Just when we thought we were just about out of the change mode, along come aluminum cars. This new technology will only be another challenge for the perennially resilient collision industry worker.

We floated along for a couple of generations or more repairing full-framed cars, and in 1973, our world turned on a dime. In that year, it was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that in many instances, a few people can control many. In this case, it was the oil crunch and it sent car manufacturers scrambling to build small, fuel-efficient cars. Unibody was born and our lives changed dramatically.

Now that these cars were flying off of assembly lines all over the world, the question was never addressed by manufacturing concerns as to who or how these cars were to be repaired if they were in a collision.

As it turned out, unibody invasion was the biggest challenge in the collision industry for many years, however, every segment of our industry responded. Everything changed, from equipment, paint, training, insurance and especially, repair technique. As always, resilient collision workers responded to change. We struggled for a while, but with upgraded training through I-CAR and a lot of trial and error, we began to make some progress.

In the past 10 to 15 years, a lot of other changes came along that we had to work through. Technology was like a snowball rolling down a mountain. It was getting bigger and picking up momentum. In addition to new onboard computers, several different new metals and plastics to adapt to, new paint systems, safety items to consider in estimating and repair, a new challenge hit us like a cold blast of air - consumer awareness.

These new unibody cars were being sold to a new generation of people who were smart, well read, and asked questions. Looks like another change is in order. The change meant a keener awareness from all segments of our industry about this new discriminating consumer and what their expectation was going to be.

Holy cow! You mean we can't just hand the customer the keys and say, "Good luck!" Now we are going through another change, fostered by consumer awareness and customer expectations. Does this mean we actually should explain the insurance and repair process and fix it right the first time with a real guarantee?

All of these changes were very positive and I'm proud to say that our industry adapted and continued to improve in every area. All the while we were going through a continuous evolution, transforming our industry with its not-so-great reputation to an industry that we can say we are proud to be part of.

So now, bring on this new aluminum and carbon fiber and who knows what else. Bring it on because change is part of our everyday life and no one can roll with the punches better than the members of this ever-changing collision industry.

Vernon Crump has been a body shop director for 24 years, and for the past 17 years has worked as the body shop director for the John Eagle Dealerships, Dallas, Texas. He is very active in the industry, currently serving as the NACE 2003 chairman. He is a former co-chairman of Dallas I-CAR, former member of the Texas Skills USA/VICA Board of Directors, and served on the advisory committees of the Texas State Technical Institute and two Dallas area high schools. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a degree in business administration, and serves in a consulting capacity for the Texas Education Agency.

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