Unfortunately, the BMS is not available to collision repairers.  Implementing the BMS for repairers will address many of the privacy and data security risks, SCRS said.  It will also assist in reducing other manual processes (such as the manual keying of a vehicle's repair status into multiple systems) that the industry is faced with today, it said.

The EMS standard was developed by the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) to transfer an estimate from the estimating system to the body shop management system.  That process transfers all the information contained on an estimate and is used by repairers on a daily basis.  The EMS standard, while still fulfilling its intended purpose, is outdated and turn-of-the-century technology from both a design and content perspective, SCRS said.

Over the years, the EMS file has been used for purposes other than its original intent.  For example, it has been used to report the repair status of a vehicle, SCRS said.  Using the EMS in this manner results in all the estimate information being transferred (in addition to the repair status information), it said.

As a result, repairers incur the risk of violating state and/or federal privacy laws, SCRS said.  Moreover, there have been instances where the repairer's as well as the vehicle owner's information is being sold to other companies, unbeknownst to the repair facility, it said.

Those in favor of moving to the new BMS standard, which would assist repairers in protecting their data as well as their customers, may contact SCRS to have their names added to the petition. 

 
SCRS will send the petition to all three information providers requesting that they provide the collision repair industry with the BMS format.  Contact SCRS Executive Director Dan Risley at danrisley@scrs.com or his office at 708-598-3384.