By Jeff Sanford
Production management is an increasingly vital role in many facilities, leading I-CAR to create a new Professional Development Path.
I-CAR has officially launched a program for production managers. The courses will be available as part of I-CAR’s Professional Development Program. Managing workflow is a key skill and is especially necessary in larger businesses. The new course is a recognition of this fact. “This is a terrifically interesting development from I-CAR US,” says Andrew Shepherd, Executive Director of I-CAR Canada. “This is not only covering an important role in the shop but moving the ‘learning organization’ concept from theory to practice.”
The new curriculum is designed to go beyond technical training. Through utilizing the real-life experiences of actual production managers and shop owners, the course will provide participants “insight into critical issues and multiple areas of the shop floor, while enhancing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.” Working through the course will enable production managers to “quickly address complex problems shop personnel face in collision repair production.”
The courses enable a facility’s production management leader to utilize techniques like root-cause analysis and process mapping to identify waste and defects in their local workflow process. This allows the production manager to improve efficiencies and increase profitability at their facilities.
I-CAR’s production management curriculum utilizes blended learning, featuring courses that are designed to build on previous ones. Courses feature interviews with industry experts and interactive exercises through a mix of live, online and new virtual formats. The course is currently being offered in the US, but according to Shepherd, plans are in place for the program to eventually make its way across the border.
Each course in the Production Management role must be taken sequentially.
