Some 300
Collision Industry Conference (CIC) attendees gathered
in Salt Lake City July 21-22 to gain insight into future
repair training. They also had the opportunity to ask
questions of training providers who participated in the
"Meeting the Future Training Needs of our Collective
Industry" panel discussion, which was hosted by the CIC
Education and Training Committee.
General Motors, Chrysler, I-CAR, C-CAR, DuPont, and Chief Automotive were among
the providers who delivered presentations on how they will
ensure that training to address rapid changes in vehicle
technology is readily available to the repair community. A
video produced by Assured Performance Network on the need for
training opened the panel discussion. The video can be
viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
=T6zULQhBaSI. "I believe many repairers today are
concerned that they have the necessary training available to
repair these highly sophisticated vehicles," stated Aaron
Lofrano, F. Lofrano and Sons Collision Centers, San
Francisco, CA.
"The presentations by the training entities helped me feel
more comfortable that the information will stream to
repairers." Kurt Udelhok of Nationwide Insurance, who
participated as one of the panelists added, "We asked some
tough questions of the OE's, I-CAR and the other presenters.
We all need to ensure we have the proper training to repair
today's vehicles."
"The future is here now,": commented CIC Chairman
Michael Quinn, co-founder of 911 Collision Centers. "Our July
conference was centered on the increased need for our
industry to have current, thorough repair education and
information readily available to the technicians. This
conversation will continue. We will delve deeper into
specific technologies at the November CIC meeting in Las
Vegas meeting alongside SEMA." Other highlights of the
upcoming November meeting will include the Parts and
Materials Refinish Subcommittee which will discuss the
accelerating drive to remove waste from the collision repair
process.
The Repairer Subcommittee will present a
panel discussion on whether a DEG-style initiative could work
for parts procurement issues. Additionally, a training
session by the Technical Presentations Committee on
Estimating Procedures will be offered by industry training
expert, Toby Chess.
