Is this product CIECA approved? In 2006, that is the question each collision repair industry professional needs to ask when looking for business technology solutions. The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) has been and is setting standards to facilitate electronic commerce providers to build better solutions since its inception in 1992. Technology is driving business in the 21st century and CIECA is putting collision repairers in the front seat. 

Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Administrator Jeff Hendler stated: "CIECA is winning the war over proprietary information. I honestly believe the only drawback is the inability to enlist shop owners to participate in the program. Shop owners need to realize they can make a difference through CIECA."

Proprietary information is the data used in one technological application that will not recognize or 'speak' to another. "This has cost the industry millions of unrecoverable dollars," concluded Hendler. Through CIECA, repairers have a "seat at the technology table" where decisions affecting their financial future are being made.

CIECA has made tremendous progress, changing the way business is done every day in a collision repair shop. Many in the industry may not remember the way it was before CIECA, and many will never forget.

"I remember when I had to have eight different computers (not networked - for those who can't imagine the scenario) running in my office to use my required applications," said Erick Bickett, founding chairman of CIECA. Bickett, currently president and CEO of FIX Auto, went to CIC time and again with the urgent message of the fast approaching technology nightmare the industry was facing. "I was pretty vocal about the right way to approach this challenge and I kept causing trouble until they listened to me."

Bickett's hard work paid off. The end result is CIECA - setting the standard for technology solutions in the entire collision industry. It may be difficult to fathom where the collision industry might be today if Bickett had not stood his ground.

Initial challenge

In the beginning, the hottest industry frustation and initial challenge for CIECA was the re-keying of estimates. Electronic estimates would not download into electronic management systems. The shops had to re-key every estimate into their management system - and there were no answers forthcoming from technology companies.

CIECA tackled this initiative and the successful result is EMS - Estimate to Management Standard. This opened the door to let the information begin to flow. As CIECA's first big step, EMS allowed all estimates to download to all management systems. Today EMS is a common terminology with little thought as to how it came about.

At about this same time, shops found they could use only one estimating system per computer. If a shop needed to use more than one provider, they had to buy new stand-alone systems. CIECA allowed them to coexist.

Reaching out to the collision repair industry to gain input to build collision repair business practices into technology solutions, the CIECA Repair Advisory Panel (RAP) was formed in 2005. Among many others, one issue RAP is addressing is the proliferation of status messages and systems. RAP Committee member Barry Dorn, Dorn's Body & Paint, Virginia reported, "A standardized method of reporting vehicle repair status is needed and we are seeing a lot of different companies offering solutions."

CIECA Executive Director Fred Iantorno agrees with Dorn adding, "Without a defined standard, the industry potentially will have the similar situation that we had before the EMS was developed by CIECA."