IBIS Partner in the Spotlight: Mitchell International

The International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) has turned the spotlight on one of its highly valued and long-standing global partners – Mitchell International, Inc.

IBIS Worldwide CEO Jason Moseley has recorded an IBIS Partner in the Spotlight video interview with Mitchell’s Debbie Day, executive vice-president and general manager of the company’s Auto Physical Damage division, and Olivier Baudoux, senior vice-president of global product strategy and artificial intelligence, to learn more about their organisation and why they chose to partner with IBIS.

For Day, the strength of the Mitchell-IBIS relationship lies in IBIS’s unique role representing industry thought leadership globally. With a shrinking world where problems are universal, Mitchell and its Madrid-based affiliate, GT Motive, value the IBIS partnership as a catalyst to solving complex issues on a global scale.

Partnering with the industry is key to Mitchell’s strategy. The 75-year-old company is focused on bringing the best minds and organisations together to provide innovative solutions that support efficient, accurate workflows and make it easier to execute proper, safe vehicle repair.

Baudoux highlighted several of Mitchell’s successful alliances, including its close collaboration with Google to leverage machine learning, computer vision and a cloud infrastructure in estimate automation. He also noted the work Mitchell has done with Qualcomm, in soon delivering the first extended reality (XR) hands-free headset integrated into the collision repair workflow, and Bosch, in introducing a comprehensive diagnostic scanning system specifically designed for the collision repair and automotive claims process.

On the subject of industry challenges, Day noted the impact of Covid-19 and how it has accelerated innovation, citing widespread adoption of virtual estimating and a renewed focus on claims automation.

Baudoux also underscored challenges specific to increased vehicle complexity and consumer expectations for a seamless, digital claims experience. To address those challenges, he and Day highlighted Mitchell’s commitment to proper, safe repair through the delivery of best-in-class tools that improve efficiency and give technicians access to much-needed OEM repair information.

Baudoux also spoke of Mitchell’s focus on transforming the claims process through increased automation. Finally, he discussed the company’s creation of an open, cloud-based ecosystem that supports custom workflows and gives carriers flexibility to integrate with third-party technologies in order to create an end-to-end consumer claims experience.

The interview concluded with Day discussing what’s in store at Mitchell. “What I see us doing over the next six months is adding partners to our open platform,” she said. “For example, Olivier mentioned Google. There are many other computer vision and machine-learning companies that we’ll be plugging into our open platform. We’ve been building and now it’s going to be the fun piece where we get to implement and work with new partners.”

Visit the IBIS Worldwide website to watch the interview, learn more about Mitchell and find out about the IBISTV Global Summit where Mitchell will present and exhibit. Alternatively, contact IBIS head of sales Suzie Scott at [email protected] or +44 (0)7545 068455.