36 By Katie Stark and Paul D’Adamo Let’s Talk Recalls... How To Set Up an EWS, Early Warning System for defective Takata Airbags Laugh or Cry The best “HowTo” on airbags is, “HowTo set up an EarlyWarning System.”Arecycler would want to do this for several reasons. First, it sends a mes- sage to your employees that you are serious about play- ing a part in the removal of defectiveTakata airbags. Sec- ond, it gives the business owner an established Corporate Compliance policy and procedure to protect the com- pany. Third, once a process is in place, you can count on consistent results. In the case of defectiveTakata airbags, it could also allow you to extract more money from your vehicles. The Early Warning System should be implemented at vehicle check-in. Every recycler enters the VIN into their yard management software, whether it is Check- How to do it Did you know that we now have 18 Automakers, 75 models, and 15 years of coverage of the defective Takata airbags that are part of the recall. (VIN validation required)? Automakers include Acura, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Scion,Subaru, andToyota. Many auto recyclers have adopted the best management prac- tice of running the vehicle VIN’s through the rascorepro.com pro- gram for buyback and then safercar.gov for non-buyback airbags. Due to the continued release of VIN’s by the automakers in waves by way of NHTSA priori- tization, we have promoted the 4X mate, Crush, Hollander, or Pinnacle. The Point of Entry is the critical moment when the VIN should becopiedandpastedintotheRAS SearchandVali- date screen, requiring approximately 5 seconds worth of effort to see if the airbag(s) are on the RAS buyback list. You should also copy and paste the VIN into safercar.gov to see if it is a non- buyback recall. Make this an SOP, Standard Oper- ating Procedure, for every vehicle. Bamm. That is your Early Warning System for incoming vehi- cles. NOTE: if you are a URG member, you can use the Hot Key to perform this function within Checkmate,Hollander,Crush, or Pinnacle. Set up idea: whether you use Chrome, Explorer, or Firefox as your browser, set up your tabs to automatically have the RAS Recall Site and safercar.govload. “Great to see our sales numbers come out of hibernation.”