If you answered a resounding, “Yes, my technicians are highly skilled and more than qualified to repair our customer’s cars,” good for you.
However, how do potential customers know your employees are highly skilled professionals? How can they judge whether your employees are more or less qualified to repair their vehicles than employees of the shop down the street?
The answer might be certification of collision repair technicians. Certifying bodymen and painters is an important step in upgrading the skill level and professional image of the collision repair industry.
Certification serves several functions:
- It ensures employers that their bodymen and painters have acquired the basic skill levels needed to make accurate repairs.
- It offers technicians the opportunity to show themselves, their employers and their customers that they have achieved a level of competence in their chosen field.
- It gives customers the confidence that they have a technician who is competent in diagnosing and repairing their vehicles.
The non-profit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) conducts voluntary certification tests for painters and bodymen along with other areas of automotive repair twice a year.
According to the Institute, currently about 400,000 men and women are ASE certified. There are about 37,680 technicians with certification in the areas of collision repair and refinishing.
March 26 is the deadline for ASE’s next test, which will be held in May. You can visit the ASE Web site at www.ase.com for more information on the test and how to register.
ASE certification can’t turn a bad repair person into a qualified technician; it can’t even make a good technician better.
Certification is a measuring stick – an excellent benchmark of competence. It helps to set the standard for an industry striving to earn a reputation as a respected profession.
Certified technicians are good for the collision repair industry.
This industry needs to put itself to the test.
Denise Lloyd
