Automotive Trades

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Automotive Trades

• The Collision Repair Industry

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Thank you for joining us today. This session is
meant to give you an idea of the opportunities
and challenges in the collision industry
today.Please ask questions if you have any and
if we cant answer them today, we will do our
best to help find those answers.
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Who We Are

• Chelsea Stebner, Office Manager at Parr Auto Body
• 10 years in the collision industry
• Began my career as a receptionist at a large
  truck centre.
• My job includes scheduling, estimating, customer
  service, production, A/R, payroll, and more.
• In a small business, you do whatever it takes to
  get the job done.

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Who We Are

• Don Pogoda, Production Manager at Parr Auto Body
• 25 years in the trade (refinish background with
  special interest in the technical side of
  painting), but has done everything from
  detailing, prepping, painting to management.
• My job includes estimating, production
  organization, parts, SGI liason, customer
  service.

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Opportunities Challenges

• The Collision Industry in Saskatchewan

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• There are approximately 75 shops in the Saskatoon
  area!
• 20 of those shops do 80 of the work.
• We have a very large number of dealership owned
  shops in our city competing with the smaller,
  independently owned shops.
• There are ALWAYS shops looking for qualified
  journeypersons.

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• If you are a qualified journeyperson technician
  in Saskatchewan, you probably have your pick of
  jobs at most shops and can also name your price!

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A young person wanting to become an apprentice
faces numerous obstacles such as

• Low paying entry level jobs.
• Shops not wanting to put the effort into teaching
  an apprentice as it strains the shops financial
  capabilities.
• Difficulty getting into pre-employment at SIAST.

• Many young people these days are used to getting
  what they want when they want and many lack the
  confidence and perseverance to push through the
  hard stuff at the beginning and make it to the
  next level.

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.and last but not least

• Fast money and a fast paced lifestyle are
  calling!
• The pull of Alberta and the quick money in the
  oil rigs calls our young people of Saskatchewan
  away.
• When they get tired of it, they lack the skills
  for their next step in life.

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Industry Opportunities

• Computers/Software Sales
• Estimator
• Educator (SIAST, I Car)
• Adjustor
• Parts Person
• Detailer
• Management/Accounting/Office
• Mechanical Technicians
• Suppliers and Sales People

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• Refinish Skills
• A Colour Blindness Test
• The majority of Refinish Technicians are male but
  did you know that females see colour much better?

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The individual with normal color vision will see
a 5 revealed in the dot pattern. An individual
with Red/Green (the most common) color blindness
will see a 2 revealed in the dots.
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Salary Opportunities

• As an industry, we are not regulated in any way
  as far as paying our apprentices or
  journeypersons.
• Each shop decides on its own what each employee
  may be worth.
• On average, an apprentice may start out around
  10.00 per hour.
• A journeyperson wage would be around 18 - 20
  per hour.

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Ways to pay our Technicians

• Depending on how a technician is paid, he or she
  could potentially make 60,000 plus per year.

• May shops use a flat rate system of pay which
  means a technician would bet paid per piece.

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• Flat Rate is regulated by using a computerized
  estimating system called Mitchell Ultramate
  Estimating.
• For example If Mitchell states that it takes
  2.2 hours to Remove Replace a bumper, thats
  what a technician will get paid regardless of
  whether it took him 1.0 hour or 3.0 hours.
• This system works great for a seasoned technician
  who is very efficient at their job.
• On the other hand, it is more difficult for a
  young technician to work flat rate as the
  experience and efficiency is not there yet.

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• Many shops are moving away from flat rate into a
  regular hourly wage or a Team Based Pay Plan
  which pays a group rate based on the hours
  produced in shop. That way, how the technicians
  are being paid is based on how efficiently and
  accurately they are working.

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• Regardless of which way a shop pays its
  technicians, it is getting more difficult to find
  a technician and pay them what they are truly
  worth and still leave enough room for the shop to
  profit.
• As a small business in Saskatchewan, we are
  constantly competing with government and Alberta
  wages.
• Most shops in our industry try to provide a good
  wage, decent hours, weekends off and health and
  dental benefits.

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Education
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Why join the Collision Repair Industry?

• Do you like vehicles?
• Are you motivated to learn and earn?
• Are you artistic?
• Do you like computers?
• Do you like to be challenged?
• Do you want to work in a motivated team
  environment?

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Pre Employment

• SIAST pre- employment gives an individual
  beginners knowledge of the industry. It is
  approximately 10 months of school before
  beginning apprenticeship.

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Apprenticeship

• Apprenticeship training is an earn while you
  learn arrangement between an employee and
  employer.
• Under a certified journeypersons supervision, an
  apprentice will receive knowledge and develop
  hands on skills in our trade.

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• The on the job skills learned are supplemented
  with 4 levels of technical training.
• Many employees will help apprentices by topping
  up their wages while they are in school.
• At SIAST, there are a number of scholarships
  available for apprentices including
• 3 Centennial Merit Scholarships (full tuition for
  a pre-employment student) two sponsored by SAAR
  and the provincial government and the third one
  sponsored by SABA.
• A Tool Award which is 1500 worth of tools to be
  won in a Skills Competition, sponsored by SABA,
  Acklands and Westward Tools.

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• Skills Canada Competition
• Provincial
• National
• International
• For apprentices in most trades
• Measures skill level, efficiency and knowledge of
  the trade
• Opportunity for travel
• Interaction with other trades

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Hiring apprentices helps our mature workforce
pass on knowledge and experience to the younger
generation.

• For shops, it makes good business sense to invest
  in on-the-job training as it builds our workforce
  and meets the needs of skilled technicians in our
  industry.

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The Future of Our Industry
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• Lack of skilled tradespeople and declining
  enrollments in apprenticeships.
• We have a mature and aging workforce.
• We must encourage our young people that trades
  are a viable option for their careers.
• There are great opportunities for advancement in
  a shop, technical positions, management and
  ownership.

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• Lots of shops now provide
• CLEAN work space
• Vacuum Extraction
• Fresh Air Masks
• User Friendly Products
• Ergonomic Tools
• Computerized estimating
• Computerized frame equipment
• Computerized wheel alignments

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• Environmental Concerns with product we use.
• By 2009, we will be required to paint with
  water-based colour coat.
• After the water-based colour coat is implemented,
  it wont be long until the clear coat will be
  water based as well.
• The changes in the refinish products costs us
  time and money in training, product switchover,
  safety and more.

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• Advancements in vehicle design.
• Collision repair facilities are faced with the
  continuing need to invest in new equipment and
  technology and the knowledge and skill levels
  of their employees in order to keep up.

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• An example of the technology changing is
• If an airbag blows on a Dodge Grand Caravan, the
  steering column must be replaced.
• If an airbag blows on many Nissan vehicles, the
  seatbelts must be replaced.
• We have to be able to find this information with
  the click of a button and our technicians must be
  savvy enough to know what to look for!

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Computers

• Most shops are now computerized.
• Our shops uses about 4 different software
  programs on a daily basis.
• The costs are huge for software, hardware and
  training.

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• Costs of doing business are continually going up
  while net profit goes down.
• Our industry is very regulated by the provincial
  government so we have a small window to make an
  honest living.
• SGI regulates how much we can charge for the work
  we do!
• Collision centres across Canada have an average
  net profit of approximately 4.
• We MUST continually strive to repair vehicles
  better, faster and cheaper in order to be a
  viable business in this province and industry.

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What a shop like ours looks for in an employee

• Attitude
• Work Ethic
• Team Spirit
• Determination
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Initiative

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Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule
to come listen to us. We hope you have found it
informative and we welcome you to our shop for a
tour anytime.
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Websites of Interest
www.parrautobody.com www.saskapprenticeship.ca w
ww.siast.sk.ca www.carsyouth.ca www.cars-council
.ca