There’s a business adage that says success comes from fixing the process, not the problem. If any business’ success or failure depends on its processes, collision repair is it.
Today, as vehicles evolve in complexity and sophistication with advancing networks of components and protocols, the challenge of creating a thorough diagnostics, repair, servicing, and calibration process may seem daunting.
Since entering the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) calibration system market five years ago, Autel has continued to perfect its comprehensive collision repair process that assures collision shops, and insurers that a customer’s vehicle is restored completely; that every needed repair, service, and calibration is to OE-specifications.
The Autel IA900 alignment system offers shops a value-rich opportunity to start performing alignment pre-checks and four-wheel alignments to ensure customer vehicles are aligned to OEM specifications.
The design of the IA900 itself is elegant and efficient. It features a folding crossbar, six high-resolution positioning, and tracking cameras in the frame that automatically monitor vehicle height on the shop lift. Robotic frame movement for efficient use and alignment reading accuracy to 0.02 degrees for precise alignments. The system offers industry-leading alignment coverage for U.S., Asian, and European vehicles, 1970s and newer. The technician is guided through the complete process with illustrated alignment instructions, live readings, required tools, and adjustment locations displayed on the included 24″ touchscreen monitor that mirrors the alignment procedure executed on the MaxiSYS MSUltra ADAS tablet, giving the technician all the freedom he needs.
The IA900 offers shops a true turnkey approach to comprehensive vehicle repair and servicing, providing all systems diagnostics, bi-directional Active Tests and Special Functions, and thorough vehicle inspection, including tire tread analysis, four-wheel alignment, steering angle reset, and optional ADAS calibration coverage. The IA900 is a modular system that allows shop owners to expand their services to include ADAS camera, lidar, radar, and night vision system calibrations with the purchase of a lane departure or all-systems calibration package.
Autel’s All Systems AutoSCAN has been standard on its advanced diagnostics tablets for many years, and technicians have benefited from the scan’s identification of ADAS components and detection of any system faults. ADAS, however, presents technicians with additional challenges. Even though the sensor may be operating without a code, this does not mean it is performing as intended. This is especially true for systems on vehicles involved in crashes when even a minor collision might have altered the camera’s vision field or the radar’s angle.
Finally, let’s speak about documentation. The IA900 system guides the technician to document each step in real-time, including the Pre-Scan, visual inspection, tire depth analysis, steering angle sensor reset, alignment, calibrations, and post-scan. Reports can be safely stored on-tablet and through the Autel Cloud report management application and shared with customers or insurance companies via email.
Over the last few years, the industry has gone from a few vehicles with ADAS to 90 percent of all new passenger vehicles featuring automatic emergency braking. With that many ADAS-equipped vehicles on the road, collision shops will become overwhelmed without a comprehensive process. The Autel process is the fix the collision industry has been waiting for.
Learn more about the IA900, work the numbers with our Return-on-Investment calculator, or schedule a call with an IA900 expert.
