By CRM Staff
Las Vegas, Nevada — August 31, 2017 — The upcoming SEMA Show will once again offer repairers a chance to get up close with innovators in automotive structural design and technology. The OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit takes place on November 2 during the run of the 2017 SEMA Show. This year’s event is set to run from October 31 to November 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.
The Summit is presented by the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). The event was launched by SCRS four years ago to help provide repairers with OEM presenters and representatives that can help to provide context around sophisticated advancements in vehicles and emerging technology, specifically regarding the impact it will have on collision repair.
This year’s Summit features three sessions addressing the impact that automotive research has on vehicle construction and functionality, the impact that construction and functionality has on performing once-commonplace repair procedures, and the impact that those OEM procedures—or failure to implement them—have on liability and safety.
The first session, “How Automotive Research is Driving Change in Vehicle Design, Technology and Function,” is moderated by Waraniak, Vice President Vehicle Technology for SEMA. Waraniak will lead a panel of OEM representatives in a discussion on how research being conducted today has the potential to reshape the vehicle repair process. Among the advancements under discussion are autonomous and connected vehicles and structural developments that could lead to advanced lightweighting in the vehicles of tomorrow.
Kaleb Silver, Senior Product Manager for Hunter Engineering, will lead the next session, presenting on challenges facing the industry, and the impact of advanced systems on formerly routine services, such as wheel alignments. After the presentation he will welcome the following panel to discuss the growing complexities facing the repair marketplaces. Silver’s presentation, “The Impact of Advanced Vehicle Systems on Routine Repair Process and Procedure” will shine a light on how Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) can have significant effect on how you perform previously routine services in your collision repair facility.
The third and final session of the day, “The Hidden Dangers of Vehicle Technology, Improper Repair Methodology and Your Liabilities,” will be moderated by John Ellis, Managing Director of Ellis & Associates. According to SCRS, this panel will address an industry grappling to reconcile how to move forward for the consumer when certain automotive manufacturer requirements are expected to be performed on every occasion, but insurance claims positioning seems to lean towards “case-by-case” approval. The panel will feature litigators, technology experts, and those with experience in facing liability and safety implications with performing repairs in today’s environment.
The 2017 OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit is part of the SCRS Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series. Sessions can be selected individually at scrs.com/rde or as part of the RDE Full Series Pass.
