Contact:	Angie Wilson (800) 272-7467, ext. 216 angie@asashop.org
For Release:	Immediate News Bulletin ASA-20 July 7, 2006

ASA Collision Division Uses Time Study
to Address Feather, Edge and Fill Issues

BEDFORD, TEXAS, July 7, 2006 - The Refinish Subcommittee of the Automotive Service Association's (ASA) Collision Division Operations Committee continues to monitor repair issues including time requirements to properly handle quality repairs. Recent activities include ASA's involvement with the CIC Database Task Force, of which Darrell Amberson, AAM, Collision Division director, Carroll Proctor, Estimating Subcommittee chair, and Denise Caspersen, Collision Division manager, are members. This cooperative effort has provided the association a platform to share the results of ASA's feather, edge and fill time study.

"The goal is to have an automated process to compensate for the overlooked steps necessary to complete a quality repair. This could be based on the area of the repair involving feather, edge and fill or a percentage of the straightening time, similar to the concept of paint and material calculations," said Amberson.

ASA's feather, edge and fill time studies were completed late last year and were announced at ASA's press conference during the International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE). To advance the industry as a whole, the studies have also been made available to a number of collision-related organizations.

The ASA study is a result of more than 100 time studies recorded and tabulated by the 2005-2006 ASA Collision Division Operations Committee. Mike West, a member of ASA's Refinish Subcommitte and owner of Southtowne Auto Rebuild Inc. in Tukwila, Wash., created the initial format for the study. It was the 2004-2005 Operations Committee that first began to systematically conduct the time studies and collect the data provided by various committee members. Participants of the time studies were asked to record the amount of time involved in the feather, edge and fill procedure. Photographs of the areas measured and vehicle make, model and year was also documented.

"The Refinish Subcommittee's first step was to do time studies about the feather, edge and fill problem, and work with solid data," said Jerry Burns, AAM, Refinish Subcommittee chair and owner of Automotive Impressions Inc. in Rio Rancho, N.M. "For more than two years, ASA committee members have been studying this issue and have collected solid data to help solve this industry problem."

Reviewing the overall data, study results indicate required times to be slightly more than an hour for approximately a 2.5-square-foot area. This is based on the average amount of time spent to feather, edge and fill a repaired panel to return it to the condition of a new undamaged part and ready for the refinish process. ASA's Operations Committee hopes that sharing this time study with the information providers will lead to adjustments in the estimating systems to include additional elements in the repair estimate process.

"ASA's Collision Division Operations Committee has diligently worked to provide systematic and comprehensive data to the industry and its information providers regarding the feather, edge and fill issue," said Caspersen. "Through industry participation and the sharing of information, perhaps the feather, edge and fill issue will soon be resolved."

The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind serving an international membership base that includes numerous affiliate, state and chapter groups from all segments of the automotive service industry. ASA's headquarters is in Bedford, Texas.

ASA advances professionalism and excellence in the automotive repair industry through education, representation and member services. For additional information about ASA, including past news releases, go to www.asashop.org, or visit ASA's legislative Web site at www.TakingTheHill.com.

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