By John Yoswick
An automated system that can detect tiny dents or other vehicle “anomalies” within seconds. Collision parts being ordered within minutes of a crash. A not-for-profit data repository that would ensure shops have long-term access to their job file records.
These were among the topics covered in a unique, TED Talk-style presentation at “Ideas Collide,” hosted recently by the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). SCRS invited 10 speakers to offer ideas or visions related to the future of collision repair in 10 minutes or less.
Telematic parts ordering
Dan Langford of the Nevada Center for Advanced Mobility, for example, said he envisions that telematics data from a vehicle involved in a crash, combined with OEM data and historical claims data, could enable the needed parts for the repair of that vehicle to arrive at the shop before the car itself does.
“I’m willing to bet you can actually start getting a clear idea of estimating the cost of the damage in most crashes [just from the data],” Langford said. “So within an hour or half-hour of an incident happening, you have an understanding of what parts are going to be needed to repair that. It’s not completely crazy to think those parts could be ordered and shipped before the vehicle even arrives at your shop. The depth of data may not be quite there yet, but it’s an interesting direction to start heading in.”
Langford also said it is his personal view that few people will personally own an autonomous vehicle, that such vehicles primarily will be used as part of “mobility fleets,” such as Lyft or Uber or other monthly-subscription services that provide transportation on demand. (He noted that Lyft currently is operating dozens of autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas, shuttling passengers between properties on the Strip.)
“By the time we have significant penetration of autonomous or highly-automated vehicles, you won’t need one yourself,” Langford said. “It’s just not going to be cost-effective anymore.”
What will that mean for collision repairers?
“Does that mean you should align yourselves with more fleet operators,” Langford asked rhetorically. “What role can you play on a regional basis in supporting these potentially nationwide fleets of vehicles?”
He said collision repairers need to understand their role — and liability — in repairing what he called the “eyes and ears” of increasingly autonomous vehicles.
“And I do say ears,” Langford said. “The Waymo autonomous vehicles operating in Phoenix are listening for things like emergency vehicles. The video and lidar sensors are the eyes of the vehicle. So if you’re replacing a panel and it’s incorrectly aligned, you’re potentially threatening the riders in that vehicle. Your role becomes incredibly important.”
Not-for-profit data repository
In his “Ideas Collide” presentation, Pete Tagliapietra of NuGen IT suggested the industry develop a not-for-profit data repository that would ensure shops have long-term access to their job file records (even if they have switched estimating or shop management systems) along with global industry data on such things as labor rates and cycle time. Tagliapietra compared such a database to the Property & Liability Research Bureau, to which participating insurers submit claims information.
“I built a new home several years ago, and there was water damage when the patio doors blew open and it rained,” Tagliapietra said. “That information will stay with that home for as long as that home remains in existence. That’s not such a bad idea for the next insurer or the next owner who buys that house. Maybe we could do the same thing in automobiles and collision repair.”
Tagliapietra said companies — including his — collect data from some shops that those companies are then able to “use internally to our company’s benefit,” but collision repairers in many cases get little in return for the data they give away.
“Should insurance companies have the advantage of having all that information available, while collision repairers really don’t have it,” Tagliapietra said. “Why shouldn’t everyone have the opportunity to have access to the benefits of that data?”
He said a shop subscribing to such a database, for example, could see how they stack up in terms of cycle time with the industry as a whole. In theory, they could review documentation of prior repairs made to a particular vehicle, or contact others who have made similar repairs on a make and model of vehicle that is causing them challenges. Imagine, Tagliapietra said, being able to “speak to another repairer who has gone through a similar situation and understand what you are up against before you start the repair.”
He said there are obvious benefits to having access to such a collection for data for other segments of the industry as well, including automakers, parts and paints suppliers, etc.
“Less than a handful of companies [currently] really manage over 80 percent of that information,” Tagliapietra said. “I don’t believe that’s the right approach that this industry needs to take in years to come.”
Automated damage report in seconds
It might not be immediately clear why a representative of an Israeli company that has developed threat-detection security systems was a logical choice to speak at a collision repair industry event. But SCRS’ Aaron Schulenburg said he likes to bring in new voices with ideas that may have application within the industry, and that’s why Amir Hever, CEO of UVeye, was one of the 10 speakers during the “Ideas Collide” session.
Hever said years ago when he was driving into a parking lot at a government building in Israel, a security guard used a mirror to look briefly under his vehicle; more than a decade later, he encountered the same process.
“Nothing had changed in the past 15 years,” Hever said. “When I asked the security guard whether he could see something, he said, ‘No, but if something happens while you’re inside, they will check the cameras and see that I tried to do my job.’”
That led Hever to develop a system that scans the underside of a vehicle traveling over it, immediately generating a 3D image and using that information to identify any “anomalies in the undercarriage.”
The potential application beyond security? UVeye has added cameras and microphones to collect similar data all around the rest of the vehicle to detect “everything from a small [2 mm] scratch or dent, to problems with the brakes or suspension, exhaust pipe, tires, everything.” Hever said such a system has obvious uses for automaker production lines, rental car return lanes, dealership pre-delivery inspection stations — and possibly collision repair.
“Think how simple it will be if you can simply drive through a system and get a full report about the status of the vehicle,” he said. “Think how it will shorten the time when you arrive at the dealership or garage, and by the time you get to the receptionist, they have a full report with everything that is not okay with the car.”
The company’s website (www.uveye.com) includes a video of how the system can be used for security, and information on how it could play a role in other types of vehicle inspections. •
