going to really
work at the relationship. That’s why, when
I have to go somewhere that’s only a few
hours away, I’ll drive instead of getting on
iStockphoto.com/Carmen Martínez Banús
W
an airplane. That way, I can spend that
time “smiling and dialing.” I print out my
customer base and look at whom I
haven’t talked to in a while. Then, while
I’m driving, I’ll call and check in with
them.
If your banker isn’t talking to you at
least semi-annually, he’s not doing his job.
Ron: I once didn’t establish a relationship with a bank that was courting me
because the loan officer would not, could
not or did not use e-mail. Everyone has
their pet peeves, but I want to communicate regularly using e-mail.
A Good banker Always
looks After the Customer
As you probably already know, it’s not
enough just to have a banker; what you
need is a banker who has the customer’s
best interests at heart.
Greg: You want to know that your
banker isn’t there just to make a profit;
they are there to add value to your business. I want my customers to do well. The
better my customers do, the more successful my bank is. Everyone wins.
How do you know
if a banker is looking
out for you? For
example, say a customer wants to buy a
car and needs a loan.
When the customer
talks with his banker,
he is offered an interest rate of 7 percent.
But that night, he
sees a commercial
and learns that the
manufacturer is offering 1 percent financing.
Now he thinks the
bank just cheated
him. A good banker
would tell him up
front that he can get
one percent financing through Ford
Motor Credit. That’s what’s best for the
customer, and what’s best for the customer is always right.
The way I look at it, if he’s paying 1 percent on the car loan, that means he’s saving 6 percent that he can put in my bank.
I make more off deposits than I make on
the loans, because I’m taking that deposit
and loaning them out. The deposits are
not my money, they belong to the customer.
A good banker will always do the right
thing for the customer because it builds
credibility and adds value to the banking
relationship.
And when they need money again, they
are going to trust me. The customer may
not shop me as hard when he is looking
for his next loan.
This a continuation of excerpts from
Getting To Yes With Your Banker. ■
Since 2001, great ideas to improve your auto
recycling business have been found on Ron’s
Web site, www.autosalvageconsultant.com,
the definitive source for recyclers’ management and training needs.
Safety Matters
Information from the ARA Safety Committee
Extention Cords – OShA Standard 1910.334
hen it comes to extension cords, the
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration’s (OSHA) regulations are
clear – careless placement, overuse abuse,
or mis-repaired cords, among other
infringements, are cause for a hefty fine.
Plug into these helpful safety tips to
ensure your facility is powered correctly.
Selection – When selecting extension
cords, choose cords that are rated for the
circuits and equipment that will be used.
OSHA standards mandate that cords be
marked with type, size, and number of
conductors. OSHA also requires threewire cords for portable electric tools.
Cords made for hard or extra-hard usage
must also be used with portable tools and
portable lights.
Placement – Electric extension cords
must be placed so that they are protected from damage from sharp edges, rubbing and pinching. Cords may not run
through windows or doors unless adequately protected. If coming out of a box
or covering, the cords must also be protected by fittings. Do not hang an extension cord with wire or attach it to
anything with staples, nails or anything
that might penetrate the insulating layer.
Certain work areas are unsafe for
extension cord use altogether. Extension
cords are not permitted in or near areas
with combustible or ignitable materials
such as combustible dust, gases, vapors,
fumes, and fibers. Cords are also not permitted in wet areas, unless approved.
Also, keep walkways and work areas clear
of cords.
Handling – The extension cord should
be used only for its intended purpose of
delivering power. Flexible electric cords
connected to equipment may not be
used for raising or lowering the equipment.
Visual inspection – Portable cord and
plug connected equipment and flexible
cord sets (extension cords) shall be visually inspected before use on any shift for
W
If your extension cords look like this or are running through
walls, you will be fined by OShA!
Check all your extension cords today to make sure that they are not frayed, repaired with tape
or are running through windows, doors or holes in the walls.
OSHA requires that you must visually inspect extension cords before use on any shift for external defects (such as loose parts, deformed and missing pins, or damage to outer jacket or insulation) and for evidence of possible internal damage (such as a pinched or crushed outer
jacket).
If there is a defect or evidence of damage that might expose an employee to injury, the defective or damaged item must be removed from service. If the cord is repairable, then do so. If not,
throw it away.
So don’t delay. Throw away those frayed/taped extension cords and read the attached protocol so you are fully aware of OSHA’s extension cord selection and use requirements.
external defects (such as loose parts,
deformed and missing pins, or damage
to outer jacket or insulation) and for evidence of possible internal damage (such
as pinched or crushed outer jacket).
Cord and plug connected equipment
and flexible cord sets (extension cords)
which remain connected once they are
put in place and are not exposed to damage need not be visually inspected until
they are relocated.
If there is a defect or evidence of damage that might expose an employee to
injury, the defective or damaged item
shall be removed from service. If the cord
is repairable, then do so. If not, throw it
away.
Any changes or repairs made may not
interrupt the continuity of the equipment grounding connection or the
integrity of the insulation. The overcurrent protection may not be altered
beyond OSHA requirements and cords
may not be spliced.
Grounding Type Equipment – A flexible cord used with grounding type
equipment shall contain an equipment
grounding conductor.
Attachment plugs and receptacles may
not be connected or altered in a manner
which would prevent proper continuity
of the equipment grounding conductor
Extension cords are not
permitted in or near areas
with combustible or
ignitable materials such as
combustible dust, gases,
vapors, fumes, and fibers.
at the point where plugs are attached to
receptacles. Additionally, these devices
may not be altered to allow the grounding pole of a plug to be inserted into slots
intended for connection to the currentcarrying conductors.
Adapters which interrupt the continuity of the equipment grounding connection may not be used.
If there is a chance of current passing
through the hands, insulating gloves
must be worn. In addition, protective
devices must be used to shut down the
circuits in the case of an overload or
faulty circuit. Circuits that shut down may
not be reopened until inspected or
determined to be due to overload.
Wet Environments – Using extension
cords in a wet environment can be dangerous, unless the extension cord is rated
for such use. Otherwise, working with an
extension cord in a conductive environment can be dangerous to anyone handling it.
Plugging in Extension Cords – Extension cords need to be plugged in properly. The plugs need to be seated completely. This helps to prevent arcing. The
plug of the extension cord cannot be
altered, for this could prevent the proper flow of electricity. ■
Magical
Here are a few picture highlights from the recent
ARA Convention & Exposition in Orlando in October.
Read the Full Recap in the January-February Issue!
Moments
What Is
Data Mining
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
M
iStockphoto.com/Nikolaas Boden
any auto recyclers are beginning to understand the value of
collecting customer data, but also realize the challenges of
leveraging this knowledge to create intelligent, proactive
pathways back to the customer. Data mining – technologies
and techniques for recognizing and tracking patterns within
data – helps businesses sift through layers of seemingly unrelated data for meaningful connections, where they can
anticipate, rather than simply react to, customer needs.
The way in which companies interact with customers has
changed dramatically over the past few years. A customer’s
continuing business is no longer guaranteed. As a result,
companies have found that they need to understand their customers better, and to quickly
respond to their wants and needs. In addition, the time frame in which these responses
need to be made is shrinking. It is no longer possible to wait until the signs of customer
dissatisfaction are obvious before action must be taken. To succeed, companies must be
proactive and anticipate the desires of their customers.
In the days of the corner market, auto recyclers
products and the number of ways they are offered
had no trouble understanding their customers and
have risen significantly.
responding quickly to their needs. The recycler
• Niche competitors. Your best customers also
would simply keep track of all of their customers in
look good to your competition. Your competitors
their head, and would know what to do when a cuswill focus on small, profitable segments of your
tomer walked up to the counter. But today’s
market and try to keep the best for themselves.
recyclers face a much more complex situation.
Successful companies need to react to each and
More customers, more products, more competitors,
every one of these demands in a timely fashion.
and less time to react makes understanding your
The market will not wait for your response, and
customers a more complex undertaking. A number
customers that you have today could vanish tomorof forces are working together to increase the comrow. Interacting with your customers is also not as
plexity of customer relationships:
simple as it has been in the past. Customers and
• Compressed marketing cycle times. The attenprospective customers want to interact on their
tion span of a customer has decreased dramatically
terms, meaning that you need to look at multiple
and loyalty is a thing of the
criteria when evaluating
past. A successful company
how to proceed.
needs to reinforce the value
You will need to automate
A customer’s continuing
it provides to its customers
and build a data playground
business is no longer
on a continuous basis. In
to better understand your
guaranteed. To succeed,
addition, the time between a
inventory buying, your cusrecycled part need and when
tomer recycled part needs,
companies must be
you must deliver that part is
the value of the recycled
proactive and anticipate
also shrinking. If you don’t
part to your customer, the
react quickly enough, the the desires of their customer. new replacement part price,
customer will find someone
the location of the customer
By Kurt Thearling
who will.
or repairer and the data
• Increased marketing
information list goes on.
costs. Everything costs more.
Printing, postage, special offers (and if you don’t
What Is Data Mining?
provide the special offer, your competitors will).
Data mining, by its simplest definition, automates
• Streams of new product offerings. Customers
the detection of relevant patterns in a database.
want things that meet their exact needs, not things
For example, a pattern might indicate that married
that sort-of fit. This means that the number of
males with children are twice more likely to drive
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
There are differences between customers,
and you need to understand those
differences in order to optimize your
relationships. The key is determining
which type of customer you’re dealing with.
a particular sports car than married males with no
children. If you are a marketing manager for an auto
manufacturer, this somewhat surprising pattern
might be quite valuable.
However, data mining is not magic. For many
years, statisticians have manually “mined” databases,
looking for statistically significant patterns.
Data mining uses well-established statistical and
machine learning techniques to build models that
predict customer behavior. The leading data mining
products are now more than just modeling engines
employing powerful algorithms. Instead, they address
the broader business and technical issues, such as
their integration into today’s complex information
technology environments.
However, the value that an analyst provides cannot
be automated out of existence. Analysts are still needed to assess model results and validate the plausibility
of the model predictions. Because data mining software lacks the human experience and intuition to
recognize the difference between a relevant and an
irrelevant correlation, analysts will remain in demand.
A Look at Customer Retention
Imagine that you are a manager for an automotive
recycling company. You are responsible for managing
the relationships with the company’s customers.
One of your current concerns is customer attention
(sometimes known as “churn”), which has been eating severely into your margins. You understand that
the cost of keeping customers around is significantly
less than the cost of bringing them back after they
leave, so you need a cost-effective way of doing this.
The traditional approach to solving this problem is
to pick out your good customers (that is, the ones
who spend a lot of money with your company) and
try to persuade them to buy more recycled parts from
you. This might involve some sort of gift (possibly a
gift card) or maybe a discount plan. The value of the
gift might be based on the amount that a customer
spends, with big spenders receiving the best offers.
This approach is probably very wasteful. There are
undoubtedly many “good” customers who will stick
around without receiving an expensive gift. The customers to concentrate on are the ones that will be
leaving. Don’t worry about the ones who will stay.
This solution to the churn
problem has been turned
around from the way in which
it should be perceived. Instead
of providing the customer with
something that is proportional
to their value to your company,
you should instead be providing the customer with
something proportional to your value to them. Give
your customers what they need.
There are differences between your customers,
and you need to understand those differences in
order to optimize your relationships. One big spending customer might value the relationship because
of your high reliability, and thus wouldn’t need a gift
in order to continue with it. On the other hand, a
customer who takes advantage of all of the latest features and special services might require a gift in
order to stick around for another. The key is determining which type of customer you’re dealing with.
It is also important to consider timing in this
process. You can’t wait until a week before a customer’s contract is up and then pitch an offer in
order to prevent them from churning. By then, you
are unlikely to affect their decision at such a late date.
On the other hand, you don’t to start the process
immediately upon signing a customer up. It might be
months before they have an understanding of your
company’s value to them, so any efforts now would
also be wasted. The key is finding the correct middle
ground, which could very well come from your
understanding of your market and the customers in
that market. Or, as we will discuss, you might be using
data mining to automatically find the optimal point.
Relevance to a Business Process
Data mining is part of a much larger series of steps
that takes place between a company and its customers.
The way in which data mining impacts a business
depends on the business process, not the data mining
process. Take product marketing as an example. A
marketing manager’s job is to understand their market. With understanding comes the ability to interact
with customers in this market, using a number of
channels. This involves a number of areas, including
direct marketing, print/radio advertising, among
others.
The issue that must be addressed is that the results
of data mining are different from other data-driven
business processes. In most standard interactions
with customer data, nearly all of the results presented
to the user are things that they knew existed in the
database already. A report showing the breakdown
of sales by product line and
region is straightforward for
the user to understand because
they intuitively know that this
kind of information already
exists in the database. If the
company sells different products in regions of the county, there is no problem
translating a display of this information into a
relevant understanding of the business process.
Data mining, on the other hand, extracts information from a database that the user did not know
existed. Relationships between variables and customer behaviors that are non-intuitive are the jewels
that data mining hopes to find. And because the
user does not know beforehand what the data
mining process has discovered, it is a much bigger
leap to take the output of the system and translate it
into a solution to a business problem.
How does someone actually use the output of data
mining? The simplest way is to leave the output in
the form of a black box. If they take the black box
and score a database, they can get a list of customers
to target (send them a promotional piece, increase
their discount, etc.). Mailing costs can often be effectively reduced without reducing the response rate.
Then there’s the more difficult way to use the
results of data mining: getting the user to actually
understand what is going on so that they can take
action directly. For example, if the user is responsible
for ordering a recycled part, understanding customer
demographics is critical. A data mining analysis might
determine that customers in New York City are now
focused in the 30-to-35-year-old age range; whereas
previous analyses showed that these customers were
primarily aged 22 to 27. This change means that the
parts purchase might move from the Ford Focus to
the Hydunai Sonata. There’s no automated way to do
this. Unless the output of the data mining system can
be understood qualitatively, it won’t be of any use.
Both of these cases are inextricably linked. The user
needs to view the output of the data mining in a context they understand. If they can understand what has
been discovered, they will trust it and put it into use.
There are two parts to this problem: 1) presenting the
output of the data mining process in a meaningful
way, and 2) allowing the user to interact with the output so that simple questions can be answered. Creative
solutions to the first part have recently been incorporated into a number of commercial data mining products. Response rates and (most importantly) financial
indicators (like profit, cost, and return on investment)
give a context that can ground the results in reality.
Data mining extracts information from a
database that the user did not know existed.
Relationships between variables and
customer behaviors that are non-intuitive
are the jewels that data mining hopes to find.
Data Mining and Customer Management
The first task, identifying market segments,
requires significant data about prospective customers and their buying behaviors. In theory, the
more data the better. In practice, however, massive
data stores often impede marketers, who struggle
to sift through the minutiae to find the nuggets of
valuable information.
Data mining applications automate the process of
searching the mountains of data to find patterns that
are good predictors of purchasing behaviors. After
mining the data, marketers must feed the results
into campaign management software that, as the
name implies, manages the campaign directed at
the defined market segments. Tightly integrating
the two disciplines presents an opportunity for companies to gain competitive advantage.
How Data Mining Helps Marketers
Data mining helps marketing users to target marketing campaigns more accurately; and also to align
campaigns more closely with the needs, wants, and
attitudes of customers and prospects. If the necessary
information exists in a database, the key is to find
patterns relevant to current business problems.
In the automotive recycling industry companies,
Hollander, a Solera Company, and Car-Part.com are
data collectors for automotive recyclers that assign
their parts inventory data to their companies. Both
companies then market the data to companies like
Mitchell and CCC.
Typical questions that data mining addresses include
the following: Which customers are most likely to buy
recycled auto parts? What is the probability that a customer will purchase a recycled part from a particular
car? What are the top vehicles for a particular
recycled auto part? Answers to these questions can
help retain customers and increase campaign
response rates, which, in turn, increase buying, crossselling, and return on investment (ROI).
Data mining builds models by using inputs from a
database to predict customer behavior. This behavior
might be attrition for cross-product purchasing, and
willingness to use a recycled part in place of a more
expensive OE new or aftermarket, and so on. The
prediction is usually called a score.
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
Increasing Customer Lifetime Value
Today’s salvage auctions are using data mining to
move salvage vehicles to market based on the best
return for their insurance customers and to predict
the best return for the four million total-loss salvage
vehicles a year. Consider, for example, a salvage
buyer who is identified by their buying data history
analysis reveals what types of vehicles fit the buyer.
Auctions are answering with data mining these
new questions: Where a vehicle should be sold
(Internet only, live auction, or assigned buyer)?
What class of salvage (high end, middle, low end) fits
what auction? Which auction is best to sell to based
on transportation and return? Looking for four of
the best buyers by the highest value paid for salvage.
Assigning low end salvage to “tagged” buyers. This is
defining target segment salvage buying. The data
drives to a greater return on salvage.
Excerpted with permission from Building Data Mining Applications for CRM
by Alex Berson, Stephen Smith, Kurt Thearling (McGraw Hill, 2000). Modifications for auto recycling industry provided by Ginny Whelan.
Benefits of Data Mining for Auto Recyclers
For buying salvage, it is helpful for developing:
• A “black book” of actual salvage data values with
weekly prices;
Kurt Thearling has more than fifteen years of experience with analytics and
data mining. His background includes work in a variety of areas, including
financial services, life sciences, insurance, utilities, and telecommunications. He is currently Head of Decision Sciences for Vertex Data Science, a
multi-national business process outsourcer. His extensive data mining and
analytics web site can be found at www.thearling.com.
• A complete damage assessment (from repair estimate) available to help buyers determine bid or better yet, an assessment of all undamaged parts on a
salvage vehicle; and
• More shared data from OE’s, insurance companies, collision repairers, mechanical repairers, part
providers and legislative changes in tilting laws.
For recycled parts sellers:
• Data for faultless execution;
• Front knowledge of part condition;
• Easy management data report building tools in
management systems to map customers and parts;
and
• Good clean data of part quality by grade, images
and customer feedback. ■
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
Where’s the
Gold?
Is Data Mining Relevant to the Auto Recycling Industry?
By Don Porter
W
hen most people think about mining they picture men and
machines working in gold mines, diamond mines or even coal
mines. However, today the most valuable mining that happens
isn’t in metals or fuels, it is in data,
Data mining is
the process of analyzing data from different perspectives
(different sources)
and summarizing it
into
information
which can be used to increase productivity, eliminate
waste, cut costs, and most importantly, increase revenue for the business seeking the data and conducting
the analysis.
Data mining enables companies to determine
relationships among “internal” factors such as product, price, or staff skills and “external” factors such
as economic indicators, competition, demand and
customer demographics. Information gained from
this analysis can be used to recognize historical patterns and utilized to predict future trends, or
develop product lines, services, and processes needed to expand business.
Recently, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel
of executives from various segments that support the
collision industry and the insurance industry. This
panel included individuals representing information
providers (Mitchell and Audatex), salvage auctions,
and recyclers. Each individual articulated the role
that data mining plays in expanding opportunities
and the growth of their organization.
As the panel members discussed business models
and the future of each organization, a common
theme developed. Individual organizations looking
exclusively at their own data may not be sufficient to
take them to the next stage in their evolution. Data
from other industry segments is needed to expand
their knowledge, and help innovate their personnel
to develop new processes and product lines for the
future needs of the collision industry and the consumer.
Our industry possesses a wealth of knowledge in
the form of data. The data begins to accumulate at
first notice of loss to the insurer, through each phase
of the process until the vehicle reaches its end of life.
Throughout each stage, data elements are shared
between parties to facilitate the claims process. As the
claim matures each business entity touching a part of
the claim resolution process utilizes the shared data
and also begins to develop proprietary data for internal analytics.
As one thinks about the data being collected they
may start to question whether this data is proprietary,
to only be utilized by the entity collecting said data. Is
it time for the industry segments to start working
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DATA INTEGRITY
together to determine what data, if shared or consolidated could benefit the industry as a whole? Our collective industries have common goals. They are:
• To produce products or services to help facilitate
the vehicle repair process.
• To establish efficient automated processes for
sourcing and procuring automotive parts of all kinds.
• To aid an insurer in appraising vehicle damage,
establishing a vehicle’s value, and determining if the
vehicle is a total loss, concluding a settlement with
their policyholder and disposal of the vehicle salvage.
Throughout the claims process, data obtained by
each of the participants, if shared, could increase
opportunities for every business segment to mine the
data and develop business analytics to help accomplish
common business organizational goals. Simply put,
to increase revenue, cut costs, or both.
For all industry business segments involved to continue to grow and expand their products and markets,
a significant portion of their strategic initiatives will
be the expansion of data mining and analytics. Predictive modeling/analytics will be used to create statistical models of future behaviors which will lead to
the development of new product lines and processes.
For our industry to survive and grow in today’s economic times, we must begin to work together and
remember that we are all business partners. Sharing
data, when appropriate during various stages of the
claim process, may provide the information a business
needs to develop a better product or service to be utilized by one or all of their business partners. By doing
so we can build in efficiencies, lower costs and
increase revenue potential for all involved.
As auto recyclers, we need to understand the
important role we play in various stages of the claim
resolution process. Our commitment to quality and
service helps reduce costs in the collision repair
process and ensures that insurers have a ready
market for end of life vehicles.
Ultimately the vehicle owner is the winner and
becomes the beneficiary of a more efficient process,
receiving quality repairs at a lower cost. ■
With upwards of 34 years in the insurance industry, Don Porter most recently
served as a Property and Casualty Claim Consultant at State Farm Insurance
Company’s corporate office in Bloomington, Illinois before retiring in August this
year. He is currently involved in a number of collision, recycling, and salvage industry associations and industry committees. His passion for the recycled parts
and salvage industries makes him a valuable contributor to industry information
providers. Don is now working with United Recycling Group and is providing consulting services through his business, Porters Consulting Solutions.
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
Data and
Details
Getting Sufficient Information to Make It Worth Surfing For.
By Greg Horn
T
here’s an oft-quoted saying among statisticians that we are awash in data but starved for
information. As editor in chief of Mitchell International’s Industry Trends Report I place
a great deal of importance on accurate data, as you can well imagine. I routinely query
our data warehouse for latest information that will help me illustrate where the collision
industry has been and where it is headed. But there’s more to it than just gathering and
interpreting collision data to compile national statistics for use in our magazine. The
challenge is to turn the data into useful, actionable information.
Each issue of the Industry Trend Report tracks both the use by
parts and dollars per estimate as well as inflationary trends of
parts. This macro look at parts utilization and pricing gives an initial insight into parts use across the U.S., illustrating the increases
and decreases of alternate and new OEM parts.
Insurance companies, collision repair shops and car manufacturers are focusing on data to benchmark their findings against
their competitors to help them drive improvements in performance. Advances come not only from measuring where they are in
comparison to their competitors. With a robust data set, companies also can compare internal performance for various company
locations or work units. Detailed data can help a company measure the impact of various initiatives such as a change in part type
choice (aftermarket vs. recycled, for example). This can result in
a holistic approach where we are able to measure not only the
cost of the part but any applicable labor cleanup costs needed
as well as any differences in paint and materials costs.
Going beyond that use, parts providers to the collision market
can benefit from the use of targeted data for their market. For
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
example, a salvage yard could examine recycled parts
pricing and utilization rates for various popular models to help them better understand potential demand
and supply shortages. The more data present for a
market area, the better the salvage vehicle decision.
Ongoing data analysis can help a salvage business
examine the effect of pricing changes to particular
parts in their service market. Equally as important,
there are several salvage parts that are not routinely
requested from yards. Wiring harnesses and fan
shrouds are two examples of parts frequently damaged in collision, but rarely requested by collision
repair shops. Data can help analyze and better manage the demand.
Those are just a few examples of data mining that
show how data is used today as well as how they could
be used with current technology in the collision
repair and parts supply business. But that’s just
scratching the surface. Data mining is a component
of the really hot topic among insurance companies
and estimating software companies: predictive analytics. According to a white paper from the American
Institute of CPCU, predictive analytics has quickly
become an insurance industry best practice and used
to target potential clients, to determine more accurate
pricing and to identify potentially fraudulent claims.
Predictive analytics is defined as an area of statistical
analysis that deals with extracting information from
data and using it to predict future trends and
behavior patterns. The core of predictive analytics
relies on capturing relationships between explanatory
variables (also known as independent variables) and
the predicted variables from past occurrences, and
exploiting them to predict future outcomes. You see
this type of analytics when you rent a movie on
Netflix or shop online with Amazon or EBay. The
vendor gathers data from your past purchases and
uses it to predict that you might be interested in some
related product or movie. The problem is the
accuracy and usability of results will depend greatly
on the level of data analysis and the quality of the
assumptions. So, for example, if you watched an
Indiana Jones movie, Netflix may assume you would
like to watch American Graffiti. Why? Because both
movies feature Harrison Ford. The two movies have
little in common other than one actor. This is a good
example of how low volume of data can lead to some
bad and potentially costly conclusions.
Volume is the key to making accurate assumptions.
Fortunately, estimating software companies have masses of appraisals with similar collision repairs to draw
on. As a result, it would be highly accurate to assume
that if the front bumper cover was damaged and the
air conditioning compressor was replaced, there is an
extremely high probability that the bumper reinforcement should be replaced as well. This could
prove to be very important in helping salvage vendors
to predict how assemblies should be sold. Assume for
example in 97 percent of cases when replacing a
three-quarter assembly for a Chevrolet Colorado
appraisal that the air mass meter and air box were
also damaged. In today’s world you would get the
order for the sheet metal but the estimator might
assume the air mass meter and air box would need to
be purchased from the dealer. If the estimator saw
that you had an option in your listing as ”with air
mass and air box” or “without,” you would begin to
see an increase in estimator awareness of the availability of those parts.
Taking that further, bidding on cars with knowledge
gained from predictive analytics could give you very
accurate parts demand data on a per vehicle basis,
allowing you to better predict your profitability on
vehicles you purchased. Equally as important, you
would also know when demand for a particular car or
assembly begins to wane, allowing you to adjust your
behavior accordingly and increase your profit.
Appraisal data currently has a wealth of potential
uses across the entire repair industry, from parts
suppliers to repairers and insurers, and the future
holds even more promise. Will you be able to capitalize on that promise? The answer will depend on
whether you are gathering the right data and
whether you are using it to your advantage. Or, as
that famous fictional detective and crack analyst
Sherlock Holmes once said, “the temptation to
form premature theories upon insufficient data is
the bane of our profession.” ■
Greg Horn is Vice President of Industry Relations for Mitchell. Since joining
in 2006 he has been a driving force in the company, influencing the design
and development of Mitchell’s data‐driven technology, connectivity and
information solutions for the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair markets.
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DATA INTEGRITY
Take Time for
Results
What the Customer Sees Determines What You Get – A Sale or No Sale.
T
here has been the vague notion of “data” floating around in the industry for some
time now and even some seminars conducted about how to ensure you have the
correct data when you do inventory on your vehicles. But, it still remains an area
with room for improvement – perhaps all we need is the motivation to do so. How about
the motivation that you increase your chances of selling a part by a minimum of 25%, perhaps even as close to 40% when you enter correct data about your vehicle?
JC Cahill, co-owner of Cahill’s in New York and
Brown’s Auto in Massachusetts, who comes to
auto recycling with years of experience working in
the industry, has discovered that the more accurate
and positive your data is when describing parts, the
better chance you have of selling your parts.
“When you take the time upfront to correctly identify codes on a part, you save not only hours of labor
later, you reduce the chance of inaccurate data entering your system, and you dramatically increase your
chances of selling the part by tenfold,” says Cahill.
“We no longer put check IDs on any of the parts
that we sell. We call the dealership and do our best to
identify the part in Hollander when it first comes in,
not in the dismantling bay. Many times when recyclers
are doing inventory, and they don’t know if it’s a 410
ratio or a 373 ratio, they’ll just choose one that they
think fits the best, and ask the dismantler to identify
it when he’s pulling it apart.
“The problem with this is that it enters incorrect
data into the system from the start and makes it much
harder to detect and clean up later. By taking the
time to secure accurate codes upfront, you will save
hours later and ensure you have correct data.”
Cahill says that even the term data can be confusing
and that perhaps the way we have been thinking
about it, isn’t quite right.
“There’s always been this term ‘data’ that everyone
has been throwing out there,” said Cahill. They ask
the questions, “Is your data accurate? Is your information accurate? Perhaps a better question to ask is, is
your information accurate to the part you are representing? That’s the part that everyone has been stumbling on because they have either under- or
over-represented their parts.”
According to Cahill, there are three problematic
areas when it comes to recyclers entering their data:
over-description of parts, under-description of parts,
and a lack of description of parts.
When a recycler describes his or her part in better
condition than it actually is, they are under representing it. They are not giving an accurate description to
the customer and face a higher likelihood of the customer returning the part because the information
TIPS ON HOW TO USE YOUR DATA TO ATTRACT MORE SALES
• Correctly enter your data into your database from the start.
By taking the time to establish the correct codes and language for a
part description before dismantling, you’ll increase your chances of entering the correct data into the system and then cyberspace. Not only will
your customers be happier, but your sales people will have more confidence in the parts they are selling, and therefore you will sell more parts.
• Be sure to use proper codes, including ARA Damage Codes, trim, paint,
and interior codes, making your description as good as you can.
JC Cahill says you can sell deeper into the vehicle and give yourself an
advantage over your competition with this method of data entry.
“If everyone in your market has the same part to offer, with similar prices,
you have the advantage by giving an accurate and full description of your
part,” said Cahill. “For example, if I am trying to sell a door and I give the trim
code, paint code, and use the ARA Damage Code for it, and my competition
doesn’t, I will have customers calling based on my data, not based on the inventory. This gives your salesperson a chance to sell its benefits.
“It’s much like buying something on Craigslist. The better the photo and
description, the better your chance that the potential customer will call based
on your data, not the inventory,” he adds.
“We need to address the fact that if we don’t enter our data correctly, we
have missed a sales opportunity,” said Cahill. “And many times we don’t even
realize that we have. That’s because our lack of accurate data on our parts is
costing us potential sales the moment it’s out in cyberspace.
“For example, if we do our best when we inventory our door panels and
enter the correct interior code, paint code, and damage code, and that enters
cyberspace via Car-Part.com, Eden, Craigslist, etc., our ability to sell goes up
dramatically (like tenfold) over someone who didn’t take the time to enter
that information.”
• Put a positive spin on your descriptions of the parts.
The way you write your descriptions can make a sale for you or attract
potential customers. Cahill spends approximately 10 minutes per car, re-writing descriptions that have been given during inventory. He says that by putting a positive spin on the description, you give your salesperson a chance to
led the customer to believe the part was better than it
actually was.
A lack of description, when a recycler lists a part
without any supporting data, gives the buyer no representation of the condition of the part they need.
Over-describing a part occurs when an auto recycler
represents that there is more damage than there
actually is. While it may seem crazy that someone
could over-represent a part, Cahill says that this was a
struggle for his company until they took the time
from the start to enter the correct codes including,
trim, paint, interior, and ARA Damage Codes.
“We used to over-represent the damage to parts we
were selling until we took the time to follow the ARA
Damage Codes to the letter,” said Cahill. “For example
we were describing the damage on a door with three
parking lot dings as needing three hours of work
because we were counting each ding as one hour. In
reality, according to the ARA Damage Codes, and for
sell the car’s parts and also provides the customer a more accurate picture of
what they are purchasing.
“I try to present the information in each description in a more positive
way – one that will more accurately reflect the part the customer is purchasing,” said Cahill. “For example, if we have a headlight assembly, our choices
are to say that it’s hazy or foggy. However, if we know that before we ship it to
the customer, we‘re going to buff it up, we write in the description, “needs
buff.” It not only sounds more positive, but gives a better description of what
the customer will actually receive. The customer will receive a part that looks
better than they thought.”
Other examples include: instead of “damaged” or “wrecked,” use “may
need repair”; instead of “broken intake,” use “sold intake.”
“Instead of saying ‘missing headlight, door and front hood,’” Cahill said,
“we would say comes with ‘new headlight and hood’ because we know that
what we’re going to give the customer is a product that is like new by the time
we ship it to them.
“I’m not saying misrepresent your data. I’m just saying when writing your
descriptions, look to the best of your abilities. Bear in mind regional differences, also. For example, in New England if we write ‘engine runs wicked
good,’ everyone in New England will know that it means the engine runs really well.”
• Do not use only abbreviations.
When giving parts data, avoid using lots of numbers and abbreviations
that your customer may not understand, especially if your market includes
the general public. While industry insiders may understand them, an average
person looking for a part will not. You want to make it as easy as possible for
anyone to understand what the part you’re selling looks like.
• Utilize Craigslist.
“We use Craigslist a lot,” said Cahill. “We put almost every vehicle we purchase on it. We use it as an advertising point and to get people to call so our
sales people can really describe and sell the part. Again, the more you make
your description accurate and helpful to your potential customer, the better
your chances of getting the call in the first place.”
the amount of time it would really take, it should
have been listed as 1.5 hours.
“We’ve always thought of data as just being your
parts in stock, your prices, and the condition of the
part you’re selling. It’s really an accurate combination
of the three and making sure that the information on
the parts you’ve listed allows the customer to buy the
part with complete confidence that it matches your
description of it. If you under-represent a part, you
will create more credits and returns, and when you
over-represent a part, you discourage potential buyers
to not purchase the part in the first place.”
Overall, clear and concise data on your quality recycled green auto parts, even though it may take extra
time in the front end, saves time in the back end of
the process and increases the potential of a sale and
a positive customer experience. Cahill is using this
method to build his business, and its working. ■
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
Data that
Increase Sales by
Giving Customers the
Information They Want.
Sells
An insurance company is most vulnerable
to losing a customer after they are in an
accident. A major JD Edwards study found
that insurance companies’ Customers
Satisfaction Index (CSI) are directly linked
to how fast their customers get their cars
back after an accident. Smart shops, especially Multi-Shop Operators (MSOs), have
adapted by adopting lean, just-in-time manufacturing techniques, thereby improving
cycle time and allowing them to quickly
repair and return cars to the consumer.
The margin of error is very small because
disruptions in the shop’s production
process and the resulting extra rental car
costs are not offset by the price savings
available by using a recycled part. Shops
need to know when the parts will be delivered and
the quality of the parts being delivered.
Car-Part.com’s goal is to make it easier to buy green
recycled auto parts than other parts. Car-Part Pro
makes it easy for shops to see this information and for
recyclers to provide this information, but it is critical
that the information recyclers provide is accurate.
Car-Part Pro is a value-added marketplace that lets
buyers easily set filters to see only those parts and services that meet their needs. Quality data is a competitive
advantage. Car-Part.com™ and Car-Part Pro™ currently
serve 2.3 billion dollars worth of searches per month.
Delivery times are complex because they depend
on where your parts are in the dismantling process
(in the warehouse, in the yard, on a pre-dismantled
car, or at your trading partner’s location), how long it
takes your dismantlers to pull each part, and where
and when you deliver parts.
T
he Internet has become a powerful
marketing tool for the auto recycling industry because it gives our
customers the information they
want before making purchasing
decisions. The part and service
information available to customers
online can have a big influence on
your brand and your sales. As our
industry continues its march toward
e-commerce, your customers expect
rich, accurate information at the
click of a mouse so they can quickly
make decisions and buy recycled
parts with minimal effort.
By Jeff Schroder
Automotive recyclers can provide a much richer set
of data with Car-Part Pro. Delivery times, warranties,
and certifications are all available. We made Car-Part
Pro totally customizable, so when you want to begin
displaying value-added data, one of our 20 trainers
will talk to you about how your business works and
configure your Car-Part Pro settings accordingly.
Car-Part Pro automatically changes the applicable
delivery time for a part when they are moved in
Checkmate® via bar coding. Car-Part Pro also allows
you to configure any extended warranties that you
offer, thereby allowing shops to purchase parts with a
warranty equal to their repair warranty while providing
you an opportunity to increase your profits. It
provides all inclusive pricing which simplifies buyer
choices and makes it easier for recycler to up-sell
extended warranties and delivery charges.
Certified Results
Our industry provides different levels of service, different data quality, and different ways of dealing with
part damage. While some diversity from meeting the
demands of different kinds of customers may be
good, it makes our industry complicated and confusing to buyers, especially those professionals with low
tolerance for parts and services not fitting into their
production process. Good data and certifications
help buyers feel comfortable with their new suppliers.
Car-Part Pro also allows users to limit part search
results to only those from recyclers maintaining certain certifications. ARA Gold Seal, Auto Recyclers of
Michigan (ARM) MICAR Plus, URG, and Car-Part
certifications (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) are slightly
different but all help. Car-Part Certifications are verified against recyclers’ data on a part-by-part basis.
Green or environmental certifications help promote
green parts and help sell parts to the environmentally
conscious buyers. All certifications instill confidence
in buyers, providing insight into a recycler’s values
and services. Recyclers may display their certifications
and their association memberships on Car-Part Pro.
Why Codes Matter
The ARA Standard and Codes used for part grading have significantly advanced outside perceptions
of our industry. If we deliver parts whose quality
doesn’t match our grade, there is a negative impact
on shop cycle time, as well as industry perception.
As a result, it is critical that we accurately grade our
parts. Car-Part grades parts from 11 different inventory
management systems and custom systems (even grading parts from systems that don’t grade parts within
the system). Our trainers work with each recycler to
customize the way we extract part grading information
from your system.
We are happy to report that two-thirds of the body
parts currently uploaded to Car-Part.com from 4,200
recyclers across the U.S. and Canada are being graded. Car-Part Pro users can choose to see only graded
parts, so if you don’t grade your parts using the ARA
Standard and Codes, you are at a significant disadvantage. The best part we have is a 000 part which
means no damage. Several management systems
default to zero damage (where most people want
their parts graded from) which can result in inaccurate data if recyclers don’t fill in the field. When a
part is inventoried with 000 and the description indicates there is damage such as “bent” or “rust,” it’s confusing to the buyers and undermines data credibility.
ARA Damage Codes specify the amount of damage
a part has, so for those that don’t use them to grade
their parts, more inconsistencies can arise. For these
reasons, Car-Part produces a nightly inconsistency
report for recyclers detailing where data is inconsistent
and hence confusing to buyers. Checking reports
weekly can improve data quality. Car-Part also removes
the grade from parts with inconsistent or conflicting
condition information, and doesn’t display damage
codes and part grades that are inconsistent, and provides shops and insurers filtering options on units of
damage. This helps improve the industry image and
keeps buyers from getting confused.
The best systems use ARA Damage Codes to specify
damage and to grade parts. Our Partmate™ inventory
system provides graphical point and click images to
specify ARA Damage Codes and the parts are automatically graded. Partmate Review™ lets managers
review data to further enhance quality.
The Damage of Damage
Forty percent of graded parts use a credit card as
the unit of damage and sixty percent use hours as the
unit of damage. URG invented the credit card units
system many years ago based on feedback from the
collision industry that hours were subjective and, as
recyclers, we weren’t that good at determining the
number of hours required to fix the part. Our
inability to unite on this issue is just one more layer of
complexity for buyers of green recycled auto parts.
There is a significant source of friction in the collision repair industry when green recycled auto
parts have damage on them. The primary cause of
this friction is related to the way parts are priced.
There are two pricing mechanisms used in the
industry: actual pricing and undamaged (or insurance) pricing. Actual pricing is self explanatory and
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
represents the selling price of the part regardless of
damage. Insurance (or undamaged) pricing is the
price for the part after any cleanup by the shop. The
recycler is responsible for paying the shop for that
cleanup.
Twenty percent of the body part prices on Car-Part
use the undamaged method, these are primarily larger recyclers who cater to the collision industry (they
have been pricing parts using the undamaged method
for years), while 80% of the body part prices are
priced with the actual method (this method is easier
to understand, especially in a non-estimating system
environment). The appraiser writing the estimate
would need to add time for cleanup to avoid friction
and often times they don’t.
The result is friction between body shops and auto
recyclers over who should pay for the cleanup. We
usually lose that battle in an effort to sell our parts
and keep our customers happy. Car-Part Pro allows
buyers to filter either actual or undamaged pricing,
since undamaged pricing is needed for estimates and
actual pricing is needed at the point of sale, as well as
the option to filter parts that don’t use credit card
units of damage.
Keeping Up with Demand
The ability to customize a purchasing experience is
necessary to keep up with the changing marketplace.
Car-Part works to stay ahead of the curve, facilitating
accurate engagements between buyers and sellers.
Important elements in the future of data accuracy
and delivered in our platforms include: Allowing for
diverse ways to show both actual and undamaged
prices, utilizing imaging of cars and parts, real time
verification of part availability and data attributes, and
inventorying with our exclusive SmartVin technology.
Also, the ability to leverage trading partners and tap
into the $2.3 billion dollar per month search marketplace – where buyers simply see the correct prices
and delivery times and don’t know the parts are brokered – is key to growing your sales.
Buying a recycled part is complicated by the many
factors described above, but robust data and filtering
simplify the process and provide an e-Commerce
platform from which we can sell competitively to the
collision repair industry. For more information about
any of the features mentioned here, visit http://
Products.Car-Part.com. ■
Jeff Schroder is President of Car-Part.com.
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
How Ensuring the Integrity
of Your Parts Data Can Make
Them Ripe for the Picking.
Making
Dollars
By Mary Moberg
and Sense of Data Integrity
T
here’s no question, we live in increasingly data-driven times. As an industry,
our sales, profitability and long-term success depend on the quality, depth
and speed of the parts information we are able to share with prospective
customers.
No matter if it’s someone standing in your yard, a repair shop across
town, or an online shopper in a faraway locale, today’s customers want to
know if you can get them the part they need, at the price they’re willing to
pay – and get it there quickly.
The focus on data as a sales-enablement tool is
nothing new to the automotive recycling industry.
Our industry pioneers realized early on that a yard
full of vehicles was just that. Unlocking the value of
the parts within those vehicles required data: How
many parts are there? What condition are they in?
Are they saleable? How many other vehicles will
they fit?
It was actually data about interchangeable parts
that essentially built the industry as we know it today.
It began during the Great Depression, when our
company founder, Roy Hollander, and his wife Hildur,
had a eureka moment. They realized that many
vehicle parts thought to be one-of-a-kind were in
fact interchangeable. Armed with that insight, they
compiled a list of interchangeable parts across 125
pages of mimeographed paper and began selling it
door-to-door.
That listing became the Hollander Interchange,
which remains the most widely used parts database
for identifying interchangeable automotive parts.
Equally important to having raw, physical data
about vehicle parts was ensuring the accuracy of this
data. Roy Hollander understood that if his data
weren’t rock-solid, end-users would be inconvenienced, his customers would be embarrassed and
he’d soon be looking for a new line of work. His reputation on the line and knowing first-hand how difficult commerce was in those days, Roy checked and
double-checked his data to make sure he was providing the most reliable information possible.
Times have changed plenty since those early days.
In addition to the Hollander Interchange, our offerings now include software and services to help
recyclers manage data more efficiently and sell products more effectively. But data integrity remains every
bit as important now as it was during the 1930s.
Perhaps even more so.
Data integrity: What It Is, Why It’s Important
So, what exactly is data integrity – and why is it so
critical to our industry? According to Wikipedia, “Data
integrity in its broadest meaning refers to the trustworthiness of information over its entire lifecycle.”
You’ll find a similar definition on BusinessDictionary.
com: “The accuracy and consistency of stored data,
indicated by an absence of any alteration in data
between two updates of a data record.”
Trustworthy. Accurate. Consistent. Those words
describe the essence of data integrity and underscore
its importance. Buyers need to trust that they’re
receiving the exact part they need, each and every
time they need one. Their time is valuable and they
must be confident that they won’t be spending it
returning a part and scrambling to find another.
Having accurate data is paramount as well. Poorquality parts data leads to
increased returns, which
in turn consumes time,
increases costs and can
tarnish your reputation.
Some studies estimate the
value of commercial product returns in the United
States at more than $100
billion. What’s more, the
time and expense needed
to process returns can
account for up to 30% of
product value. Thus, the
negative impact of returns
on the bottom line is
painfully clear.
In addition to accuracy,
data needs to be consistent. Like most industries,
we in automotive recycling have our own lingo
and jargon when speaking
with other industry insiders. But we need to remember that while such industry shorthand as “BURG,
4DR, PW.PL, 6B1” may mean something specific to
us, it may be indecipherable to our potential customers, thus forcing them elsewhere.
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
Data Integrity as Part of Recent Industry Trends
Ensuring the integrity of parts data is all the more
important when you consider industry trends.
Internet technologies and the relatively low cost of
online selling are transforming our industry. As sellers, we’re no longer bound by strict geographical
barriers. It’s just as easy, cost-effective and profitable
to sell to a customer across the country as it is to one
down the block.
For the past three years Hollander has been a partner of eBay, the world’s premier online retailer and
the largest provider of automotive parts and accessories. eBay estimates that the online automotive
parts and accessories market will grow 15% this year
– and continue along that trajectory for the foreseeable future. This represents a massive opportunity
for recyclers.
Not surprisingly, our partnership with eBay has
taught us much about online commerce, including
a robust education on the differences between
online vs. traditional sales. In the online world,
buyers can’t physically see, touch or inspect products
as they would if they were standing in your yard. This
makes having complete, accurate parts data, augmented by a variety of high-quality images, more
important than ever. As eBay preaches, the better
the image, the higher likelihood of a sale.
Another notable difference between the online
and physical selling worlds is the speed at which
information – particularly seller feedback – travels.
Online buyers readily endorse sellers who provide
great products and service, and are just as quick to
call out those who don’t. It takes only a few seconds
for an unhappy customer to share a horror story
about the wrong part, a defective one or shoddy service with thousands of potential customers.
We’ve also learned of the importance online consumers attach to being confident in their Internet
sales partners. The online-sales world is unlike its
brick-and-mortar counterpart, where you can physically see the place of business, meet the sales staff
and decide if you’d ultimately like to patronize it.
Most online businesses are relatively new to internet
sales. They may not have a physical storefront, and
their employees aren’t standing behind a parts
counter. For online sales success, you need to instill
in prospective customers the confidence that you
have a reputable, honest and easy-to-use establishment.
At Hollander, we’re taking these lessons to heart.
Our new e-commerce site, HollanderParts.com, is an
online marketplace that enables recyclers to easily
sell parts to anyone, anywhere. To ensure it is userfriendly for consumers, we insist that sellers provide
robust, accurate data about the parts they list. That
includes product descriptions, grades, prices and
images. To increase buyer confidence, the site
includes yard profiles that help recyclers establish a
“social” relationship with potential buyers and
become their preferred parts provider.
Optimize Your Data to Sell More Parts
Based on our sales experience with eBay and
HollanderParts.com, here are some tips for increasing
sales through data integrity.
• It all starts at the beginning. Ensuring data
integrity should start the minute you begin putting a
car into inventory. By committing to gathering highquality parts data and good photographs during teardown, the process becomes easier over the long term.
• Images are everything. Product photos are critical
to creating a successful online sales presence.
Research shows that consumers are far more likely to
view a product listing that includes a picture, and
almost none will buy a product sight-unseen. An
image gives buyers confidence in what
they are purchasing. By implementing
an image strategy, you can increase traffic to your part listings and improve
your sales opportunities.
• Always talk price, grades. Online
buyers are highly cognizant of price. If
they don’t see it on the item you’re selling, they won’t contact you; they’ll just
skip to the next seller. The same rules
apply to grading; parts that are graded
sell faster than ones that aren’t. Use the
ARA guidelines for grading parts, and
post grades with your parts.
• Don’t do it all at once. Yes, categorizing, numbering and photographing
parts for sale online can be a big job. If
you’re hesitant to try it out or not sure
where to begin, start by dipping your
toes into it. Focus on the parts that sell
the fastest. Then when you become
comfortable with the process, move on
to the rest.
• Add value and back it with outstanding customer service. Differentiating
yourself from your competitors is a key
to success. By adding value to the buying
experience wherever you can, you’ll
establish yourself as the type of seller
buyers want to do business with time
and again. Do that by providing free
shipping, extending warranties, promising no-hassle returns and providing
prompt, responsive customer service.
• Don’t fear feedback. Online buyers
are used to the feedback mechanisms
found on eBay.com and other leading
Internet retailers. Because user feedback
ratings can directly impact you as a
seller, establishing a positive track record of feedback
is a must. So gear your sales and service activities to
delighting your customers. And if you do receive negative feedback, take it seriously, investigate and quickly
resolve the problem. If you’re given an opportunity
to respond, do so respectfully and emphasize how
you quickly addressed the customer’s issue.
As we’ve seen, data integrity – through accurate
descriptions, prices, images and grades – is critical
to making additional parts sales, decreasing returns
and creating an environment for continued success
in today’s fast-changing, Internet-driven marketplace. ■
Mary Moberg is the Marketing Manager at Hollander, a Solera Company.
Focus on
DATA INTEGRITY
B
atteries not included.
This is the most dreaded statement we have all encountered when we purchased a toy or some electronic
tool because, unless we have a battery on hand, we don’t
get the satisfaction of using the new toy or tool right
away. It is all a matter of expectation and perception.
As recyclers we have all run into similar situations
when selling a part or assembly that does not contain all
the components the customer thought and expected
they were going to get. Here is an example.
Clay Conley of Aurora Auto Wrecking in Seattle (they specialize in high end European cars) sold a Mercedes
Updated Part diesel engine to a customer in New York. Because of
the distance, before even removing the engine from
Definitions
the vehicle, they took pictures of it and sent it to the
What’s New in
prospective customer along with a picture of the
the World of
odometer. When the engine got to New York they
Parts Grading
immediately got a call asking where all the accesBy Avi Pelc
sories where, such as the power steering pump, AC
compressor, alternator, etc. To make a long story
short, the customer returned the $3,500 engine because he expected to get all the low miles components as well. There are
similar stories about customers asking for a part by name and
then returning it because it was the wrong part unaware that they
caused the error by using the wrong name.
Mr. Conley states another example where the sale of a “window mechanism” resulted in a call from the customer because the
motor was not included, or one when a customer who asked for
the crankshaft pulley when what they really wanted was the harmonic balancer. These may be more subtle example than the
Mercedes diesel engine but they still result in parts returned.
Many years ago, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA)
began work to alleviate this problem by defining part types by
name and what components are generally included and excluded
when purchasing a part. The listings were very limited, focusing
exclusively on body parts since many of the conflicts revolved
around sales to body shops.
The time was right for an update and expansion of the standards, primarily because the wide use of e-commerce presented
the potential for mistaken identity or misaligned expectations to
the general population, most of whom, unfortunately, know less
about their vehicles than the professionals.
The ARA’s E-Commerce Committee and the ARA Educational
Foundation initiated the revision and updating process for part
definitions resulting in a database of over 350 part listings that
will be available to the general public as well as offered for licensing by entities such as estimating systems, e-commerce applications, etc. The goal is to provide everyone with a standard of what
a part is called, what is included when purchasing the part, and
what is not.
To develop the new standards, the goal was accuracy, completeness and transparency in the way the standards were
created. We started with a new draft of the definitions that was
submitted for review and edited by committee members.
The preliminary set of definitions was approved in late March, at which time it was sent to over 40 representatives from body shops, body shop organizations, estimating
system providers, part locating services, four of the major insurance companies, providers of yard management systems, and fellow recyclers. Over 60% of those receiving the data either were
comfortable with the draft or submitted suggestions for changes.
These suggested changes were then submitted for voting (approve or reject) by the ARA E-Commerce Committee members
and all the changes were either approved or definitions rewritten
to be acceptable.
Sending the data out for review also achieved another key objective. One of the problems with previous drafts was that it was
not widely known that they even existed. This process not only
gave reviewers an opportunity to help define the standards but
also created awareness and acceptance.
The definitions will be published within the Standards page of
the ARA web site as a web service. Users will select the part to be
defined by using either a section or sub-section of the vehicle, the
name of the part (including many aliases), or the Hollander part
type number. The initial response will be the formal name of the
part, a generic image, a list of included components, and a list of
excluded components, comments relating to the part or its use.
Subsequent screens will also provide a definition of exact and
non-exact Interchange criteria defined by Hollander and the criteria for grading the part. By linking the part types to Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) codes will help
integrate the definition standards into estimating systems and the
part grading criteria will offer valuable information to users when
looking at internet part listings.
Look for the new standards to appear on the ARA Web site in
early 2013 to see it for yourself. With this, you can begin comparing the standards to your practices to help you reduce customer
issues due to using the wrong part name and returns due to not
meeting customer expectations in the included components.
Batteries may still not be included, but at least we will have
gone a long way toward making sure that the customer’s expectations and perception are in line with ours. ■
Avi Pelc is widely known in the industry having been a recycler for almost 15
years and for his work with Hollander until his retirement last November. He
now consults with the ARA Educational Foundation and other clients. Pelc was
instrumental in working with the E-Commerce committee in the development
of the part definition standards and for driving forward the process for its acceptance and implementation.
Shopper’s
GUIDE
De-Pollution
Demystified
A
RA members are always
looking for ways to
enhance their business and help
preserve the environment, at the most efficient and economical value. De-pollution
systems were developed with those aspects
in mind. They aim to not only provide
the auto recycler with greater efficiency
and ensure safe practices for the environment and their employees, but also
to provide cost savings that directly
impact their bottom line.
Perhaps you still have not decided which system is right for your business, or if you even
need one?
Herein, we feature companies that offer depollution systems to automotive recyclers that
participated in ARA’s 69th Annual Exposition in
Orlando. Most have an ongoing relationship with
the ARA, as either associate members or as regular
exhibitors at the Exposition, sometimes both.
This guide will provide some information, comparisons and history of each provider company that can
hopefully move you one step closer to understanding your
de-pollution systems options.
With so many choices,
here is our look at some
providers of equipment
and services to remove
vehicle fluids.
Shopper’s
GUIDE ON DE-POLLUTION
CROW ENVIRONMENTAL
O
riginally formed in 2001, Crow Environmental
launched their first vehicle de-pollution unit
in 2003. Based in the UK, their management
team comes from an automotive equipment background, having previously owned market-leading
Spraybooth and vehicle lift businesses.
“Crow Environmental designed its products in the
field with the worker in mind. Our systems were
tested and modified to get to the design we have
today,” said Mason Smith, Crow Environmental.
“More than 4,000 hours of design and development
time have gone into producing the most modern
and, we believe, effective de-pollution system currently
available. Speed of operation, rugged design and a
no compromise approach to health and safety are
our fundamental design requirements.”
■ Products and Services Overview:
Crow Environmental offers systems to meet the various needs throughout this industry. Based on customer need, they offer varying solutions. The Vehicle
De-pollution Unit (VDU) system comes complete
with scissor lifts and loading frame. The Crow Midi
system is ideal for either the smaller operator 20-60
cars per week or the car breaker where the de-pollution unit needs to serve two work stations. Both systems are offered as equipment only, or complete
turn-key installation with tanks. For clients only concerned with safely and effectively removing of fuels
from the vehicle, Crow offers a fuel extraction tool
and fuel pumping panel.
Vehicle De-pollution Unit (VDU): A quick and simple
system for effective de-polluting of end-of-life vehicles
(ELVs), the VDU provides a packaged solution for
removing all the required fluids and pumps them to
a fluid storage facility. The unit integrates a 9,000 lb.
scissor lift to access the vehicle’s underside although it
can be used with a static frame. The lift is protected by
the unique loading frame which allows for safe, easy
loading of an ELV at a low level for safety.
High quality coil hoses, which are guaranteed not
to kink for ease of use, are color coordinated to each
fluid. The operator can drain the reservoirs with the
minimum of physical movement ensuring maximum
time efficiency. Each fluid has its own pumping
circuit which both extracts the fluid and then pumps
it away to a storage facility. Operation of the pump is
made clear by using a mixture of colors, graphics,
and text adjacent to each pump valve.
Once the engine compartment reservoirs are
empty, the vehicle is raised to a height appropriate
for the reach of the operator – a customized feature
that is not possible with fixed platform installations.
Once at the required height, the lift is mechanically
locked in position eliminating any danger of a
hydraulic failure causing the vehicle to change position when the operator is underneath.
Sump and gearbox oils are drained into the two
mounted large funnels which swing independently
to ensure both can be drained at the same time. A
similar funnel is mounted at the back for the rear differential. The radiator is drained by introducing a
hollow spike into the lower radiator hose, mounted
on the end of the arm with the funnels to, again, minimize operator movement. Brake cylinders are emptied by connecting onto the front bleed nipples.
On vehicles with under body fuel tanks, fuel is
extracted by piercing the tank with the unique Crow
Fuel Extraction Tool. This tool seals to the bottom of
fuel tank preventing fluid or vapors escaping during
the extraction process. This allows the spike to be
“fail safe,” which means if the pump should fail, fuel
will not spill onto the floor. The fuel drains into the
inspection glass allowing the operator to grade the
quality of the fuel and separate dirty from clean fuels.
Instead of gravity to drain the tank, fuel is suctioned
from the tank. The system has several safeguards to
ensure the operator distinguishes between petrol
and diesel, with each sent to separate tanks, having its
own fuel filter mounted in the pipework capable of
removing particles down to 5 micron, and removing
water from the fuel should the operator make a mistake. The system also includes a siphon pipe.
The scissor lift, which picks up just on the sills of
the vehicle, allows the operator full access to all the
operating parts of the vehicle access to remove the
Catalytic converter as well as the opportunity to strip
parts. Once de-pollution is complete the car is
lowered and removed by fork lift truck.
The system is capable of separately extracting all
the individual fluids; it is then the operator’s choice
as to how the fluids are stored. Crow’s typical tank
farm would have 6 tanks individually storing gasoline,
diesel, dirty fuel, engine oils, hydraulic oil, and
engine waters. The gasoline and diesel tanks would
typically have pumps to dispense the fuel directly
back into the owners vehicles.
The minimum number of tanks is typically 4 – for
clean gasoline, all the oils and diesel in one tank,
dirty fuel, and all engine waters – and as many as
eight tanks in a system – for good gasoline, good
diesel, bad fuel, waste oils, brake fluid, red coolant,
green coolant, and washer fluid. These clients have
separate markets for these various water based fluids
increasing their return.
Typical processing times are 10-12 minutes per
vehicle; however, in general, the system works on one
bay processing 30 cars per day with one operator.
The VDU provides the most modern approach to
vehicle de-pollution and is the most effective unit for
the mid-sized operator. This system is modular, in
that any number of VDU bays can be piped into a single fluid storage.
Crow Midi System: Based on Crow’s VDU technology,
the Midi unit’s advantage is that it can be used
between two lifts or frames allowing the oils, waters,
and fuels to be drained and pumped directly to
remote storage tanks. Perfect for small operators or
two-work station use, the control panel is dual-sided.
On one side is the engine bay draining equipment
with an arm which can swing through 180 degrees,
on the opposite side the free standing fuel system.
The engine bay panel includes clearly marked controls for the oil and water pumps. Probes exist for the
engine bay hydraulic oil and water reservoirs, two
large funnels are on the arm to drain the engine and
gearbox oil and a spike is included to drain the radiator water.
The Crow Fuel Extraction system, on the rear of
the panel, is attached by an 18’ hose and is able to be
positioned as required under the vehicle tank.
Selector levers on the panel allow fuel to be pumped
to clean gasoline, clean diesel or dirty fuel tank. The
clean fuel can be processed through the unique
Crow filtering system. A rear differential draining
funnel is offered as an option if needed. Fluids are
pumped directly to the fluid storage tanks.
“Each Crow Environmental system safely and efficiently, removes the fluids from a vehicle,” said Smith,
who cites there are many advantages to their system.
“Using our system will greatly increase the efficiency
in which a car is processed. On our high volume system, a vehicle can be removed of all fluids in less than
15 minutes.”
Another advantage is that you increase the chances
of safely removing and handling fluids, greatly reducing the chances of a spill or employee injury when
handling removed fluids because, according to Smith,
their systems are designed to safely pump the fluids
away from the vehicle and directly into UL approved
tanks.
“What better way to enhance your recycling efforts
than by recycling the fluids you take from the
vehicle?” Smith asks. “We can process the gasoline to
five micron and water removed for safe re-use. We
also can separate red and green anti-freeze so that
you can either sell to customers or get more money
from your recycler who picks up your products.
Separating the fluids as much as you want allows you
to get more money from the fluids by either selling to
customers or getting more money for cleaner used
fluids to your recycler.”
■ Differentiating Competitive Factors:
According to Smith, the following sets them apart:
• Offering a sight glass on the gasoline spike at the
site of impact, allows the employee to choose good or
dirty gas immediately. Using a harden-steel spike and
not a drill eliminates the “shavings” a drill leaves
behind that can get into your fuel and equipment. By
controlling the speed of the spike, one can use harden-steel and not produce a spark, this saves on replacing drill bits often.
• Offering systems for both high volume scrap
yards to full service parts to U-Pull-It yards, Crow has
a system that can work as a standalone as well as with
equipment a facility may already have.
• Crow Environmental offers total turn-key installations to its customers. They will visit your site, discuss
the options, and take it from start to finish, which
includes supplying approved storage tanks, startup of
the equipment, and training of employees.
Some other distinguishing features include:
• Operating a lift is much safer than racks, especially
when loading a vehicle.
• Using a lift allows the fork operator to place a car
and come back to get it when it’s done.
• Loading low is safer, if the car becomes unsteady
and falls off the fork.
• Systems are about 20’ wide and 15’ deep, so recyclers have plenty of space for most vehicles and
light trucks.
• Systems will work as fast as needed. With the VDU
and only de-polluting, about 30-35 cars per day
with one worker can be drained. Using the Midi
system, less cars are typically processed because
parts removal and inventory are being done
simultaneously.
Web site: www.crowenvironmental.co.uk
Shopper’s
SEDA ENVIRONMENTAL
A
ccording to SEDA Environmental’s Ernie
Jackson, his company is the pioneer of the
vehicle de-pollution industry. SEDA Environmental was started in 1967 in Austria and SEDA USA
was incorporated in 1983 and has been a staple with
auto parts facilities, auto salvage yards, and metal
recycling companies throughout the country since.
“Regardless of what system a recycler chooses, we
hope that they make sure that environmental impact
is one of the primary factors in their decision,” said
Jackson. “We have eliminated the need to ship systems across the world by making systems in the U.S.
We have spent over 40 years working with automobile manufacturers and auto recyclers alike to
provide the largest, most diverse
group of de-pollution equipment products in the world.
From fuel management systems
and cat cutting tools to Freon
recovery systems, SEDA has always
been there for the customer and their individual
needs.”
SEDA’s ISO9001 certified de-pollution systems use
compressed air and powerful double diaphragm
pumps to create a sealed vacuum system that sucks,
gas, coolant, oil, transmission fluid, washer fluid, and
brake fluid from the reservoirs on end-of-life vehicles
(ELVs) prior to their disposition (shredder, crusher,
pulled parts, etc.)
Our ‘Why punch, when you can
drill’ slogan has been a great
success with our customers.
“Our systems are custom designed to each customer’s needs,” said Jackson. “We offer design services,
storage tank options – and a new service, custom rack
design that has been a great success. With SEDA systems, our customers can have a self-contained workspace that incorporates, slip-resistant, grated flooring
with the only 10,000 lb. capacity vehicle ramp and all
de-pollution tools in a lightweight, easily mobile,
American-made drainage station. This option is economical, customizable and a great addition to a recyclers de-pollution assets.”
According to Jackson, SEDA’s vacuum system is
unrivaled in the industry for its speed, efficiency,
design, and cleanliness.
“With our system, complete fluid de-pollution can
be accomplished in less than 6 minutes per vehicle,”
he states. “In the past two years, we have been developing systems specifically for the U.S. market with
two new systems, that are made in the USA, showing
our dedication to providing American-made products
to our American customers. Our air-powered drilling
systems are unique and eliminate the inconsistent
and unsafe punching method that other companies
offer. Our ‘Why punch, when you can drill’ slogan
has been a great success with our customers.”
Web site: www.seda-usa.com
SUPERIOR RECYCLING SOLUTIONS
A
lmost three decades ago, Gary and Linda
Beagell began Gary’s U-Pull It, a self-service
automotive recycling center in Binghamton,
New York. Over the years, Gary and his staff had put
together countless ways to remove the fluids from
end-of-life vehicles. Through a series of experiments,
Gary tried drills, moveable pans, funnels, rolling
catch basins, as well as other products that promised
to effectively remove fluids from the vehicles.
Ten years ago, Gary had a vision. Drawing from his
extensive industry experience, including as an ARA
Past President, and his quest for efficiency as well as
his mechanical abilities, Gary set out to create a fluid
recovery system that would increase the amount of
vehicles processed per day without sacrificing safety
and efficiency. He wanted a system that would stay
ahead of increasingly stringent environmental regulations and limit employee handling of auto fluids.
The result is Superior Recycling Solutions’ (SRS)
Fluid Recovery System, designed by auto recyclers for
auto recyclers. Constructed to withstand tough industry use, its simple design allows fluid technicians to
move around and underneath the vehicles while
draining them. In the past eight years, the system has
processed over 1,000,000 vehicles ... and counting.
The company’s current president Michael Copt
shares the vision. He states the system has been tested
and endorsed by the industry’s leading recyclers.
The SRS Fluid Recovery System provides all-in-one
solution to fluid recovery needs. One drain technician
can process 30-40 vehicles per day and with two drain
technicians it can process over 60 vehicles per day.
SRS Solutions has dozens of customers who drain
between 80-100 cars per day, six days per week.
Employees do not have to handle or move any of the
fluids, increasing the safety of the employee.
The system provides an open workspace under the
lift and the recycler doesn’t have to worry about working with funnels or dollies.
The new low maintenance RAPID 45 Fluid Suction
System is an ergonomically-designed system that targets companies serious about streamlining their operation. Lightweight yet durable, it can be used on a
dismantler’s workbench, yard truck, fluid transfer
pump, in the drain shop, or as an integral part of the
fluid recovery process.
SRS also features oil and antifreeze separators, the
Skeeter Recovery system, and a Satellite Mobile Fluid
Recovery System, which is a portable system that can
be rolled around your drain shop or placed in the
back of a pickup truck. It is completely air powered
with self-contained tanks and serves as both a fluid
collection and fluid transfer system.
It’s equipped with leak-free cam-loc fittings and
directional valves, making it easy to remove fluids at
the source and pump into a larger tank. It is also
equipped with the RAPID 45 system and a compact
durable design, saving the recycler time and money.
“Since 1974, we’ve been dedicated to providing
turn-key, environmentally-friendly solutions for the
automotive recycling industry,” said Copt. “We stay
on top of the latest legislation and laws regarding
fluid recovery and proper disposal so an auto recycler
can focus on growing their business.”
According to Copt, there are five areas that make
Superior Recycling Solutions stand out:
• Technology – Using patented technology, the SRS
Fluid Recovery System is the only system available
which allows recyclers to safely articulate the vehicle
allowing for maximum fluid recovery. All fluids are
drained into a common floor pan and re-separated
into a clean, salable product by the patented fluid
separator. Extensive testing has proven the SRS Fluid
Recovery System recovers a minimum of 25% more
fluid from the vehicle than any other system, meaning
increased profits while minimizing fluid left in the
vehicle thus decreasing site pollution.
• Safety – The SRS Fluid Recovery System features
an open work area free from obstruction such as
carts, pans, tanks, and funnels. This allows clear visibility of the work area and minimizes the technicians
contact with waste fluids. The SRS system features a
non-slip ground level work area with no need for
stairs, catwalks or railings.
• Efficiency – Only SRS offers a fluid recovery system
that allows the recycler to process the entire vehicle
without repositioning it. All fluids can be removed
from under the hood and under the vehicle in a single placement reducing loader hours and saving
time. The technician never handles the fluid, resulting
in a drastic reduction in per vehicle cycle time. There
are no funnels to re-position, no buckets to empty,
and no spills on the floor requiring clean-up.
• Durability – All SRS Fluid Recovery products are
engineered to withstand the rigors of the automotive
recycling industry, delivering the longest life and the
lowest cost to own.
“We do not cut corners when it comes to quality,
said Copt. “SRS products are born out of 30 years of
automotive recycling experience and undergo extenNovember-December 2012 | Automotive Recycling 45
Shopper’s
sive field testing before being released into the
market. At SRS when we say that our products are
‘built industry tough’ we mean it.”
• Made in the USA, Guaranteed – All SRS products
are manufactured and sourced in America. They
make it “a matter of professional pride to domestically
source as many of their components as possible, right
down to the nuts and bolts,” says Copt. “If we don’t
buy it domestically, they don’t make it domestically,
and we audit our suppliers to verify their claims.
Unlike many companies that buy foreign components
and ‘assemble or package’ them in the USA, when
we say Made in the USA, we mean fabricated,
machined, welded, painted, assembled, wired,
plumbed, and packaged, right here!”
Web site: www.superior-recycling.com
VORTEX
Combi System:
• Combining the rugged and durable high stand
with the proven capabilities of the fuel extraction tool
and the blockage resistant oil drainage system you get
the best of all Vortex’s tools rolled into one high
throughput vehicle draining system.
• With the fuel system, the major controls are
mounted on the head of the tool giving the operator
the benefit of seeing the quality of the fuel before
deciding whether to send it to the clean or dirty tanks
for both petrol and diesel.
• All the tools needed for removing sump plugs are
mounted onto the oil arm right where the operator
needs them
• Vortex also offers an option for the cat cutter controls to be mounted inside the control cabinet with
the cutter itself mounted on the back plate.
Midi Catwalk System:
• The Vortex gantry system allows you to de-pollute
the vehicle from underneath as well as under the
bonnet at the same time with only one fork truck
movement.
• The low footprint saves space.
• The prep pump system is integrated into the
gantry for fast removal of brake and power assisted
steering fluids, coolant and washer fluid, as well as air
conditioning gases.
• Under the vehicle equipment is the same as the
Combi system.
• All tooling is integrated into the system doing
away with the need for tool boxes and speeding up
the process as everything is to hand.
De-pollution Tower:
• Tower installation; oil arm with built in controls;
and coolant spike.
• The tower is built to fit with any ELV lift, scissor,
single or two post.
• The tower is a standalone unit which is strong
enough to mount the oil arm directly to it.
• All the operating switches are on the tools making
it easy for the operator.
• The tower also has an option for two air reels to
be mounted at the top for using air tools.
V
ortex de-pollution manufactures a variety of
systems, as well as a range of standalone equipment, offering customers the freedom to
choose what is right for their operation.
“All of our systems incorporate the same design
principles of being faster, more reliable, easy to use
and more robust than any other equipment out
there,” said Willem Geyer, Vortex De-pollution. “We
also make equipment that works around the operator
and not the other way round.”
The Vortex De-pollution Systems enable the recycler
to remove the fluids from an end-of-life vehicle
quickly and efficiently, prior to storing, crushing or
shredding the vehicle.
Each system offers its own benefits in how vehicles
are processed, as not all auto recyclers are the same.
For example, a full service yard will not need Vortex’s
double catwalk system capable of processing over 120
vehicles a day. Instead, Vortex’s mobile fuel tool
would be a better choice to help make the recycler’s
operation safer. And, a pick-a-part operation would
definitely benefit from the double catwalk system.
They improve the level of operator safety by not
exposing them to fuel spills or constant inhalation of
the fumes by pumping all the fluids to outside
storage tanks.
All fluids can be separately pumped through the
system, so clean gas can be separated from dirty,
screen wash, brake fluid, and even coolant. They can
be separated by color, allowing waste
streams to be re-sold adding extra revenue. According to Geyer, one customer actually paid for the system
with the increase in his fuel revenues
in less than a year and a half.
Vortex offers turnkey installation,
with storage tanks and compressed
air solutions. All Vortex USA equipment is made in the America, at the
company’s Denver facility.
• Fuel can be separated into clean or dirty petrol
and diesel
• All under bonnet fluids are pumped directly to
the relevant tanks from the oil arms, which house the
extraction pipes.
Catwalk De-pollution Bay:
The system has all the benefits of the process-oriented combi system and the prep pump system, but
in one place. If the catwalk system is doubled to a two
station unit, process times reduce further as it only
requires the same number of operators to process
double the vehicles.
• Combining the rugged and durable high stand
with the proven capabilities of the fuel extraction tool
and the blockage resistant oil drainage
system you get the best of all Vortex’s
tools rolled into one high throughput
vehicle draining system.
• With the fuel system, the major controls are mounted on the head of the
tool giving the operator the benefit of
seeing the quality of the fuel before
deciding whether to send it to the clean
or dirty tanks for both petrol and diesel.
• Sliding floors fit any size of vehicle.
• All the tools needed for removing
sump plugs are mounted onto the oil
arm right where the operator needs
them.
• Option for the cat cutter controls to
be mounted inside the control cabinet
with the cutter itself mounted on the
stand.
• The positioning of the air reels on
either side of the pump system make it
easy to attach air tools to remove wheels,
drill, remove windshields
• It is simply a case of switch on the
pumps and extract the relevant fluid,
with options for two, three or four pumps
for total fluid separation.
According to Geyer, many features
make them different from their competitors; for a start, Vortex manufactures six
different systems and a range of standalone equipment. All of their systems
and standalone products share some
standard equipment that is constant
throughout the range and differentiates
them from their competition. The key
features on the standard equipment are:
• The fuel tool head: The head of this
tool makes a perfect fluid and vapor tight seal against
the tank prior to puncturing. The tool then punches
a ¾ inch hole in the tank, plastic or steel, the special
design of the punch opens up the tank to let the gas
flow through. The punch is made from beryllium
which is the hardest non-sparking material available.
The operator can then assess the quality of the gas
and then send it to a clean or dirty gas tank. Filtration
cleans the fuel further to remove water particles.
Once the pump is switched on the fuel is suctioned
out at around 8 gallons per minute. It only has one
moving part, whereas a drill has many parts that can
go wrong, causing costly down time and an expensive
parts bill.
Shopper’s
• The mobile fuel tool: Vortex works with customers to
create the right tool for the job. Nigel Dove, Vortex
CEO, was with a customer in Michigan who liked the
sealed head design but wanted something to move
between his 5 dismantling vehicle lifts.
Dove went back to the drawing board and made a
prototype for him. Three weeks later it was back with
the customer for a trial. He really liked it, so he piped
up a connection point at each lift going out to a storage tank 250 yards away around the back of the building. The tool connects to each point at each lift and
removes the gas straight to the storage tank, reducing
spillage caused by manually emptying the tanks.
• Vehicle racks: The racks have a sliding tilt block on
them to enable the vehicle to tilt to one side to maximize the recovery of gasoline. Vortex makes the
racks in 4” or 6” heavy duty steel box section and has
even made one for a customer in 8”. Where stands
are an issue to a customer they will work with them
with lift systems. Vortex prefers a single- or two-post
lift as they feel a scissor lift gets in the way of the oper-
ator. However, Vortex has a system to work with it.
• Oil drainer arms: The features make it superior:
– The funnels are made of oil resistant rubber so
won’t break or deform if they are hit by a less than
careful operative.
– The funnels can be raised up to fit tight to the
engine pan, this stops the oil blowing around in a
breeze and spilling on the floor.
– Each drainer has a cleanable double stainless
steel filter in the top to stop any larger debris and a
magnet at the bottom of the tube to take out any
smaller metallic particles. This stops the system from
blocking up and causing expensive downtime.
– All of the pumps in our equipment are 1” double
diaphragm air powered pumps that are protected by
a pre pump strainer, another unique Vortex feature.
– The oil arms come with a set of mounted tools so
the operator has the tool he needs to do the job in the
place he actually works rather than searching through
tool boxes, improving process time.
Web site: www.vortexdepollution.com
Companies partnering with automotive recyclers to handle fuel removal also can boost the bottom line. Here are two companies
that can assist with taking fuels off your facilities’ hands.
LAMB FUELS
L
amb Fuels Inc., which was founded in 1985 by
Virginia Lamb, started as a service to purchase
gasoline that auto dismantlers generate through
the de-pollution process of dismantling a vehicle. At
that time it was an almost unheard of service that
offered savings and increased revenue for the salvage
dealer. Virginia’s son, Greg Lamb, took over the company’s leadership in 1999 and the business today has
grown to become the largest fuel recovery company
in the United States and Canada, serving the auto dismantlers and scrap industries.
“We have achieved the dominant market share of
recoverable fuels due to our overlapping operation
hubs and our commitment of generating more revenue for our valued customers,” said Lamb. “This
strong foundation allows us to provide the largest
auto recyclers in the country
with exceptional service.
“Our business goal is to
work directly with our auto
salvage industry clients to provide solutions in order for
them to extract the fuel as
cleanly as possible,” said
Lamb. “This promotes acquiring acceptable reusable product for us, while minimizing
waste and generating revenue for our clients. We are
the premier fuel recovery company and because of
our many years of experience, we can provide whatever guidance may be required to help our clients
with the entire fuel recovery process.”
■ Products and Services:
Lamb Fuels offers regular fuel recovery service to
automotive recyclers of all sizes. It also assists its
clients by tackling a multitude of common issues, like
antifreeze disposal, waste hauling, and acquiring storage tanks, or de-pollution services or equipment.
Lamb says their “core principal at Lamb Fuels is to
find solutions for our clients, and the fuel will come.”
With this approach in mind, they partner with
companies such as the ones featured in this guide to
recommend a de-pollution system to their clients.
They also act as the third party in helping their clients
who are in need of acquiring used equipment or new
equipment.
“We use our experience to provide guidance to our
customers who are looking for a de-pollution system,”
said Lamb. “The customer selects and purchases the
equipment, but we provide input based on what we
see their needs are and what we’ve seen working in
similar situations. We also run across customers who
have put in a new process and no longer need certain
equipment such as storage tanks, etc., and we put
them in touch with other recyclers who are in need
of such equipment.”
Shopper’s
Lamb Fuels also offers a wireless tank monitoring
device that allows customers that have varying degrees
of volume of fuel each month to see exactly which
level they are at. This also allows Lamb Fuels to dispatch trucks as needed without the need for a yard
manager to ever call for a pickup, allowing the yard to
operate without downtime or emergency service calls.
“We go above and beyond to help our clients
achieve their goals,” said Lamb. “Whether that means
evaluating their facilities and services via site surveys,
offering to help off-set some of their costs for de-pollution equipment via recovered fuel, providing tank
storage solutions, remote tank monitoring or any
other way in which we can be of assistance in their
overall fuel recovery system – we are happy to do it.”
All trucks have calibrated Weights & Measures certified meters, so all pickups are accurate and error
free. Also, the entire fleet uses the JJ Keller Encompass
program which allows on-field Service Technicians to
be safe and compliant with all DOT regulations.
Web site: www.lambfuels.com
LOGAN OIL
enhanced service to their customers.
“Almost four years ago, we invented the Rhino
Drain to drain the gas from the vehicles,” said Kightly.
“We looked at what was available to the market and
engineered our own design. I think our equipment is
more rigid, quicker, and safer. Each facility Logan Oil
services can use either our equipment or their own to
extract the gas.
“If needed, Logan Oil provides the Rhino equipment at a lease fee, but if a facility produces enough
gas, we provide our equipment at no cost. But regardless of the amount of gas it produces, they always get
the price per gallon of gas. On average, there are
four gallons of gasoline left in a car.”
The other service Logan Oil offers to auto recyclers
is the cleaning of their gas – either on site using their
equipment leased for a fee – or the company can perform this task in a back-up procedure when it comes
to fill or offload its trucks.
Kightly founded Logan Oil with the operating principles that honesty and transparency are the only way
to successfully run a business. After more than a
decade of continued success, it is clear what their
advantage is: A CEO who manages a team of sales
people, service people, and professional staff who all
have the same devotion to interacting with customers
with respect and integrity.
Logan Oil provides flexible service that allows you
to customize to suit your business. Kightly says that
they are known as industry leaders due to their ontime service, innovative staff, and revolutionizing
gasoline that generates clean reusable gasoline.
“We are also the only known company in the State
of California to accurately meter our product onto
our trucks, thereby guaranteeing our suppliers with
an accurate amount of fuel collected.”
Since it was founded in 2004, Logan Oil has
reclaimed more than 5.3 million gallons of gasoline.
Web site: www.loganoil.com ■
L
ogan Oil, based in Los Gatos, California, provides service to over 120 cities nationwide and
in Canada, started virtually from scratch in
2004. CEO and founder Chris Kightly, started the
business by collecting gasoline from end-of-life vehicles
at auto auctions. They then cleaned and resold it, creating a revenue stream for its customers.
The business evolved as Logan Oil moved from
servicing the auto auction
industry to larger car dismantlers and car parts yards.
In addition to collecting,
cleaning, and reselling the gas
for the customer, Logan Oil
has also developed its own
range of draining and filtering
equipment to better aid the
customer. This allows them to
provide a start to finish service
for the collection, cleaning
and re-selling of the gasoline
taken from end-of-life vehicles.
■ Products and Services
Overview:
Logan Oil offers a gasoline
collection, cleaning, and reselling service for high-volume,
full-service dismantlers and
self-service dismantlers.
It manufactures draining
equipment that can be leased
if a recycler wants to drain the
vehicles themselves.
It offers the Rhino Drain – a
special piece of equipment
used to drain the gas from the
vehicles. Kightly says they
developed the Rhino Drain
themselves to provide an
Certified News
Gold Seal Program
LIKE THIS PAGE! www.facebook.com/GoldSealAutoRecyclers
Approved Gold Seal Participants
Blenkhorn's Auto Recyclers, Ltd.
Carcone's Auto Recycling
Miller's Auto Recycling (1992), Ltd.
Sonshine Auto Parts
Standard Auto Wreckers
Centre De Recyclage Universel (1981) Ltee.
LKQ -Lecavalier Ste-Sophie
D. A. Auto Parts, Ltd.
A & P Auto Parts, Inc.
A-1 Auto Recyclers
AAA Auto Salvage, Inc.
ABC Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Aberdeen Used Cars & Parts
Albuquerque Foreign Auto Parts
Algar, Inc. dba Grade A Auto Parts
All Auto Parts Co.
All Foreign & Domestic Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Al's Auto Parts, Inc.
American and Import Auto Parts
American Auto Recycling
Automotive Parts Solutions
B & B Auto Parts & Salvage, Inc.
B & B Auto Salvage, Inc.
B & M Auto Sales & Parts, Inc.
B & R Auto Wrecking
B Auto Parts
Badger Motors
Baird's Auto Parts, Inc.
Bay Auto Parts
Bessler Auto Parts
Bionic Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Bishop's Used Auto Parts
Bow Auto Salvage, Inc.
Brothers Auto Salvage Yard, Inc.
Brown's Auto Salvage
Butler Auto Recycling, Inc.
BW Auto Dismantlers, Inc.
C & H Salvage Corp.
Calumet Auto Salvage, Inc.
Central Auto Recycling, Inc.
Cocoa Auto Salvage, Inc.
Columbia Auto Parts
County Line Auto Parts
Cousineau Auto Parts, Inc.
Decatur Auto Parts, Inc.
Denton County Auto Salvage
Diamond Auto Parts
Don's Automotive Mall, Inc.
Eiss Brothers Auto Parts, Inc.
Elmer's Auto, Inc.
Erie Vo-Vo, Inc.
Foreign Auto Salvage
Fox Auto Parts, Inc.
Freeman's Auto Salvage Center, Inc.
Goyette's, Inc.
Grimes Truck & Auto Parts, LLC
G & R Auto Parts
H & H Auto Parts & Salvage, Inc.
Hanser's Automotive & Wrecker Company
Hickman Motors, Inc.
Highway 54 Salvage, Inc.
J.C. Auto & Truck Parts
Jantz's Yard 4 Automotive, Inc.
Jerry Brown Auto Parts Center, Ltd.
Jerry Carney & Sons, Inc.
John's Auto Parts
Junior Sinn Auto Parts, LLC
Kadinger's II
Kadinger's, Inc.
Brookside
Aurora
Fort Erie
Cumberland
Toronto
Val D'Or
Ste.-Sophie
Dumfries, Scotland
Cicero
Rapid City
Rosemount
Riverdale
Aberdeen
Albuquerque
Louisville
Fontana
Columbus
Trevose
Sterling Heights
Gilbert
Rockville
Oklahoma City
Rapid City
Waukesha
Corvallis
East St. Louis
Wisconsin Rapids
Fairdale
Green Bay
Wilder
Chicago
Middletown
Bow
Indianapolis
Bomoseen
Pensacola
Roseville
Campbell Hall
Milwaukee
Syracuse
Cocoa
W. Columbia
Kingsville
Weston
Decatur
Denton
Fond Du Lac
Binghamton
Watertown
Fountain City
Whitesboro
Ft. Wright
Belleville
Joplin
New Bedford
Grand Prairie
Oklahoma City
Sussex
Billings
Hickman
Trenton
Monroe City
Kenosha
Queensbury
Ames
Blaine
Cape Girardeau
Barron
Cadott
NS
ON
ON
ON
ON
QC
QC
GBR
NY
SD
MN
IL
NC
NM
KY
CA
OH
PA
MI
AZ
MN
OK
SD
WI
OR
IL
WI
KY
WI
KY
IL
CT
NH
IN
VT
FL
CA
NY
WI
NY
FL
SC
MO
WI
IL
TX
WI
NY
NY
WI
NY
KY
MI
MO
MA
TX
OK
WI
MT
KY
TN
MO
WI
NY
IA
MN
MO
WI
WI
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Kadinger's, Inc.
Kelly Auto Parts
Kirchhayn Auto Salvage, Inc.
Lacy Auto Parts, Inc.
Lewis Auto & Truck Parts
LKQ Advanced Auto Recycling
LKQ Auto Parts of Central Texas
LKQ Auto Parts of North Texas, LP
LKQ Auto Parts of South Texas
LKQ Midwest Auto Parts
LKQ of Michigan, Inc.
LKQ of Nevada, Inc.
LKQ of New Mexico
LKQ of Southern California
LKQ Pick Your Part/Car World
LKQ Potomac German Auto
LKQ Preferred
LKQ Smart Parts, Inc.
LKQ Star Auto Parts, Inc.
LKQ Triplett ASAP, Inc.
LKQ Viking Auto Salvage
LKQ West Michigan
M & M Auto Parts, Inc.
Metro Auto Recyclers
Midway Auto Parts, Inc.
Mitchells Auto Parts dba
Chuck & Eddies Used Auto Parts
Morris Rose Auto Parts, Inc.
Morrisons Auto, Inc.
Nordstrom's Automotive, Inc.
Northwest Auto Parts
Olston's Auto Recyclers
Pam's Auto, Inc.
Parts Unlimited, Inc.
Peacock Auto Salvage, Inc.
Pete's Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Remington Auto Salvage, Inc.
Rhine Auto, Inc.
Rhodes Auto S/S/S, Inc.
Ridge Road Auto Parts
Riteway Auto Parts, Inc.
Robertson's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Rockford Auto Parts, Inc.
Sandhill Auto Salvage, LLC
Schram Auto Parts
Sharp Auto Parts, LLC
Shroyer's Auto Parts
Snyder's Recycled Auto and Truck Parts
Spalding Auto Parts, Inc.
Speedway Auto, Ltd.
St. James Auto & Truck Parts, LLC
Stadium Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Stafford's, Inc.
Stoystown Auto Wreckers
Stricker Brothers, Inc.
Tolpa's Auto Parts
Tom's Foreign Auto Parts
Toomer Enterprises, LLC dba Doggett Auto Parts
Trails End Auto and Truck Salvage, Inc.
Walt's Auto, Inc.
Waterloo Auto Parts, Inc.
Wayne Auto Salvage, Inc.
Weller Auto Parts, Inc.
West Side Auto Parts, Inc.
Wilbert's, Inc.
Woodfin Honda / Pick and Save
Yancey Auto Salvage
Y-Yard Auto & Truck, Inc.
Downing
Faribault
Cedarburg
Charles City
Topeka
Cumberland
New Braunfels
Hutchins
Houston
Omaha
Wayne
North Las Vegas
Albuquerque
Santa Fe Springs
Candia
Frederick
Conway
Hustisford
Janesville
Akron
Northfield
Holland
Stafford
Valparaiso
Kansas City
WI
MN
WI
VA
KS
RI
TX
TX
TX
NE
MI
NV
NM
CA
NH
MD
AR
WI
WI
OH
MN
MI
VA
IN
MO
Plantsville
Kalamazoo
Edgerton
Garretson
Anchorage
Lincoln
St. Cloud
Pearland
Macon
Jenison
Eau Claire
Plymouth
Streator
Cleveland
Phoenix
Wareham
Rockford
Tama
Waterford
Stillwater
Lansing
Holland
Spokane
Joliet
St. James
Denver
Montgomery
Stoystown
Batavia
Remsen
Waterbury
Bryan
Des Moines
Springfield
Waterloo
Goldsboro
Grand Rapids
Laurel
Webster
Midlothian
Perry
Effingham
CT
MI
WI
SD
AK
NE
MN
TX
GA
MI
WI
WI
IL
OH
AZ
MA
IL
IA
MI
MN
MI
TX
WA
IL
MO
CO
IL
PA
OH
NY
CT
TX
IA
OH
IA
NC
MI
DE
NY
VA
MO
IL
Certified News
Certified Automotive Recycler (C.A.R.) Program
Approved C.A.R. Participants
43 Auto Salvage
Joplin
MO
Fireside's U-Pull It Auto Parts
Sandusky
A & A Auto and Truck Parts, Inc
Topeka
KS
Five J's Auto Parts, Inc.
Albuquerque
NM
A & A Auto and Truck Parts, Inc. ( rth)
Topeka
KS
Foreign Car Parts, Inc.
Upper Marlboro
MD
A & C Auto Parts & Wrecking Co.
Cleveland
OH
G & R Auto Parts, Inc.
Oklahoma City
OK
A & T Auto Parts, Inc.
Hyde Park
NY
Gary's U-Pull-It, Inc.
Binghamton
NY
AAAACO Auto Parts, Inc.
Lorton
VA
Geiger Truck Parts, Inc.
Watseka
IL
Aadlen Bros Auto Wrecking
Sun Valley
CA
Glenn's Auto & Truck Parts
Houston
TX
Ace Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Iowa City
IA
Green Point Auto Parts, Inc.
Brewer
ME
Action Auto Parts, Inc.
Marshalltown
IA
Higgins Auto Parts
Bakersfield
CA
All Car & Truck Recycling
Anderson
CA
Hillsboro Auto Wrecking
Hillsboro
OR
All Foreign Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Fredericksburg
VA
Hi-way Auto Parts
Tyler
TX
Alliance Auto Parts
Woodside
NY
Hi-Way Auto, Inc.
Brownwood
TX
Alvin's Automotive Recycling
Oakland
CA
Horsehead's Automotive Recycling
Elmira
NY
American Auto Parts
Omaha
NE
I-55 Auto Salvage
Channahon
IL
Auto Parts City, Inc.
Gurnee
IL
J & J Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Marshallville
OH
B & M Cars & Salvage
Sulphur Springs
TX
J & R Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Cedar Springs
MI
Bauer's Auto Wrecking
Fresno
CA
Jeff Smid Auto, Inc.
Davenport
IA
Bill's Auto Parts, Inc.
Cumberland
RI
Jerry's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Big Lake
MN
Bill's Used Parts, Inc.
Christianburg
VA
Keiffer Auto Recyclers
Canton
OH
Bishop's Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Middletown
CT
Knox Auto Parts & Rebuildable Wrecks
Knoxville
TN
Borges Foreign Auto Parts, Inc.
Dighton
MA
Kress Auto Wreckers
Hazle Township
PA
Bowie Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Bowie
MD
Leesville Auto Wreckers, Inc.
Rahway
NJ
Brandywine Auto Parts, Inc.
Brandywine
MD
Lems Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Doon
IA
Brandywine Truck Parts
Brandywine
MD
Lentini Auto Salvage, Inc.
Ringoes
NJ
Brandywine Two, Inc.
Brandywine
MD
Lewisville Motor Company, Inc.
Winston-Salem
NC
Brooks Auto Sales, Inc.
Oilville
VA
Linder's, Inc.
Worcester
MA
Bruce Auto Parts, Inc.
Mechanicsville
VA
LKQ - Barber's Auto Sales
Ardmore
AL
Camp Auto Salvage
Barberton
OH
LKQ 250 Auto, Inc.
Harrisville
OH
Central Small Car Salvage
Brandywine
MD
LKQ A & R Auto Parts, Inc.
Duncan
SC
Chuck's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Douglassville
PA
LKQ A Reliable U Pull It South
Blue Island
IL
Clayton Auto Parts & Wrecking, Inc.
Clayton
OH
LKQ Arizona (aka: LKQ All Models Corp.)
Phoenix
AZ
Colorado Auto & Parts, Inc.
Englewood
CO
LKQ Atlanta, LP
Jenkinsburg
GA
Compact Auto Parts
Brandywine
MD
LKQ Auto Parts of Utah, LLC
Springville
UT
Cosmos Ocean County Recycled Auto Parts
Bayville
NJ
LKQ Barger Auto Parts Nampa
Nampa
ID
Cosner Brothers Auto Parts, Inc.
Troy
VA
LKQ Birmingham, Inc.
Traffon
AL
Counselman Automotive Recycling, LLC
Mobile
AL
LKQ Brad's Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Redmond
OR
Cousineau Auto, Inc.
Antigo
WI
LKQ Broadway Auto Parts, Inc.
Stuyvesant
NY
Danny's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Tulsa
OK
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts -
Denison Auto Parts, Inc.
Cleveland
OH
Bradenton
FL
D-N-J Auto Parts
Owensboro
KY
Dom's Auto Parts Co., Ltd.
Courtice
ON CAN
Clearwater
FL
Don Scharf Automotive, Inc.
Eagle River
WI
Doug's Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Coldwater
MI
St. Petersburg
FL
Dulaney Auto and Truck Parts of Amarillo, Inc.
Amarillo
TX
Duval Auto Parts
Forest
VA
Tampa
FL
Eagle Auto Parts, Inc.
Martinsburg
WV
LKQ Crystal River, Inc.
Crystal River
FL
East Bay Auto Parts, Inc.
Interlochen
MI
LKQ Foster Auto Parts of Salem
Salem
OR
Economy Auto Parts
Tulsa
OK
LKQ Foster Auto Parts, Inc.
Portland
OR
Eden Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Eden
MD
LKQ Gorham Auto Parts Corp.
Gorham
ME
Elgin Super Auto Parts and Sales, Inc.
Elgin
IL
LKQ GreenLeaf - Dallas
Dallas
TX
Bradenton, Inc.
OH
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts Clearwater, Inc.
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts St. Petersburg, Inc.
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts Tampa, Inc.
Certified News
Certified Automotive Recycler (C.A.R.) Program
LKQ GreenLeaf - Fort Worth
Haltom City
TX
Pat's Auto Salvage
Waterloo
IA
LKQ GreenLeaf - Kennedale
Kennedale
TX
Premier Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Cedar Springs
MI
LKQ GreenLeaf - Seguin
Seguin
TX
Pull-A-Part Akron
Akron
OH
LKQ Hunts Point Auto Parts Corp.
Bronx
NY
Pull-A-Part Atlanta East
Lithonia
GA
LKQ Melbourne
Melbourne
FL
Pull-A-Part Atlanta rth
rcross
GA
LKQ Mid-America Auto Parts, Inc.
Topeka
KS
Pull-A-Part Atlanta South
Conley
GA
LKQ Minnesota, Inc.
Albert Lea
MN
Pull-A-Part Augusta
Augusta
GA
LKQ rthern California (Redding)
Redding
CA
Pull-A-Part Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge
LA
LKQ of Central California
Bakersfield
CA
Pull-A-Part Birmingham
Birmingham
AL
LKQ of Ft. Myers
Ft. Myers
FL
Pull-A-Part Canton
Canton
OH
LKQ of Indiana, Inc.
Plainfield
IN
Pull-A-Part Charlotte
Charlotte
NC
LKQ of rthwest Arkansas dba LKQ Mid-America
Fayetteville
AR
Pull-A-Part Cleveland I (East)
Cleveland
OH
LKQ of Tennessee
Manchester
TN
Pull-A-Part Cleveland II (West)
Cleveland
OH
LKQ Penn-Mar, Inc.
York Haven
PA
Pull-A-Part Columbia
Columbia
SC
LKQ Pick Your Part Anaheim
Anaheim
CA
Pull-A-Part Indianapolis
Indianapolis
IN
LKQ Pick Your Part Bakersfield
Bakersfield
CA
Pull-A-Part Jackson
Jackson
MS
LKQ Pick Your Part Chula Vista
Chula Vista
CA
Pull-A-Part Knoxville
Knoxville
TN
LKQ Pick Your Part Gainesville
Gainesville
FL
Pull-A-Part Lafayette
Lafayette
LA
LKQ Pick Your Part Help Your Self
Wilmington
CA
Pull-A-Part Louisville
Louisville
KY
LKQ Pick Your Part Stanton
Stanton
CA
Pull-A-Part Memphis
Memphis
TN
LKQ Pick Your Part Sun Valley
Sun Valley
CA
Pull-A-Part Mobile
Mobile
AL
LKQ Pick Your Part Wilmington
Wilmington
CA
Pull-A-Part Montgomery
Montgomery
AL
LKQ Potomac German
Orlando
FL
Pull-A-Part Nashville
Nashville
TN
LKQ Pull n Save Auto Parts of Aurora, LLC
Aurora
CO
Pull-A-Part New Orleans West
New Orleans
LA
LKQ Route 16 Used Auto Parts
Webster
MA
Pull-A-Part Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem
NC
LKQ Salisbury, Inc.
Salisbury
NC
Ransom Motors, Inc.
Brandywine
MD
LKQ Savannah, Inc.
Savannah
GA
Reitman Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Melbourne
KY
LKQ Self Service Auto Parts - Holland
Holland
MI
Rhinelander Auto Salvage
Rhinelander
WI
LKQ Self Service Auto Parts - Kalamazoo, Inc.
Kalamazoo
MI
Richard J. Cassidy, Inc. dba Interstate Auto Parts
Tioga Center
NY
LKQ Self Service Daytona
Daytona Beach
FL
Ripple's Service, Inc.
Upper Marlboro
MD
LKQ Self Service Memphis
Memphis
TN
Robert's Engines, Inc.
Lucama
NC
Manuel's Auto Wrecking
Merced
CA
Roberts Salvage, Inc.
Moffett
OK
Marco Auto Recycling, Inc.
Red Wing
MN
Rock & Roll Auto Recycling
Pleasanton
CA
Massey's Auto Parts, Inc.
Millington
TN
Rusty Acres Automotive, Inc.
Jacksonville
FL
McDill Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Stevens Point
WI
Salvage GM Parts of South Georgia, Inc.
Valdosta
GA
Metro Auto Salvage, Inc.
Lakeville
MN
School Street Light Truck Parts
Lowell
MA
Mid Island Auto Wreckers, Inc.
Deer Park
NY
Schram Auto & Truck Parts Lansing, Inc.
Mason
MI
Middleton Auto Parts
Fraser
MI
Scotty's Auto Parts
Virginia
IL
Milliron Auto Parts, Inc.
Mansfield
OH
Shipman Auto Parts, Inc.
Brainerd
MN
Misgen Auto Parts, Inc.
Ellendale
MN
Smith Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Garden City
KS
Mott Auto, Inc.
Lebanon
MO
Smith Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Fairfield
IA
Mr. R's Auto Salvage
Buffalo
WY
Snyder Auto Body & Paint
Clarinda
IA
Newton Auto Salvage, Inc.
Covington
GA
Southern Maryland Used Auto Parts
Mechanicsville
MD
Newville Auto Salvage, Inc.
Edgerton
WI
Sunscape Enterprises, Inc. dba Ace Auto Wreckers E. Brunswick
NJ
Niks Auto Parts, Inc.
Neenah
WI
Swift's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Des Moines
IA
Nissenbaum's Auto Parts, Inc.
Somerville
MA
Van Horn Auto Parts, Inc.
Mason City
IA
rth Verde Auto Salvage
Ontario
OR
Vander Haag's, Inc.
Des Moines
IA
Ole South Auto Salvage, Inc.
Lake Placid
FL
Vander Haag's, Inc.
Spencer
IA
P & C Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Milpitas
CA
West Auto Wreckers, Ltd.
Chula Vista
CA
Pacific Auto Salvage, Inc.
American Canyon
CA
Xtra Mile Truck Recyclers
Phoenix
AZ
Spotlight on
EXCELLENCE
Trails End Auto
and Truck Salvage
M
Deep roots in the industry help keep this
business grounded in what’s important.
ike Swift and his family are another example of the true
fighting spirit that ARA members possess to pursue their
business with passion through the most difficult circumstances. This fighting spirit and determination to keep on
going has been the success of the automotive industry
since its early beginnings in the 1940s.
Mike Swift, a third generation auto recycler, inherited a passion for the industry from his grandfather
O.F. Orrie Swift, and his dad, Dale Swift. His grandfather started Swift’s Auto in the 1940s in Des Moines,
Iowa, which evolved into an auto salvage business.
Mike’s father took over the business from his dad in
1963. At the time, it was located on one acre, surrounded by woods and with one dirt road going past
it. Today, in the same location, it has expanded to
three acres, and is located two miles from downtown
Des Moines at the corner of a very busy industrial
park.
Mike and his brother Steve grew up at Swift’s Auto
Salvage and worked there during high school. After
school, they joined their dad full-time.
“I started full time at Swift’s in 1979 after graduat-
ing from high school,” said Mike. “We operated out
of an old building and had no storage of any kind. We
pulled all of the parts off the cars out in the yard. We
had a few parts on the shelf, and part of my job was
to keep it stocked. I used to pull parts and do inventory using the old AIM’s Systems cards and the twopart tags. In the following years, we put up a building
that stored engines, transmissions and some other
small parts.
“Most of my jobs were doing whatever I had to do
to help get the job done. Service was the one thing
that the other yards in Des Moines had a hard time
competing with us on. Swift’s has a very good name
in Iowa, when it comes to used auto parts. We took a
lot of pride in our name, and still do, and the lesson
dad taught us, that the customer comes first!”
Peaks and Valleys
In 1984 Swift’s Auto became the first computerized
salvage yard in Iowa. They hired more employees and
the business began to take off. Dale became partners
with the business next door, which was a truck wash.
This partnership gave them a couple more acres, running water, as well as office and storage space.
Mike spent twenty years as the manager of Swift’s
Auto before he and Steve ventured out on their own
in 1999, and purchased Trails End Auto and Truck
Salvage. They started small, with a few thousand cars,
old equipment, and an “ancient” computer system.
Today, Trails End has grown to employ over 20 people, with a state-of-the-art, ten terminal computer system, bar-coded inventory, three tilt beds, and three
loaders.
“We have been through a lot as a family,” said Mike.
“My dad had a partnership that was not good and
there was no easy way out of it. The purchase of Trails
End gave our family a place to operate, if Dale decided to sell out to his partner. In the next few years,
Dale ended up buying out his partner, plus taking on
all of the debt. Swift’s Auto was on the brink of bankruptcy when Dale took over the business as sole
owner. In the next few years, Trails End and Swifts
Auto fed off of each other’s inventory, and we built
it back up almost to where it used to be. Once again,
excellent customer service is what got Swift’s Auto
back on its feet.”
This was the first in a series of challenges that Swift
and his family would have to overcome as they operated the two businesses, separately-owned under one
family.
Over the course of time, one emotional challenge
has been the death of key employees in both businesses, leaving not only a job vacancy but a loss of
friendship to the family. Only one year after Dale
bought out his partner, his main counter sales person
passed away. Mike went back to work on the counter
at Swift’s temporarily until a replacement was found
a few months later.
Then, Mike tragically lost his friend and employee
at Trails End. “Our main counter person and manager, and my best friend, had a massive heart attack
at work and died,” Mike remembered. “That was five
years ago, and it seems just like yesterday. Our family and employees have been through a lot in the last
few years, but we keep moving forward.”
Soon after that, Mike feels that Trails End faced one
of their toughest years, but came out victorious. It is
a story that many automotive recyclers can relate to.
“I think one of our greatest success stories is that we
have survived the great fall of 2008,” said Mike. “We
went through some really bad times. On October 1,
2008 the price of scrap was $360 dollar per ton. We
were crushing two to three loads per day. We were
turning money faster than we could keep up, buying
300 to 400 cars per month. Cars were everywhere. No
worries. No problems.
“Then, the crushing blow came as prices fell from
$360 per ton to zero per ton. Yes, zero per ton. We
Spotlight on
EXCELLENCE
still had bills to pay and no scrap money coming in
for at least a month.
“This really hurt us. No line of credit at the bank.
No help from the bank. There were bills to pay and
no money to pay them. We struggled and struggled
to keep things a float. We then found a bank that did
help us a little, but it was very close to slamming its
doors closed. In the last four and a half years we have
tried to shop our business to over twenty banks, with
the answer always being no,” Mike said.
Bitter Sweet
They experienced a significant turn-around in the
midst of yet another challenge – their dad, Dale, died
on October 16, 2010, having battled esophageal cancer. In the midst of their grief, a family friend, who is
a bank president, approached Mike at his dad’s funeral and offered to help them.
“We have finished the loan papers and now have a
bank that will partner with us to help us fulfill our
vision of expansion for Swift’s Auto and Trails End. I
can’t wait for this process to be over,” Mike continues.
“We paid off a lot of debt. We have been and are
still moving forward. However, we really miss our dad.
He was our leader. He was our boss. He was that guy
in the business who was the best buyer and sales man.
Thank goodness that he taught us well and passed
this down to us, because without his teaching us these
skills, I don’t know what we would have done.
“He was the patriarch of the family. We miss him
every day. We know he is watching over us and thank
God that he is. So, I think our greatest success is that
we are still in business.”
Currently, Swift’s Auto Salvage and Trails End Auto
and Truck Salvage work together as much as they can.
Trails End deals in more of the older cars and scrap
while Swift’s handles newer model cars and has a towing impound company located on the premises.
Togetherness
Since their father’s death in 2010, Mike’s sisters,
Susan Fidler and Wendi Roush, work at Swift’s Auto.
Their mother, Gretchen, works at both facilities. Mike
says that his parents’ attitude towards business and
ironing out arguments, that often arise from doing
business with family, has been vital to their success.
“Our mom is a very strong person,” said Mike. “She
was with my dad for every doctor’s appointment,
every step of the way. She stood by my dad through
the good times and the bad. We are very lucky to have
a great mom and I know that I speak for my entire
family; we are so blessed to have her in our lives.
Working with family can be very trying, and we have
our arguments like everybody else, but the one thing
our parents never tolerated is carrying these arguments on forever.
“We get them out there, say we are sorry, and move
forward. We also make sure that we make time for
family get-togethers, birthdays, etc. Our parents own
a home at Lake of the Ozarks. We are very blessed to
have this in our family. We can go to the lake, relax,
but most of all we can do it as a family. We all get to
the lake several times a year.”
In addition to the fighting spirit and excellent customer service, Trails End has had other notable successes. It has had employees who have been with
them for over 30 years, a testament to their low turnover rate. Mike feels the very fact that he is a third
generation recycler is a success in itself. Now his son,
Sam Swift is following in his footsteps and, at 19 years
old, is the youngest employee.
“We have great employees,” said Mike. “Like family, we have good days and we have bad days. It just
goes with the territory.”
Looking Ahead
Future plans for Trails End include getting a scale
installed and possibly expanding its dismantling facility. They also plan to fully implement their U-Pull-It
yard. They proactively market their business using
radio advertising, Craigslist, Hispanic newspapers, and
e-mail blasts, to name a few, to reach their potential
market. They also belong to QRP Central, a group of
recyclers that has a manager that promotes the group.
The most memorable moment in the industry for
Mike has been the Cash for Clunkers (C4C) program. He wishes some of the energy spent enforcing
that was currently used for other initiatives facing the
industry today.
“I hope to never see Cash for Clunkers again,” said
Mike. “If it hadn’t been for ARA and Michael Wilson,
we wouldn’t have been able to sell any parts off of
those cars. The enforcement for that program was
unbelievable. They stopped here 34 times to make
sure all of the engines didn’t run and all of the paper
work was filled out. Then they stopped back by to
make sure we had no C4C cars left in the yard. If the
government would enforce other laws in place today,
such as NMVTIS, like they did C4C, we might be in
a different place now in our industry.”
Mike notes there are several issues facing the industry, such as salvage acquisition, unregulated buyers in
the pools, pirate scrappers who don’t adhere to rules,
and third party brokers operating at home and brokering parts, but overall, he feels the future of auto
recycling is heading in the right direction.
“I think we are heading in the right direction, but
it seems to move very slowly,” said Mike. “There are
some good laws in place. We just need enforcement
and we need to update some laws to better reflect the
times.
“We do a lot of proactive things such as CAR program, I-CARE program, IOWA Certified Auto
Recycler, MSDS files and safety programs, airbag protocol and the list goes on and on. You would hope by
now that all of this would mean something to the
other industries that we deal with like insurance, collision, and auto repair. You would also think all of this
proactiveness would mean something right now to
our regulators. I know in some cases it does, but I
think we need to ‘toot our horn’ more and spread
the message.”
Mike feels that it’s important for recyclers to get
involved to do their part to help change the tide of
issues the industry faces.
“More recyclers need to get involved,” said Mike. “If
you don’t have the time but you have the money, send
in your money. If you have the time, take the time to
read about our industry. Some of these recyclers need
to get off the sidelines and get involved.
“It’s our association and if we don’t participate, then
why should anybody else care to get involved to help?
People need to stop riding on the coat tails of others
and hop on board. Get out in front. We have a lot of
issues and I know the naysayers say that things will
never change, but they can, and they will!” ■
Michelle Keadle-Taylor is a freelance writer in Northern Virginia, and a regular
contributor to Automotive Recycling magazine.
International Auto Recycling
Reports from Around the World
Malaysian Auto Recycling
Framework Begins
By Lee Cheong Boo,
Executive Secretary, Malaysia Automotive
Recyclers Association (MAARA)
E-mail: aboo@maara.com.my
Editor’s Note: This was submitted for inclusion
in the global report in September-October, but
arrived too late for publication.
t is a great pleasure to be invited to
write an article on the Malaysian auto
recycling industry. The context of auto
recycling in Malaysia is rather different
from other developed countries, as
Malaysia still does not practice end-of-life
vehicle policies even though we have
national car manufacturing of the Proton
and Perodua since 1985 and 1993 respectively. In fact, the phrase “auto recycling”
is still very new to Malaysians.
Today, MAARA has around 200 members, but almost 99% consist of used auto
parts traders, and they source used parts
mainly from Japan (97.4%), then supply
to the local automotive aftermarket and
partly re-export to third world countries
such as Kenya, United Arab Emirates,
and Zimbabwe, without any value adding
activities. Thus, no significant guidelines
and standards exist to govern the industry. A majority of the operators are running the business with the license of the
scrap metal collector, not auto recyclers.
The establishment of Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) in 2009 was the
turning point for the Malaysian automotive industry. This agency is under the
supervision of Ministry of Trade and
Industry headed by CEO Mr. Madani.
With MAI professionals from solid industry backgrounds to formulate the unbiased strategy, the revised National
Automotive Policy (NAP) 2012 has been
presented for cabinet’s approval but has
yet to be announced to the public.
Under the revised NAP, some of the
policy has touched on the used auto
I
parts industry. One of the highlights is
the decision to continue to allow the
importation of used automotive parts.
This is great news to the industry because
the NAP 2009 proposed a total ban on
used spare parts by June 2011. However,
the wise decision comes with a condition – a mechanism shall be established
to ensure the safety standard of the
imported used parts. Following the proposed conditions, MAARA is ready to
transform and enhance the Malaysian
auto recycling industry guided by the
framework given by MAI.
Pressing Issues
The proposed framework consists of
four issues, namely:
• To establish a standard for used parts;
• To develop a set of standard operating procedures for the industry;
• To implement human capital development program for auto recyclers;
• To create outreach awareness programs among the auto recyclers and public through series of workshops, seminars,
or roadshows.
The proposed framework posed a
challenge to MAARA as currently there
are no worldwide standards established
for used parts. However, study and interview has been carried out and we learned
that revealing the vital information of the
parts or components, such as, the mileage vehicle travelled, cause of dismantling, classification of condition, and year
of manufacturing, might help consumers
to make wiser decisions.
Apart from that, warranties given by
the importer will also help increase the
safety standards by pressuring them to be
more selective in quality and to avoid
bringing in the substandard parts. However, the above measurements need
more thorough study before it can be
implemented.
As for standard operating procedures
(SOP), MAARA is currently engaged in
the working group with SIRIM Berhad,
the Malaysian government’s mandated
machinery for research and technology
development and the national champion
of quality to develop the standard for
end-of-life vehicles. This will ultimately
become the standard operating procedure of the authorized treatment facility,
however the discussion is ongoing. The
results of the SOP development will also
be used to identify the training needs
and module to enhance human capital
development.
To start the outreach awareness programs, the first edition of auto recycling
magazine initiated by MAARA known as
My Auto Recycling will be published in
January 2013. This will serve as the means
of communication and marketing tools
for auto recycling industry.
The publication will be distributed free
to the local recyclers, public, related government agencies, and overseas affiliates,
and we hope this will help MAARA to
position the members as auto recyclers,
not just scrap metal dealers who are
always linked with car theft. MAARA is
eager to change and upgrade the industry to benchmark the standard of global
Authorized Treatment Facility (ATF).
Hence, the image transformation is vital
to keep these operators in the business.
International Networks
In the international arena, we had
been actively participating in various
forums, roundtables, conferences, and
exhibitions to keep updated on auto
recycling developments.
In 2011, MAARA marked an important
milestone by hosting the 4th Asian Automotive Environment Forum (AAEF) in
Genting, Highland, which attracted 215
participants worldwide. AAEF is an important event for MAARA as it allows
MAARA to meet ARA, KARA, JARA,
ARC, and ARAA annually at an organizing Asian country. This is crucial as these
affiliates have more advanced and developed systems for MAARA to learn and
follow.
In Europe, MAARA strengthened the
relationship with Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association of Great Britain (MVDA)
when we attended the IRT in Liverpool
2012 with 8 MAARA delegates. It was a
fruitful tour where we visited several large
auto recycling yards, namely Silverlake
Automotive Recycling, Doncaster Motor
Spares Ltd., and Charlton Recycled
Autoparts Ltd.
We have also subscribed to the
Association of Recycling Netherland
(ARN) monthly electronic newsletter to
learn the european way of auto recycling.
MAARA Achievements
Since MAARA’s establishment in 2008,
our greatest achievement has been the
recognition of MAI as the window to the
auto recycling industry. MAARA’s existence completes the Malaysia automotive
eco-system by transforming a pipe-end
system to a vein-and-artery system.
Continuous sustaining of the automotive
industry will help Malaysia’s determination to become the regional hub for the
ASEAN automotive market in 2020.
In 2011, MAARA gathered the local
auto recyclers and spent RM 96,000 to
appoint an academic team of professors
from the local university to conduct
research. The 195-page report findings
convinced the government that the move
to ban importation of used parts is not
reasonable. The report revealed that
there is a lack of data or evidence indicating that the cause of fatalities and vehicle accidents is due to used parts and
components usage.
The MAI-proposed ELV structure has
given us a great challenge where MAARA
members will be authorized as vehicle
dismantlers who are the important elements in an ELV system. Thus MAARA’s
current task is to prepare the members
to be ready and for facilities to prepare
for gradual implementation of ELVs.
MAARA Future
MAARA’s future is bright! There is
plenty of room for improvement and
many efforts needed to assist MAI to
achieve its goal. Known as the country
with highest “density” car ownership in
the ASEAN, it is timely to implement
ELV policy in Malaysia.
Lacking a complete public transportation system, the private vehicle is the
important transportation means for the
citizens. However, the Malaysian automotive market will come to the saturation
point with approximately 520,000 aged
cars, more than 25 years old, still running
on the road causing traffic congestion
and increased traffic fatalities. This will
eventually deteriorate the national economy development.
With cooperation from the overseas
affiliates, MAARA believes that the knowledge and expertise learned will assist the
Malaysian government to achieve its
objective efficiently and effectively within
a short period of time. ■
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International Auto Recycling
Reports from Around the World
Do You Have Customer Service
Failure Plan of Action?
By Andy Latham
hate going to the hairdressers, not just
because they always cut just a little too
much off, nor because of the lightness of
my wallet afterwards, but primarily
because of the awkward conversations
that inevitably accompany a quick trim.
The other day, however, I found myself
having a reasonably enjoyable hairdressing experience. As I sat waiting to have
my hair trimmed, the owner, embarrassed by the length of time I had been
waiting, offered a free head massage and
hair wash. Being far too British, I reluctantly agreed and settled down for what
I expected to be an uncomfortable 15
minutes. Being very masculine I am not
going to lie, laying back with my eyes
closed having my hair washed and my
head massaged was one of the best fifteen minutes of my week.
As I walked back home I thought
about the customer service I had just
experienced – not a complaint about
waiting, but a compliment about the
service offered that could have far reaching effects for the hairdresser. I would be
telling all my friends about the best fifteen minutes rather than the long wait.
Is this the same in your business? Do
you give your customers cause to celebrate the service you offer even if you do
fall short of the highest standards on
occasion?
Honoring your promises is essential to
great customer service; yet, failing to
keep promises happens occasionally for
a multitude of reasons. Having a “get out
of jail free” card is a requirement for all
businesses if they want to keep that customer using the services they sell.
My head massage and hair wash did
not cost my hairdresser much, but it
bought him immense loyalty and some
great publicity. It also showed that he was
I
What promises have you made to your customers?
How often do you keep those promises?
What can you offer if you fail to meet your promises
that is reasonably priced but very effective?
aware of the promises his business had
made and was tracking success and failure.
Applying this to the auto recycling
industry is easy; what promises have you
made to your customers? How often do
you keep those promises? What can you
offer if you fail to meet your promises
that, like my head massage, are reasonably priced but very effective?
Many might be thinking of discounts
off the next purchase or free delivery;
but the important point is knowing what
will have the desired impact with the customer. What will get them talking to others about your attitude toward failure
rather than complaining about what
went wrong with their service from your
company?
Here are a few suggestions: Buy One
Get One Free (BOGOF) on this or any
future purchase; for local customers, a
25% discount at a local restaurant which
could be a reciprocal arrangement with
the restaurant owner looking to get
more business; or even a prearranged
deal with any other local or online vendor that offers a customer a discount
that could give an introductory incentive
kickback to the auto recycler if the product or service is bought.
Astute owners and managers will track
these vouchers and discounts to see who
is receiving them and why and remove
the issues behind these failures, raising
standards in the process.
So, next time you have your hair cut,
try out the head massage and hair wash
for the best fifteen minutes of your week,
and while experiencing this reflect how
you could give your customers their best
fifteen minutes of their week.
Ecclesiastes 9:8 says, “Let not oil be
lacking on your head,” so my head massage and hair wash is already booked for
next month! ■
Andy Latham is Compliance Manager for Bluecycle, UK and
Europe.
Capitol Connection
From ARA’s Government Affairs
Congressional Highlights
U.S. Congressional Committees Consider Internet Sales Tax Bills
omentum seems to be building
towards federal action on bills that
require Internet retailers to collect and
remit sales and use taxes to states and
localities in which the purchase was
made. The Marketplace Fairness Act - S.
1832, a bipartisan bill, would exempt
remote sellers with gross annual sales of
up to $500,000 while the similar House
version (H.R. 3179) includes a small
business exemption limit of $1,000,000.
In an effort to further explore this
issue and its potential impact on automotive recyclers, ARA reached out to the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and
M
Federal action is
increasing on bills that
may require Internet
retailers to collect and
remit sales and use taxes
to states and localities
in which the purchase
was made.
learned that although the Chamber
does not yet have a position on this issue,
their staff are in the process of working
with interested Chamber members as
State Issues
egislatures in the majority of states have adjourned for
the year, with work now focused on preparing and prefiling bills for the 2013 legislative session. Seven states have
begun pre-filing for next year: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky,
Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Virginia. Of
particular interest are Montana and North Dakota, where
state legislatures convene every two years for regular session
and a significant number of bills have been pre-filed during
the interim 2011-2012 period. ARA staff will be closely monitoring a proposed bill in North Dakota relating to the
refusal to issue a certificate of title for unsafe and unfit vehicles. In Virginia, legislation that would require a disclosure
statement on salvage vehicle titles was carried over to the
2013 session and ARA will continue to monitor that bill, HB
798. Alabama, Florida, Kentucky do not have any pre-filed
relevant bills at this time.
While eight states remain in session throughout the year,
more than 75 percent of state legislative seats are up for election and it is unlikely that much will be accomplished before
November.
L
Salvage Acquisition Update
Ohio – The Ohio General Assembly is still actively considering Senate bill 273, which would allow unlicensed instate buyers and non-equivalent licensed out-of-state buyers
to purchase vehicles from salvage pools and auctions. S.B.
273 passed the Senate in early May and has been referred
well as staff of the Senate bill’s co-sponsors. The Chamber’s Chief Tax Policy
Counsel is circulating to any interested
parties a document entitled “Internet
Sales Tax Principles” which points out
specific barriers that need to be
addressed for successful small business
implementation.
These bills could be considered during the upcoming lame duck session,
but it is more likely that they will be reintroduced early in the next Congress,
after which there will be much opportunity for stakeholders such as the ARA
to become involved in the discussion.
to the House Insurance Committee for further deliberation.
There has not been much activity in the General Assembly
over the summer, however the committee is expected to
resume its deliberations of S.B. 273 in November. ARA, the
Ohio Auto and Truck Recyclers Association (OATRA), and
local automotive recyclers have been actively working to
reach out to legislators to emphasize the dangerous implications of S.B. 273. Auto recyclers contacted members of the
House Insurance Committee and House leadership over
the summer through phone calls, in-person meetings, and
at public events. A series of facility visits have occurred where
members of the Committee and leadership toured local
auto recycling facilities. ARA and OATRA are on record
expressing their concerns about the bill to Ohio legislators,
voicing the serious threat to local jobs, consumers and the
environment, and will continue to do so this fall.
California – In California, the conclusion of a six-month
government study of auto auctioneers resulted in a proposed assembly bill (AB2618) that would require auto auctions to collect tax reimbursement on the sale of any vehicle
that is sold to any person other than a licensed dealer, dismantler, automotive repair dealer, or scrap metal processor.
Current tax law was being abused and improperly enforced,
enabling buyers who were not properly licensed to purchase
vehicles without paying sales tax, resulting in significant loss
of revenue for the state. The California automotive recycler
associations and ARA strongly supported AB2618, which
was signed into law in early October.
House Subcommittee Holds
Hearing on Automotive Parts
Patents
U.S. House of Representatives
Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 3889, the “Promoting
Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act”
(or the “PARTS Act”). Sponsored by
Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA) and
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the bill would provide a “repair clause” in patent law to
shorten the design patent on automotive
collision repair parts from the current 14
years to 30 months, while still protecting
the overall vehicle design patent. This bill
only addresses “cosmetic replacement
parts” such as bumper covers, grills, fenders, quarter panels and mirrors.
Although like the Internet sales tax
bills, this bill could be considered during
the upcoming lame duck session, it is
more likely that it will be reintroduced
A
early in the next Congress, after which
there will be much opportunity for stakeholders such as the ARA to become
involved in the discussion.
ARA Staff Talk With U.S. House
Appropriations Staff
RA staff has worked with senior
House Appropriations Committee
staff to finally determine that a line item
CAN NOT be included into the DOJ
Appropriations package that would allocate monies to NMVTIS enforcement
because the initial law providing for
NMVTIS did not give DOJ the authority
to fund an NMVTIS enforcement role.
The staff did, however, encourage ARA
to pursue the enactment of authorizing
language to allow civil penalties collected
under the enforcement program to fund
DOJ’s administrative costs. Meetings are
occurring to this end. ■
A
Crossword Puzzle
By Murray Jackson
Across
1. Used-parts supplier (4,8)
8. Carhops’ cargo, in days past
9. Periodic maintenance
10. Given name, ‘98 and ‘99 F1 champ Hakkinen
11. Dodge Challenger driver in “Vanishing Point”
13. Flashy finish on ‘50s bumpers
14. Trucker slang for cold-cargo carrier
17. ‘70s ad “Baseball, hot dogs, ____ and Chevrolet” (5,3)
19. Chrysler’s prodigious power plant
21. Nationality of Alfa Romeo cars
22. ‘88-’98 Chrysler Corp. brand
23. Temporary demo-car attachments (6,6)
Down
1. Car-repair pro (4,8)
2. Chevy's clone of Suzuki Sidekick
3. Car corrosion
4. Generic term for modified car
5. Saab or Subaru
6. Offramps
7. Mack and Kenworth attachments
12. Former Chrysler Corporation luxury line
15. Big-rig payload, generically
16. Hot-rod driving “American Graffiti” character
18. Word seen on ‘60s hippie van
20. Car-salesperson’s objective
2012-2013 Industry Calendar
To include your event in ARA’s calendar of events,
e-mail the complete listing to Maria@a-r-a.org.
Visit www.a-r-a.org for the most up-to-date calendar.
November
March 2013
7
Auto & Truck Recyclers of New Hampshire
The Yard Restaurant
1211 Mammoth Rd.
Manchester, NH 03109
6:30 PM
Meets on first Wednesday of each month
12-15
2013 Mid-Year Business Development Conference
Hill Days & Legislative Summit
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
www.a-r-a.org
8-10
Automotive Recyclers Association of New York
Annual Convention
Crowne Plaza
Albany
16-18
Missouri Auto & Truck Recyclers (MATR)
Camden on the Lake
Lake Ozark, MO
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
5th Asian Automotive Environmental Forum
Hotel Chancellor Australia Gold Coast
David Nolan (03) 9502-7513
admin@autorecycle.com.au
Register at www.autoenvironment.com.asia
December
5
Auto & Truck Recyclers of New Hampshire
The Yard Restaurant
1211 Mammoth Rd.
Manchester, NH 03109
6:30 PM
Meets on first Wednesday of each month
Send your 2013 events to
maria@a-r-a.org
13-15
13th International Automobile Recycling Congress IARC 2013
Brussels, Belgium
21-23
Greater Midwest Automotive Recyclers Expo
www.ari-ne.org
Dana Adamy
info@ari-ne.org
22-23
Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association
Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel
Watch for updates at www.oara.com/events.php
April
11-13
URG Conference
Mark Your Calendar!
23-25
American Salvage Pool Association
2013 Annual Conference & Industry Symporium
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa
Tucson, AZ
Ad Index
AA Midwest ....................................................................36
Actual Systems of America, Inc./Pinnacle .........26
Al-jon................................................................................11
Alter Trading...................................................................17
ARA Marketplace/BizUnite....................................60
Brock Supply Co. ......................................................12
Buddy Automotive........................................................39
Car-Part.com..........................................................C-4
Commercial Forms .......................................................31
Connection, The .........................................................5
CRUSH/S3 Software Solutions, LLC .....................19
Hollander, a Solera company .............................C-3
Knopf Automotive ......................................................6
Lamb Fuels.....................................................................49
Logan Oil ........................................................................50
MarkingPenDepot.com...........................................59
OmniSource ...................................................................63
Pemberton......................................................................30
RAS...................................................................................28
Recycle Cat......................................................................61
SEDA ................................................................................44
Sierra International Machinery.................................9
SuperShear.....................................................................57
Vortex...............................................................................47
United Recyclers Group...........................................C-2
Vander Haag’s, Inc...................................................65
Wells Fargo Business Insurance ...............................15
Get Ahead in 2013
To advertise, contact Caryn Smith at
(239) 225-6137 or e-mail ARAEditor@comcast.net.
Answers from Puzzle on page 64
November
6-9
70th Annual Convention & Exposition
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown & Phoenix Convention Center
www.a-r-a.org
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
1. Publication Title: Automotive Recycling 2. Publication Number: 1058-9376 3. Filing Date: October 8,
2012 4. Issue Frequency: Bi-monthly 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: Six 6. Annual Subscription Price: $40.00 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (not printer): Automotive
Recyclers Association, 9113 Church St., Manassas, VA 20110-5.33 456 8. Complete Mailing Address of
Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (not printer): 9113 Church St., Manassas, VA 201105456 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher
(Name and Complete Mailing Address) Michael E. Wilson, 9113 Church St., Manassas, VA 20110-5456 ;
Editor (Name and Complete Mailing Address) Caryn Smith, 12901 Village Gate St., Ft. Myers, FL 33913
10. Owner: Automotive Recyclers Association, 9113 Church St., Manassas, VA 20110-5456 13. Publication Title: Automotive Recycling 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September 18, 2012 15. Extent
and Nature of Circulation: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 months: a. total Number
of Copies (net press run) 1700, b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Paid/Requested Outside-county
Mail Subscriptions Slated on Form 3541) 1717, c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 1434, d. Free
Distribution by Mail (Outside County as Slated on Form 3541): 50, e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (carriers or other means): 150, f. Total Distribution: 1584, g. Copies not Distributed: 133, h. Total: 1717, i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 91%. Actual No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing
Date: a. Total Number of Copies (net press run) 1700, b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Paid/Requested Outside-county Mail Subscriptions Slated on Form 3541) 1262, c. Total Paid and/or Requested
Circulation: 1434, d. Free Distribution by Mail (Outside County as Slated on Form 3541): 100, e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (carriers or other means): 200, f. Total Distribution: 1462, g. Copies not Distributed: 238, h. Total: 1700, i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 86% 16. Publication of Statement
of Ownership will be printed in the November/December 2012 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and
Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: Michael E. Wilson, Managing Editor.
Final Thoughts
By Michael E. Wilson, ARA Chief Executive Officer
michael@a-r-a.org
Connections Make Us Stronger
First up, ARA is aggressively fighting for access to
important motor vehicle parts data that is likely
the life line for our industry’s future.
iStockphoto.com/Devonyu
hat a year of connections and
growth it has been for the
Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA).
Indeed the story of automotive recycling
is a remarkable one and needs to be
retold over and over again.
ARA’s members, leadership, and staff
have travelled it together, celebrating our
successes and facing our challenges. And
through it all, it was reinforced yet one
more time that when the professional
automotive recycling industry works
together, great things come to pass.
Partnerships with state affiliates, industry user groups, consumers, and our
international counterparts are what
make us strong. Just as they share with us
their expertise and perspective, ARA supports their efforts by providing a dedicated staff and professional automotive
recycler leaders who are willing to spend
the time to make a difference.
In speaking about this past year, I cannot begin to say anything without first
acknowledging what an honor and privilege it was to serve with now Past
President Randy Reitman. In Randy, I
saw the quintessential qualities of an ARA
member: One person willing to answer
his industry’s call to serve and then doing
so with every ounce of strength in his
body and soul.
By now, many of you have probably
heard about Randy’s battles with cancer.
However, what many of you were not
able to witness was his relentless battling
on behalf of this industry. Job well done
and we look forward to Randy’s contributions for many years to come.
In Orlando, the Presidential gavel was
passed to Chris Wright. Rest assured,
whatever this year ahead brings, Chris is
up to the challenge and will work and
partner with others to get the job done.
First up, ARA is aggressively fighting for
access to important motor vehicle parts
data that is likely the life line for our
industry’s future.
W
Disappointingly, the barriers to reuse
being erected in this area by automobile
manufacturers and others are extensive.
Reprogramming and parts identification are two significant obstructions that
automakers continue to build upon to
limit reuse opportunities. It is not only
professional automotive recycling community that is being affected. Everyday
consumers who are stretching their dollars further and further in these economic times have and will face the
consequences of the automakers actions.
In March 2012, ARA met with U.S.
Federal Trade Commission officials to
begin the dialogue regarding important
consumer concerns that are included in
these issues. In these changing times,
these discussions could be the most
important in decades.
In November, ARA submitted historic
comments to the National Highway
Safety Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) on why automobile manufacturers must provide comprehensive
information on data such as Original
Equipment numbers, Part ID numbers,
build sheets with textual part descriptions, published service and recall bulletins, remedy/repair procedures, along
with all current and superseded numbers
on recalled items.
In this increasingly global automotive
parts economy where parts are traded
worldwide, one need look no further
than to the European Union which has
required manufacturers to provide
detailed parts information since 2000. In
their historic End of Life Vehicle
Directive, the European Union states:
“Without prejudice to commercial and industrial confidentiality, Member States shall take
the necessary measures to ensure that manufacturers of components used in vehicles make
available to authorised treatment facilities, as
far as it is requested by these facilities, appropriate information concerning dismantling,
storage and testing of components which can
be reused.”
The world is truly becoming a smaller
place. Thus, the need for comprehensive
parts information also crosses international borders.
The past ten to twenty years, the international impact on automotive recycling
has been significant. Automotive recyclers in the United States and around the
globe are consistently incorporating new
ideas to increase market share, cut overhead, and to successfully beat back the
litany of issues that challenge them on a
daily basis.
There is no doubt that the challenge of
motor vehicle data will be no different.
This data is significant and could lead to
considerable growth of the automotive
recycling market along with savings for
consumers in a number of areas. ■
Automotive Recyclers Association
9113 Church Street
Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA

Automotive Recyclers Association ARA

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