ChatGPR: Stephen Arena
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Gene Fetty: [00:00:00] Hey, what's up guys, we're back with another chat GPR series. Today we are up in the Boston metro area. We have Mr. Stephen Arena with us. Uh, and we were, we came into town today, uh, to kick off our event. Uh, and scrambled a little bit, scrambled a little
Stephen Arena: bit. I threw some, uh, pop flies at you because I screwed up our scheduling and I didn't tell my team that it was today.
They thought it was yesterday. So. Uh, put everybody on the back foot for a few minutes, but it actually worked out really well. So we
Gene Fetty: figured it out and really had a great team. The guys jumped right in and it was a team effort to get the system built. It really was. It really was. Made it happen. Multiple
Stephen Arena: guys pitched in and before you know it, it was ready to go.
So, uh, pizzas were delivered and you know, I got up there and you guys were off and running. So it was great
Gene Fetty: to see. That's awesome. So, so what made you, so you're, you're in a local MSO. Yes. Uh, give us a little background on you, how. And we'll go from,
Stephen Arena: yeah, auto body clinic. Um, it's a family business. My [00:01:00] father started it in 78.
Um, we have grown to, we have four current locations building out our fifth, uh, workspace right now. And, uh, you know, being a local or regional MSO gives us a lot of flexibility. But it also, it creates some gaps in training, some, in some places. And we were introduced, and I know this is going to be one of your questions, we were introduced to the Chicco system by Rivian when we were, uh, put on the Rivian collision repair program, and that was one of the requirements, to have a Glupal system.
And to be honest, we really didn't know much about Glupal, other than some background we had, or, when we had a hailstorm about five years ago, the PDR guys were using glue, right? Other than that, we really hadn't seen much of it. And so it was really interesting to see this all kind of come together and the developments and evolution of the products.
And whenever we're online, [00:02:00] you know, everybody's talking about glue. Everybody's talking about glue. So I work with Jason and he's like, you got to meet Gene. Let's have a conversation. And before you know it, here we are, here we are. Right. So in your headquarters, this is my headquarters. This is my podcast studio.
The entrepreneurs arena is a little project we're working on and nice. So welcome. It was a great day and
Gene Fetty: I'm looking forward to tomorrow too. Well, that's very cool.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: So that, that's a hurdle for, for glue pull repair as it moves into collision. Is, and you just said it and we hear it all the time. I was at the Northeast show a couple of months ago and everybody walks in and they say, Oh, I don't need that.
My PDR guy does that. I don't need that. My PDR guy does that.
Yep.
Gene Fetty: Uh, even when I was with KECO, one of our, and we'll see it in the slide tomorrow when we're not working off of our heels, the one slide is GPR is not. PDR, right, right. It was born of PDR. It is not just for PDR anymore. It is an absolute collision tool.
A few years ago, you would call it the [00:03:00] future. Yes. The
Stephen Arena: future is now the future is now right? It's here. Yeah. So it reminds me of about 10 years back, there was a system that was introduced. And it was all about kind of bringing panel repair back. And I believe it was called the, uh, the Miracle System? Yes.
Or something along those lines. The keys, right? The keys, yeah. Like you welded keys on, yep. And that, those systems have obviously evolved over time. I know that there is a company called, um, Deepak or, um, there, there's a whole panel repair kit and schooling out there that, uh, is sort of, for me, it feels like the precursor to now the glue really taking over.
Right. Right. And, um, so it's really. I think it's great to see that obviously that craftsmanship is sort of coming back. Yes. And these tools that are now out in the market are making it easier and easier.
Gene Fetty: Yeah. So in the, in the glue pole arena, no pun [00:04:00] intended, uh, there's really two big players where you've got KECO, right.
And I worked for KECO for years and the other is cam auto. So KECO, uh, if you go back in the history or go back to where they started. started on the PDR side, started making small hail tabs for PDR techs. If you look at the other side, if you look at Charles with cam auto, uh, he, I believe if he didn't have rights, he was at least a rep for the miracle system.
Okay. So if you go and look at. Build and the design and the cam auto system. You can really see a lot of the, uh, miracle style, the key system falls right into his, and then you're like, Oh, from the outside with the back at the backstory, you're like, Oh, I see you came out of PDR, right. I can see a lot of PDR tendencies.
Oh, and I see you came out of the, a key system, right. And you can see the keys working right in. Uh, but it has been an absolute evolution into it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's really exciting to [00:05:00] see technicians, young, old, everybody in between when they adopt it. It's like they're re energized with their craft because it's no longer just replacing parts or doing just a ton of mud work.
Right. They actually get to work on their craft and repair the metal and the light bulbs go off. And I've heard it a bunch of times. enough times now that I doesn't feel weird anymore. But they'll come up to you at a trade show or they'll see you out. And they're like, man, Glupal has really changed my life.
Really? Right. It makes my job fun again. I'm going home cleaner. I'm doing less sanding. I get to fix things. It's cool to see it energize. the technicians, especially in a space where some of these techs are getting a little bit worn out. Absolutely. It's hard work. It's great to, to be able to back something and teach something that helps them enjoy their job more.
It's really cool. And you know,
Stephen Arena: [00:06:00] I was sort of in the background listening to some of the things you were talking about with the guys today. And I think one of the things that really registered with them when you were talking about being the least invasive to the paint, by, you know, because we're able to pull from the outside, you know, by the time we're done pulling and maneuvering the metal, the amount of, uh, damage we're doing to the original paint is, it's minimized.
Whereas before it was, okay, you're going to do a, A rough pull, not pull, but you're going to rough the metal out, then you're going to grind it down and you're going to start really beating it up before you put filler on it. And to see that click in their heads, it's like, oh wait, I might, you know, I'm going to spend a little more time doing this.
And then I'm not going to have to sand three coats of filler. Right. And then glaze. And I'm not going to have to worry about all of the issues that now come along with that. Exactly. It's a light bulb that goes off in their minds and it's really cool to see.
Gene Fetty: So the, [00:07:00] the best techs, the techs who are most open to adoption, the ones who really adopt it, uh, what I see them strive for, and I, I heard the saying from Danny with KECO, as he's, he's striving for that one wipe.
So their goal is to spend the time, work the metal and get it to that one wipe of hopefully glaze. Just glaze coat. One wipe, and done. And it's faster, it's cleaner, it's less sanding, it's less product. All of
Stephen Arena: the different things that, yeah. the benefits, they really kind of aren't calculable in a lot of ways.
But if we're bringing an eight hour dent, you know, that we would have had primed out to here, and we're bringing the primer space here, that could save a blend panel, that could save product in the booth. The downstream effects, I don't know if they're all measurable, but they have to have a They exist. I don't know how measurable they are, but
yes,
Stephen Arena: they absolutely exist.
On top of the cleanliness and the, you know, the pride that the tech's going to have when they work the metal in it. It's a quick swipe to [00:08:00] film a few little things, and then they're off on to the
Gene Fetty: next job. Yeah, it's a lot more rewarding than changing a panel. Right, like it's just, changing a door, like it's five bolts and a plug and some clips.
Yep, right. If they get to work that door and save the door, that's
Stephen Arena: great. It really is. Yeah. It's sort of bringing that repair pride back to, uh, you know, the industry whereas I think for so long we've gotten away from that repair side of things and we kind of went to replace almost everything. And, you know, in some cases that is needed, but a lot of the panels can be straightened with the right tools.
Right. And if you're not really compromising the metal because you're able to, you know, work it in a way that doesn't really screw it up or overheat it just seems to make sense.
Gene Fetty: Yeah, it really does. It's a, uh, it's a cold repair or even though it's hot glue, it's still a cold repair the whole time. Yes.
Right. You're not crossing any boundaries there. Uh, you're restoring [00:09:00] the strength of the metal. You're truly working the metal, uh, working with the memory in the metal to reshape it and almost retention it, uh, back to what it's supposed to be. Absolutely.
Stephen Arena: Yeah, absolutely. So I think like one of my first questions for you would be, you are in all these different shops, you see technicians of all different age ranges, all different skill levels.
And sometimes I think we were talking about before we started recording is that older technicians. that there has to be something that triggers their light bulb to say, Oh, that does work. Right. That is better than how I was going to do it. So today we had an instance where one of our more senior technicians was, uh, needed to pull a rear body panel.
So it wasn't ultra high strength steel or anything like that, but it was, It was, uh, probably like a double ply rear body and he was blown away by the fact that the glue was able to pull that out. Yes. Right? Yes. And that was [00:10:00] his moment where it was like, Oh, this stuff works. This isn't that other little kit you bought two years ago that the glue doesn't stick to.
This is different. Yeah. And that was really interesting.
Gene Fetty: Yeah. When you can get in and follow proper process, right? So it's a combination of. Uh, good tools, good tabs, the right glue, uh, good repair procedures and following the process. All of that makes the magic happen. Right. Uh, but man, when you can get a, uh, that first pull there was, was two 25 millimeter wide tabs, 25 by six inches.
Uh, so we had a foot of glue pull tab on there and a, a 300 millimeter, uh, uh, uh, uh, Adapter. And man, that first pull, like everybody was just blown away. But, but, and before we even started the, your tech was like, well, now I don't have this clamped down. I'm like, all right, I think maybe you want to clamp this down.
Cause you're sort of challenging what the glue can [00:11:00] do here. Yeah. Uh, and he's like, all right, man, before the pizza got there, he's up there with his chain and got it chained in and you just, you know, It's so exciting to watch those light bulbs go off.
Stephen Arena: Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Right. Oh, it's going to work. Even when you're gluing and you're setting it up, they're like, I don't know.
You're wasting my time. And then as soon as we started. moving the metal and you got to watch it unfold. Just everybody's eyes just lit up. Right. And then, you know, they have that buy in they're, they're excited about what GPR it's proof of
Stephen Arena: concept, right? Yes. All of a sudden, you just proved that the product works on the heaviest or the most extreme example.
Yes. Everything after that is a no brainer now, right? Like, okay, I'm absolutely going to be able to pull a, you know, a door panel with this. I'm absolutely going to be able to pull, you know, On a fender or a quarter panel, whatever I might, might encounter, it's a nonissue. But it showed me that a structural component can move with this glue.
And I think it's cool to [00:12:00] see that. You know, I guess starting with that extreme and then working our way backwards,
Gene Fetty: right? Right. So it's so PDR tech by trade, right? Everybody wants to do PDR. But then if we walk in and that's where we finish the training. But if we walk in and we start with small damage, everybody's going to be bored.
Well, of course you can pop that little down. We always like to start with that big wow. But really the bigger the move, the bigger the wow. the more they have buy in. So we always try to start with that large damage to show the power of the system. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool.
Stephen Arena: Very cool. So, uh, once the buy in happens, I think you, you said it in the class today.
is you're going to be as successful as you decide to take it. Yes. As far as you decide to take this. Yes. Um, what is that learning curve? As they start to experiment with the sheet metal pulls and, you know, using it for the cosmetic damage, how [00:13:00] long have you noticed that somebody that's actually very dedicated to it and applies themselves can actually get to that PDR state where They're a little more comfortable with, Oh, I can probably just pull that out.
We'll be okay.
Gene Fetty: Right. So it's, It comes down to practice. Really is what it boils down to. Uh, with a full training like we did today. Yep. Or at least an abbreviated full training. Abbreviated full training. We'll get the full thing tomorrow. We still hit the main points. Yep. Uh, we finish and we leave them with the skill set to work like a PDR tech, right?
Obviously, there's nothing in the world that's going to speed somebody up to PDR tech in a day or week or even a month. What I see is the guys who adopt begin, uh, really going back to that craftsman level and they start working the metal and they start getting it closer and closer and closer. Uh, A lot of them get to that glaze level very fast.
Okay. Maybe [00:14:00] like day one, day two, really, really your A techs because you have to remember they're already in a tech, they already know how to move metal, right? We're just, and metal moves, all metal moves. We're just giving them a different tool that moves metal more cleanly. Right. Right. So, so all of a sudden they're like, Oh, I can, I can move six inches of metal instead of one pin worth of metal.
Yes. Right.
Gene Fetty: So they start to work that way. So it's really a natural progression. They, they get hooked with that big. Cool. Yep. Then they start to work and get their, uh, repair smaller and smaller and smaller than your real a tax, the real craftsmen, the ones who want to take it as far as they can take it, they just start working with it.
And really it can be as short as a couple of months if they're really putting the time in to the ones who I've seen a few now. Uh, that have really were great body techs, great top level A techs that went full in with glue pole [00:15:00] repair and started chasing that. And now they understand or start to learn how to read a light the way a PDR tech does.
Okay. Right. They start to learn and see those nuances, learn and see how to knock down accurately. And they start working their repairs better and better. And then natural progression is. They start moving towards some push tools. Okay. Right, because push is ultimately where you get the highest level finish in PDR.
And they are man, like picking up once they decide, once they switch from high level auto body and they're like, man, I really want to chase this PDR. Those texts that have bought in and practiced and pulled their learning curve for PDR is super short, but it takes that buildup. To get there. Yeah, that makes sense.
But I've talked to several trainers who have had those texts come in PDR trainers, and they're like, man, it's all they need is a little like [00:16:00] touch and shove in the right direction. They've already paid their dues and got dialed in on those. Yeah. And then they're sort of off to the
Stephen Arena: races. So, um, I'm very excited because, you know, we have a full training day tomorrow, uh, at one of our other stores, and we have a few technicians that are going to be joining from our third store.
And, uh, There are some very high level techs in that class, and I'm hoping that that lightbulb clicks very quickly because if it does, what they'll be able to do with it is really, really good. Yes, and even talking to those guys today also.
Gene Fetty: Right, talking to, well, so right before I left, uh, your manager brought out a, they opened a box up.
With a brand new Mercedes aluminum Mercedes door. Yep. With a big old dent, of course, through the body line. Why would it not be right? Of course. They're like, Oh man, they brought it up and, uh, the, your older tech. Yep. And then what I would imagine is your lead [00:17:00] younger tech, uh, jumped on it. And I gave him a hand and in no time before I walked out the door, they were like, man, we're close.
It's almost, we're almost ready to just block this. And call it. And that was like a, like a good four or five inch dent on an aluminum door. Yeah. They're already off to the races and chasing that high level. Like you can just see what those light bulbs going off and good techs who want to do good work.
Day one, we're seeing that. Yeah. And so I think
Stephen Arena: like sit in, in my position where we are going to introduce tools. Jason and I were talking about this a couple of weeks ago. When. When we decide to introduce new tooling into the, uh, offices, you either like dip your toe like we've done before, or you go all in.
And I think the, what makes me happy is when we do introduce a new piece [00:18:00] of technology and we get them the proper training and then you quickly see that buy in, it's absolutely worth every dollar. It really is. And so, you know, hearing that, okay, they were like, ah, we got this, you know, and they're going to block it out.
And that just reinforces us, like, and anybody listening is, if you bring the technology in and give them the training, most of the time, they're going to really run with it and you won't have to do much after that.
Gene Fetty: Right. Because it's
Stephen Arena: going to make their job easier.
Gene Fetty: Yes. Yeah. So, so it's, so, so one philosophy I have is when you're trying to learn something new.
Yep.
Gene Fetty: You're either going to pay in time. Yep. Or pay in money. Yes. And I've not found a way to get more time, but I can make more money. So, if you can spend that money, And invest it, you're buying that time, you're saving all that time that you would spend. Right. Write the check, get your fast forward, jump start, fast forward.
And you're there. And
Stephen Arena: that's a great way to describe it. And so, you know, kind of back to like one of your original [00:19:00] questions was how did we get here? Yes. So we bought the original KECO system required through the Rivian Collision Repair Network. Right. And honestly, we didn't use it much. Until recently, one of my techs.
Uh, at our Bill Ricker store, where we'll be tomorrow. Yep. He just started messing around with it. And before you know it, he was, he was pulling rare body panels. He was obviously pulling, you know, sheet metal. and he was actually doing some basic PDR work. Right. And he's like, there was a dent that came in on a, on a Tahoe.
And I think I can just glue pull that and we can get that out of here. Right. And I'm like, wait a minute. And as that was happening, obviously you've been very active online. Jason and I are very active online. Right. And so then it was just like, I'm seeing glue pull everywhere now. Yes. And my guys are reinforcing the fact that one, I didn't get them any training.
We bought it because [00:20:00] we had to. And. Nobody was really using it on a day to day basis because they didn't have the training. Yeah. And now they, now they will. So that's super exciting.
Gene Fetty: And that will make a huge difference. But it's like so many things. Well, a big problem I think with, with glue pull repair is you hop online and, and thank goodness for social media.
Cause it's how we ended up here today. Absolutely. A hundred percent. Right. So there's a lot of pluses. But some of the minuses are, you watch these videos and you'll see like, when they stick it and rip it and it looks great. Yeah. And then you try that in the shop and it doesn't work. Well, and really, in actuality, that video that was like, stick it and rip it, isn't real.
It's not, yeah. Or there's a lot of other stuff that's going on in between, but they're showing that it's like the sizzle. Then they get it in the shop and they try it once or twice and they're not following any procedures.
Mm hmm.
Gene Fetty: And it doesn't work. So I always give the analogy of like, if we're going to paint a car, We're not going to walk back to the mixing room and like start mixing color a [00:21:00] dash at a time.
Right. We're going to measure to a tenth or a hundredth of a gram. Yep. And then when it comes time to reduce, we're not going to put a little splash of this or a splash of this. We're going to look at the temperature and the humidity and look at our ratio. And then when it comes to clear, right, we're mixing the exact ratio with the right speed reducer.
Yep. We're looking at the air pressure. We're looking at tip size. And when you do all of that that you don't think about anymore. Yep. Right? It's second nature. But if you really break it down, man, there's a lot of steps to, to painting your car. Glue pull is no different. Right? If we don't watch temperature, if we're not picking the right tab, if we're not using the right glue, of course it's not going to work.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: But your paint wouldn't work that way either. No. So it's just, and the training just reinforces that, and really, it just gets guys off to the races. It really does. Technicians off to the races.
Stephen Arena: Given them those basics, then, you know, they don't have those moments where it's like, Oh, well I tried it and it didn't work.
Well, you know, did you clean the panel? Did you warm it properly? Did, you know, all [00:22:00] these basic steps. Right. That will become second nature. Exactly. But if you, Didn't know that you had to do them. Then it just, it's a tool that doesn't work. Right. Right. Right. And you could pretty much apply that to any single tool that we have in the.
Shops. Yes. Is that if we don't, you know, if we buy a brand new welder and nobody tells you, tells them how to set it properly, there'll be burning holes, you know, blowing holes through panels. Oh, it doesn't work. This thing is garbage. What
do you mean? It was 20 grand.
Stephen Arena: Exactly. Yeah. But it, it's this. I think, uh, sometimes, speaking for myself as an owner, I'll buy a piece of equipment because I have to, but I don't think about the, to your, uh, point that, how to fast forward the training on it, until we get to a point where it's like, wow, this could be a really useful tool.
Let's get them trained and see if they can sprint with it. Exactly. So yeah, we've got to do a little [00:23:00] better job of that in the future. Well, you're here now. We're here now. I'm here now and you're here. It's a good wake up call. Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Uh, and really the, so what, another thing that's really exciting about Glupal is it's so fast to adopt.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Right. Like literally on day one, I've seen texts. Where we've done an abbreviated class like this morning or in a morning, like this afternoon, uh, and then hung out with that a tech in the afternoon and they're putting out top quality work as fast as they would using their traditional methods on day one.
After they had good training. Because they're already great technicians. We're just giving them a new tool, showing them the handful of steps that makes it work. And then they're off to the races. Right? Those light bulbs go off and they just run with it.
Stephen Arena: And I was thinking as I was sort of watching from afar today, is okay, so that A Tech knows that he can repair that panel in a certain amount of time, right?
We're a flat rate shop. We talk about flat rate things [00:24:00] all the time. That A Tech has a number or time in his mind as to how long it's going to take him. So right off the bat, if it's equal to And it's cleaner, well now you've got his attention. And then, secondarily, as they get better with it, they can probably start to save a little bit.
Yes. Because they know that if they, even if it's the same amount of time, the, uh, opportunity for error is a lot smaller. Because they're not three coats of Right. Right. Yep. The metal is pretty much where it's supposed to be and they're just finishing it. It's a, it's a huge, huge advantage.
Gene Fetty: We had that today, right?
With your, with your tech on that rear body panel. Yep. Uh, we had, so when we're teaching, we're, we're slowing way down. We're hitting all the steps. I tell people, it's like going to driver's ed. Yep. Right. Nobody actually drives this way except for my mom. Right. Right. Uh, But we're going to hit all the steps and learn everything.
But as, and it was cool again, watching those [00:25:00] light bulbs go off and the gears really turn and click as we finished the glue pole portion of that, right. To, to move on to the next lesson, he stood back and he was looking and he's like, he goes, man, you know, if, if you weren't teaching, he's like, if we were just repairing this, he's like, this really wouldn't have taken long.
And we sort of went back and we replayed and I said, okay, well, we started here when we glued these two tabs and we made this pool and he's like, yep, we're I said, and then separately, again, we grabbed another tech and he made this pull. Yep. Yep. And then we came over here and we did two more tabs. So we had five tabs in total.
Yep. And he's like, yep. I was like, dude, we could have done all five of those tabs at the same time. Right. Right. And he's like. Didn't even think of that. He's like, we'd be done in no time. We would be to this point. In no time. In no time. Right? Yeah. And it just, I can tell, he's thinking, I'm gonna have all this time into it, I gotta clean up this mess.
Right? But if I did it this way, he was already, he was already banking some of that time. Right. [00:26:00] Uh, with the repair. Already thinking that way. So that's, that just shows that he's a good, solid, forward thinking tech.
Stephen Arena: Exactly. Because I think anybody, before they see something, something new's coming, what's the cost benefit for me?
Right? And I, I, we used to have, I don't want to say it was an argument, but you know, 15 years ago when we started introducing compression welders into the offices, it was like, ah, this is, this isn't going to be faster. Well, it is a lot faster. It's a lot cleaner. Right. It's a way better job. You just have to get used to a new process.
And once you do. Then the cost benefits Yes. present themselves. Right. With the glue pull it happens very quickly. It's fast. It's very rapid. It's really fast. Yes. It's really rapid and you know, being able to show somebody who has in their mind already a time frame, I'm going to fix this problem. Dent, and it's going to take me two hours.
Well, maybe it's only going to take me an hour and a half. [00:27:00] Because now, I'm going to work the metal for a half hour. Right. And I'm in primer within another hour. Yes. And then I'm on to the next job. Right. And it was a lot cleaner. Right. Your good technicians will start to do that math in their head. And they
Gene Fetty: do see it.
Yeah. And they know, and once they learn how they can push the limits of what glue pole can do. Mm hmm. And what they can fix. And things that will allow them, or panels that will be allowed to be fixed. using this process because it is a cold repair, right? You're, you're able to not, uh, destroy panels, right?
Was it, what is it? Jaguar, Land Rover is no stud welding at all.
Stephen Arena: None, none on the aluminum panels. You're not supposed to stud weld anything. I mean, you can't put keys on some. But not on the high end stuff.
Gene Fetty: Glue pole repair is a cold repair the whole time. We were at a shop down south. Uh, and we went through the classroom portion that you didn't see yet today.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Uh, and then we went in and we were like two poles into the training. Not even two repairs, but two poles. And the A tech, the [00:28:00] lead tech in the shop, he's like, Man, I wish you were here last week. We cut the quarter panel off that Jaguar SUV because we couldn't get to it. We couldn't get, he's like, seeing this, We could have saved that quarter from being cut off in like no time.
Right. But without this system, they couldn't do a proper repair. Right. I mean it, and that happens all the time.
Stephen Arena: Yeah, and I think what I'm really excited about is we have a general idea is when we go and look at a, a, a repair. Oh, that's a replace. We gotta replace that panel. And I have a feeling that we're gonna really have a lot of instances now where it's like,
Gene Fetty: well, let's, let's go.
Pull
Stephen Arena: it and see what happens.
Gene Fetty: Yeah, an attempt to repair slash triage exact is a real thing and glue ball repair Just shines it really does
Stephen Arena: right?
Gene Fetty: Yeah, because
Stephen Arena: all of a sudden the metal is now in a place where it's like Oh, well, I can repair that.
Gene Fetty: Yeah,
Stephen Arena: you know, it's gonna take a little while, but it's way better than cutting the quarter panel We did
Gene Fetty: that on a fender today came [00:29:00] in written for a fender and and really it probably should get a fender Sure, but in today's world There's times where you just can't get a fender like this absolutely repair that that okay It just makes sense for for production and really cost savings isn't a change Yeah, but if you can't get that panel and it's a non drive Well, what if we could fix it?
What if we can fix it? Yeah, and and really the the techs were sort of looking at it We made one pull with one tab like literally five minutes of work.
Yep,
Gene Fetty: and that fender went from I will pitch it Yeah To they're all over there and looking at it. And they're like, man, if I did this, this, and this, I could fix this.
We'd be good. Oh, if I could get X number of hours for this, I'd be happy to repair it. But that decision was made in a matter of minutes, like to, to be able to switch from replace to repair, right? And
Stephen Arena: that I think is really. What is going to probably surprise a lot of our [00:30:00] writers is they're going to have to recalibrate the way they look at repairs.
And so, you know, to that point about triaging some damage and doing it in a cost effective way where we can still make sure that we're being compensated properly, but It really does open a huge opportunity for us to shrink the size of repairs, which helps with cycle time. Uh, labor's more efficient when we're repairing, and it means gross profit is going to go higher.
Everybody could win in this situation, and that's something that's very exciting for us.
Gene Fetty: Yes, yes. And it, like you just said, it helps with throughput. So, the, still as a whole, We're seeing body shops with a pretty good backlog of work, right? Yeah. Slow down a little bit this past couple of months, but overall pretty good.
But still overall booked out pretty far. The problem is not getting more cars in the problem is getting more cars out. So if you can implement a system or a [00:31:00] technique. That helps with throughput.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Right. Then you can cycle more cars through. Absolutely.
Stephen Arena: And that's just, I mean, you drove from the airport to our store today.
I don't think, uh, autonomy is, uh, quite ready for this area. Listen, I'm not ready for this. So we're in a good, we're in a pretty good position where we think. You know, cars are going to be readily available. Yeah. I don't think you're going to run out anytime soon. Anytime soon. Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Yeah, for sure. Very cool.
So any other questions for, uh, GPR? No, I mean, I think that we covered a lot of it. We got, we got pretty in depth there.
Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Uh, I guess maybe if you could just say something to a shop that, that has tried GPR without training, what, what's your thoughts on like, you know, what's your If they're thinking about training or they're thinking about getting rid of the system.
Yeah. What would your advice as an owner be to them? Yeah, I think my
Stephen Arena: advice would be if you are going to make the, uh, investment in any piece of technology, you know, getting [00:32:00] the, a professional to actually help implement the technology, um, is number one, the most important thing. Because, If you buy a new frame rack and you change systems from, say, a chief to a car aligner, you're going to expect a car aligner to come in and train your people as to how to set up, measure, and repair that vehicle.
Right. Well, now that we have these other tools that help with panel repair, and obviously we're here talking about glue pulling, if we as owners just expect our technicians to be able to Uh, click the lightbulb on their own, probably not going to happen at, uh, a very rapid rate. Right? So making the investment is step one.
And then step two, I think the more important, uh, item is to get a professional like yourself in to show them how the technology actually works. So it accelerates, as you said, hit fast forward on their learning curve, because [00:33:00] then the real ROI starts to happen way sooner. Okay. Take care. Yep. And that's what you're looking for, is that ROI.
Well, why are we buying something if we're not going to make money on it? Exactly. So, um, you know, given the technicians, the, the tools, and then, more importantly, the education as to how to use them to benefit not only them, but us, uh, it's, it's a very small investment in the grand scheme of things. So I would suggest to anybody, buy the KECO system.
And then get in touch with yourself to, you know, get the proper training. Because when you do see the light bulb go off in the guy's eyes and they're like, Yeah, we got this. That's when the game really changes.
Gene Fetty: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And we left the store we left today. Those guys were all, they couldn't wait to come back to work tomorrow.
They're excited to get back. They're excited.
Stephen Arena: You know, um, I'm surprised I didn't get a call and be like, Hey, I want to come to the training tomorrow. Right. Right. You got to work.
Gene Fetty: So, you know, well, that means I did a good job with the training and they didn't need anymore. They
Stephen Arena: didn't need anymore. So obviously we're looking for the, [00:34:00] looking to have the same effect tomorrow.
We actually have a larger crew that you're going to be talking to tomorrow. And, um, I know they're very excited also, so, um, And they're the ones who've actually been using the system a little bit more. So there should be some richer questions. And, um, that is actually the store where we fix Rivian, uh, vehicles.
Okay. And, uh, the EDV. Amazon vans. So, you know, probably some questions in regards to, uh, repairing the aluminum and getting good pulls on that. So a ton of just rich information that we're really, uh, looking to, to get from you. It's going to be an awesome plus. It really is super excited.
Gene Fetty: Cool. So very cool.
Excellent. Good deal. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to call out here. So guys, thanks for watching that, uh, episode of chat GPR. That was a great one. If you would like to learn more about glue pulling, head on over to GPR masterclass. com. See you guys on the next [00:35:00] one.
