Word on the Wire By Andy Latham
andy@salvagewire.com
Green Recycled Parts® I
One of the bigger take aways that I had from the UK recyclers road trip to last year’s ARA
convention was the immense pride all the recyclers we visited had in their customer service, from the top of the company to the bottom.
nsurers in the United States invest around 12 percent of their parts budg-
et purchasing stock from the vehicle recycling industry to repair their cus- tomers vehicles, an incredible invest- ment when compared with other countries, especially the United King- dom where there are no statistics on the amount of money spent by insurers on green recycled parts, but we suspect it is less than 1 percent.
Why is this, why does the U.S. seem-
ingly have it so good? Historically, vehicle repairers in the
U.S. have utilized green recycled parts to keep vehicles mobile and this legacy has continued into current day standards and processes. This utilization was prob- ably due to the length of time it took to get parts from Detroit to repairers many years ago.
The vehicle recycling industry in the
U.S. also has a very powerful voice in the ARA that supports the industry by chal- lenging any attempts to stop the use of recycled parts, supports professional recyclers by providing training and development opportunities, standards and protocols and promotes green recy- cled parts to business, insurers and the public at every opportunity. Don’t misinterpret me, I am not saying
that other associations and federations across the world are no good; what I am saying is that theARAhas been, and con- tinues to be, very successful in this. Oneof the bigger take aways that I had from the UK recyclers road trip to last year’sARAconvention was the immense pride all the recyclers we visited had in their customer service, from the top of the company to the bottom, all employ- ees took their role very seriously, know- ing that what they did made a difference. This highlighted the excellent leader- ship in place, not only each company we visited, but also within the ARA – the association sets the standard for the industry, and those that attain theirCAR
24 Automotive Recycling | November-December 2016
and Gold Seal status are recognized and respected as being the best of the best. This is the result of years of hard work, development, training, and education in individual businesses and at state and national levels. Years of setting the right standards, constantly improving those standards, and years of promoting those achievements.
Over 25 years ago, when I first started working in the insurance industry, there was a desire to use recycled parts and that desire is still there now. Following the recent CARS Expo in the UK, attended by ARA CEO Michael Wilson and then-ARA President Mike Swift, a small working group has been set up in the UK to investigate green recycled parts and provide a user guide for vehi- cle repairers, insurers, and recyclers that will bring standards into this arena. By the time you read this the group
will have produced a draft guide and presented this to vehicle repair and insurance industry forums and be well on the way towards a final version of the user guide.
Could UK insurers invest 5 percent of
their parts budget on green recycled parts in the future? Doesn’t seem much when compared to the U.S. market but it is a vast improvement on less than 1 percent margin. Thiswill only have been achieved through the actions of a group of professionals who wanted to make a difference, and the fact that U.S.-based vehicle recyclers and theARAwelcomed visitors from the UK into their yards and to their convention and allowed them to see what could be achieved.
Andy Latham is Managing Director of Salvage Wire, a unique Auto Recycling consultancy with a focus on Safety, Ethics, and Profitability for all clients. With over 30 years of experience
in the automotive industry, Andy shares his knowledge, ex- perience, and wisdom garnered as an engineer, manager, and leader. For more details of Salvage Wire Training please contact Andy Latham on
andy@salvagewire.com, or look at the website
www.salvagewire.com
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