Under the leadership of Dan Stander of Jerry Stander's Collision Works in Littleton, Colo., ASA's Refinish subcommittee has created the ASA Raw vs. Primed Bumper Cover flier to document the additional steps required in refinishing a raw bumper cover compared to a primed bumper cover.

Independent repair facilities have seen an increase in the delivery of raw replacement bumpers and other raw parts from some of today's leading manufacturers.  It is imperative that the industry recognize the additional processes involved in refinishing a raw bumper and to adequately compensate collision repair professionals for that work.

"We have been hearing more and more about this issue from our fellow ASA members and the industry," said Stander, chairman of ASA's Refinish subcommittee.  "The refinish subcommittee decided to address this topic with a simple side-by-side comparison resulting in the Raw vs. Primed Bumper Cover flier. 

"This flier has the potential to apply to many other soft/plastic raw parts found on numerous vehicles in the marketplace that require additional labor and materials to properly refinish and warranty," he said.  "This simple tool, which can be given to insurance companies and adjusters, will help explain the procedures shops need to complete to refinish this type of part."

The results of analysis of paint manufacturer recommendations, industry refinish standards, technical data sheets, warranty requirements and p-pages as of March 2008 demonstrated 19 steps for refinishing a primed bumper cover compared to 27 necessary steps for refinishing a raw plastic bumper cover--a 42 percent increase.

The flier is the latest addition to ASA's growing collection of collision tools designed to assist collision repair professionals in their day-to-day operations. 

 
Three previous communication fliers were created to help collision repair professionals educate their local insurance representatives and adjustors about the correct procedures involved with blending.  They were the Repaired vs. New Panel, the LKQ vs. New Panel, and the Blend vs. New Panel fliers.

Other items in ASA's Collision Division Toolbox include a customizable supplement form and a refinish worksheet, which is a companion piece to ASA Repaired vs. New Panel flier.

The new Raw vs. Primed Bumper Cover flier is available to members as a downloadable document in the Members Only section of the ASA Web site www.ASAshop.org.