How ExxonMobil and the National Institute for Auto Service Excellence push each other to be better

Since its founding in 1972, the National Institution for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) has partnered with organizations across the automotive industry, including ExxonMobil, to deliver one clear goal: higher standards for automotive support and repair to create safer, more reliable roads for drivers. 

“ASE certification represents excellence,” says Dave Johnson, president and CEO of the ASE. “I’d compare our badge to the Mobil logo. When people see it, they can expect excellence. We’ve worked hard to build that trust, and we fight every day to keep it.”

Achieving ASE certification is no easy task, and their rigorous standards work to keep it that way. The organization built the quality of their certifications by consulting experts, assembling teams from every aspect of the automotive industry, and developing standards based on the most pressing needs at every level. Then they assembled even larger teams of experts to establish certification tests and credentials processes to help sort out the best of the best, differentiating the high-performing individuals who have the skills, dedication and experience to pass rigorous tests and meet the necessary benchmarks to become ASE certified.

The work counts for a lot: ASE certified technicians have 40% greater productivity in shop, 60% fewer comebacks or repeat repairs, and 30% lower employee attrition¹.

“The certification isn’t magic any more than the Mobil logo is magic,” Johnson says. “But a lot of work goes into making sure the best technicians around are the only ones who have access to it, just like Mobil works so hard to maintain their standards of quality. That’s what ASE means: a lot of work, a lot of expertise, and a lot of experience.”

This experience is key, because of how quickly vehicles evolve.

“I grew up in the 1980s, changing oil on tractors and trucks, and that oil is completely different from anything that we’d use on the road right now,” says Johnson. “And in the 90s, I was working on turbochargers, which needed new lubricants to handle the levels of heat and pressure we were creating in the engine. Still, none of that stuff competes with what we have now.”

Things are changing even faster now — “particularly in the past decade or so,” says Johnson — but the average vehicle on the road is about 13 years old. That means a huge variety of vehicles on the road, and ASE certified technicians need to be experts in all of them. That’s where close relationships make a difference: by collaborating with industry stakeholders, the ASE certification is able to not only keep up, but stay ahead of the curve. We’re also very engaged with industry standards committees like TMC (the Technology Maintenance Council), where we work with companies like ExxonMobil in guiding future development of industry standards.

“Our certifications typically reflect what is going on in the industry, and right now, that’s electric vehicles,” Johnson explains, referring to ASE xEV high-voltage electrical safety certifications. These new certifications were developed to identify technicians who were up to date on industry standards, concepts and practices followed by the electrical automotive industry, including those involving driver assisted systems (DAS or OS) and the cameras, lane keeping assist technology, and other self-driving capabilities that are rapidly evolving the market.

But no matter what the next chapter looks like, it’s comforting to know that ASE, ExxonMobil, and tons of other partners will be collaboratively innovating and refining our products and services to make sure that drivers get the support they need for safe, efficient and reliable travel on the road.

¹ https://www.fleetio.com/resources/podcast/25/ase-certifications