Cue the Hallelujah Chorus
By Tara Taffera
“Today, what we are getting is the right questions. People are starting to understand the importance of ADAS and are trying to wrap their heads around the process of calibrations.” Those were the words of Steve Casella, vice president of client technical services at AirPro Diagnostics, during our recent discussion in Las Vegas. Cue the Hallelujah chorus. Finally, more shops are learning the importance of calibration and are taking steps to add this to their services.
You may have come to that realization willingly or you may have arrived kicking and screaming. You may have landed there because you’ve run out of options. Maybe you sent your cars to the dealer for calibration, but now they are keeping vehicles for two, or even up to six weeks, according to reports. Your customers won’t stand for that, so here you are.
No matter how you got to this point, one thing is for sure—there are more resources available than ever before. I saw that with my own eyes at Auto Glass Week™ in June, then in early November when I attended SEMA and the AAPEX show.
I was walking the aisles of one of the shows where all the auto glass and calibration exhibitors were housed, when a company I wasn’t aware of caught my eye. I stopped at Caradas and spent time talking to their representatives, including founder and CEO Greg Peeters, about the training services the company offers at its calibration certification training center in Salt Lake City. The company works with shops that are opening or managing a calibration center. Having a separate company to perform calibrations is ideal, says Jacques Navant with The Calibration Station in Modesto, Calif.
I caught up with Jacques at the LaunchTech USA booth unveiling a new calibration solution for heavy-duty trucks. His was one of many calibration companies in attendance, a few of whom I was unaware of, proving that as more cars need to be calibrated and more shops take this on, additional players are emerging. It’s up to you to do the research and find the solution best for you.
Tara Taffera is the editorial director of AGRR™ magazine/glassBYTES.com.
ttaffera@glass.com
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