Over the Counter May 2008

NovaEast Adds Gabriel

Toronto-area warehouse NovaEast Warehouse Distribution has added Gabriel ride control products to its offering and will be distributing the line throughout Ontario. Nova East is located at 40 Shaft Rd., Unit 12-15, Etobicoke, ON M9W 4M2.

The company currently specializes in undercar service parts such as brake pads, rotors, and wheel bearings. Gabriel represents an expansion of the warehouse’s product offering. Stock is currently available for sale through the operation. Harvey Presement, sales manager for Nova East, can be reached at (416) 249-5050.

Speedy Muffler Acquires Minute Muffler Chain

Speedy Corporation has announced the strategic acquisition of the brand and assets of Albertabased Minute Muffler group–a chain of whileyou- wait muffler and automotive repair shops located across Canada, operating under the name Minute Muffler. Speedy Corporation, owner and operator of the Speedy Auto Service franchise network, has purchased all 91 Minute Muffler franchises, and will operate the company under the new name Minute Corporation.

Environment Canada Releases VOC Regulations, Moves Back Deadline

Environment Canada has released details of the long-awaited regulations limiting volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have already caused some collision repair shops to convert to waterborne refinish materials, and is setting out a 2010 stop-sale date.

While the regulation has been anticipated for more than two years and applies to many areas of industrial and consumer products, for the collision repair industry the release represents the first real look at the VOC regulations that will affect almost all coatings and materials used in the auto refinish sector. Two years after first discussing regulations to limit VOC emissions from automotive refinish materials, Environment Canada has published a draft version of its VOC rules in Canada Gazette Part I. This is the first step on the road to becoming law.

To read the official text, go to: http://canadagazette. gc.ca/ partI/2008/20080426/html/regle2-e. html.

The draft regulations differ little from what the industry expected, except that the implementation date for the regulations has been changed to January 1, 2010, giving paint manufacturers, paint distributors, and collision repair facilities about 19 months to complete the conversion to VOC-compliant products.

Paint industry officials estimate that about 7% of Canada’s auto refinish facilities had converted to VOC-compliant basecoat as of mid-April. Specifically, the regulation prohibits the manufacture, import, offer for sale, or sale of any of the 14 coatings and cleaners specified in the regulation–which includes primers, adhesion promoters, basecoats, clearcoats, and surface cleaners–if the concentration of VOCs exceeds the limits specified in the regulation.

The VOC limits for auto refinish materials are part of a federal government initiative to reduce emissions from chemicals that contribute to smog in consumer and commercial products such as paints, varnishes, adhesives, and vehicle refinish coatings. Canada’s environment minister, John Baird, announced the regulations on April 26.

Ontario Hazardous Waste Plan to Take Effect July 1st

Companies that make and market chemical products (manufacturers and first importers) such as paint, oil filters, batteries, and antifreeze have until July 1, 2008 to adhere to Ontario’s new regulations laid out in the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program Plan.

The MHSW Plan, approved in February 2008 by the Ontario Minister for the Environment, is designed to reduce environmental degradation caused by hazardous waste disposal in municipalities.

In its first year, it aims to recover 23,000 tonnes of special waste materials. The plan was developed by industry stewards and will now be implemented by Stewardship Ontario on behalf of Waste Diversion Ontario.

A MHSM steward is an organization that is either the brand owner or first importer into Ontario of products that result in the generation of the following phase one Municipal Hazardous or Special Wastes: paints and coatings, and containers in which they are contained; solvent, and containers in which they are contained; oil filters, after they have been used for their intended purpose; containers that have a capacity of 30 litres or less and that were manufactured and used for the purpose of containing lubricating oil; single-use dry cell batteries; antifreeze, and containers in which they are contained; and pressurized containers such as propane tanks and cylinders.

PartSource Opens Fourth Hub Store

PartSource held the grand opening of its hub store location in Kitchener, Ont., in late April, the fourth of a planned network of 23 such operations across Canada.

PartSource’s hub stores are about twice the size of a regular store and carry twice the SKU count, allowing them to provide quick-fill service to the local network of stores, nearby Canadian Tire outlets, and directly to commercial clients when required. Main inventory replenishment for all operations still comes from the large PartSource distribution centre in Vaughan, Ont., just north of Toronto.

The new Kitchener hub store is 18,000 square feet in size and carries some 30,000 SKUs in inventory (versus about 15,000 at a standard store), and includes space-hungry categories such as exhaust and gas tanks.

“We operate like a regular store,” says Kim Bishop, vice-president, store operations and commercial, but with more inventory and the added inter-store delivery responsibility.

“We run three businesses under one roof,” he says. “We run our retail business and our wholesale business. The third business is our routed delivery.”

That routed delivery operates on a regular schedule. The wholesale business will be handled by a separate crew of counterpeople, though the trade-only department was only just up and running when Jobber News visited.

“I don’t think it’s anything surprising,” says Bishop. “We have the name brand and second lines. There is nothing different from a traditional jobber,” except for the upfront retail.

The hub-and-spoke format adopted by PartSource is really a formalized example of what many regional jobber chains do.

“We have laid out a plan for 23 of these across Canada,” says Bishop. “We think it’s the way to go and of course we have a bunch of stores we’re building too.”

That store network now stands at 75, with a projected count of 200 by 2012.

David Vaughan Wins Young Executive Award

Maritime Canada distribution executive David Vaughan of Eastern Automotive Warehousing has been named as the first recipient of the Young Executive of the Year by the Automotive Industries Association of Canada’s Young Executive Society.

The award recognizes an outstanding young professional who has demonstrated leadership in the automotive aftermarket industry or their organization.

Vaughan works in sales and marketing for Eastern Automotive Warehousing in New Brunswick, a business owned and operated by the Vaughan family. A strong community leader, he initiated the first Charity Cars Event in Canada in 2006. To date, 20 women and their children in Fredericton, N. B., and surrounding areas have benefited from this program.

The Young Executive of the Year Award recognizes a young executive or manager that excels in leadership, innovation, and industry contribution. It was developed this year by the YES Council to highlight the importance of the younger generation of people within the aftermarket that are helping to build a strong future for the industry. The award was presented at the council’s event in Gatineau, Que.

B. C. Insurer Hosts Collision Repair Career Fair

Facing an impending personnel shortage in the collision industry, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has teamed up with the College of New Caledonia’s (CNC) Career Technical (CTC) program
and local business partners to attract students into the field.

Fifty hand-picked students from Prince George attended the Metal Heads Autobody Career Fair to educate and encourage them to consider a career in the industry. Students were bussed to CNC where they spent the day interacting with experts from the field and trying out skills needed for potential employment in the field.

The first of its kind, the career fair has garnered huge support both locally and provincewide, including a generous grant from the Automotive Retailers Association.

ICBC Material Damage manager Roger Allen has been impressed by the support he’s received in organizing the event. “Working with ICBC’s HR department, we acknowledged that a labour shortage is inevitable,” he says. “Instead of waiting for it to happen, we decided to take a proactive approach in recruiting young people into the field.”

CNC’s Brink building was transformed into an interactive playground for the young autobody enthusiasts, where they alternated between stations including welding, windshield replacement, sheet metal repair, and informational sessions about each facet of the field.

Over 120 technicians, shop owners and affiliates came out to the Grey Bruce Independent Automotive Repair Association’s Right To Repair awareness event held in Owen Sound in April.

Grey Bruce Association Hosts Right to Repair Event

John Cochrane, outgoing chairman of the AIA and owner of Cochrane Automotive in Toronto, gave in-depth examples of how the right to repair and access to information issues are already affecting the ability of the aftermarket repair shop to work on newer vehicles, forcing their return to the dealer.

AIA Canada’s Scott Smith also gave an informative presentation in which he urged everyone to go to the right to repair website, sign the petition, and write to their local member of Parliament. Smith also pointed out that it was one of the largest turnouts for an information night that he has seen and applauded the group for organizing it.