Volume_3_front

Volume 3 - March 30, 2011

To register now for ToolTech 2011, click here.

As the automotive industry continues to change, looking to the future has never been more important.

ToolTech 2011 is about adding value to your business through innovative formats, the latest information, and expanding your opportunities to do business in today’s marketplace and preparing for tomorrow’s challenges. Join us in Miami Beach and learn about the shop of the future. -Read More-

ETI ToolTech Sponsors:
Robert Bosch - SPX Equipment Solutions - Redline Detection - Snap-on - DG Technologies - Bartec - RTI Technologies - Dover Vehicle Service Group (Rotary Lift and Chief Technologies) - Car-O-Liner - Innova - Helm - Hunter Engineering

Note from ETI's President - Mike Cable

Once again, another year has gone by and it’s almost time for ToolTech. This year’s theme is the Shop Of Tomorrow and I am looking forward to an informative program and insights from our speakers at the event. I am anticipating what new “apps” I will be able to download to my companies as business opportunities.

In the past, we have watched new technologies creep into every aspect of our business. But this year, the technology has permeated into most aspects of our business from Heavy Duty Diesel (OBDII, A/C, Emissions Standards) to Air Conditioning (New Refrigerant, HYCF 1234, New Leak Detection Requirements) to Collision and Wheel Service. For years ETI has stayed on the cutting edge of new technologies, bringing our members the latest information, market research, and pursuing the OEM’s for information.

Yes, this year’s ToolTech will be exciting and I look forward to seeing each of you there as you determine what “apps” you will need to download to work with the Shop Of Tomorrow!

March Madness

Its “Right to Repair” Season Again

Editorial by Charlie Gorman

Several states are introducing or reintroducing so called Right to Repair (R2R) bills into their legislatures this year. The opponents and proponents have flocked to each state to give testimony, hire lobbyists and spend huge amounts of money in an attempt to persuade legislators that their position on this volatile issue is the correct one. The arguments are the same as they have been for some time now. Neither side of the R2R argument is all right or all wrong. Each side's statements are biased toward whichever side of the R2R issue they have taken. I, for one, think this stalemate has been going on far too long. After 12 years and millions of dollars we are exactly where we were when we statrted. Is it finally time for a compromise? What would a good compromise look like? -- Read More --

Flame Out

EPA shares phaseout and phasedown strategies at MACS 2011 Convention

Contributed by Bob Chabot

Once again, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency attended the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) annual convention to provide an update and overview of its activities that would impact the mobile air conditioning industry. in the last 20 years, the industry has seen a refrigerant shift from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), such as R-12, and then to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), such as R-134a. New products will transition to emerging, significantly lower-GWP refrigerants, such as HFO-1234yf (e.g. light duty vehicles), HFO-1234ze (e.g. as a foam-blown insulating agent refrigerated trailers), and R-744 (e.g. buses, heavy duty vehicles and trains). EPA representatives said that between 2050 and 2075, we’re going to see a return of the ozone layer to the type of thickness it had before human interference began with the introduction of CFCs, The ozone layer is being healed, and we can expect skin cancer and other related illnesses to be reduced significantly in the years ahead. --Read More --

The Equipment & Tool Institute
Completes Collision Repair Market Study

Survey Graphic

The Equipment and Tool Institute has completed its latest Marketing Research Study which surveyed approximately 350 automotive repair facilities and our findings regarding collision repair industry.

The Research objective was to measure the market’s ownership and use of collision repair equipment, evaluate the market’s experience with performing collision repair on different brands of vehicles, find out shop’s purchase intentions for collision repair equipment and the key selection criteria they use for evaluating equipment. Learn more about the size, business volume and type of collision repair work performed, and identify the market’s training needs and other support needed to grow the collision repair business.

Among the topics covered in the study are:

Top Issues & Concerns
Involvement in Industry Groups
Insurance Vs. Consumer Work
Participation in DRP/PRO Programs
Safety Systems
Sources for Training
Availability of Repair Information
Collision Repair Experience
Equipment Ownership and Purchase Intentions
Shop Profiles

ETI has scheduled a presentation of the Collision Repair Market Research findings at our Annual ToolTech Event May 3-5, 2011 in Miami Beach. Florida. A copy of the Research Study will be made available to all of the attendees at no charge. In July the findings will be made available for purchase on our website at http://etools.org.

ETI TECH WEEK UPDATE

SUMMER TECH WEEK 2011

When: June 14-16, 2011
Headquarter Hotel: Embassy Suites, Troy, Michigan

Summer Tech Week is your chance to ensure that you have the latest information on new model vehicles and any updates that may affect the industry and learn of new technologies that are coming out and plan for those new technologies. New technologies bring new challenges and that means new opportunities for the automotive aftermarket. Summer Tech Week OEM participants include GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW/Audi and others. -- Read More--

WINTER TECH WEEK 2011

When: December 6-8, 2011
Headquarter Hotel: Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach, California

ETI members come to Winter Tech Week for one purpose: to get information on specifications, procedural guidelines, new product information, and industry trends. Winter Tech Week continues to provide OEM engineers and designers; and ETI companies, the makers of tools and equipment; an opportunity to meet and collaborate. Winter Tech Week OEM participants include Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru Mitsubishi and many others. -- Read More --

The Future of Heavy-Duty Cab Environments

Will future environmental cabs be government-regulated or free market-driven?

Contributed by Bob Chabot

Cleaning up heavy-duty, off-road operator enclosed cab environments is an ongoing struggle. The business of removing dirt from the air prior to its entry into an intake on an engine or the HVAC system knows no geographic boundaries. As industrial engineers grapple with finding cost-effective and safe solutions, governments have mandated and are considering more regulations and specifications for cleaning up cab environments. In the past, the health effects of hazardous working environments were considered part of the job. Today, keeping workers healthy has governments, labor unions and insurance companies pushing to reduce workplace exposure to breathable dust and airborne toxins commonly associated with operating heavy duty equipment. -- Read More --