ECG and AIAG, the Automotive Industry Action Group in North America represent the two largest markets in the world for finished vehicle logistics and began collaborative discussions in 2007. More recently this has become a closer and more regular co‑operation in order to develop processes and manuals together with the aim that they could become global industry standards that would be widely accepted in the finished vehicle logistics sector and the automotive industry.
The ‘Finished Vehicle Transport Damage Reporting’ document (a.k.a. M-22) contains the ‘Global Damage Codes’, developed initially by AIAG and which are the only set of standards available on the market. ECG has been advocating for the use of these standards to improve efficiency through harmonisation. This builds on the core ECG objective of ‘standardisation’ as a means of improving efficiency for operators in the vehicle logistics sector.
During transportation, when the party responsible for finished vehicles changes, the vehicles are inspected for any missing parts as well as for any damage including scratches and dents. The damage is reported through a standard five-digit set of codes. These codes focus on three areas: type, location and severity of the damage. The M-22 document gives guidance to facilitate the localisation of the damage incurred, with the help of vehicle ‘splat’ charts for better visualisation.
It is hoped that eventually widespread adoption of the Damage Codes on the two continents will lead to the acceptance of the codes on other markets as well and thus become globally recognised.
Below you can download the Global Damage Codes, their Spanish and French translations provided by AIAG, as well as three splat charts.