History Does Repeat Itself
By Charlie Gorman

Is it possible to create an I-CAR kind of training program for mechanical repair shops?

Recent events at Automotive Service Repair Week (ASRW) in New Orleans and Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week (AAIW) in Las Vegas have reminded me again about a very specific point in time in my career.  It was one of those moments that caused a career path change and reinforcing examples keep reappearing from time to time.

In 1992 I was Director of Training for Sun Electric Corporation.  Sun in those days spent a lot of money on training.  Most of Sun’s sales force understood that it wasn’t enough to just sell diagnostic equipment.  We actually had to create our customers.  Technicians and shop owners who did not understand what diagnostic equipment could do for them did not make good prospects.  The only way to create a customer was to provide the training necessary for them to see how the equipment could help them repair vehicles right the first time.  One of our mottos back then was “Test Don’t Guess”.  Features and benefits only made sense once the customer understood them.

The value of training to the corporation was extensive, but intangible.  We never made money directly through our training programs.  It was all we could do to get students to attend for free.  Whenever revenue from sales was down, management looked for non-revenue bearing programs to reduce spending and take up the slack.  Training was one of the largest non-revenue bearing programs we had.  This brings me to the unforgettable moment.

One of our Senior Vice Presidents came to my office one afternoon and asked me, is there something we can do to make training profitable?  He went on to say that if we don’t, we are in danger of having to do away with our formal training programs.  I didn’t answer right away.  It took me a couple of days to formulate my response.  At our next meeting on the subject I answered in the affirmative, but with the caveat that training could only be profitable if accompanied by a mandate of some kind.  I had come to the conclusion that quality training is almost impossible to maintain on its own without subsidizing or requiring it.

I had been watching the development of Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) programs, especially in the East.  Some states were requiring diagnostic training in order to get a license to perform I/M tests.  These classes were profitable because no one had a choice.  It was mandated!  I told the VP that we needed to get more involved in pushing these mandated I/M training programs.  I explained that it would create revenue to support training while at the same time sell I/M and diagnostic equipment.

At first it went well, but unfortunately few states adopted the required training programs and although equipment sales went through the roof in the areas where I/M equipment was required, the training went back to being a giveaway program.  In fact, training went from being a presales program to get the shop owner interested in purchasing equipment to a post sales program designed to keep shops from abandoning or returning equipment.

The career changing part happened when the VP’s prediction came true.  My department slowly dwindled as we laid off one person at a time until there was practically no one left and I found myself more involved in managing I/M equipment than training.  The design of I/M equipment and programs got me involved with ETI and ETI is where I am today.

So what happened at ASRW and AAIW that reminded me of all this?  Well, I listened to several speeches about how the real problem with “Right to Repair” is not the lack of information.  It is the lack of training.  There were speeches on something called “Service Readiness” the combination of equipment service information and training necessary for a shop and the technicians working there to be able to properly repair modern vehicles.  I heard that the aftermarket has to duplicate what the automakers require of their dealership technicians if they want to be able to properly fix cars. 

Why are automakers able to accomplish Service Readiness while the aftermarket can’t?  The answer of course is that dealers are mandated by the automakers to send their technicians to training.  If you want to remain a dealership in good standing there is a requirement to train technicians to specified levels.   If we want to duplicate dealership service readiness in the aftermarket, we will need to create some sort of mandate -- and yes, that puts us right where the story began for me in 1992.

And I’m not the only one saying it.  There were several attendees at these presentations that brought up the possibility of some sort of certification requirement for aftermarket shops as a means to move Service Readiness along.

I know I’m on dangerous ground here.  Whenever mandates are mentioned the first thing that pops into people’s heads is government certification and/or licensing, but mandates can come in many forms.

A good example of a mandate that does not include government certification or licensing is the collision repair industry’s I-CAR platinum certification for individual technicians and its companion Gold Class certification for collision repair shops.  The following is taken from their brochure

“Achieving and Maintaining Platinum Individual Status”

“To achieve Platinum status, an individual must successfully complete his or her Knowledge Area training requirements for each Pro Level within the Professional Development Program (PDP). He or she can initially achieve the Platinum Individual designation upon completing Pro Level 1 requirements. After completing Pro Level 1 requirements, he or she can maintain Platinum Individual status by completing training requirements in the subsequent Pro Level by his or her annual renewal date. Once Pro Level 3 training requirements have been completed, he or she must complete six credit hours of ongoing role-relevant training each year by his or her annual renewal date to maintain Platinum Individual status.”

“Achieving and Maintaining Gold Class Professionals Status”

“To achieve the Gold Class Professionals designation, a business must designate four key employees as Role Reps in the following roles: Estimator, Steel Structural Technician, Non-Structural Technician, and Refinish Technician. (One person can be a Role Rep for multiple roles.) Each Role Rep will achieve Platinum level status for their declared roles(s).”

“Each designated Platinum Individual Role Rep must successfully complete his or her Knowledge Area training requirements for each Pro Level within the PDP.”

“All other employees involved in the collision repair process (non-Role Reps), must take six credit hours of role-relevant training each year by the business’ renewal date.”

So where’s the mandate?  The mandate comes in the form of approval to do collision work for franchised dealerships and/or insurance companies and it works.  I-CAR programs are very successful and growing.  The entire collision industry is benefiting from it.  It is also important to know that there is more to this than just a mandate.  There is a very high level of cooperation.  I-CAR programs have the backing of OEMs, insurance companies, large collision repair chains and small independent shops.  Information from all sectors of the collision industry is shared, reinforced and reproduced to everyone’s benefit.

So I want to pose the following questions:

• Is it possible to create an I-CAR kind of training program for mechanical repair shops?
  

• Are we at the point where we are ready to either incentivize shops that become Service Ready, or crack down on those that do not?
  

• What are the possible incentives and/or penalties that would create the mandate?

• Are the automakers, parts manufacturers, equipment companies, training organizations, information providers and others ready to join forces to create such a program?

I know these are questions and not answers, but we have to start somewhere.  It is disconcerting to think that the industry could still be learning the training without mandate lesson 20 years from now.

In order to get everyone to think about this a little I’m going to leave you with a little known example of a Service Readiness mandate that few people know about.  Beginning in July 2013 heavy duty on-road engine manufactures must sell the same scan tools to the aftermarket that they make available to their authorized repair facilities.  This is similar to the light duty requirement, but not the same.  In the heavy duty rule the engine manufacturers can require the purchaser to send a person to their training facility to get properly trained.  If the purchaser is unwilling to attend, the OE can legally refuse to sell the tool.  

Some say this requirement was added to deter independents from buying the tools.  Others say that this is an example of OEs actually caring about the quality of repairs performed by the aftermarket.   I think it is a little of both, but still an example of a mandate and regardless of the motive should be watched closely.