The European parliament agreed earlier this year to regulate that all new vehicles from 2022 must have ADAS in the minimum form of braking assist, lane departure and rear vision.
From 2024 even older vehicles must also abide by this. In the USA there is information to suggest that 2022 will also see the advent of the requirement of all vehicles having the same basic ADAS features.
Standard fitment of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) has increased rapidly on cars in Australia and back in October last year had risen from 18% to 54% over just two years. ADAS is here to stay and by 2024 over 60% of the vehicles in your shop will be equipped with some ADAS features.
There has been enough information from manufacturers and suppliers for us to garner some form of knowledge on the subject, yet the issues surrounding the actual repairs are much more difficult to navigate.
Every state in Australia has varying degrees of regulation for the repair industry. However for ADAS repair and calibration there are very few guidelines for the repairer to work to. You are left with the insurance companies and the OEMs to make the decision for you. However there are alternatives and given all of the major manufacturers of diagnostic tools and software are represented in our country, enough evidence and support exists for repairers to enter this new and exciting industry.
These companies including TEXA are global leaders in diagnostics and in most advanced countries we are heavily involved in the collision, mechanical and glass repair industries where our systems are specifically made for these industries.
The major issue smash repairers have is in choosing an inhouse or sublet arrangement. For those choosing to go to an inhouse solution there are several major considerations apart from the regulations and OEM ‘propaganda’.
SPACE REQUIRED Vehicles are now requiring up to 15 metres in front with a minimum of 1m around the vehicle to work in. These are minimums and will impact your workflows.
TRAINING Both initial and ongoing training is require. Understanding the diagnostic system can be complex for radar and requires a dedicated resource and technical support from your system provider.
VOLUME For an outlay from $20k to $50k there is a volume requirement to be a profitable operation.
LIABILITY If you have chosen the right supplier, your work will be verified and approved by the vehicle’s system giving you confidence.
For those looking at subletting the work to either an OEM dealership or a dedicated diagnostic technician there are now choices for you. Obviously the OEM dealer gives you the easy choice where full responsibility for the service can be passed to them - that is if they have the capability. We have found many dealers do not have the full calibration systems.
As predicted there are specialist alignment and calibration centres starting to open with a view to supplying both an onsite and inhouse service.
These centres are fully outfitted with equipment meeting the requirements of the OEMs along with trained technicians in the diagnostics field. There are manufacturers of this equipment who supply guarantees that their equipment will successfully calibrate cameras and radar and TEXA is one of those companies.
In providing you with an onsite service they are giving you the opportunity to reduce your costs of repair and finalise them considerably quicker.
As we all know there is little chance of state governments any time soon agreeing on a national repair regulation, so it is up to the industry to show they can repair fully to the OEM specs and in so doing provide faith in the collision repair industry to do what they do best – repairing vehicles.
To do this successfully you have to be able to provide both the insurance company and the consumer with the information they require:
You have the equipment capable of repairing to OEM specs and can provide hard and soft copy evidence of work done and the specs to which it has been done. TEXA manufactures all of its equipment to the OEM standard and have tested all equipment at TUV Rhienland certifying it repairs to OEM specs.
You have trained technicians who are capable of carrying out diagnostic evaluation and who have been trained on your specific systems. Following the correct processes is vital in ensuring the calibration is done correctly.
You have continually updated software giving you access to the latest in OEM calibration methods.
You will need to provide a warranty/guarantee on the calibration carried out. Having the vehicles’ own system itself verify a successful operation you should have no issues in providing such warranties.
From a supplier’s perspective we know the equipment and software will provide you with a solution for the calibration of both cameras and radar as it does in nearly every other country. However there are many issues such as mentioned above plus the issue around coding in Australia that should be considered before you make the leap into this new opportunity.
As we enter ( yes we are here now) the era of electric/autonomous/flying vehicles there is even more reason to be selective in your choice of partner in this diagnostic field.