This radio interview with Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor features Ken Miller, President of the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey and owner of 821 Collision in North Haledon, NJ. They discuss the upcoming Northeast Automotive Trade Show, the largest regional event of its kind, which is now in its 48th year and will be held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center March 14, 15 & 16, 2025
The conversation focuses on the evolving automotive repair industry, particularly the increasing complexity of vehicle technology. Miller explains how both collision and mechanical repair shops must adapt to new challenges, such as OEM certification requirements and advanced vehicle systems, including ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). He highlights how repairs, even as seemingly simple as replacing a battery or side mirror, now require specialized knowledge, tools, and calibration procedures.
The discussion also touches on the growing crossover between mechanical and collision repair shops due to advancing vehicle technology. Miller emphasizes the importance of training, certification, and industry collaboration. The trade show will feature over 100 vendors, various seminars, and an OEM panel to address these industry shifts.
The interview concludes with information on the event’s schedule, location, and registration details.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Our next guest needs no introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Ken Miller's been with us many times before, just recently
last year. Ken Miller is the president of the Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey and we're happy
to have him. He's also the owner of a twenty
one collision in North held in New Jersey. Ken, Welcome back, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
How are you, hey, Ron? How you doing? I appreciate
you having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's that time of year again, right, the trade Show,
the Northeast Automotive Trade Show is here in New Jersey.
And boy, that year went fast, right, I guess it
went really fast for you guys. You're putting it together.
What year is the trade show?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
It's been around forever.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, trade show is in its forty eighth year.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Wow, you know that's just I can still remember the
days when it was in the parking garage at the
meatal Lands and now it's in it's in the meatal Lands,
but it's it's in the Is it in the convention Hall?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Exactly? Ken?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Yeah, it's in the Middlelands, Expost Center and the Exposition Center.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
That's right, that's right. So you know what's changed in
a year? And for everybody out there listening, this is
the biggest regional automotive trade show in the country, and
you guys do a great job of presentation from vendors
and seminars and all things in between. What's what's changed?
Let me ask the question this way. What's changed in
the industry that we're going to talk about this year
(01:39):
at the trade show that wasn't there last year? What
do you think you're you're a body shop owner, what
do you think has been so radically different now?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So I think I'll approach it two different ways. As
far as the industry goes, You know, the industry is
always evolving, especially on the collision side. You know that
as the technology and the cars continues to evolve, you know,
we come up with this new technology, these new challenges
that the repairers have to meet, and that's a lot
(02:08):
of what's going on. But that also ties in back
to the mechanical crowd, and you represent them well, and
I think you're probably starting to see some of this
also where we're starting to get more of these the
mechanical guys, the aftermarket MECHANICALOG guys, and out of the
dealerships that are having to deal with all this technology
now that is beyond what they normally had to deal
(02:30):
with before.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
The technology is crazy. In the cars. We put a
battery in a jeep this past week and they do
something now with state of and you have to have
the battery has to be above sixty five percent state
of charge or the start stop system won't work and
you have to activate it. You have to disconnect this
and you know, energize it and get it to go
(02:52):
into the learning mode. I'm putting a battery in a car.
I'm not doing anything else, So I can't imagine the
body shop. You know, it's it's you know, you guys
take a car that's basically broken, you know, maybe it's
it's banged in half and they got to put it
back together and and wake up all the electronics.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It has to be nuts, yeah, and it you know,
there's you know, there's different levels of repairers right, and
and those that are certified by OEMs and required to
understand how these systems work. And you know, we're seeing
brand new cars twenty twenty five, maybe a couple hundred
miles you know, on the road and get smashed up
(03:33):
and like you said, you know we're responsible for those
people that get in that car and their safety and
ensuring that everything works properly, safety systems and everything else.
It's a it's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Explain that to me a minute, Ken, you said certified
by OEMs. Is that is that an actual expression in
the sense that you know, a body shop has to
be certified by by an original equipment manufacturer in order
to repair a.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Car, doesn't have to be RON. But this is where
the industry is going because they're getting so complex. Many
of us now are, instead of being general practitioners, are
now starting to kind of align ourselves with different manufacturers
that we you know, we go through their individualized training
(04:23):
and they come out and inspect our facility, inspect our tooling,
you know, meet make sure that we meet their mandated
requirements for training and make sure that we understand how
to fix their cars.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So knowing this right that the industry is now evolved
into this in just a year, because that's what that's
what that's what initiated this conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
What's different at the trade show right, it's going that way.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's what seminars is going to be at the Northeast
Regional Trade Show next weekend. This is coming up the
weekend of the fourteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. Here, if
you're in New Jersey, you don't want to miss this one.
You know, what sort of seminars are you guys putting
on for this year's show.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
There's always great seminars, and we've got a bunch this year,
and I think the one that's uh, you know, we're
just discussing this earlier. We do have an OEM panel
coming in and they are going to discuss We do
have some manufacturer representatives along with some other companies that
represent OEMs through either training or equipment or in the aftermarket.
(05:30):
You know, we're we're going to be having a discussion
around this because it is still largely misunderstood.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Misunderstood in what way, in terms of procedure, in terms
of process, in terms of actual repair.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
When you say understood, what do you mean, I'm going
to say all of those. I'm going to say all
of those because it's like you talked about before, a
simple battery change, right, it is no longer a simple
battery change. So we get things like understanding procedures, understanding
(06:05):
what's required, where to find that information, like a mirror.
You know, there's a there's a lot of uh, there's
a lot of mechanic shops that will take on replacing
a mirror, you know, just an outside very mirror on
a car. And now with around you you know technology
where you're you're getting that bird's eye view when you're
parking your car where you can see a baller. Next
(06:26):
year you can see the curb as you're pulling up
next to it. Like that's not a simple thing anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
No, Yeah, now.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That requires calibrations, require special equipment, requires special facilities. These
things are they're they're really getting super advanced. And and
the customers love that technology. They love to know that.
You know, when they're going to change a lane, they
look in their mirror instead of turning around, you know,
they just look for that light. If the light's not on,
(06:52):
then there's nobody in the lane and they just change lanes.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So in the in the old days like yesterday, if
you're picking out a meccount shop, you would want to
see somebody that's you know, ASC certified, some sort of certifications,
some mechanical certifications. Now body shops can be as certified too,
But it sounds like that's not enough anymore. And it
sounds like that's what this year's Northeast Trade Show is
(07:16):
going to be about, educating and seminars talking about the
latest and greatest technologies. If I was a consumer and
I was in an accident, I'd want to find a
body shop that's OEM certified fair Statement.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Fair statement, and yeah, and how is how would I
know that is that? Well? The first thing where you
would start is your particular manufacturer will have that on
their website if you go to take your pick. You
know the one that I'm I'm most proud of that
we just accomplished as Lexus. And if you go on
to Lexus and type in Lexus Authorized or Lexus Certified
(07:52):
Collision Center, and you know, you can do a search
for the certified shops in your area and they'll pop up, and.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Twenty one Collision will come up as well as others.
That's well, Ken, it's gotten so specific. How many vendors
do you have at the trade show this year? Off
the top of your head, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well over one hundred. I don't think we got to
one hundred and fifty, but it's well over one hundred.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Right right, And I'm sure, there's going to be some
last minute arrivals and last minute entries. Now, now there's
mechanical as well as body at this trade show right
from vendors and you know as far as seminars. You
guys are working hard to bring up the mechanical division
once again, are you not?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, we are, And I think my personal opinion, there's
never been a time where we had a greater crossover
than what this technology is doing to us. Right, So
collision guys, we're kind of forced to learn this stuff
day one. Basically where the aftermarket mechanical we would see,
(08:54):
they'd be you know, outside of warranty. Once the car
gets out of warranty, then the consumer generally search is
for that you know, aftermarket mechanical shot. So you're probably
seeing those guys maybe four years behind us, maybe five
years behind us. And now that technology which was you know,
(09:15):
not really prevalent as much. It was there, but it
was not you know, an everyday car, like every car
now in twenty twenty five has autonomous breaking, right, and
what systems do they include and how does that system work,
and what calibration requirements are required and when are they required?
And so you're looking at certain things, very simple things
like wheel alignments and stuff that are now requiring all
(09:37):
of these calibrations to be done on top of just
the standard wheel alignment.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
I always love to ask this question to the body guys,
how you bought an alignment wreck recently? Ken? Yes, I can,
I ask you how much it was? I want to
rite understand now I'm asking this question because you know,
I still get you know, why aren't wheel alignments thirty
nine to ninety five? And I say, you have to
look at the cost of the equipment. How much was
your wheel alignment set up? Ken?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
So let me let me go a little further. I
was just invited out to Hunter Engineering's UH training center
up in New York, and they've got a really cool
setup up there, and they've got their latest UH their
latest machine. And I don't know if you've seen it.
I have.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I've been to the I've been to the center up
the Is it in the super ub building?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
It is in the sub building?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And you know now the the AIDS component is built
into it because they understand that the wheel alignment is
triggering a lot of these calibrations. So they've got all
of the technology built into this equipment. Now many OEM endorsements,
and I know they're working on more. And it was
one hundred and ninety thousand dollars right, two.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Hundred thousand dollars wheel alignment machine. Yeah, that's crazy, that's yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Do the ROI on that, yeah, right, do.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
The return on investment on that? Ken, stay put, let
me pull over, take a pause. When we come back,
I've got a couple more questions for you as we
round out this conversation. I'm Ronning, Andy and the Car
Doctor are here with Ken Miller. He's president of the
Alliance of Automotive Service Providers and also the owner of
eight twenty one Collision North Heildon, New Jersey. We'll both
return right after this.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Don't go away.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, got our daystar, thanks for staying with us.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Ron and Ady and the car Doctor here. I'm obviously
with Ken Miller. He's president of the Alliance of Automotive
Service Providers of New Jersey. He's the owner of eight
twenty one Collision North Heildon, New Jersey. And we're talking
about the regional trade show coming up next weekend. Aspn
jay's Northeast ASPNJ Northeast dot Com from more showing information. Ken,
we were talking about mechanicals and body shops, and our
(12:05):
conversation was really skewed towards mechanicals. The mechanical shops in general,
but particularly in New Jersey are really coming together now,
and I think they're going to be falling under the
umbrella or we're trying to put them under the umbrella
of a sp n J for a lot of reasons.
Can you talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Yeah, you know, like we mentioned before, Ron, Uh, I
think that there is that these two segments, collision and mechanical,
have never been closer, uh. And I think that there's
a great opportunity for for these two segments to get together,
uh for collision because they're kind of more on the
on that leading edge with new technology. UH, to to
(12:47):
you know, to give some wisdom and information to to
the mechanical guys. And and not that we're a training organization,
but we can certainly bring attention to to these these
things that these mechanical guys, if they haven't experienced yet,
they're going to be experiencing tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well. One of the things I've always said about body
shop owners, body shop owners tend to be very good businessmen.
And I'm not trying to insult in nay mechanical shop guys,
but the body shop owners had to learn at a
very early age, Hey, I need to do this, this, this,
and this to make the nickels work. And I always
saw body shop owners learning business faster, sooner in their
(13:28):
business life than mechanical shops. And I think that's more
so today. So you're absolutely right, you guys are you
guys could be the mentors of the mechanicals and that's
that's that's not a false statement regarding Northeast Trade Show. Ken.
You know this year there's seminars for body, there's some
for mechanical, and I know you're trying to put more
for mechanical together. And you know, do you think next
(13:52):
year we'll see more of a mechanical presence as the
industry continues to grow.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, quite possibly, and it is it is on my
rate are However, we do still have some mechanical vendors
in attendance. You know, Hunter will be there showing off
that latest stuff that we talked about in the earlier segment. Right,
So it's important that these guys get out and see
what's coming. If they don't know. At least you know,
see what's coming. See the equipment. It's really eye opening.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Is my buddy Sandor from Epi's Tool Club.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Going to be there, DNA, I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
If you see Sandor, you tell him, the car Doctor says,
although I like him, he's a funny guy. He's a
good guy. I'll do that, you know, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. So next weekend, right, the weekend of fourteenth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth, coming up in well a week right, Yeah,
that's it. Yeah, And if the listeners want more information,
they're going to find it where. What's the website again?
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Give it to us.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
That is a a sp NJ Northeast dot com and
that'll have the schedule of all our events and everything else.
Our exhibitors and everything else will be on that sheet.
They can find it there.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And this is at the Metal Lens Expo midle Leands
Expo Convention Center. Am I saying that right?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yep? Medal Lands Expossession Center.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Cool beans? Hey, ken, we got to get together, you know,
we talk about this every year, but we're gonna get
together and and and do dinner or something because we
could yack all night long. I'm sure there's an awful
lot to talk about, So put that on your put
that on your schedule, and we'll talk in a couple
of weeks. All right, Thanks for joining us today, Ken,
we enjoyed having you, and for everybody else out there again,
(15:29):
if you're in the New York, New Jersey tri state area,
I'll say it like that. It's a s p NJ
Northeast dot Com, the biggest regional trade show in the country.
I'm r on an Indy and the car Doctor. We say
goodbye to Ken Miller, president of a sp n J,
and I'll return right after this.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Don't go away
Speaker 3 (16:01):
To
Our next guest needs no introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Ken Miller's been with us many times before, just recently
last year. Ken Miller is the president of the Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey and we're happy
to have him. He's also the owner of a twenty
one collision in North held in New Jersey. Ken, Welcome back, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
How are you, hey, Ron? How you doing? I appreciate
you having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's that time of year again, right, the trade Show,
the Northeast Automotive Trade Show is here in New Jersey.
And boy, that year went fast, right, I guess it
went really fast for you guys. You're putting it together.
What year is the trade show?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
It's been around forever.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, trade show is in its forty eighth year.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Wow, you know that's just I can still remember the
days when it was in the parking garage at the
meatal Lands and now it's in it's in the meatal Lands,
but it's it's in the Is it in the convention Hall?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Exactly? Ken?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Yeah, it's in the Middlelands, Expost Center and the Exposition Center.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
That's right, that's right. So you know what's changed in
a year? And for everybody out there listening, this is
the biggest regional automotive trade show in the country, and
you guys do a great job of presentation from vendors
and seminars and all things in between. What's what's changed?
Let me ask the question this way. What's changed in
the industry that we're going to talk about this year
(01:39):
at the trade show that wasn't there last year? What
do you think you're you're a body shop owner, what
do you think has been so radically different now?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So I think I'll approach it two different ways. As
far as the industry goes, You know, the industry is
always evolving, especially on the collision side. You know that
as the technology and the cars continues to evolve, you know,
we come up with this new technology, these new challenges
that the repairers have to meet, and that's a lot
(02:08):
of what's going on. But that also ties in back
to the mechanical crowd, and you represent them well, and
I think you're probably starting to see some of this
also where we're starting to get more of these the
mechanical guys, the aftermarket MECHANICALOG guys, and out of the
dealerships that are having to deal with all this technology
now that is beyond what they normally had to deal
(02:30):
with before.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
The technology is crazy. In the cars. We put a
battery in a jeep this past week and they do
something now with state of and you have to have
the battery has to be above sixty five percent state
of charge or the start stop system won't work and
you have to activate it. You have to disconnect this
and you know, energize it and get it to go
(02:52):
into the learning mode. I'm putting a battery in a car.
I'm not doing anything else, So I can't imagine the
body shop. You know, it's it's you know, you guys
take a car that's basically broken, you know, maybe it's
it's banged in half and they got to put it
back together and and wake up all the electronics.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It has to be nuts, yeah, and it you know,
there's you know, there's different levels of repairers right, and
and those that are certified by OEMs and required to
understand how these systems work. And you know, we're seeing
brand new cars twenty twenty five, maybe a couple hundred
miles you know, on the road and get smashed up
(03:33):
and like you said, you know we're responsible for those
people that get in that car and their safety and
ensuring that everything works properly, safety systems and everything else.
It's a it's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Explain that to me a minute, Ken, you said certified
by OEMs. Is that is that an actual expression in
the sense that you know, a body shop has to
be certified by by an original equipment manufacturer in order
to repair a.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Car, doesn't have to be RON. But this is where
the industry is going because they're getting so complex. Many
of us now are, instead of being general practitioners, are
now starting to kind of align ourselves with different manufacturers
that we you know, we go through their individualized training
(04:23):
and they come out and inspect our facility, inspect our tooling,
you know, meet make sure that we meet their mandated
requirements for training and make sure that we understand how
to fix their cars.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So knowing this right that the industry is now evolved
into this in just a year, because that's what that's
what that's what initiated this conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
What's different at the trade show right, it's going that way.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's what seminars is going to be at the Northeast
Regional Trade Show next weekend. This is coming up the
weekend of the fourteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. Here, if
you're in New Jersey, you don't want to miss this one.
You know, what sort of seminars are you guys putting
on for this year's show.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
There's always great seminars, and we've got a bunch this year,
and I think the one that's uh, you know, we're
just discussing this earlier. We do have an OEM panel
coming in and they are going to discuss We do
have some manufacturer representatives along with some other companies that
represent OEMs through either training or equipment or in the aftermarket.
(05:30):
You know, we're we're going to be having a discussion
around this because it is still largely misunderstood.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Misunderstood in what way, in terms of procedure, in terms
of process, in terms of actual repair.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
When you say understood, what do you mean, I'm going
to say all of those. I'm going to say all
of those because it's like you talked about before, a
simple battery change, right, it is no longer a simple
battery change. So we get things like understanding procedures, understanding
(06:05):
what's required, where to find that information, like a mirror.
You know, there's a there's a lot of uh, there's
a lot of mechanic shops that will take on replacing
a mirror, you know, just an outside very mirror on
a car. And now with around you you know technology
where you're you're getting that bird's eye view when you're
parking your car where you can see a baller. Next
(06:26):
year you can see the curb as you're pulling up
next to it. Like that's not a simple thing anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
No, Yeah, now.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That requires calibrations, require special equipment, requires special facilities. These
things are they're they're really getting super advanced. And and
the customers love that technology. They love to know that.
You know, when they're going to change a lane, they
look in their mirror instead of turning around, you know,
they just look for that light. If the light's not on,
(06:52):
then there's nobody in the lane and they just change lanes.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So in the in the old days like yesterday, if
you're picking out a meccount shop, you would want to
see somebody that's you know, ASC certified, some sort of certifications,
some mechanical certifications. Now body shops can be as certified too,
But it sounds like that's not enough anymore. And it
sounds like that's what this year's Northeast Trade Show is
(07:16):
going to be about, educating and seminars talking about the
latest and greatest technologies. If I was a consumer and
I was in an accident, I'd want to find a
body shop that's OEM certified fair Statement.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Fair statement, and yeah, and how is how would I
know that is that? Well? The first thing where you
would start is your particular manufacturer will have that on
their website if you go to take your pick. You
know the one that I'm I'm most proud of that
we just accomplished as Lexus. And if you go on
to Lexus and type in Lexus Authorized or Lexus Certified
(07:52):
Collision Center, and you know, you can do a search
for the certified shops in your area and they'll pop up, and.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Twenty one Collision will come up as well as others.
That's well, Ken, it's gotten so specific. How many vendors
do you have at the trade show this year? Off
the top of your head, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well over one hundred. I don't think we got to
one hundred and fifty, but it's well over one hundred.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Right right, And I'm sure, there's going to be some
last minute arrivals and last minute entries. Now, now there's
mechanical as well as body at this trade show right
from vendors and you know as far as seminars. You
guys are working hard to bring up the mechanical division
once again, are you not?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, we are, And I think my personal opinion, there's
never been a time where we had a greater crossover
than what this technology is doing to us. Right, So
collision guys, we're kind of forced to learn this stuff
day one. Basically where the aftermarket mechanical we would see,
(08:54):
they'd be you know, outside of warranty. Once the car
gets out of warranty, then the consumer generally search is
for that you know, aftermarket mechanical shot. So you're probably
seeing those guys maybe four years behind us, maybe five
years behind us. And now that technology which was you know,
(09:15):
not really prevalent as much. It was there, but it
was not you know, an everyday car, like every car
now in twenty twenty five has autonomous breaking, right, and
what systems do they include and how does that system work,
and what calibration requirements are required and when are they required?
And so you're looking at certain things, very simple things
like wheel alignments and stuff that are now requiring all
(09:37):
of these calibrations to be done on top of just
the standard wheel alignment.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
I always love to ask this question to the body guys,
how you bought an alignment wreck recently? Ken? Yes, I can,
I ask you how much it was? I want to
rite understand now I'm asking this question because you know,
I still get you know, why aren't wheel alignments thirty
nine to ninety five? And I say, you have to
look at the cost of the equipment. How much was
your wheel alignment set up? Ken?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
So let me let me go a little further. I
was just invited out to Hunter Engineering's UH training center
up in New York, and they've got a really cool
setup up there, and they've got their latest UH their
latest machine. And I don't know if you've seen it.
I have.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I've been to the I've been to the center up
the Is it in the super ub building?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
It is in the sub building?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And you know now the the AIDS component is built
into it because they understand that the wheel alignment is
triggering a lot of these calibrations. So they've got all
of the technology built into this equipment. Now many OEM endorsements,
and I know they're working on more. And it was
one hundred and ninety thousand dollars right, two.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Hundred thousand dollars wheel alignment machine. Yeah, that's crazy, that's yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Do the ROI on that, yeah, right, do.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
The return on investment on that? Ken, stay put, let
me pull over, take a pause. When we come back,
I've got a couple more questions for you as we
round out this conversation. I'm Ronning, Andy and the Car
Doctor are here with Ken Miller. He's president of the
Alliance of Automotive Service Providers and also the owner of
eight twenty one Collision North Heildon, New Jersey. We'll both
return right after this.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Don't go away.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, got our daystar, thanks for staying with us.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Ron and Ady and the car Doctor here. I'm obviously
with Ken Miller. He's president of the Alliance of Automotive
Service Providers of New Jersey. He's the owner of eight
twenty one Collision North Heildon, New Jersey. And we're talking
about the regional trade show coming up next weekend. Aspn
jay's Northeast ASPNJ Northeast dot Com from more showing information. Ken,
we were talking about mechanicals and body shops, and our
(12:05):
conversation was really skewed towards mechanicals. The mechanical shops in general,
but particularly in New Jersey are really coming together now,
and I think they're going to be falling under the
umbrella or we're trying to put them under the umbrella
of a sp n J for a lot of reasons.
Can you talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Yeah, you know, like we mentioned before, Ron, Uh, I
think that there is that these two segments, collision and mechanical,
have never been closer, uh. And I think that there's
a great opportunity for for these two segments to get together,
uh for collision because they're kind of more on the
on that leading edge with new technology. UH, to to
(12:47):
you know, to give some wisdom and information to to
the mechanical guys. And and not that we're a training organization,
but we can certainly bring attention to to these these
things that these mechanical guys, if they haven't experienced yet,
they're going to be experiencing tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well. One of the things I've always said about body
shop owners, body shop owners tend to be very good businessmen.
And I'm not trying to insult in nay mechanical shop guys,
but the body shop owners had to learn at a
very early age, Hey, I need to do this, this, this,
and this to make the nickels work. And I always
saw body shop owners learning business faster, sooner in their
(13:28):
business life than mechanical shops. And I think that's more
so today. So you're absolutely right, you guys are you
guys could be the mentors of the mechanicals and that's
that's that's not a false statement regarding Northeast Trade Show. Ken.
You know this year there's seminars for body, there's some
for mechanical, and I know you're trying to put more
for mechanical together. And you know, do you think next
(13:52):
year we'll see more of a mechanical presence as the
industry continues to grow.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, quite possibly, and it is it is on my
rate are However, we do still have some mechanical vendors
in attendance. You know, Hunter will be there showing off
that latest stuff that we talked about in the earlier segment. Right,
So it's important that these guys get out and see
what's coming. If they don't know. At least you know,
see what's coming. See the equipment. It's really eye opening.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Is my buddy Sandor from Epi's Tool Club.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Going to be there, DNA, I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
If you see Sandor, you tell him, the car Doctor says,
although I like him, he's a funny guy. He's a
good guy. I'll do that, you know, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. So next weekend, right, the weekend of fourteenth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth, coming up in well a week right, Yeah,
that's it. Yeah, And if the listeners want more information,
they're going to find it where. What's the website again?
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Give it to us.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
That is a a sp NJ Northeast dot com and
that'll have the schedule of all our events and everything else.
Our exhibitors and everything else will be on that sheet.
They can find it there.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And this is at the Metal Lens Expo midle Leands
Expo Convention Center. Am I saying that right?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yep? Medal Lands Expossession Center.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Cool beans? Hey, ken, we got to get together, you know,
we talk about this every year, but we're gonna get
together and and and do dinner or something because we
could yack all night long. I'm sure there's an awful
lot to talk about, So put that on your put
that on your schedule, and we'll talk in a couple
of weeks. All right, Thanks for joining us today, Ken,
we enjoyed having you, and for everybody else out there again,
(15:29):
if you're in the New York, New Jersey tri state area,
I'll say it like that. It's a s p NJ
Northeast dot Com, the biggest regional trade show in the country.
I'm r on an Indy and the car Doctor. We say
goodbye to Ken Miller, president of a sp n J,
and I'll return right after this.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Don't go away
Speaker 3 (16:01):
To
Host
Ron Ananian
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