Bendigo Accident Repair Centre in Victoria has been awarded I-CAR Gold Class Collision status.
Ashley Maidment, Operations Manager at Bendigo Accident Repair Centre, said the business has undertaken I-CAR training for key personnel for many years but during the COVID-19 downturn, it engaged all staff on the Road to Gold programme.
“It gave our team something positive to focus on in the throes of a global pandemic,” said Maidment. “We predominantly utilised the virtual classroom delivery method by creating a team learning environment for all involved after hours. The flexible, self-paced, short online courses also fitted in well with other staff members’ lifestyles as they were able to be conducted outside of work hours. Also, our paint supplier, AkzoNobel, had already been actively working behind the scenes training and accrediting our paint shop team.”
Maidment said staff provided positive feedback. “It created a unified team of staff with increased confidence and empowered them to be more proactive about problem solving issues they encounter on the workshop floor before consulting their team leader. They are more efficient and bringing in innovative solutions to the table which is opening up future opportunities,” Maidment said.
“The experience taught us that knowledge is a valuable commodity worth investing in. It has produced tangible improvement in cycle times, efficiency, overall quality and, most importantly, problem-solving abilities of our staff on the floor. We now have non-lead staff motivated to learn more and progress to Platinum Individual certification.”