Ascential launches monthly subscription service for in-house calibrations

Ascential Technologies has launched a monthly subscription-based program for collision repair facilities that it says allows them to provide in-house advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) calibrations without upfront equipment costs.

Through this new Calibration-as-a-Service business model, Burke Porter partners can now subscribe to use the equipment at their own shops rather than buying it for tens of thousands of dollars.

“We’re launching this new way of doing business where we’ve noticed that a lot of shops have big barriers of entry to ADAS, and the biggest one being spending $70,000 or $100,000 on pieces of equipment to get started,” said Brunno Moretti, Ascential’s ADAS solutions president. “The equipment gets placed in the shop, they pay a subscription, and then a nominal per-use fee as well. That way, within about two to three calibrations, they’re already in the black, and they can start making money from calibrations.

“We’re not just shipping the equipment. We actually put the unit in their shops, make sure that it’s in the right location, make sure that the conditions of the environment are correct, meaning the levelness of the floor, and if there’s going to be any kind of lighting that’s going to be a problem for the targets.”

Ascential says the CaaS model covers:

• • Equipment installation at the customer’s shop
  • Enterprise-level support covering old and new model years
  • Access to the latest hardware products and software updates

“We view this launch as an opportunity to alleviate barriers to entry and help both large and small shop owners, including calibration companies starting out in the industry or expanding, by giving them more cost-effective access to top-of-the-line tools and rapid-response service, without the capital expenditure,” added Moretti in a company press release.

Ascential says prospective customers would need to perform at least one calibration per day to be a fit for this service. Ascential partners with companies like Revv to help shops get started with what needs to be done upfront.

Scan tools aren’t provided with the subscription, but Moretti said they strongly suggest using OEM scan tools “to catch everything that needs to be caught.”

“The vehicles leaving the shop without being calibrated are a danger to other vehicles on the road… We noticed that, in talking to several different shops, the upfront cost is one of the biggest barriers. They don’t want to go in and have that investment upfront and then have however many years of ROI to get that return on the investment because there was so much upfront… We really want to get our equipment in the hands of shops that care about quality and care that the vehicles are being calibrated.”

Ascential also provides baseline equipment training for technicians at shops that sign up for the program.

A recent whitepaper from Ascential Technologies, Sentric, and ADAS Garage explores the safety implications, financial costs, and liability risks associated with failing to recalibrate or improperly recalibrating ADAS in vehicles. It also calls for universal ADAS calibration standards, as well as nationwide recalibration requirements and best practices.

Last year, Ascential conducted its own ADAS tests, for which the results were released in July.

According to the data from the tests, it was concluded:

• • “Good calibration restores and enhances ADAS performance;
  • “Poor calibration introduces dangerous unpredictability, even when systems appear functional;
  • “No calibration results in silent failure, with systems failing to activate at all; and
  • “Baseline systems degrade over time, reinforcing the need for calibration as a maintenance item.”

The paper notes that improperly calibrated systems can reduce consumer trust in ADAS technologies as drivers grow frustrated with systems not functioning correctly.

Images

Photos of calibrations in progress provided by Ascential Technologies