July 31, 2017—The Automotive Management Institute (AMi) announced the development and launch of two new professional designations for the estimators.
"The new designations, represent fourteen months of industry work to identify and develop requirements, which include AMi, I-CAR, information provider training and ASE B6 Certification," stated AMi President, Jeff Peevy. "The designations also require elective credit hours from AMi approved industry training providers, teaching estimating related topics."
Two levels of designations available are:
- Accredited Collision-Repair Estimator (ACE)
- Accredited Master Collision-Repair Estimator (AMCE)
These new designations require multiple categories of training and professional achievement, including business related and soft-skills, technical damage analysis and information provider. Both designations require I-CAR training to satisfy technical damage analysis.
"The joining of two esteemed professional designations, I-CAR Platinum and AMi ACE/AMCE, strengthens and reinforces the professionalism of the estimator role, a role that is critical to the collision repair process," said John Van Alstyne, CEO and president of I-CAR. "As the industry standard for technical training, I-CAR's Pro-Level 3 Platinum Estimator/APDA achievement is a logical and robust building block for AMi's accreditation program. This move further builds our relationship with AMi, which started in 2016 with our Production Management coursework as an elective for their collision repair accreditations."
In addition, the master level designation requires successful completion and maintaining of ASE's B6 certification.
"The collision repair estimator needs wide ranging knowledge and skills to serve as the all-important link joining customer, insurance, and repair shop," said Tim Zilke, ASE president and CEO. "At ASE, we are proud to offer the ASE Damage Analysis and Estimating (B6) Certification; it lets the pros demonstrate their proficiency in all job-related areas. The inclusion of this certification in AMi's Accredited Master Collision-Repair Estimator designation is further proof of the pivotal role of estimators within the broader collision repair industry."
