ASE plans to bolster certifications, tech pool

LAS VEGAS — The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) has launched several initiatives to expand technician certifications, encourage more young people to seek automotive careers and boost its own image and awareness.

One of ASE's big projects is working to reverse the dwindling pool of automotive technicians, according to Dave Johnson, who became ASE president and CEO at the beginning of the year.

The technician shortage has been an issue for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have spotlighted the problem, Johnson told Tire Business during an interview at the recent AAPEX event in Las Vegas.

"Coming out of that pandemic, we're realizing we need many, many, many more technicians. And then you compound that with all the technicians that are retiring in the next five years, people are just aging out," he said.

He envisions a funnel of students who start out in an automotive training program or school, but they don't all make it through the funnel into the workforce.

"And so what we're trying to do is help them come through that funnel, getting the kind of education so as they come out of a program, they're actually employable," Johnson said.

With that in mind, ASE and the ASE Education Foundation are partnering with WrenchWay to promote School Assist, which connects vehicle service employers with schools looking for classroom resources and creating a workforce pipeline.

WrenchWay, an online community that promotes technician careers, created School Assist to make it easier for high schools and post-secondary schools to make requests for guest speakers, shop tours, tool donations and internships from the industry.

Shops, dealerships and others can scroll through the requests, connect with schools and start a relationship to build their future workforce with students in these programs.

In turn, School Assist also allows automotive shops to post available resources they can donate to educators, encouraging schools to reach out on the platform and collaborate with businesses.

The School Assist platform currently has over 1,100 participating schools across the country. Through this partnership, the ASE Education Foundation said it will invite its 2,000 ASE-accredited training programs to join the platform for free.

Currently, 1,000 shops and dealerships have access to School Assist through WrenchWay's Top Shop membership program. As part of this ASE partnership, a new lower cost option will be available to shops, dealerships and other industry partners who want to connect with schools through School Assist, but do not need the full WrenchWay Top Shop program.

"Sometimes, they're looking for speakers, sometimes looking for advisory board members, looking for tools or equipment, or sometimes components that may be an engine or transmissions," Johnson said.

ASE has its own Adopt a School program with similar goals but it doesn't have the same online presence as WrenchWay, he said, noting the Adopt a School program will continue.

"It takes the industry to solve (the tech shortage problem), and so we can't do that alone, and I think by partnering up, that gives us greater reach and greater visibility, so that, in essence, the whole industry can just jump on board and help out where they can," Donna Wagner, ASE vice president of industry and media relations, told Tire Business.

"You know, it's not that one organization or one person has to solve it. If everybody does a little bit, we're going to get there and we impact about 110,000-120,000 students every year just through our accredited programs.

"About 40% of the programs at the high school and college level are ASE-accredited, and so that means that there's a whole bunch of other students going through programs that we're not even touching, but we have a full funnel and we can do a lot to reduce that technician shortage," Wagner said.

"And so what you're seeing is this greater groundswell, I think, of interest to get involved in education, use these platforms and get involved, because that's part of the problem," Johnson added.

OEMs are involved on a national level, but he said more small businesses need to get involved with schools on the local level.

"We believe in work-based learning. That's a big component of what we try to do with our accreditation, in fact," Johnson said. "And so those opportunities for those students as they're going through their programs, being employed, internships, apprenticeships with those who will employ them is a big deal."

ASE has been the credentialing body of the automotive aftermarket since its inception in 1972, providing 58 certifications in various skills involving passenger, commercial, bus and military vehicle service. There are more than 214,000 ASE-certified technicians in the U.S.

Johnson said ASE data shows shops experience 60% fewer costly comebacks with ASE-certified technicians doing the work. There is 30% less attrition with ASE-certified techs versus those not certified.

Across different age ranges and demographics, there is a consistent 20% higher earnings for certified versus non-certified techs, Johnson said, with average lifetime earnings of $750,000.

"So we think about bringing students through the pipeline, getting them employed, helping them with their ASE certifications — I'm not going to say that because they have an ASE certification that's what causes them to have all these much improved metrics — but there's absolutely correlation, you can see that. … I would submit that there's some causation in there, too, because there's motivation around, it's almost pride, pride in improving themselves and being recognized for their capabilities."

Johnson predicted ASE would end the year issuing 5% more certifications over last year.

One of his goals is to expand the pool of technicians who seek certification. ASE is often criticized by experienced technicians who feel they don't need certification and that those who do, are not necessarily skilled and experienced.

"But show me somebody that has the knowledge that isn't going to get the skill," Johnson countered

He estimated about 30% of technicians that are "cream of the crop" don't have certifications. This may be due to test anxiety.

"What can we do to enable them? So I can't make the test easier, and that's not what it's about. They wouldn't want that. So the test standards are going to remain high, but we want to take down all the barriers that we can so that those people that already have the skills and the knowledge of an ASE master technician can get the recognition and get a piece of paper, if you will, that goes with it," Johnson said.

"And so it's an aspiration for me, for all of us, if we could help enable that. That's what we want to do. And again, there's no one single answer to that. But I think as you keep an eye on ASE over the next few years, we're going to continue working that way. ...

"We want to help them get there through other means and testing or help them get there in terms of taking away some of the anxiety, making testing more convenient as we can with our study guides. And there are many great providers out there who are providing study helps as well, so they would take the test, but hopefully it'll be easier."

Test results reports will also be refined, Johnson said, so the test taker can see their weak spots in certain content areas or tasks.

"So then they know, 'Oh, here's where I need to go strengthen myself.' Then come back and do it again, because that's what we want them to do. We don't want them to take the test and not succeed the first time and go, 'Well, I'm never doing that again.' We want them to keep coming back and we want to help you succeed," Johnson said.

ASE is also encouraging students to pursue entry-level certification as a way to develop skills and get a head start in the workforce.

"We just introduced a new program where the students that get all eight of the automotive entry-level certifications automatically get the G1, the MLR certification, with six months of work experience," Wagner said.

"So it normally takes a year of experience for that, but they get 50% credit for the schooling that they're doing, if they're in an ASE-accredited program."

All technicians need to be life-long learners because cars change so often, she said.

"Everybody likes to know that ASE certifications are our degrees for our technicians. In essence, college degrees. It shows the experience they've had and the knowledge that they've gained. … So it's a benchmark. It's a reward for what they've learned and the experience they've gained," Wagner said.

Public awareness of what ASE is all about has faded over time, Johnson said, so the nonprofit is working to rectify that.

ASE has expanded its presence on TikTok and other social media platforms and will launch commercials to explain the importance of ASE certification to consumers.

"We recognize we haven't really put ourselves out there enough to help consumers understand what this is about, why it is for them," Johnson admitted.

"ASE is a conduit, as I think of it. It is a conduit to enable customers to recognize that they want somebody that knows what they're doing working on their vehicle, that that's important. And if it's important to the consumer, it's going to be important to the business. If it's important to the business, it's going to become important to educators, coming back through that loop. And if it's important to educators, they're going to develop more and more well-qualified technicians and have that certification. It's that simple."

In October, ASE announced its partnership with Convertible AI, a professional services company focused on artificial intelligence, to explore the development of AI accreditation criteria specifically for the automotive diagnosis and repair industry, to standardize AI-powered automotive service applications.

"When you start talking about AI, a lot of times people think about, 'Well, AI is out there to take my job.' I don't see any risk of that for us in our industry," Johnson said.

"What I see is a tool that will have the ability to make technicians more efficient, but it's going to still need a technician. Anything I've seen it just can't do it all by itself. So that's why the need for technicians is not going to go away. And the need for trained, I'll say well-educated, technicians is going to become even more important. Part of it is the technology."

Johnson said he views AI as a tool for technicians, but acknowledges that the AI has to be trained with the proper information that has been vetted in order to be useful.

He said ASE is exploring how to establish standards for the industry, like the accreditation of the tool.

"Now it doesn't mean that we're accrediting a tool to say, 'Hey, this tool will always give you the right answers,' or that it's like an ASE-certified technician. That's not what it's about," Johnson said.

"It's about saying there's certain benchmarks that need to be there, whatever tool somebody's creating. Are there some common benchmarks we say it needs to meet? Again, back to the vetting of the data that it has. Who's vetting that data now? Are the ASE-certified technicians? Maybe. How is that data being processed and then again displayed, in terms of showing its homework, if you will, and how it interacts with the user?" he said.

"This is the future and we better get our arms around it before it gets its arms around our throat."