ADP Collision Repair Services Expands Shop Management System Line With Release of Stellix Essentials.

Business Editors

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

To meet the unique needs of growing body shops, ADP Collision Repair Services, a leading provider of information services for the collision repair industry, and Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. today announced the commercial release of Stellix Essentials, a modified version of its renowned collision repair management system, now called Stellix Pro.

Created specifically for growing body shops that require three or fewer users, Stellix Essentials is the only fully upgradeable entry-level shop management system on the market today. It goes beyond traditional "job costing" systems, and focuses, instead, on total operational efficiency.

As with Stellix Pro, the new Windows-based Essentials version contains productivity tools that reduce manual processes and improve operational efficiency. It also provides proven functionality and powerful reporting mechanisms, enabling shops to better manage their business, improve profitability and grow their business.

Useful reports give users a commanding position for tracking parts, production and labor, as well as repair delays.

"We have spoken to a number of shop owners who have been impressed by the management tools contained in Stellix Pro, but don't necessarily experience the volume of business for which the system is designed," said Anthony Spina, the Stellix product manager for ADP Collision Repair Services. "With Stellix Essentials, we have created a version of Stellix to better fit the needs of smaller body shops.

"Make no mistake, however, this is still a powerful, full-featured collision repair management system that will help shops increase productivity and profitability."

According to Spina, Stellix Essentials is primarily designed for collision repair facilities doing less than $1 million in annual revenue. As shops grow and their management needs increase, the system can be easily upgraded to Stellix Pro without any loss of data or any need to learn a new application.

Stellix Essentials provides collision repair facilities with extraordinary tracking capabilities to improve productivity and efficiency. The system monitors technician production and job costing on screens that closely resemble the ones already used in body shop offices.

The ShopView(TM) feature provides instant at-a-glance views of all repair orders, including the status and alerts in parts, labor, production and sublet work.

"Stellix Essentials contains the critical features found in our Stellix Pro system, so users can be sure that they will have access to those powerful operational tools," said Spina. "Moreover, this new offering also comes with the option to add some features for additional costs, such as an interface to the other leading vehicle repair estimating systems and an interface to the primary accounting systems used by body shops in the U.S."

Stellix was developed jointly by ADP Collision Repair Services and Akzo Nobel. ADP Collision Repair Services is a strategic business unit of ADP Claims Solutions Group (CSG).

Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., ADP CSG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE:AUD). ADP, with more than $6 billion in revenues and 500,000 clients, is one of the largest independent computing services firms in the world.

ADP CSG provides the property and casualty industry and their business partners with integrated and independent information services for automotive, medical and property claims management in 18 countries. ADP Claims Solutions Group is located at 2010 Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon, Calif. 94583; 925/866-1100. The company's web site can be found at http://www.csg.adp.com.

Akzo Nobel's North American Car Refinishes operation, headquartered in Atlanta, manufactures and markets Sikkens(R)-brand paint refinish systems to high-quality collision repair shops.

These products include Autocryl(R) acrylic urethane, Autobase(R) basecoat, Autoclear(R) clearcoat, a low VOC product offering that includes single stage Autocoat(R) Ultra LV, and Colorbuild(R), the industry's first true color undercoat. Akzo Nobel, headquartered in the Netherlands, is one of the world's leading companies in selected areas of chemicals, coatings, and healthcare products, with over $14.5 billion in revenue.