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Mitchell Adds Market-Based Price Updates to Its Refinishing Materials Calculator
In a Constantly Changing Refinish Materials Environment Mitchell Provides Complete and Accurate Pricing Information
| Source: Mitchell International
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - April 23, 2009) - Mitchell International, Inc., a leading
provider of information, workflow and performance management solutions to
the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, today
announced that it will provide market-based price updates to its
industry-leading Refinishing Materials Calculator (RMC™). Over the past
six months, Mitchell has been collaborating with members of several
collision repair associations, including the Society of Collision Repair
Specialists (SCRS), to provide updates to RMC that will accurately reflect
the highly variable cost of refinish materials. The added updates
underscore the Company's continued commitment to providing the collision
repair industry with the tools and techniques needed to achieve optimum
performance.
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 three percent
-- helping to assure that the industry receives up to date refinish
materials costs. Additionally, Mitchell 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.
"In today's economy, change is a constant in the collision repair
marketplace, especially the cost of refinish materials," said Marc
Brungger, Executive Vice President of Auto Physical Damage, Mitchell
International. "We have always been dedicated to providing our customers
with accurate and complete information. 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
one of the most accurate and verifiable database in the industry that
provides job-specific materials costing for imported and domestic vehicles
according to year, make, and paint code. Rather than using an inaccurate
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.
With access to more than 8,500 paint codes, users will benefit from more
accurate job costing than they would by relying on an hourly formula.
Mitchell RMC is designed to be used by all participants -- collision body
shops, insurance companies, appraisers, independent claims adjusters, and
paint companies -- involved in the collision repair and claims process. RMC
is Microsoft® Windows® compatible and can be used as a stand-alone
solution, or as an integrated part of Mitchell's advanced estimating system
-- UltraMate®.
Those who would like to learn more about RMC can look for a special feature
on RMC appearing in the upcoming Industry Trends Report that will be
available soon at www.mitchell.com.
About Mitchell International, Inc.
Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is a leading provider of
information, workflow, workers' compensation, medical bill review, and
performance management solutions to the automotive insurance claims
industry, serving carriers, collision repair facilities, and other
commercial participants in the physical damage and auto-related medical
claims markets. Mitchell facilitates millions of electronic transactions
between more than 25,000 business partners each month to enhance their
productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction levels.