Collision repair business makes high-tech leap
Ihave been reprimanded. When I called Calgary’s Ken Friesen to talk about a new repair facility he has opened in the city’s northwest, I referred to his industry as the auto body repair business.
“It’s the collision repair industry,” Friesen said, “there’s a difference between an autobody shop, which is often seen as a dirty and dusty environment, and what we have, which is a high-quality, highproduction collision repair centre. It’s a relatively new term.”
OK, it wasn’t a serious reprimand, but Friesen has spent many years refining how he repairs crashed vehicles in his Concours Collision Centres, and he’s helping to revolutionize the collision repair industry.
“I don’t want to paint a bad picture of a restoration body shop, but our centres are at another level of cleanliness,” he said.
Friesen started fixing cars at 17 when he bought a Corvette, and began repairing the fibreglass bodywork.
“I left high school and told my dad I was going to be an auto painter,” Friesen said.
At 20, Friesen had set up his own Corvette repair shop, and specialized in fixing their fibreglass bodies.
That venture did not last a year, and Friesen went to work for four years to pay back his debts. Once clear of that, at 25, he worked with partners to set up a professional autobody and fibreglass shop. That one he sold to his partners, and then in 1981 he opened Concours Auto Detailers, specializing in cleaning such high-end cars as Ferraris and Porsches.
“I didn’t have enough money to buy repair equipment, but then when the recession hit, I bought up some used shop equipment,” Friesen said. “In 1982 I became Concours Autobody in a 3,000 sq.ft. location.”
By 1985 Friesen had moved into an 8,000 sq.-ft. facility, and had some 14 employees. In 1990, his shop found a permanent, or main, home in the city’s southeast at 42 Ave. and 12 St.
Eleven years ago, Friesen opened in Crowfoot, and he has recently expanded into Royal Oak with a ground-up facility.
“This is a dream come true,” Friesen said. “I’ve taken all of my experience over the years and put it into one place. I spent five years designing every inch of the layout — right down to where the garbage cans sit.”
Friesen came up with this ideal footprint, and then built a facility with 15,000 sq.-ft. on the main floor to accommodate his plans.
Friesen said there has been a tremendous amount of change in the collision repair industry.
First, there is the environment. Very few chemicals, if any, are still in use, paints are water-borne, and in his shops, the air is literally dust-free thanks to aggressive collection and filtration systems.
Second, there are the vehicles themselves. Equipped with new technologies, including computers and airbags, different skills are required to put collision damage right. Vehicles are also now built using thinner, lighter types of metals, and that intricacy adds to the challenge of ensuring a competent repair.
Third, Friesen added, the insurance companies that tend to drive the collision repair industry have made shop owners figure out more efficient ways to fix cars, without sacrificing quality.
Friesen turned to the principles of lean manufacturing.
In his case, rather than an individual technician taking “ownership” of a vehicle during its entire course of repair, which can lead to backlogs, Friesen has adopted a production line model.
“Someone takes the car apart, and we create a plan on how the car will move through the remanufacturing process,” Friesen said. “It will go through multiple technicians, and the process is about moving the car ahead, it’s never held up.”
There’s an internal communication process, with notes and photos, and every nut and bolt is bagged and tagged.
The procedure actually leads to better repair jobs, as each subsequent technician is essentially inspecting previous work before progressing.
Concours technicians are not required to have a tool box filled with $15,000 worth of gear. Friesen supplies each step of his production line with tools. “That takes the barrier of tools away from a technician,” he said, “and it allows us to attract and retain employees. Some of our technicians have been with us for 18 years.”