SAN DIEGO — Mitchell International will provide market-based price updates to its Refinishing Materials Calculator (RMC), a move designed to accurately reflect the highly variable cost of refinish materials.
Beginning in May, Mitchell will analyze pricing data monthly and institute a "trigger" that will activate an RMC data update when the aggregate paint price data received from manufacturers changes by more than 3 percent. Mitchell also will review paint offerings and eliminate lines that are no longer commonly used as well as reflect the addition of new product lines to keep pace with paint manufacturers' continuously updated product lines.
"Change is a constant in the collision repair marketplace, especially the cost of refinish materials," says Marc Brungger, executive vice president of auto physical damage, Mitchell International. "Mitchell's Refinishing Materials Calculator is a key tool in our mission to help reduce repair cycle times by providing repairers with the information needed to accurately calculate the true costs for every vehicle repair."
Mitchell RMC is a complete materials calculation software program based on a database that provides job-specific materials costing for imported and domestic vehicles according to year, make, and paint code. Rather than using a flat rate hourly formula, Mitchell RMC provides users with a fully automated itemization of costs for primers, colors, clear coats, additives and other materials needed to restore vehicles to pre-accident condition. Users have access to more than 8,500 paint codes.
Mitchell RMC is designed to be used by all participants — auto body repair shops, insurance companies, appraisers, independent claims adjusters and paint companies — involved in the collision repair and claims process. RMC can be used as a stand-alone solution or as an integrated part of Mitchell’s UltraMate estimating system.
