When you are on the road as much as I am, you do a lot of reading. Some of it not so scholarly, like reading bumper stickers of all things.

Believe it or not, every now and then I come across one that actually has some sound advice beyond humorous warnings against tailgating. One sticker read, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Well, it was on the back of a college professor's car, so maybe that does count as scholarly after all.

This saying seems rather general, but it can easily be applied to the constantly evolving auto insurance industry, particularly in terms of automobile construction and metallurgy.

These facets of the collision repair industry are changing at a faster pace than I have ever witnessed in my career, and there are no signs of a slowdown. We have seen more advances in vehicle refinishes, materials, headlamps, and power plants over the last five years than we've experienced in the previous 10 years.

No one can afford to be left behind, so you need to ask yourself a few questions to find out if your company is keeping up:

Are all of your appraisers knowledgeable about boron alloy properties?
Do your appraisers know the necessary precautions they need to take when working with electric vehicles?
Have your underwriters evaluated the pricing implications that these new types of vehicles bring with them?
Every time your material-damage staff meets, is there a damage-related training session?

All of these areas require training, but unfortunately with our struggling economy, many of the carriers I've spoken with are in fact cutting internal training programs and limiting or eliminating reimbursement for outside training. This can truly be an expensive way to save. What you save on expenses, you risk spending ten-fold on claims costs because your staff doesn't understand the proper repair procedures.

Material damage departments have a way to obtain much-needed training for little or no cost. Paint vendors, information providers, and OEMs offer written, electronic, and in some cases, in-person training that can help bridge the information gap.

Taking all of these steps and having the answers to the questions above can make or break you. The combination of education and training is a great return on investment â”€ and a lot cheaper than ignorance.

Special Reports /

Mettallurgy: What You Don&rsquo;t Know Can Cost You

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