Contents
Change Summary
Overview
On April 28, 2023, MOTOR Information Systems announced a change to Color Blend (Adjacent Panels) procedures listed within the Guide to Estimating:
MOTOR Information Systems (MOTOR), a Hearst company, announced today it will make a change to the Estimated Worktime Development Methodology for color blend of adjacent panels within the MOTOR Guide to Estimating (GTE). The change is designed to account for variations in modern vehicle paint refinishing and will be made in October 2023 as part of the company’s standard GTE update schedule.
Per MOTOR’s revision, the refinish time associated with color blend of adjacent panels will defer to the judgement of an estimator or appraiser. This change impacts both two-stage and three-stage blend procedures.
Impact
In accordance with GTE versions published before October 2023, all CCC® Estimating apps currently use a fixed calculation for panel blend. Specifically, each blended adjacent panel receives 50% of the panel’s published refinish time for two-stage processes, and 70% for three-stage processes.
MOTOR’s October 2023 revision will result in the following changes to CCC® Estimating applications for Repair Facilities:
- Default percentages for two-stage and three-stage blend are configurable by the shop
- Labor prompting preferences for Blend operations are configurable by the shop
- Insurance-specific blend rules are configurable by the shop
- All refinish labor times associated with Blend operations will be underlined on the estimate
Configuration
Introduction
This section describes enhancements to support the configuration of blend rules for use with CCC® Estimating for Repair Facilities versions 40.0.0.0000 and above. This includes:
- Configuring repair facility default blend percentages
- Configuring labor prompt preferences for the Blend operation
- Configuring insurance-specific blend rules
- Copying blend rules to other shops within a multi-shop organization (MSO)
Requirements
| Minimum App Version | CCC® Estimating 40.0.0.0000 |
| Licensed Products | CCC ONE Estimating (all licenses) |
| Permission(s) | Edit repair facility profiles |
Repair Facility Blend Rules
Each shop location will have at least one set of Estimating Blend Rules. This represents the "default" configuration for your Repair Facility. Your shop's default blend rules are automatically applied to all workfiles created for the location.
Repair Facility default settings include:
- Two-stage blend percentage
- Three-stage blend percentage
- Blend prompting preference
Blend Percentages
The blend percentages defined for your location are used to calculate refinish times for adjacent panel blend operations. For example:
[Default %] x [Published Refinish Hours] = Blend Hours
You can specify separate percentages for two-stage and three-stage blend procedures. Default percentages can range from 0% to 200%.
Prompting Preferences
You can also specify whether Estimators will be prompted to confirm refinish time when adding Blend to the estimate. When enabled, refinish hours are still calculated based on your defined percentages. However, Estimators will be prompted to review the calculated hours before the line is added.
Options for prompting include:
Enabled – Estimator is prompted to confirm refinish hours when the Blend operation is selected for the estimate
Disabled – Estimator is not prompted, and the Blend operation is added directly to the estimate using the shop's configured percentages
Walkthrough
This section describes how to use cccone.com to find and configure the default blend rules for your Repair Facility:
- Login to cccone.com using your CCC ONE® username and password
- In the upper left-hand corner, open the main menu and click Settings
- In the Settings screen, click the Estimating Blend Rules tile
- In the list, select the Repair Facility row and click Edit
- Modify your Repair Facility blend rules as needed
- Select Save button, and then confirm the Save action
Insurance Blend Rules
In addition to the Repair Facility defaults, you can optionally define insurance-specific blend rules for your shop. Insurance blend rules are automatically applied to any workfile containing a designated insurance company. These rules take priority over your Repair Facility defaults.
The blend rules you configure for an insurance company are applied at the parent company level. Any secondary companies will automatically use the same configuration as their parent. A list of secondary companies for the carrier is visible in the insurance company profile on cccone.com.
Walkthrough
This section describes how to use cccone.com to find and configure the insurance-specific blend rules for your Repair Facility:
- From the Estimating Blend Rules screen, select +Add in the toolbar
- Search for and select the insurance company, then click OK
- Modify the insurance company blend rules as needed
- Select Save button, and then confirm the Save action
Copy Blend Rules (for MSOs)
For Multi-Shop Organizations (MSOs), blend rules may be copied from one location to another. This applies to both repair facility and insurance company rules.
When copying rules, the blend rules from the “copy from” location are used to update existing rules in selected “copy to” locations. If blend rules for an insurance company do not exist in the “copy to” location, rules will automatically be added.
To copy blend rules to another location:
- From the Estimating Blend Rules screen, select the blend rules you want to copy
- Click Copy and update other locations
- Click Add Locations to select your “copy to” locations
- Search for and select locations to update, then click OK
- When all “copy to” locations have been added, click Next
- Select Approve to confirm the copy action
- When copy is complete, click Done to close the copy screen
Blend Operation
Overview
This section describes the estimator’s experience when adding a blend operation to the estimate in CCC® Estimating. The result of selecting the “Blend” button will vary depending on the blend rules defined for the shop location (see above).
Blend Prompt Enabled
For shops configured with Blend Prompt enabled, CCC® Estimating does the following:
- Open a workfile to the Estimate tab
- Select a MOTOR database part with published Refinish Hours
- Click the Blend button
Note: Estimate Line Properties displays with the Refinish Hours populated according to your company blend rules.
- Review the default Refinish Hours, and update as needed
- Click Add to Estimate in the lower right-hand corner
Blend Prompt Disabled
For shops configured with Blend Prompt disabled, CCC® Estimating does the following:
- Open a workfile to the Estimate screen
- Select a MOTOR database part with published Refinish Hours
- Click the Blend button
Note: The blend line is added to the estimate with Refinish Hours populated according to your company blend rules.
FAQs
How do my blend rules impact estimates written with CCC® Estimating applications?
The two-stage and three-stage blend percentages defined in your repair facility’s Estimating Blend Rules settings will be used to calculate blend operations for estimates written via the desktop application, CCC ONE Touch, and on cccone.com.
Do my company blend rules apply to estimates written with Mobile Jumpstart?
Yes. Two-stage and three-stage blend percentages defined in your repair facility’s Estimating Blend Rules settings are used on estimates created using Mobile Jumpstart.
Is blend time recalculated when changing the insurance company?
No, existing estimate lines with the Blend operation will not be recalculated. The Estimator will be prompted to re-evaluate existing blend lines. However, any newly added blend operations will use the latest shop configuration for the insurance company selected.
Is blend time recalculated when changing paint options?
No, existing estimate lines with the Blend operation will not be recalculated. The Estimator will be prompted to re-evaluate existing blend lines. However, any newly added blend operations will be calculated using the latest paint option selected for the workfile (two-stage vs. three-stage).
When will the CCC® Estimating update be available?
CCC® Estimating version 40.0.0.0000 will begin rolling out in October 2023.