Paul D'Adamo 
There is no question that COVID has reshaped the labor pool in some not-so-business-friendly ways. Attracting and retaining qualified employees has become Job #1 for many recyclers, taking precious time away from acquiring quality vehicle inventory and running the business at peak efficiency. Somehow, through this timeframe, some recyclers have seen “cores” as an extra … Read more
The best award is the one you weren’t expecting. And so, it was on a cold New England Night at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island, as the employees of RAS (Rebuilders Automotive Supply) gathered for their annual Christmas Party. RAS’s ownership and executive team have built a reputation for respect and gratitude … Read more
An employer advertises for an Inventory person, and the job description says, “For this Inventory position, we need someone responsible”. An applicant replies, “I am the right person for this position. In my last inventory job, every time parts were missing or in the wrong place, they said I was responsible”. Many people might argue … Read more
My obsession with inventory started when I walked into Bill’s Auto Parts in 1990 to help my In-Laws with their recently purchased business. Not having been in the business before, it was easy to recognize a mess when we saw it. It became a combination of cleaning out the old and organizing for the new. … Read more
Recovering Cores – Five Contact Points Let’s go back to the basics of Cores: Identification, Recovery, QC, Packing. To delve further into the recovery of cores, let’s identify the five contact points for optimal core recovery within your existing workflow. Vehicle Inventory – Unlike in the past when your parts puller or dismantler was the … Read more
Having been in the industry for 32 years, I have been blessed with many long-term friendships. It’s crazy how some of these relationships began. I’m going to tell you about a gentleman I met this weekend while on a trip to Indianapolis for the Tri-State Summit and Expo. While I only visit Indianapolis once a … Read more
My goal for 2022 was to hit the road and participate in State, Regional, and National Conventions and Trade Shows to promote the concept of QC for Cores and Converters. What started as a simple campaign is now a traveling road show for Core related companies. It has been a pleasure to share the stage … Read more
As I travel the Trade Show circuit throughout the US and Canada, recyclers say that parts sales are off the charts! While the news is very exciting, I’m also hearing that labor availability and labor costs have skyrocketed, while scrap prices have turned in the other direction. Compound the labor situation with record inflation, and … Read more
I found the phrase “It Makes No Never Mind” in an article printed in “Discover MAINE,” a monthly magazine highlighting the Midcoast Region of the state we lovingly refer to as Vacationland. While not the official state motto, Maine is called Vacationland due to its natural beauty that has lured vacationers for decades as a … Read more
Our Founder Ted Eckstein knew he had something special in 1972. Ted was always an automotive enthusiast, and in the early 60’s, he started a small scrap company. One day, a friend of Ted’s told him that he could use some Starters and Generators for rebuilding purposes. That was the beginning of the transition from … Read more
So Much To Celebrate! Let’s all take a moment this month to celebrate these two monumental days in our industry. Earth Day and Reman Day represent the best of what our Industry stands for; companies who don’t just talk the talk of environmental action, but recyclers who by definition “walk the walk” in a profit … Read more
Education is Not a Cost In a recent URG on the Go podcast, DJ Harrington asked me about weighing the costs of training versus the benefits. My answer was, “There are no costs to education.” Plain and simple, all education is an investment and, if monetized properly, should be considered a profit center. Without employees … Read more
Are Your Shelves Overflowing With Parts? Are They Overstocks or Just Old? When was the last time your Inventory Person ran a report on your loose parts inventory? This report should be run at least twice a year, and old or overstock inventory turned into cash, either for scrapping or Core Value. I just ran … Read more
Did You Think The Takata Recall Was Over? I’ve talked with Recyclers recently about whether the Takata Recall was over. With recalled auto parts, the more parts that are repaired and/or destroyed, the fewer VIN’s available for repair/destruction. While 2019 was the pinnacle for the Auto Recycling Industry for recovered airbags, we are still recovering … Read more
Will Santa Bring you Quality in a Box for Christmas? We won’t know for sure whether you are on the Naughty or Nice list this year, but the reality is Quality is not a gift that comes wrapped neatly in a box under your Christmas tree. It requires a great deal of effort on your … Read more
Create an area that is well lit and install some racking to stage your cores. Do You “Pull and Pack” Your Cores There is an inherent issue with packing your core box as parts are being pulled. It may not be obvious as you have probably “always done it this way,” but light-duty cores often … Read more
Thinking Like The Big Boys I have had the good fortune to work for large billion dollar companies and small family-owned enterprises, including my own and RAS. One thing that sticks out to me is the need for Professionalizing people and functions. From the old days, small, family-run businesses didn’t like titles because they felt … Read more
Life Lesson. My wife and I recently moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. After 34 years in the same house, you accumulate a wealth of personal belongings. Priority #1 was to eliminate non-essentials so as not to bog down the moving process. Priority #2 was to ensure that the good stuff gets there in one … Read more
Organization and Process are the keys to an Effective Core Program Introducing Marie Kondo Have you heard of Marie Kondo, founder of konmari.com? Take some time this month and google search personal organizing. I think you will be impressed at the empire she has built, helping regular folks organize their lives. Why? When we organize, … Read more
NEW “QC Counts” Seminar Debuts at URG 2021 What does Quality Control (QC) have to do with Cores and Catalytic Converters? QC has everything to do with Cores and Catalytic Converters as these are substantial revenue streams. Our #1 priority of this Seminar is to change the way you think of these products. Without a … Read more
Who Doesn’t Look At Google Reviews? Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about Google Reviews this month. I travel for RAS, so I use Google Maps to look for different services; hotels, restaurants, etc., and, yes, Auto Recycling facilities. I can’t help myself. I love this industry and want all businesses to prosper … Read more
A lot of things have taken a back seat due to COVID-19. In some cases, Recyclers have pushed the removal of Takata Airbags to the back burner as they work through staffing issues. We are trying to communicate this month because these lethal airbags are still in circulation, as witnessed by the news of another … Read more
It looks like we are turning the corner from Winter and the Pandemic. How do I know? Airbag shipments have been increasing. However, I have been getting calls from Recyclers saying that someone new has taken over the airbag program. In many cases, the new folks are not getting the full training experience. Our Software … Read more
Many quotes make you think about the value of money. This is especially true when Auto Recyclers pay exorbitant prices for inventory and associated fees. Naturally, if the cost of goods continues to escalate, you must strive to extract more value from inventory. Money may not grow on trees, but in the auto recycling world, … Read more
Why are these Takata Airbags being recalled now? It seems ironic that we were just alerted to a Volvo Airbag Recall. NHTSA has concluded that the GM inflators are subject to the same issues; moisture, temperature, and age making them vulnerable as a safety hazard. GM had petitioned NHTSA over the last four years to … Read more
Is the New Volvo Recall part of the Recall Bounty Program? You have probably seen the recent headlines regarding the new Volvo airbag recall. The Volvo recall announced in November pertains to airbags that could rupture, spewing metal fragments into the passenger compartment. As with Takata airbags, the propellent degrades over time when exposed to … Read more
The Need for Speed When we introduced our Mobile YAPP (Yard Airbag App), we wanted to allow multiple ways to scan VIN Barcodes. It has always been our goal to give our customers OPTIONS! First, you can manually type in the VIN, second, you can use the built-in VIN Barcode Scanner, and last, you can … Read more
FAQ – Are you still paying a bounty on Honda airbags? I’m not getting as many hits on my Honda’s. Since the RAS Airbag Recovery program began, the Automakers have frequently added and redacted VIN’s from our database. The primary reason for redactions is that the vehicle has been repaired so the automaker is able … Read more
CREATING NEW HABITS WHILE SHEDDING OLD HABITS IS CRITICAL TO BUSINESS AND TAKATA AIRBAGS Creatures of Habit We all know about Bad Habits because we tell ourselves that we will change some of them in our New Year Resolutions. Some of us are successful at stopping bad habits but it usually doesn’t happen without starting … Read more
History When the Takata Airbag Recovery Program launched in 2015, our IT Department swung into action to create software for recyclers to process airbags. However, they recognized that there were customers enrolled in CorePro submitting cores and airbags, and recyclers who only wanted to process their airbags. So two logins were put on the same … Read more
With the surge of online-virtual meetings comes a need to review our communication skills. When the novelty of the first live virtual meeting is over, most of us would agree that while helpful, it might not have been the most productive time spent. This technology is not going away anytime soon, so it is best … Read more
The COVID-19 Pandemic will surely go down as the biggest crisis in our lifetime. We all remember the housing crisis in 2008 and 911 in 2001. Most people are not aware, but we had a banking crisis in Rhode Island during the early 90s where the Governor closed forty-five credit unions and banks creating runs … Read more
The good news for our Auto Scrap and Shredder customers is that they are not encumbered with “parts inventory” issues. Vehicles arrive at your facility and trigger a very systematic process to minimize labor while maximizing profit on the vehicles journey to the baler or shredder. Our Takata Airbag Recovery Program fits best at the … Read more
NEW “RECALL CART” SIMILAR TO COREPRO WITHOUT CORES Our Technology Department here at RAS deserves a lot of credit for the success of the Recall Program. Kudos to Dave, Don, Tom, Deb, and Michael for all that they do. You don’t see their faces at the trade shows, but their knowledge and expertise are visible … Read more
The Takata Airbag Recall has presented challenges and opportunities to Auto Recyclers. In the beginning, most Recyclers were not eager to jump in. Anytime you introduce a new concept, it takes time to formulate procedures, educate people, and identify the “Why” of the program. The “Why” is different for everyone. Many Recyclers see the opportunity … Read more
Holidays are indeed a time of reflection and gratitude. Here at RAS, we are humbled by the efforts of the industry to rally behind #YANKTHATBAG and produce our best results ever! We are all blessed to be part of such a great industry where our competitors are also partners. Relationships stand the test of time, … Read more
After 22 months of saying #yankthatbag, we finally have a reason to say, “Don’t Yank These Bags”. Of course, we are referring to Deployed Airbags. Maybe you haven’t heard?? Shortly after we released our YAPP (Yard Airbag App) for removing Takata airbags from vehicles, we pursued the idea of using our YAPP to process Deployed … Read more
We have reached a milestone in the recovery of Defective Takata Airbags; The successful recovery and destruction of 500K airbags. We don’t know how many of that amount could have resulted in death or serious injury. More importantly, it recognizes the efforts our industry has put forth to ensure the driving public that Auto Recyclers … Read more
Throughout Paul’s amazing 29 years in the automotive recycling industry, he has never seen issues concerning labor become as prominent as today. During our travels, we are constantly hearing the same mantra “It’s hard to attract and retain good employees.” This shortage of labor not only affects larger recyclers, but also the Mom & Pop … Read more
YMM System based on Year, Make Model — Focus on BMW, Dodge/Chrysler, VW/Audi The RAS Bounty program for defective Takata Airbags is based on VIN verification of vehicles by the Recycler. We provide the tools and software to verify those VIN’s against our recall buyback database. The industry is to be applauded for a significant … Read more
In the 1960’s song “Summertime Blues”, a son laments about all the things he wants to do over the Summer like going on a date, taking out the family car for a Sunday ride, or taking a fun vacation. Each time he is chastised for either not working hard enough, being too young to vote, … Read more
I have attended many Trade Shows, User Conferences, Association Meetings, Conventions, and Auto Recycling gatherings since my entry into the industry in 1990. I’m not sure how much it has cost me in time and my company in dollars and cents. I will be the first person to tell you that they didn’t cost me … Read more
Ford is the 1st Automaker to Pay for Deployed/Missing Airbags Top 5 Reasons to Switch to our Mobile Yard Airbag App (YAPP): No more VIN barcode printouts Allows for Mobile Scanning of VIN’s at check in or intake Allows for complete airbag recovery and validation at the vehicle Allows recyclers to invoice from the cart … Read more
Standing at 6’5”, one could be easily intimidated. With the look of a linebacker, Andrew Chuckran is as intense about the auto recycling business as you can get. What really sets him apart is his dedication to the art of “squeezing”, so to speak, the last buck from the thousands of vehicles that are purchased … Read more
There are still some Auto Recyclers who have ignored the Takata airbag recall thinking it would blow over. What we know is that Congress and NHTSA have put renewed pressure on the Automakers to improve their repair and recovery rates since there are still millions of Takata inflators in the marketplace. If you have been … Read more
When our family first took over Bill’s Auto Parts, we always seemed to find ourselves doing work-arounds to get things done. I called it “Fire, Ready, Aim.” It was like a game of Chinese Checkers where we needed to take steps backward in order to move forward. The old school nature of the operation (founded … Read more
The “Let’s Talk” Series is designed to help recyclers understand defective Takata Airbag Recalls and make good business decisions. We are constantly working on tools to help Recyclers be compliant with Recall-related laws, while also maximizing Bounty revenue. We are unleashing a simple to use App to help recyclers streamline their airbag process. What would … Read more
It’s hard to look forward to 2019 without a quick review of 2018. Thanks to Auto Recyclers across North America, tens of thousands of defective Takata airbags have been removed from the Auto Recycling Industry in 2018. As an industry, we have stepped up our game to remove defective Takata airbags from resale inventory thereby … Read more
It has come to our attention that there is a misunderstanding regarding defective Takata airbags. The issue revolves around a perception that the OE Buyback program run by RAS is essentially the only program a recycler needs to be aware of and act on. Our focus in this article is to clarify the role and … Read more
We have written extensively about the importance of Auto Recyclers recognizing their corporate responsibility regarding recalls. As small business owners, we often feel like we are immune to the outside world due to our size with thoughts like “We’ll skirt this” or “If we ignore it, it will go away.” That couldn’t be further from … Read more