The Garage 361

ADAS
Navigating the
ADAS Revolution:
A Guide for Garages
With Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
now a legal necessity in new cars, will garages
find themselves with a growing problem, or an
opportunity?
Over the last few years, the hot topic for garages has been whether
they’ll invest in the training and equipment required to work on EVs.
However, more pressing, and much less talked about, is the growing
necessity for garages to be able to calibrate ADAS systems.
And unlike EVs, ADAS isn’t a ‘will we, won’t we?’
In a few years, majority of the cars on workshop ramps are going
to have some form of ADAS. And given the safety implications of
a misaligned ADAS system, garages without the required level of
knowledge, training, and equipment, could find themselves with a
problem.
However, the rise of ADAS-equipped vehicles also presents
independent garages with an opportunity for an additional major
income stream.
Iain Molloy, managing director of A1 ADAS Solutions, says that with
44 percent of cars predicted to have level 2 autonomy by 2030,
garages need to consider not if, but how they’re going to approach
the issue – and capitalise on it.
He said: “There are two routes to successfully managing ADAS
work. One is to invest in the equipment and training to carry out the
work in-house, and the other is to forge a working partnership with
an ADAS, diagnostic, and calibration specialist.
“There’s no right or wrong; it’s what’s best for your garage. Some
workshops want to invest and become specialists. Others want to
focus on something else. What’s important, is deciding how you’re
going to provide the ADAS service to your customers.
“Both routes will generate an extra revenue stream and make a
garage more profitable. Whether that’s by selling ADAS as a service
provided by your own technicians, or by putting a mark-up on the
service you’ve bought in from a mobile van, or remotely dialled-in
ADAS specialist.
“Both strategies will reduce key-to-key times and prevent a
backlog of work. It all contributes to a healthier bottom line.”
A1 ADAS Solutions says both approaches are working equally well for
its own customers.
For those who want to specialise inhouse, it is a product distributor
of ADAS and diagnostic equipment via its ‘set up for you’ service.
And for those who don’t want to invest, or have the liability of
carrying out the work themselves, it provides a ‘done for you’ ADAS
and diagnostics service either via its national mobile fleet, or by
remotely dialling into the vehicle via an interface.
Iain continued: “There’s a lot to consider when deciding how to
manage ADAS work. Garages have a duty of care to ensure a vehicle’s
ADAS system is going to behave as the manufacturer intended.
“Unfortunately, there’s often a lack of understanding about when a
vehicle needs calibrating.
“Most technicians know removing a bumper has implications
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