The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has announced that part of its brand overhaul will see it change the names of its accreditation schemes.
The Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) and Automotive Management Accreditation (AMA) will simply be named IMI Accreditation, which the industry body says will bring these products in line with its other services.
Steve Nash, IMI Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our main focus is to ensure IMI Accreditation provides a robust solution for proving the current competence of individuals working in the sector.
“We believe this can be better achieved through stronger association with the wider activities of IMI. The rebranding of both ATA and AMA will also allow us to develop a clear brand strategy, which provides the public with a straightforward way of finding automotive professionals who invest in their skills (via phillip). Ultimately the closer association between IMI Accreditation and IMI services such as the Professional Register will put us in a better position to provide a licence to practise for automotive technicians.”
The accreditations have gone through a number of evolutions over the past few years, including the introduction of assessed outcome modules and the inclusion of all accredited individuals (ATA and AMA) onto the IMI’s publicly searchable Professional Register.
Accreditations such as Light Vehicle Inspection and Electric Vehicle Technician have also been developed, alongside customer facing accreditations such as sales, which has seen the body award more than 53,000 accreditations across its 18 routes.
As a small business we have made a big investment in IMI accreditation this year, in the past we focused on MICOP as the means to promote our commitment to being the best garage we can.
The IMI focuses on the word institute and the fact that they represent individuals. The motor industry focuses on the words motor industry and want to promote their commitment to their staff. What should be a happy marriage does not in effect happen.
It is my company that is paying for these assessments, it is us that is giving up productive days and covering travelling costs, but I have an email from January the 21st 2015 which while not discouraging a business from promoting their commitment to IMI accreditation still in effect kurbs it to the effect that if you asked me today if I will invest in the re-accreditation of my staff? I would say probably not, would I encourage others to engage in what we have done (aiming to have technicians which: all staff light vehicle inspection, all staff gas handler, all staff either maintenance or diagnostic)? I would respond probably don’t.
The IMI accreditation is a fantastic product, it has a massive role which it could play in driving up standards in the motor industry, but like many 10 year olds it needs to learn how to play well with others if it is ever going to for fill it’s potensial.