The CARSTAR EDGE Performance Group (EPG) recently announced the conclusion of a series of regional meetings held across Canada in the months of April and May.

The EPG’s primary focus was on improving the performance of the network within Canada by driving forward national repair processes, performance standards, and focused training on delivering those standards. Held in Toronto, Ontario; Banff, Alberta; Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; and Montreal, Quebec, the spring 2019 EPG meetings were aligned with the needs of each region to encourage more CARSTAR franchise partners to participate in the training programs.

Zone-aligned corporate partners provided important updates specific to the provinces to CARSTAR’s franchise partners, managers and team members at the meetings. Updates were provided for marketing, insurance sales and development, among other things. The network’s vendor partners also provided training programs.

At the regional EPG meeting for the Atlantic provinces, 100 percent of the franchise partners and team members were in attendance. Discussions were held on the subjects of achieving OEM certifications, as well as increasing profitability by reducing costs and improving production processes. BASF, Akzo Nobel and Axalta, the network’s vendor partners, also held an informative session on business improvement.

A full roster of franchise and vendor partners, as well as, corporate team members attended the spring 2019 EPG event held in Toronto. Several sessions were held with discussions on accelerating performance and improving profitability, scheduling and work in process control, the importance of OE certifications, gaining insights into the customer experience, estimating best practices and missed opportunities, and store profitability as well as access to KPIs. Also, BASF, Axalta and Akzo Nobel led financial/20 group meetings at the event.

More than 80 percent of CARSTAR franchise partners attended the Alberta event, with the total headcount crossing 70. CARSTAR’s leadership discussed OEM certifications and staffing challenges and later joined Akzo Nobel on a panel discussion on human resources capital and the best ways to manage performance metrics with staff members. DeCon, a bio-hazard specialist, conducted an interesting session, educating the shops on the correct method of handling theft recovered vehicles safely, especially if they contain illicit drug paraphernalia.

The event in Quebec was highly successful as well, according to CARSTAR. The leadership team provided updates regarding the support and resources available for franchise partners in the province. Additionally, attendees were informed regarding upcoming initiatives and plans for the CARSTAR Conference.

“The CARSTAR EPG program, which began with CARSTAR in the U.S. six years ago and has spread throughout North America, accelerates CARSTAR’s strong performance and helps us deliver the collision repair industry’s highest-quality vehicle repairs,” said Michael Macaluso, President of CARSTAR.  “Providing in-depth and store-specific support for CARSTAR franchise partners are the purpose of these meetings and these are just another tool we use to achieve industry-leading levels of operational excellence as well as new levels of customer satisfaction.”

The next series of EPG meetings will take place in Chicago in July as part of its 2019 CARSTAR Acceleration Conference.