Auto/Steel Partnership to Present During OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit at SEMA Show

Prosser, Washington, September 11, 2014 - The Society of Collision Repair Specialists' (SCRS) OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit will be held on Wednesday, November 5th at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the SEMA Show. The Summit will allow the industry to explore how automotive design, technology and materials impact repairability, and how in turn repairability influences structural design and development. The full-day program will include four unique panel discussions with automakers, equipment suppliers, certified repair facilities, and OEM certifiers/auditors and will also feature special presentations from subject matter experts on automotive materials. Registration is required to attend and seats will be limited. Register today at www.semashow.com/scrs.

As the newest development to the agenda, SCRS has announced that David Rigg, Project Lead with the Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) Advanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS) Repairability Project, will provide a detailed overview of the market developments and repairability research taking place between the steel industry and the automakers. The A/SP is a collaboration between the steel company members of the Automotive Applications Council  of the Steel Market Development Institute and Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Company to pursue research, validation and education that help automakers enhance vehicle safety, fuel economy and improve design and manufacturing. Through the A/SP, automakers and steel companies have worked to drive improvements and innovation in vehicles on the road - and in repair businesses - today.

"Participating in the SCRS OEM Collison Repair Technology Summit allows us the opportunity to interact with the leaders of the automotive repair industry to better understand their needs, so that we can incorporate them into our project plan," said Terry Cullum, director of the A/SP. "Our goal is to share the latest technology on these innovative advanced high-strength steel materials so that they can be repaired in the field using the best practices developed from our repairability project."

David Rigg

Rigg will deliver visibility into the technological advancements being made in the steel industry relative to automotive materials, and an overview of how their market is developing as a result of increased collaboration towards ever evolving safety and sustainability goals. He will share reasons behind the automakers' continued reliance on steel as a critical substrate; and what their industry is doing to aid in the development of that relationship. The presentation will ultimately address how repairability plays a role in material research and development, and the prevalence steel will have in the vehicles of tomorrow.

 In addition to his role with the A/SP, Rigg serves as Global Service Lead - Structures, Front and Rear Closures at General Motors where he is responsible for the development, consensus, documentation and implementation of Global Service Requirements. He also represents service at the Advanced Vehicle Development Center for body structures. In his previous position as Body Service Engineer, Rigg was responsible for authoring collision repair manuals; however, his career with GM extends back to 1998.

Rigg's formative years were spent working in his father's body shop making the traditional advancements from washing cars to eventually straightening frames and writing estimates. His first-hand experience in the repair community has given him valuable insight into the collision repair industry. 

For more information about SCRS' Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series, and to register for the OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit and other RDE sessions, please visit www.semashow.com/scrs.