The new chairman of the
Aaron Clark, owner of Collision Solutions, was elected as chairman for the 2011-2012 term, replacing
One thing he would like to focus on initially, however, is re-aligning the organization's approach managing affiliates and chapters. "We're trying to enhance our relationships with the chapters and affiliates, and add more value," Clark says.
SCRS is still working on the growth and development of our affiliate and chapter programs. "We are working to enhance those programs so they work together better, while finding ways to better differentiate the value proposition for the separate programs to make them more distinct," Clark says. "This is really an internal focus for SCRS, but we hope the outcome will benefit both the external experience for the affiliate and chapter groups, growth in both categories and an amplified source of networking and involvement for their members.”
He'd also like to see SCRS expand its educational efforts outside of the programs at SEMA. "We need more educational series outside of SEMA," Clark says. "That's driven from the ground up, though. The need has to be identified by the affiliate associations, but I'd like to see us do more of those. We’ve been very fortunate to have a continued groundswell of support for the educational offerings we have through our Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series at the SEMA Show, and registrations for this year have far surpassed our year-to-date numbers from last year.
"We’ve all seen great success with our local offerings in different market areas, and I believe that, along with the continued support and desire from our audience base, to find more unique ways to partner with other companies and organizations to ensure the industry gets the information they need to run our businesses and perform repairs to the highest professional degree."
SCRS will be taking a look at a number of industry issues this year, including the ongoing research into data sharing concerns that many shops have.
"With the introduction of these hosted or
That data is aggregated and then re-sold to the collision industry. The question is, who actually "owns" the data, and is it ethical or legal to use it in ways that it is currently being used today? SCRS has been researching the topic in conjunction with the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP), and will continue to take a closer look at the issue in an effort to see if anything can be done to create a more equitable relationship between the shops and information providers in terms of data use.
"We only have three choices for estimating platforms, and if they all are using hosted systems, and they all force you to agree to the end user license agreement that is mirrored between all three of them that says you're going to give us the ability aggregate your data in whatever fashion we want to, and you are forced to use the product because that's the only way you can do trade in the industry, it just seems to be a little bit one sided," Clark says.
SCRS also released information from the
"That was a very difficult subject to deal with, even just within the board of directors," Clark says. "When we see agreements like this, we see the potential pitfalls they may have on our members, and the disadvantage the industry has by not having outlets to digest and interpret the effects they have on the markets and on our member’s individual businesses . We felt the best course of action was to put the agreement out in front of the public and ask some very basic questions. Is this agreement fair? Is it right? And let the industry come to their conclusions based on their own free will, but with the background to support an informed conclusion.”
When the association does release that type of information, Clark says their goal is to shed light on what he characterizes on increasingly one-sided DRP agreements.
"We want to solicit feedback from the industry, and potentially improve the business conditions being imposed on our members. If a shop, by way of signing an agreement, absolves the insurer from any liability and a lawsuit comes up, does that mean you'd have no coverage through your own business insurance?" Clark says. "We're just trying to make shops aware of those [potential] pitfalls, and making sure that they are asking the correct questions of their insurance carriers or garagekeeper carriers to give them insight and hopefully keep them from being in a disastrous situation."
Aftermarket parts also will likely be on the agenda again. "Things have been quiet for awhile, but the concerns from repairers have never really subsided and we're still fielding inquiries from members about where we're going next, and what we can do to stop inferior parts from being used in estimates," Clark says.
"As long as a part meets agreed upon standards and the repairer has confidence that it's met the same rigorous requirements as an original equipment part, we don't have any problem with aftermarket parts," Clark adds. "But we're hearing now that some insurance carriers are pushing aftermarket parts harder than ever before, even with the issues that came up recently. All we can do is continue to collect information and try to come up with solutions and information."
