CONSOLIDATED COLLISION SERVICES HOSTS FIRST OF THREE FALL CONFERENCES
Consolidated Collision Services (CCS), a division of Consolidated Dealers Co- Operative, held its first of three events in its fall annual conference series, where 86 CCS network members and vendor partners witnessed plans for the network’s future and discussed initiatives to stay ‘On Target’. Tom Langton, president and CEO at Consolidated Dealers, opened the event with an introductory speech in French, which received tremendous applause from the crowd. He went on to announce that the role of CCS General Manager will be passed to Charles Aubry as Mike Beier, current general manager, takes over Consolidated Dealers in January 2025.
Joined by Sandy Liguori, president of Consolidated Collision Services, Langton and Beier passed the ceremonial gavel to Aubry. “The gavel is a symbol of leadership that has been part of Consolidated Dealers for more than 40 years,” explained Langton. The appointment of Jason Arnott as Business Operations Director, West of Canada, was also announced and celebrated at the event.
“We are beyond excited to be able to promote from within our organization, and I couldn’t be more confident in our team and their vision for the future of CCS,” said Beier.
ON TARGET
Aubry took the mic to speak on the conference’s central topic and theme—On Target. He spoke to the network’s plans for advancement and invited attendees to “find their targets.”
“Do you want to focus on managing WIP? Perhaps you want to turn your focus on parts—managing back orders, or wrong parts, or exceedingly high inventories?” he asked attendees to consider.
Marc Lambert, CCS business operations director for East of Canada, showed the crowd what a comprehensive action plan looks like. He stressed when the right time for a shop to create one may be; what it may include and why action plans are critical to achieving results. He said the goal of an action plan is to “standardize operations” across the business, ultimately achieving cohesive production and a smoother—and more profitable—overall operation.
Patrick Demers from Progi was next to the podium. He demonstrated new features of Progi’s product portfolio and showed how these new tools and features can be leveraged to achieve the very business goals outlined by the CCS executive team.
Jonathan Pilon, the new president of the Corporation des carrossiers professionnels du Quebec (CCPQ), also delivered a compelling presentation on his vision for the organization, explaining the “360 shift” he plans for the organization. He stressed that the CCPQ mission will fall into three major areas: recognition of the industry, sustainability and technological innovation.
The event ended with closing remarks before attendees made their way to a networking reception.
“We’d like to thank all of our attendees for the positive feedback,” said Aubry. “The wonderful world of collision repair continues to get better and better. We at CCS are proud to help drive collective change for the industry while promoting profitability, growth and improvement among our network.”
CCS hosted its second annual conference event in Calgary, Alberta, in late September. The third event will be held in conjunction with the Automotive Conference and Expo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on October 16 and 17.
