I-CAR announced at the NACE | CARS Expo and Conference the launch of its new Production Management curriculum that provides end-to-end instruction designed to drive bottom-line improvements in productivity and profitability throughout the collision repair process. Available beginning August 10th, Production Management will be part of I-CAR’s Professional Development Program (PDP), filling a curriculum placeholder that was planned when the PDP was launched in 2010.
The new role and curriculum, which goes beyond technical training, was developed using direct industry input, collaborating with production managers, shop owners and experts from the collision repair industry. It provides insight into critical issues and multiple areas of the shop floor, while enhancing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, enabling participants to quickly address complex problems shop personnel face in collision repair production.
In an I-CAR press conference held at NACE | CARS, I-CAR CEO and President John Van Alstyne said, “The industry asked us to create another role. I-CAR has responded to that.”
“The broad-based process focus designed into this new Production Management role allows shops to empower all of their resources, fine-tune their KPIs and realize maximum ROI on shop-wide training investment,” said Van Alstyne in a press release. “Effectively managing production is one of the key success factors seen in collision shops that are thriving in the midst of the ‘Technical Tsunami’, rather than just surviving it. And ‘Learning Culture’ insights, a focus within the new role, will help shops further multiply the benefits of production best practices. In short, organizations with true learning cultures can achieve better and continuously improving levels of performance that can become a real competitive advantage.”
This new course of study will deliver content designed to bring people and processes together. Knowledge gained will allow the facility’s production management leaders to utilize advanced problem-solving tools, root-cause analysis, process mapping and others, to identify waste and defects in their local workflow process at their facility and improve efficiencies and ultimately their profitability.
“This industry has a strong, immediate need for production management training,” said Josh McFarlin, I-CAR director of curriculum and product development, in a press release. “By working directly with shop owners and experts across the shop floor, we were able to build a unique curriculum that accurately reflects critical areas and challenges the industry faces.”
The Production Management curriculum follows a blended learning model, featuring courses that are optimized for their delivery method and designed to build on each other. This reduces overall redundancy and length of time for courses.
“This is a major step based on feedback from the industry,” said Van Alstyne about the shortened course time. “This is all about running a more efficient operation.”
The courses feature interviews with industry experts and interactive exercises through a mix of live, online and new virtual formats. The architecture of the Production Management curriculum follows I-CAR’s new “Purpose Built” curriculum design principles.
Courses launching in August mark the debut of the ProLevel 1 pathway for the role within I-CAR’s industry-recognized PDP. Additional courses are under development for subsequent ProLevels as students progress through the curriculum. This role introduces the idea of prerequisites to the PDP, as each course in the Production Management role must be taken sequentially, thereby minimizing course-to-course redundancy and maximizing learning effectiveness.
Van Alstyne wrapped up the press conference by adding, “ Training is an investment, always.”
Students will be able to review detailed information, register for classes and track their training progress for the Production Management curriculum online on www.I-CAR.com beginning August 10, 2015.
