Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to reduce carbon emissions in the collision repair process while improving efficiency for customers and increasing the bottom line for shop owners.
Bill Brower of Solera is an industry leader in vehicle lifecycle management and AI-driven claims automation. He appeared on an episode of The Collision Vision podcast, driven by Autobody News and hosted by Cole Strandberg, as part of its “Sustainability in Collision Repair” series.
Solera provides risk management and asset protection software and services to the global automotive industry and property insurance marketplace. Brower said part of its mission is to help collision repair shops track and lower their carbon footprint to help the environment.
To that end, Solera has developed a solution called Sustainable Systematics that tracks the amount of carbon generated in a collision repair.
“Bill has his car damaged. It's estimated for repair at $5,000,” Brower said. “What [Solera is] able to do now is to also share how much carbon is generated. Maybe that's 150 kilograms of carbon in that collision repair. In doing that, we provide transparency for the insurance company and the body shop, so that they can understand some of these factors -- not only the metrics that are used in calculating a repair cost, but also how much carbon is generated, and look for ways that could actually lower that carbon in the collision repair.”
The Sustainable Systematics tool tracks carbon production in a shop’s estimates to generate scores, which insurance companies can also view.
Brower said the reasons to lower carbon production in collision repair tie into best practices anyway.
If a fender is damaged, the three options are to repair and refinish it, replace it with a new OEM part, or replace it with a used part.
Brower said repairing the fender has the lowest carbon output, while replacing it with a new one has the highest.
Replacing it with a used part is in the middle, and is influenced by the quality of the used part. “In Europe, we call them ‘green parts,’ but parts that could be recycled,” Brower said. “That’s a really key way to lower the carbon.”
Refinishing is another area where collision repairers can lower their carbon output, by limiting the area that needs to be painted or blended.
“When we do our calculations in our tool, we by line identify how much carbon is generated for each application in the repair,” Brower said. “Then we show the summary of how much carbon is generated.”
That gives the shop the ability to make decisions based not only on cost but also on carbon generated.
“That's how the shops and the insurance industry can contribute to lowering carbon and helping with this issue that is really huge right now in our in our environment,” Brower said.
Shops that implement sustainable practices to do what they can to lower their carbon emissions can market that to potential customers who are similarly environmentally minded.
“There's a large population of consumers that are very concerned about doing their part to lower carbon,” Brower said. “It can actually be a differentiator to help attract more customers into their body shop.”
Emissions Scopes
There are three categories, or “scopes,” of emissions.
“One is what I control,” Brower said. “If I own a body shop, the things that I'm doing in my body shop to lower the carbon -- that’s scope one.
“Scope two is the energy supply for my shop,” he said.
“Scope three is the most challenging one to track. Scope three includes the mining of the materials to create a part when a part needs to be created or built in order to replace a damaged item,” he said. “It is also the manufacturing process of the part, how much carbon is generated. And then it also includes the transportation carbon -- how do you get that part from the factory or where it's manufactured to the dealer and the body shop.”
Solera has been working on an algorithm to more accurately measure all three scopes, in partnership with the International Organization for Standards (ISO), which is certifying the scoring mechanism.
Using AI to Create ‘Touchless’ Claims
Solera also provides “thought leadership” regarding the future of the claims process, Brower said.
The company thinks a claim could be handled digitally start to finish, and has created a workflow that allows insurance companies to provide that service to customers who prefer it.
A “touchless” claims process could also include AI-generated estimates that “automatically bring in the most sustainable repair methods, so that it reduces human error,” Brower said -- for instance, whether a damaged part should be repaired or replaced. A human adjuster would review the estimate before payment is issued.
Brower said Solera’s estimating solution already has a tool called “Capture” that helps a human estimator decide if it better to repair or replace by comparing cost in labor and parts. Soon, the tool will also generate each option’s carbon score.
“That will also help body shops to make the most informed decision when they're deciding how to complete that repair,” Brower said.
Solera has another tool, “Intelligent Triage,” that uses AI to predict whether or not a damaged car will be totaled, based on photos, in about 10 seconds -- much quicker than when the car sits on the lot for a while, comes into the shop, tying up floor space, and then needs a technician to disassemble it, taking them away from other repairable jobs.
Strandberg asked how much carbon emissions using a tool like Sustainable Systematics actually saves.
“It's pretty significant,” Brower said.
The tool was first launched in Europe about a year and a half ago. Shops following sustainable practices saved an average of 43 kgs of carbon per repair, compared to those that don’t, he said.
“That really correlates to loss savings as well -- that resulted in about €160 ($180) reduction in the cost of repairing the vehicle,” Brower said.
He said he thinks the industry can improve on the 43 kgs of reduction found in that initial test.
“How much can we improve? I don't know, but we're seeing that it is actually making a difference,” Brower said. It's good all the way around.”
OEM, Insurer Cooperation
Strandberg asked how OEM and insurance partners are reacting to body shops’ efforts to implement sustainable practices.
OEMs -- especially those based in Europe -- are already focused on sustainability, Brower said. One has invested in a salvage company to increase used parts availability to its dealerships and service centers.
“Many times the OEMs, while they may want to sell the new OEM part, if that's not the part being used, their second choice would be an OEM part that is used, because it was an OEM-built part,” Brower said.
Some countries are creating regulations requiring insurance companies to report on how much carbon is generated in their repair processes.
“I'm sure there's still some friction in that space, but we're seeing more receptivity to taking a sustainable approach,” Brower said.
Solera is also working with paint manufacturers to help them lower carbon emissions in the refinish process.
The Future of AI, Sustainability in Collision Repair
AI will only continue to evolve in the collision repair industry, Brower said.
He said a group of CARSTAR stores in Canada has used Solera’s Capture tool to redesign their entire workflow. When a customer brings in a damaged vehicle for an estimate, a front desk employee can check in the vehicle, and then use Capture to take photos of the damage and generate an initial estimate that is sent to an estimator’s computer within three to four minutes.
“So within 15 minutes the customer comes in, they get greeted by a really great customer service rep who takes the pictures, sets it up for the for the technical expert to finish at their desk so it doesn't take much time, and then the customer gets an estimate printed and delivered to them and they schedule the repair,” Brower said.
Speeding up the estimating and scheduling process has led to a higher capture rate for those shops, Brower said.
“I see that as really the future,” he said.
He said he also envisions insurance companies offering discounts on premiums to customers who prefer a policy with a focus on sustainable practices, “that says, ‘If my car is damaged, I will be highly interested in a shop that is recommended, that's highly sustainable, that has best practices in that regard,’” Brower said.
“I think also we'll continue to see this culture of, OK, what can we do to make sure we do a quality repair while also lowering the carbon in the repair process,” he added. “I think all of those things are coming together nicely.”
