I-CAR Moving Forward with Reparability Technical Support Program

July 23, 2013

July 23, 2013, BOSTON—I-CAR president and CEO John Van Alstyne announced Tuesday that I-CAR has board approval to move ahead with its I-CAR Reparability Technical Support and Knowledge program.

The announcement came during the first-day session of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) at the Westin Boston Waterfront. Van Alstyne, speaking during a discussion on repair standards, said the program is still in the planning phase, but now with board approval, it will begin moving toward implementation.

The program is aimed to increase the organization's repair-related support system, and to narrow the gaps in OEM repair process information for repairers. In his presentation, Van Alstyne said there are four parts to the program: creating an industry technical knowledge portal that will be available through the I-CAR website; positioning I-CAR as the "linking pin" between the industry and OEMs; continuing and expanding I-CAR's periodic “reparability summits" (live seminars, workshops, events, etc.); and establishing two new industry segment advisory councils focused on OEMs and tools and equipment.

I-CAR has already begun expanding its technical team in anticipation of the program, and announced that Jason Bartanen, formerly I-CAR's technical director, will head the project and take on the title of director of industry technical relations.

“I-CAR’s Repairability Technical Support and Knowledge initiative represents a bold step forward in I-CAR’s plan to contribute broader value to the industry through education, knowledge and collision-repair solutions,” Van Alstyne said. “The initiative builds with intent on the baseline work that I-CAR has done for years, taking its impact to the next level. The knowledge-sharing and repair-practice improvements it targets will directly support the industry’s quest to perform complete and safe repairs for the ultimate benefit of the consumer.”

The news from I-CAR highlighted the hot-button issue of the day at CIC: industry repair standards.

During the afternoon discussion, led by CIC executive standards committee member Michael Quinn, the audience saw presentations from a number of industry professionals, giving different perspectives as to how their segment of the industry views the issue.

Van Alstyne and Tony Molla of ASE both expressed their respective organizations’ stances that OEM repair practices are the industry standards for safe and quality repairs.

Frank Iantorno, executive director of CIECA, and Michael Condon of Condon Consulting LLC also spoke. Condon gave an executive summary of his firm’s extensive look into industry standards, which he published in May of 2012.

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