FRANKFURT, Sept. 19, 2014—Collision repair representatives from six European countries signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday agreeing to a set of collision repair industry standards during the International Congress for Collision Repair at Automechanika in Frankfurt.
The signing followed a recap of the Collision Damage Management, a two-year study conducted by the University of Bremen’s Institute for Technology and Education with the partnership of six European countries.
The European-wide study aimed to conduct a state of the industry report, create a set of European standards to measure quality and process management, and draft a training concept that could be applied to all countries.
The study's organizers created a pilot training course, called Collision Repair Process Management (CRPM), in five European countries, teaching materials in four languages and a credit point concept.
The CRPM would act as a certification ensuring that the individual repair professional has met the qualifications and necessary steps of training.
The study organizers outlined the integral process and core work that would make up the industry standards, as well as the steps of training necessary to become certified.
Collision repair industry representatives from Spain, Bulgaria, Sweden, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Germany all presented key market data collected during the study and concluded that industry standards were needed for each of their respective countries.
Dr. Klaus Ruth, project coordinator at the University of Bremen, said that the next step will be to create a greater European initiative based on the pilot project by involving associations and politicians to implement structures required for the training and create a broader national project.
