I-CAR unveiled the second level of its new Production Management curriculum. Ten new courses have been launched that build knowledge in areas such as “Learning Culture,” talent, processes, controls and business skills. Individuals can register for Production Management courses now online or by calling I-CAR Customer Care at (800) ICAR USA.

All new ProLevel 2 courses, as well as the ProLevel 1 courses launched in 2015, have now been configured to allow for more flexible access supporting customized learning paths. Training paths can now be tailored to the role-specific knowledge needs of collision repair professionals involved in shop-wide production processes, as well as for those responsible only for sub-elements of the process.

The key to this new level of accessibility and flexibility is the increased number of classes collision repair professionals can take without prerequisites. This creates more curriculum entry points for a variety of professionals such as shop owners, managers, estimators and technicians – professionals who don’t manage the entire production process but contribute to the process. Additionally, estimators can now apply Production Management courses to their ongoing annual training requirement.

“This new curriculum will help keep collision repair professionals ahead of the game as it relates to complete, safe and quality repairs, and doing so in an efficient and cost-effective manner,” said I-CAR CEO and President John Van Alstyne. “Best practice production process skills and knowledge are now vitally important to the repair process, and our latest Production Management curriculum is designed to uniquely fulfill this need.”

The newly launched ProLevel 2 curriculum includes the following courses:

• Implementing a Learning Culture (PM201E01)
• Hiring to Support Your Shop’s Learning Culture (PM205E01)
• Developing New Talent (PM210V01)
• Improving Your Shop’s Cycle Time Process (PM215E01)
• Gaining Efficiencies Through Blueprinting (PM220E01)
• Strengthening Your In-Process Quality Control (PM225E01)
• Speaking the KPI Language (PM230E01)
• Understanding Your Part in Profit and Loss (PM235E01)
• Building Effective Vendor and Insurer Relationships (PM240E01)
• Understanding the Cycle Time Process (GE001L01)

“The Production Management curriculum has been restructured to provide more accessibility to advance the knowledge and skills of every employee involved in the collision repair process,” said Josh McFarlin, I-CAR director of curriculum and product development. “Everyone in the shop has a role to play in managing production. Our Production Management training is meant to help each individual improve his or her own performance and better understand the roles of others in the production process so the shop works as a team, applying learning to advance the business.”

Participants in the Production Management program will discover new approaches to efficiencies, critical thinking and problem solving that will be directly applicable to current job performance and career advancement.