The independent shop runs a single estimating and management platform and is evaluating an AI-driven parts procurement tool.
Mike and Rosie Johnson started Johnson Auto Body in 1996. Todd McGee joined the shop as a painter in 2000, and when the Johnsons were ready to retire in 2017, he bought the business.
McGee got his start in collision repair sweeping floors at a different shop after a family friend offered him a summer job. He moved through body work before landing on paint, the specialty that hooked him.
Johnson Auto Body is an I-CAR certified, single-location independent shop in Knightdale, N.C., with 14 employees and a customer mix McGee estimated at roughly 50/50 DRP and retail.
THE STACK
| Estimating | CCC |
| Shop management | CCC |
| Parts ordering | CCC, PartsTrader |
| Accounting | QuickBooks |
| DRP/insurer portals | Varies by DRP requirement |
McGee runs estimating and shop management through CCC exclusively.
"I really like the production schedule. I've been in the office using it for over 10 years, so I know the ins and outs of it," McGee said. "I haven't really tried anything else, to be honest."
Most parts orders route through PartsTrader by default, McGee said, so the whole team follows the same process.
"But then we've got options. We can go look at PartsTrader stuff and see if there's something faster or more cost-effective, or in CCC they'll have special pricing, and if that's better, we go that route."
QuickBooks handles the shop's books, with a bookkeeper running transactions through it while McGee tracks performance directly in CCC.
"I know what's going on every day through CCC and the management software, and then I just check to make sure it all lines up at the end of the month with what she's got," Mcgee said.
He was recently introduced to PartBay, an AI-driven parts procurement platform, and is planning to look at a full demo. He described it as a tool that would automatically apply each DRP's specific requirements and put parts orders out for bid, similar to how PartsTrader works now.
"They set up your system so it knows all the requirements for DRPs, and then they go out and put everything out on bid and come back with the best pricing and how quick they can get it," McGee said. "It'll even order it for you."
| Customer communication | Text and email through Thryv |
| Photo and documentation | CCC |
| Scheduling/capacity planning | Manual whiteboard tracking |
Johnson Auto Body layers Thryv on top of CCC for customer-facing communication. A networking contact introduced him to Thryv, which he adopted primarily to move drop-off paperwork online through DocuSign.
"Their stuff's a little easier to use. We use CCC for the majority of our stuff because it's integrated into the production schedule," McGee said. "The main reason I started using [Thryv] is because we were able to set up all of our paperwork for drop-off through DocuSign."
That remote intake setup dates to the pandemic, when customers avoided coming into the office.
Day-to-day coordination on the shop floor runs through in-person production meetings rather than software, McGee said: a planning session with the parts department the afternoon before, followed by a full production staff meeting each morning to lay out the day.
Scheduling and capacity planning is currently manual. Johnson Auto Body previously ran CR Auto Scheduler, which automatically calculated capacity based on each insurer's typical supplement rate, but the shop moved away from it as volume shifted.
"It was a great idea, actually a fantastic idea, because it would track all the insurance companies you work with and their supplement percentage," McGee said. "My shop's goal is 500 labor hours a week, but our general supplement rate is about 100 percent, so we'd schedule 250 or so and that would turn into 500. ... We just weren't able to get it all dialed in."
Now, McGee said, the shop tracks burn rate and daily capacity on a whiteboard instead of through software.
| Scanning and diagnostics | Matco, Opus |
| ADAS calibrations | Sublet to a mobile provider |
| Measuring system | Car-O-Liner |
| Paint mixing and color matching | PPG Envirobase with Moonwalk |
Matco handles routine scanning in-house. For OEM-required scans, particularly post-repair scans, McGee said the shop uses a remote scanning service, and a mobile provider comes in daily to run ADAS calibrations. Measuring runs through a Car-O-Liner system.
"That's our measurement system. It's got the ladder that goes under the car, and they have targets that go up on it," McGee said. "This one has little adapters that go to this bolt or that bolt, and it measures out the car."
Johnson Auto Body mixes through PPG's Envirobase waterborne line paired with the Moonwalk automated mixing system, which McGee said lets the shop take a camera-based color read, preview the match on screen and dispense toners without a technician standing over the machine.
The shop was also transitioning to a new PPG automated mixing and dispensing setup installed the week of this interview, which McGee said requires different gun adapters across the paint department.
“We're in the process of switching all of our equipment because it's got different adapters for the guns," McGee said. "We haven't gotten to use it much yet, but it looks like it's going to be a cool little toy to play with."
Asked how he evaluates new technology before bringing it in, McGee pointed to peer groups rather than vendor pitches.
"I'm in several peer groups, so when something comes up, you can ask around and say, 'Has anybody gotten to try this? Have they had any luck with this?'" McGee said.
What technology could you not live without?
McGee didn't hesitate on the CCC production schedule.
"I can't live without that," McGee said. “And then of course all the reports that are in there too are a massive help for me.”
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