Newly-coupled with mechanical event, NACE draws economy-wary crowd to Vegas

About three hours after the trade show floor opened at the 2008 International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) in Las Vegas in November, one vendor perhaps best summed up a common feeling at the event.

“There’s a tense-ness out there unlike at past shows.” the vendor said.

It was comment echoed by others at the event – exhibitors, attendees and event organizers – who, while clearly enjoying the parties, entertainment, camaraderie and classes that the annual trade show and Vegas offer, were still somewhat on edge. Changes made to this year’s event, the effects of the national economy, and the likely impact of continued efforts by insurers to control costs and the flow of work seemed to dominate much of the discussion.

The Automotive Service Association (ASA), which sponsors NACE, this year also merged in its Congress of Automotive Repair (CARS) mechanical event, which previously has been held the same week but at a different Vegas hotel. Bringing the two together into one facility and trade show was a success, according to event organizers. Attendance figures (and the overall size of the trade show itself) dropped about 10 percent from last year’s NACE, organizers say (attributing much of the decline to shop owners bringing fewer employees to the event than in past years), but many at the event said they had expected ever bigger declines.

“Given the economy, I was worried things would be worse,” one vendor said, when told attendance was being pegged at about 23,327.

The opening general session offered a good introduction to some of the thinking behind – and the possibilities created by – merging the two ASA events. And thanks to the morning’s scheduled speaker, former NFL quarterback Archie Manning (father of current NFL stats Peyton and Eli Manning), the session attracted more than 1,000 attendees, the largest NACE opening crowd in several years.

Prior to Manning’s speech, the shop owners serving as chairmen of NACE and CARS sat on stage and discussed what they see as some of the biggest issues facing the two industries.

Minnesota shop owner and NACE chairman Darrell Amberson said that the slump in auto sales may benefit the mechanical side of the industry as motorists hang on to cars longer, but unless it also drives up used cars values substantially, it will likely mean more total losses for body shops.

He said the federal bail-out of financial firms has spiked interest in more federal (rather than state) regulatory control of insurers, something ASA supports.

He said the collision industry should also be paying close attention to increased efforts by automakers to gain design patents on crash parts, which could limit competition from non-OEM parts manufacturers. He said that while design protection is a “fundamental right” for any industry, it could also drive up parts costs, also leading to more total loss vehicles.

CARS chairman Aaron Clements, a mechanical shop owner from Georgia, said the labor time guides in that industry are just that: guides from which shops deviate as needed. But Amberson said collision shops generally don’t have that luxury. He called on the estimating system providers to bring more automation, sophistication and automaker information to the systems to help them evolve from being “just a guide to a tool that could be used to blueprint jobs.” The systems, he said, currently are too incomplete and subject to interpretation.

“Can you imagine a world where we didn’t have to spend so much effort negotiating, debating (and) looking for non-included operations? I think whether an insurer or repairer, we could probably increase our life expectancy if we didn’t have to deal with this,” Amberson said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.

Overall, Amberson, despite the struggling economy and the specific challenges the collision repair industry faces, he is optimistic about the opportunities for those shop owners who embrace new technology and processes, diversify their business, and think of themselves as business people, not repairers.

Next year’s “Automotive Service & Repair Week,” including the combined NACE and CARS, will take place November 4-7, 2009, again at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

John Yoswick, a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988, is also the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com). He can be contacted by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.