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Letter to the Editor
Thursday July 19
ASA States Position on Open Platforms
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) board of directors has approved a position statement on open platforms presented by the ASA Insurance Subcommittee. The subcommittee drafted the text under the direction of subcommittee chair Mike Schoonover of Schoonover Body Works in St. Paul, Minnesota.The approved statement officially presents the association's position that ASA supports an individual collision business owner's selection of an estimating system that meets the individual's business needs and commends those insurers that allow for the use of an "open platform." Also, in situations where collision repair estimates are transposed by insurers, all efforts should be made by the insurer to duplicate the original collision repair facility's document.
"In today's world, collision repair shops are under ever increasing pressure to increase efficiencies and reduce operating costs. The concept of necessitating multiple database systems to accommodate different insurers is a wasteful redundancy, often unnecessarily costing shops thousands of dollars each year in database subscriptions, training and maintenance," said Darrell Amberson, AAM, ASA's Collision Division director and president of Lehman's Garage in Bloomington, Minnesota. "Many insurers offer an open platform. I highly recommend all insurers adopt such a policy."
For 56 years, ASA's Collision Division has sought to elevate the professionalism of the automotive repair industry by providing members and industry partners with information and services that will benefit collision repair professionals and the motoring public. In addition, the Collision Division Operations Committee actively works to address and improve a number of issues directly impacting the daily operations and profitability of independent collision repair facilities. The committee has four subcommittees in addition to the insurance subcommittee - including automobile manufacturer, estimating, refinish, and crash parts subcommittees.
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