CAFM Is Not Just For Fleet Managers
NAFA's CAFM certification offers a fleet professional the industry-leading knowledge base for all of fleet’s disciplines. The designation is known throughout the profession as the industry standard, and all fleet professionals can benefit, and that includes NAFA's Affiliates as well.
For vendors, it is not only a question of "what" – the commodity they offer – but of "why," as in why that commodity would fill a need beyond a memorized product description. To get that fullest complete idea, the CAFM is ideal.
"What I ended up gaining from (the program) was that I learned a lot more than I thought I would," said Mary Sticha, CAFM, who is a particularly compelling example of the value of the CAFM
program.
Sticha, Senior Vice President – General Manager, Commercial Products for GE Capital Fleet Services, as well as a former NAFA Trustee, recognized the benefits of knowing
the end-user side of the fleet relationship as well as the product
provider side. "To me, it is a credibility thing. (CAFM accreditation shows that) you have the discipline to learn and pass the program, and have learned all the core competencies, whether they apply to your daily duties or not."
The vendors’ world is benefiting from CAFM accreditation, and one need only look to NAFA’s graduating class of 2012/2013 for confirmation. Accomplished professionals like Craig Balouin, CAFM, Senior Account Manager for Wheels, Inc., and Sticha strode out onto the stage of the Atlantic City Convention Center to accept their certificates alongside peers in the fleet manager side of the industry.
"If you, the Affiliate, have your CAFM, a fleet manager has an understanding that you know what they’re going through, and how all the pieces of the fleet puzzle fit together," said NAFA Vice President Bryan J. Flansburg, CAFM, Director of University of Colorado Transportation Services. "For example, if you are a corporate claims manager and you’re selling insurance products and you’re CAFM certified, you’re selling to a person who knows you understand what the industry standards are. It shows you’re a professional in the fleet industry and you sell your product as such."
That might have been more difficult for supervisors in years past. At one point it would have been very easy to imagine someone saying, "I’m paying you to sell the tool, or accessory, or program, not to use it yourself." But times have changed and upper management has fast come around to the benefits of knowing "why" as well as "what."
Even more, these companies are becoming supporting partners with the Center for Professional Fleet Certification (CPFC). "They want to endorse the CAFM program and, as an organization, want to reach out to NAFA to provide support," Flansburg said. "The bottom-line benefit of that is that partnership can also get them a discount on enrolling employees so that they can get their CAFM."
"And the individuals who have attained their CAFM certification become instrumental in mentoring. They show the benefits of the program by knowing the material, and how that can be applied to their own careers," Flansburg said.
Sticha agreed, saying, "I see CAFM certification becoming as important as ASE certified mechanics are to our maintenance management products. As more and more companies embrace it, CAFM will become that which differentiates and elevates (a fleet professional) above the rest."
To that, Flansburg expressed was that CAFM accreditation for Affiliates can only be a competitive advantage for so long. "There are vendors already moving (to make the CAFM program a requisite). Do you really want to be the vendor that’s left behind?"