Osram highlights poor practice on bulbs


Leading lighting specialist Osram, is highlighting poor practices when it comes to bulb fitment. After being in the automotive industry for more than 110 years, Osram says it has specialist knowledge concerning bulbs, one such instance is poor practices that are undertaken in the aftermarket.

Alignment
Aligning headlights after bulbs have been replaced ensures that the beam pattern is set in the correct place and the beam pattern is hitting the right points on the road. If a replacement bulb is not fitted correctly it will not work correctly with the headlamp reflectors as intended and so light can be scattered to oncoming traffic. By not fitting bulbs correctly and aligning the headlamp afterwards, technicians run the risk of them other road users and limiting the driver’s visibility, but while every technician knows they should be aligning bulbs after their fitment, it’s still not common practice.

It also presents a revenue opportunity for the workshop because, just as wheel tracking and alignment is billable, so is bulb alignment. By charging a small amount for this service, the customer can be reassured their bulbs are giving them the best possible visibility and the workshop can earn extra income for a job that takes a small amount of time. Garages and workshops are expertly placed to carry out this simple check, unlike some high street retailers who, whilst they can offer bulbs and fit them, they are unable to offer the alignment check.

Fitment charges
There is also a prevalent issue of workshops not charging their customers when they fit new bulbs. Similar to the alignment issue, workshops should be charging for all jobs they are doing and the products being used. As a workshop usually has a large stock of bulbs, Osram has found that many do not charge for a replacement bulb, let alone for the fitment. Again, these are two aspects that should change, as this creates another revenue stream for the workshop, and while it’s a low price, it’ll add up throughout the year and become profitable. At this point it also pays to think about upgrading to performance bulbs that offer even more profit margins than standard bulbs.

Replacing in pairs
While a technician is changing one bulb, they may as well change both! Purely from a business point of view, replacing in pairs means double the revenue for the workshop. However, from a practical point of view, replacing bulbs in pairs is good practice and means that both bulbs are putting out the same light output and it also stands to reason that if one bulb blows, the other is likely to follow soon after. Therefore, to save the driver time and hassle, Osram is urging technicians to ensure both bulbs are changed at the same time, just like they would do with tyres and brakes.

Poor quality
Finally, poor quality bulbs usually result in less visibility on the road for the driver and a bulb failure sooner rather than later. Some can even cause glare to oncoming road users, this could be as a result of the bulbs producing over the maximum lumen output or the geometry of the filament is incorrect, meaning the light is not reflected on the road as intended. A premium quality product however will have been manufactured with precision engineering, and will give the best light output, last longer and subsequently result in a happier customer. If technicians are fitting lower quality products, they also lose out on a fantastic upselling opportunity that could greatly improve profit margins.

Ultimately, headlights are safety critical components, and should therefore be treated the same as other safety components, such as brakes, wiper blades and tyres, which is why workshops should charge for their time and expertise. Therefore, Osram is urging technicians to look into their bulb practices and see if they can be improved, for the sake of workshop profitability and customer service.