Industry Insider: Recent Episodes

Collision Repair Magazine

The Voice of the Collision Repair industry

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Shop Alignment: The case for bringing measurements in house with Steve Dawson Washington DC Regional Manager for Hunter Engineering by Collision Repair Magazine

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Fraud in Canada: How IAA and CARFAX Are Protecting the Automotive Ecosystem by Collision Repair Magazine

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Recyclers and EVs: Addressing EV Training Gap by Collision Repair Magazine

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From Numbers to Know How: Daniel Trevisanutto's Guide to Collision Repair Metrics by Collision Repair Magazine

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In this episode of industry insider Stuart Klein discusses his career path and the critical role of ICAR in enhancing collision repair training in Canada. He explains how ICAR supports ongoing technician education beyond Red Seal certification and offers recognized designations like Platinum and Gold Class. He also highlights partnerships with organizations like the Canadian Welding Bureau to improve training access, especially in remote areas. ICAR’s subscription model helps shops train staff efficiently, and achieving Gold Class reflects a shop’s commitment to quality and staying current with industry changes.

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In this episode of Industry Insider, Daryll O'Keefe, vice president of strategic business development for Fix Network, elaborates on his new duties bringing the Procolor brand across the U.S.–and perhaps beyond.

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On this episode of Industry Insider, we speak with Blair Earle, managing director of IAA Inc., Canada, to hear how the used vehicle market is affecting Canadian aftermarket operations; vehicle sales prices and more.Be sure to listen to the end to hear a special segment about vehicle theft in Canada and how it is impacting the new and used vehicle sales markets.

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Industry Insider: ADAS: adoption, profitability, tooling and more, Hunter Engineering by Collision Repair Magazine

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On today's episode of Industry Insider, Stuart Klein, the VP of Collision Programs for the Automotive Industries of Canada (AIA Canada) sits down to chat about collision repair training--why it's important for the future of your business; how to access top-notch training and opportunities and the topics you should pay attention to.Tune in for:– The learning needed to work on emerging and advanced technologies– Stuart's opinions on the training topics that could drive profitability– Balancing the staffing shortage--the skills-training connection– Information on training offerings from AIA Canada and other acclaimed industry reps

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Today we’re talking with Serge Babineau and Blair Earle from IAA about theft recovery: “The Hidden Story of Theft Recovered Vehicles”, and what you need to know.For more information on IAA in Canada please visit their website at www.ca.iaai.com.

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Explore the best way to learn new technology to enhance shop safety and billable hours, with guests Mike Bailey and David Mayers from Environmental Motorworks and the AutoProf.For more information please visit their websites at envmw.com and theautoprof.com

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Is your collision repair shop over-capacity and losing money because the cars are just sitting there? Today on Industry Insider we sit down with guest Ken Chung from Simplicity Car Care to discuss ways to increase the capacity of your shop, and the things you don’t know may be causing the backlog that’s throwing money out the window.For more information on Simplicity please visit their website at www.simplicitycarcare.ca.

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We tackle the big topics on this episode of industry insider, starting with the sentiment that you can repair more than you think, and perhaps ultimately solving the repair vs. replace debate? With special guests Leif Hansson and Patrick Maloney from Fusor, we're taking a deep dive into the collision repair industry, today on Industry Insider.For more information about Fusor please visit the Parker Lord website at www.parker.com.

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Today it's all about how you can save money in your collision repair shop through glass. It's a fully transparent interview with Zakari Krieger, Vice President of Prime Car Care, and Vern Gervais, National Director of Novus Glass Canada. All will be revealed!

For more information on Novus Glass, please visit their website at www.novusglass.com.

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Collision repair, get to know a related industry—recycling. In this episode we talk with Steve Fletcher the Executive Director of the Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association (OARA) about who they are, why you should know them, and the importance of the industry gatherings.For more information on OARA please visit www.oara.com.

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It's the great balancing act of repair versus replace. Is GPR the answer? Today on Industry Insider Radio we talk with Canadian Collision specialist and long-time Collision Repair magazine columnist Stefano Liessi on GPR.For more information on Stefano Liessi, please email Stefano Liessi sliessi@canadiancollisionspecialist.com or www.canadiancollisionspecialist.com

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Why should we care about the environment? For one, it can save your collision repair shop money. Today we’re talking with Paul Prochilo, CEO of Simplicity Car Care, about the profitability of environmental social governance in Canada's collision repair industry.For more information on Simplicity Car Care, please visit www.simplicitycarcare.ca.

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Is ADAS really a ticking time bomb? On this episode of Industry Insider, "What You Don't Know About ADAS and its Hidden Dangers" Collision Repair‘s James Kerr speaks with John Marlowe, Industry Engagement / ADAS Specialist with Level 5 Drive, Joe Saputo, owner of Carstar Ancaster, and Joe DaCunha, Quality Control Administrator at Allstate Insurance, on the hot topic of ADAS and what you need to know.For more information on Level 5 Drive, please visit level5drive.com.

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On this episode of Industry Insider, "Building Solutions to the Supply Chain Shortage" Collision Repair‘s James Kerr speaks with Dayle Thys, District Manager C3 Western Canada for LKQ. We discuss the struggles shops are facing, and what you can do about it.A link to the episode of "Earth with John Holden" featuring LKQ is here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ddG0_gc_oFor more information LKQ, please visit https://www.lkqcorp.com/

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Toronto, Ontario — On this episode of Collision Repair mag’s Industry Insider, COO of Spanesi Americas Tim Morgan talks his experience with equipment, tool and tax write-offs collision repair businesses could take advantage of—after some financial research, of course.

Tune in to hear Morgan’s experience as an equipment supplier serving all of North America.

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Toronto, Ontario — On this episode of Industry Insider, Leif Hansson, OEM and Automotive Aftermarket Account Manager at Parker Lord brand Fusor, and Patrick Maloney, Global Sales and Business Development Manager Automotive Aftermarket and Specialty Chemicals at Fusor, sit down with Collision Repair‘s James Kerr to discuss the latest advancements in adhesives, as well as the many factors that go into picking the right adhesive for a job. For more information, visit www.lord.com.

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On today's episode of Industry Insider, sponsored by Pro Spot International, Collision Repair mag's James Kerr sits down with Russel Duncan from Pro Spot, along with three notable reps that started out on the production floor: Stefano, John and Oliver.

Listen NOW to hear how you can make the most of your skills and capitalize on a long and lucrative career in collision repair.

Read more at www.collisionrepairmag.com

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On this episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair editor Allison Rogers sits down with Jim Sarnovsky, VP of North American sales for SprayMax Peter Kwasny Inc., to go over how the company's 2K paint technology can come in handy for small repairs.

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Adhesives are not new to the collision repair industry, yet some seem to have questions about their applications.

On today's episode of Industry Insider, we sit down with the team from Parker Lord to learn more about the Fusor adhesive line, including its applications, pot life, OEM compliancy and more, courtesy of Patrick Maloney, Global Sales Manager and Carolee Nail, Sr. Technical Support.

Read more at www.collisionrepairmag.com

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Today on Industry Insider, we sit down with Blair Earle, managing director of IAA, formerly known as Impact Auto Auctions. That's exactly what we're here to talk about today—the company's recent rebrand to IAA. All the same offerings, service and global support the company has always offered, just under a new name.

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Tune in to this week's episode of Industry Insider to learn more about Hollander's POWER-DB, a web platform designed especially for the company’s Powerlink platform and database for automotive recyclers.

For more information on POWER-DB, visit www.hollandersolutions.com.

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How you facilitate communication with your customers seems like a straightforward aspect of doing business—but how much can an iota of customer consideration help your operations in the long run?

On this episode of Industry Insider, we sit down with Tim Morgan, the COO of Spanesi Americas, to hear how his company handles communication—and how it pays off in droves.

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It's a secret to none that the Canadian collision repair workforce touts a high age demographic. We may wish we were immortal, but that's just not the reality. So—have you given any thought to an exit strategy?

Tune in to this week's Industry Insider podcast to hear from Greg Wing, the director of sales for Simplicity Car Care, and start thinking about the steps you'll need to take when the day comes. From the financials required to the different buyers in today's market, Greg'll get you thinking about what path you might opt to take when it comes time to sell your business to the next generation of collision repairers.

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In this week's episode of Industry Insider, we get Mark Puente, the CEO of Premiere Services, on the line. Puente shares with us the details of Premiere Services’ Certified Radio Program—an initiative in partnership with LKQ set to debut in Canada next year—and how it can counteract issues of cybersecurity in the recycling process of vehicle consoles.

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On this week's Industry Insider, we speak with Michel Matte, an executive at BMW Group Canada to look deeper into the company’s scholarship program and how it could set a precedent for other OEMs in the future.

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On this week's Industry Insider, we discuss the recent news of Volkswagen privatizing its part distribution, as well as offering exclusive benefits to its drivers.

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Fix Auto President Steve Leal and Fix Auto Ontario Regional Vice President Daryll O'Keefe discuss the opening of Fix Auto's first training centre and what that could mean for industry technician shortages.

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From being the only woman in her auto class to facing discrimination as a shop owner, Hilary Noack has overcome a lot in the automotive industry and fills us in on what it's like to be a young woman in a male-dominated industry.

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Jack Poladian, the operations manager at Eagle Towing, talks business. He takes us through the logistics of growing a towing business, and even how to branch into one from a collision repair industry standpoint.

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Mohammad Abdoli-Eramaki, professor at Ryerson University, explains the long term and short term health concerns of working in the collision repair industry.

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Toronto, Ontario — From October 24 through 29, Spanesi Americas hosted its first-ever Interactive Week, where the company virtually hosted OEMs, North American shopowners and collision repair experts for a week of thought-provoking sessions.

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In this week's episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair chatted with former Canadian racing champion Antoine Bessette to hear more about his company, FELINO Cars.

Bessette, who was named Canadian Champion Race Driver of the year by the Ontario regional racing sanctioning body back in 2005, has since departed the lanes of the speedway, moving on to start his own sports car brand, FELINO, an entirely Canadian brand that focuses on building luxury sportscars made to drive on public roads and racetracks alike.

FELINO recently showcased its models at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto. The brand only makes 10 of each sports car model⁠—and purchasing a FELINO car is an extremely customizable and personal experience for the hard-core auto enthusiasts. From the very beginning, FELINO developed its cB7r model around the driver. The car is built on the company’s unique chassis that allows for plenty of customization in terms of engine options, gearboxes, complementary technologies and bodywork without altering the performance that characterizes this beast of a vehicle.

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In this week's episode, Vince Matozzo, director of Canadian sales for CARSTAR, talks CCIF Toronto showcases, industry predictions for 2020 and CARSTAR's upcoming initiatives this year.

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With Bell 'Let's Talk' Day having just passed, we took the opportunity this episode of the Industry Insider Podcast to shine a light on a topic that affects each and every person in the collision repair industry: mental health.

Theresa Jachnychy, the business director at Gateway Autobody, joins us this week to discuss negative mental health and how it pertains to a collision repair workplace—the causes, the effects, and what we can do to help.

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On this episode of Collision Repair's Industry Insider, host Allison Rogers sits down with Paul Reichert, senior director of MSO and insurance services (Canada) for LKQ Corporation, to discuss some of the company's trending insights and outlooks for the future of the collision repair and automotive aftermarkets.

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This week, Collision Repair’s Industry Insider sat down with Blaire Earle, director of business development for Impact Auto Auctions Canada, to learn more about the IAA Interact merchandising platform and how its features can provide trifold—and beyond—benefits to online buyers.

Check out IAA's Merchandising Platform at https://www.impactauto.ca/​

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Toronto, Ontario – This week on Industry Insider, we sat down with David Hosaki, product manager at Audatex Estimating Canada, to talk about new and hot tools for 2021, including Solera’s AI claims platform, Qapter.

Qapter, Solera’s new end-to-end automotive claims workflow platform, streamlines the claims process by combining the company’s artificial intelligence with machine learning and deep learning technologies. The result? A streamlined claims platform paired with data that gets smarter by the day.

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With the 365 day long speedbump called 2020 finally in the rearview, collision centres across Canada are finally able to turn part of their focus back to the burgeoning electric vehicle market that industry experts have long been predicting to boom in this new decade.

It goes without saying that the previous year did not go according to anyone’s plan; consumer and corporation alike. But many collision centres never lost sight of the new wave of electric vehicles due to hit the roads in the next few years and have been working on solutions to stay ahead of the curve on EVs.

Jeff Pabst and his team at Pfaff Autoworks in Vaughan, Ontario have their eyes locked on the projected influx of EVs into the market and are hoping to close in on the specialized and highly sought-after EV repair work.

Listen to this week's episode for more information!

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Chicago, Illinois -- This week, Collision Repair's Allison Rogers sat down with Spanesi Americas COO Tim Morgan to learn more about the company's virtual tour of its U.S. Training Centre.

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Collin Welsh, CARSTAR Canada's senior director of franchise development on supporting partners by Collision Repair Magazine

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Toronto, Ontario -- This week, we sat down with Sylvain Seguin from Fix Network to talk about some of the big moves the company’s ProColor Collision banner is making.

Sylvain and Fix Network have been busy jumping on opportunities across Canada to develop their family of brands which include ProColor Collision, Fix Auto, NOVUS Glass and Speedy Auto Service.

Shops around the country are seeing the value of coming on board and joining the ProColor Collision banner as the company begins to take its first steps out of their home province of Quebec.

Listen to this week's episode of Industry Insider for more information!

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Toronto, Ontario -- On August 26, Collision Repair's Allison Rogers sat down with John Marlowe and Giuliano Bernabei, co-founders of Level 5 Drive.

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Toronto, Ontario—This past week was a big one for Canadian network CSN Collision Centres as the network announced its merger with the U.S.-based 1Collision.

This new union, deemed “a natural fit” by CSN, allows the two companies to offer a unified collision repair experience and claims management solution to the driving public and insurance industry throughout Canada, and the United States.

To hear more on the merger, Collision Repair sat down with Ryan Bruno, CSN Collision Centre’s newly appointed president and CEO.

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On this week's episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair chatted with Naeem Hassan, owner of Calgary’s Central Auto Repair, to hear how his facility has stepped up to help its community in crisis.

On June 13, Alberta experienced the costliest hailstorm in Canadian history, resulting in more than 1.2 billion dollars in insured damages. Hail as large as tennis balls wrought havoc on the province, pummeling car bodies, rooves and smashing windshields in the process.

When the damage was done, Hassan knew he had to do something⁠ to help his community⁠—so he reached out to locals to see if anyone would be willing to step up with financial donations and help float some of the facility’s windshield repair costs. The response Hassan received has been enormous. The Central Auto Repair team has been able offer windshield repairs at discounted prices, even giving some drivers in serious need a free-of-charge fix.

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Toronto, Ontario -- In this week's episode of Industry Insider, we explore how retooling techniques pursued by Canada’s automotive industry could be made a common practice in the post-pandemic era.

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Toronto, Ontario -- On this week's episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair sits down with Michel Martineau, Desjardins Insurance vice president of claims, who says insurers are more keen to work with facilities that implement photo estimation tools in the post-pandemic era.

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Toronto, Ontario — As automakers restart assembly lines across the country with extensive safety protocols and screenings in place, some auto repair facilities are struggling with parts supplies.

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This week, we take a look at the product PDR Canada has been using to complete estimations amid social distancing protocols.

According to Domenic Serra, owner and operator of PDR Canada, the company has been using its custom-tailored light tunnel to provide estimations at a distance. When COVID hit Canada, he was initially discouraged as it meant hindered progress for the project⁠—but he soon realized the device could prove more useful than anticipated given the social distancing circumstances.

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Toronto, Ontario ⁠— In this episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair discusses how photo estimation could help facilities offer 24-hour vehicle drop off options post-pandemic.

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Toronto, Ontario -- In this week's episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair talks about ozone disinfection, and how Canadian company Green 3 Technologies claims its car disinfection service can kill 99.5 percent of bacteria and viruses inside a vehicle.

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Green 3 Technologies: http://www.green3technologies.com/

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Toronto, Ontario — This week, Collision Repair spoke to MacGregor, Manitoba’s Len Boschman, the owner of MacGregor, Manitoba’s Four Way Motors⁠—and he’s working on a build for SEMA that’s sure to make you say “zoinks!”

Len is transforming a 1961 Ford Econoline van into his own version of the iconic Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine. He’s taking the build to the International RATical Rod Build Off Drive Off competition at this year’s SEMA show⁠—a contest that sees hobbyist builders from all over the globe trek their vehicles to Las Vegas for the ideal showcasing opportunity.

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In this week’s episode of Industry Insider, Collision Repair celebrates International Women's Day by reacing out to women in collision repair to hear their stories and experiences when it comes to working in the trades.

Chelsea Stebner is a managing partner at Saskatoon’s Parr Auto Body. In her position, she has seen⁠—and helped⁠—women thrive in the industry. While she began as a receptionist at a heavy-duty truck shop. From there, she climbed the collision repair ladder by grasping every opportunity thrown her way and being ready and willing to learn.

Next, Collision Repair spoke to Nic Sheetka, a drag racer about to enter her 10th season and an auto body apprentice at Parr Auto Body. Now in her third year of schooling, Nic originally applied to the facility in response to a receptionist position, but they hired her on as an apprentice. 

Finally, we spoke to Bree Campbell, the owner of Dynamic Autobody, a facility in rural Outlook, Saskatchewan. She began there On a day-to-day basis, Bree says she enjoys the paperwork side of things, but always tries to stay hands-on around the facility.

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This week, Paul Carter, dean for Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s School of Transportation sat down to discuss the trades college’s ongoing recruitment initiatives. The school recently welcomed a wealth of international students to its pre-employment programs in Regina and Saskatoon and has several other missions on the go, including a program designed to get women and indigenous learners into the bodyshop to start pursuing careers in the trades.

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In this week's episode of the Industry Insider Podcast, we chat with Mark Graves, the president of the Provincial Towing Association of Ontario, to get a sense of the current working relationship between Collision Repair shops and tow truck operators, as well as see where this relationship could head in this new decade.

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In this week's jam-packed episode of the Industry Insider Podcast, we take a deep dive into the Tropicana Employment Centre's 'Auto Body and Collision Damage Repairer Pre-apprenticeship Program,' which has been running now for more than a decade.

Steve Gallace and Peter Wrong of 3M, Jean-Marc Julien of CARSTAR and Marc Trembley of Tropicana Community Services join us to cover the program and its history.

REVISED: It was incorrectly stated that more info could be found at Tropicana Community Services. Information for the Pre-apprenticeship Program can actually be found on the website for Tropicana Employment Centre. Those interested in applying are encouraged to contact Suad Dualeh, the program coordinator, at (416) 491-7000 Ext. 209 or sdualeh@tropicanaemployment.ca

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