Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/597384
44 W E S T W O R L D | W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 courtesy capital ford lincoln Manufacturer] specs," he says. "If you're not aware, you could section certain pillars and metals that you shouldn't be sectioning. When vehicles were fairly simple, mechanics would decide to section a piece of a rail or B-pillar and cut the old one out and put a new section in, and it was an acceptable repair at that time. You cannot do that in this day and age, depend- ing on the vehicle. Now you have certain sec- tions of metal that were not designed to be repaired. They were designed to be replaced, and when you replace them you have to know exactly where to cut them and weld them." Kavia notes there is also more variety in the make up of vehicle frames, including the grow- ing shift to lighter aluminum for fuel efficiency. train Control Modules (PCM), have evolved to the point where they now control virtu- ally ever y facet of the driving experience and require high-tech knowledge and equip- ment for corrections and calibrations. "Every year they add 40 to 50 new circuits the PCM has influence over," says Leibel. "You've got to be on the ball." I t's not only electronics that are changing the auto repair industry. Raj Kavia, owner of Kavia Auto Body in Saskatoon, says highly technical design specifications and new metals have made bodywork more complex. "Before you tackle a repair you have to do research to find the OEM [Original Equipment I van Leibel's career in the automotive industry spans more than 40 years and several major eras. Now the fixed opera- tions manager at Capital Ford Lincoln in Regina, Leibel was once an eager young mechanic who cut his teeth tweaking finicky carburetors in the 1970s. In the 1980s he watched as unibody con- struction, electronic fuel injection and early on-board computers signalled a sea change in the automotive repair industry. And he was there in the 1990s when the computer chip really came into its own and put a computer on the workbench in every auto shop. Yet he says there has never been a compa- rable time when it comes to adapting to new technology. "e most dramatic changes have all been happening in these last few years," he says. "We have adaptive cruise control and GPS, and in two to five years we may have vehicles that drive themselves. ings are now chang- ing at lightning speed." His repair facility has invested heavily in staying up to date. It created an area dedicated to handling the new all-aluminum frames of Ford's flagship line of trucks, and his team members are constantly updating their knowledge through online training modules and yearly visits to seminars. "Technology in vehicles has changed so dramatically, it's critical to keep up with it through training the technicians and updating the equipment," says Leibel. "We do web-based training on the Ford site, and we also get classroom training in Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg from certified instructors." Leibel recently returned from an industry meeting in the U.S., where the hot topic was the likelihood of a massive shakeout in the automo- tive repair industry in the next few years. "e consensus in the group was that it's going to be hard for mom and pop body shops to keep up with the training and technology," he says. "e future favours larger operations." ose early on-board computers, or Power- AUTOMOTIVE Repair Aware Local businesses keep up to speed in a changing industry by Paul Sinkewicz Repair facility employees can stay up to date via training modules and seminars.