With the growing complexity of repairing vehicles, Mike Anderson, owner of Collision Advice, is a huge advocate of industry training. During the Spartans Group meetings he holds for collision repair facilities nationwide, Anderson recognized the need for comprehensive education to ensure vehicles are fixed correctly.
A couple of years ago, he talked to 3M about opening a training facility for the industry to provide basic skills and a career pathway. Before the courses were publicly launched, Spartans Group members had the opportunity to attend and provide feedback.
“We were honored to take the pilot class,” said Anderson. “I sent my most skeptical people and they came back and just raved about it.”
Those who attended appreciated the small class size and hands-on approach.
“It gave students a level of confidence to say, ‘I can do this!’ said Anderson.
Not only are trainees learning how to repair vehicles, but Anderson said 3M’s courses are helping build business culture.
“A lot of times, we think that money is what motivates people but investing in young people and providing them with the opportunity to learn makes them feel appreciated by their employer,” noted Anderson. “People feel like, wow, my employer really thinks a lot of me to send me to this.”
Anderson said what impresses him about the training is how well it is planned.
“I feel like this is a perfect example where 3M listened to the voice of the customer,” noted Anderson.
Rather than undertaking the project without feedback, 3M solicited input from business owners and managers and built what the industry needed.
“If you're not sending people to this training, don't delay,” Anderson emphasized. “Do it today because it's just phenomenal.”
Autobody News talked to body shop owners from across the country to learn how the 3M Skills Development Center has helped them train and upskill technicians. Students also shared their experiences and how they’ve applied their learnings.
Airport Auto Body
Tony Cavallaro, owner of Airport Auto Body, a 34,000-square-foot facility in Hartford, CT, learned about the 3M training program through his involvement in the Spartan Group and sent one of his up-and-coming technicians, Emanuel Rivera, to the body repair program.
With a 36-oot spray booth, up to 16 painters apply various coatings.
“It turned out to be phenomenal,” said Cavallaro. “He came back very excited.”
Since then, Cavallaro has arranged for technicians to attend the body and paint classes with similar success.
The family-owned and operated business is a certified collision repair center with about a dozen OEM certifications.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 for us, it's a 10,” said Cavallaro in reference to having OEM certifications. Part of maintaining the OEM certifications is staying up to date with training.
“Training makes our technicians some of the best, not just in the state, but in the country,” he noted.
He said 3M has some of the best products on the market and are recommended in a lot of the OEM certifications. “We're going to be using those products anyway, so it’s great to have a trainer from the company explain exactly how they are used, why they are used, and all of the nuances.”
With many tech schools using out-of-date equipment, Cavallaro pointed out graduates often come into shops unfamiliar with the equipment used.
He said knowledge from five years ago doesn’t necessarily correlate to what’s needed today and stressed the importance of having the most current training.
“The 3M class gives you the opportunity to touch and feel the latest and greatest and work with it so that you're not learning on the job on the fly,” he said. “They’re using the same seam seal gun and seam sealer during training that we have here at our facility.”
When Cavallaro suggested technicians attend the program, he found some were nervous. “This training isn't common in our industry, where you travel and stay overnight for multiple days,” he noted.
Sending two technicians at a time has been a successful strategy. “Having a travel buddy makes them more confident and comfortable,” he shared. “Just having somebody with you to go through it all together helps take the anxiety away.”
Cavallaro highly recommends body shop owners and managers send multiple technicians at the same time if possible.
“They get excited when they return and spread that throughout the shop,” he said. “They want to use all of those new things they learned.”
Airport Auto Body has incorporated 3M training into its onboarding process.
“Once we're pretty confident that we want them on our team not just for the near future, but for a long time, it’s a rite of passage here,” he said. “Once you go to 3M training, you're really part of the team. We're going to keep sending everybody we can.”
Rivera attended 3M’s body repair program earlier this year and spoke highly of his experience at the recent Auto Body Association of Connecticut regional meeting. After working in the industry for 18 years, Rivera only started attending training classes since joining Airport Auto Body. He praised 3M’s classes for being clear and professional and said he appreciates how the material covered the procedures in-depth and taught the “why” behind the processes that need to be done.
“I found it very useful and helpful in my work learning the proper way to use the products,” said Rivera. “It has definitely improved my skills and knowledge.”
Although he was initially unsure about taking the class because of his knowledge of bodywork, Rivera said it was worth taking.
“I was surprised,” said Rivera. “It changed my way of approaching jobs and everything runs way more smoothly when applying the training that I received.”
Norris Collision Center
Jeremy Edwards, owner of Norris Collision Center in Goddard, KS, heard about the 3M training facility through their AkzoNobel Sikkens representative, Bob Allison, and 3M representative Greg England.
“My wife and I were invited to the 3M golf tournament held in the Twin Cities and knew we would be close to the new 3M training facility, so we made it a priority to visit while we were there,” recalls Edwards. “My wife and I were certainly impressed with the facility."
They decided to have Eric Flaten, a new hire, attend bodywork training.
“It worked out great,” said Edwards, who plans to send his two sons and additional employees to future body and paint training.
“I believe the benefit of the training showed Eric the proper (how to) and the science behind it,” explained Edwards. “The fact that the training is hands-on with an instructor is priceless.”
Edwards said it should be mandatory to send techs to this type of training every five years to keep them up to date on the industry’s ever-changing products and procedures. He hopes 3M expands training to include aluminum repair and framework in the future.
Flaten has worked in the industry for three years. After attending 3M’s Body Repair Training in March, Flaten said he appreciated the training on multiple levels.
First, compared to other classes he has attended, Flaten said it was extremely welcoming coming to 3M’s center and the trainers were approachable. “That made the class more comfortable and engaging,” he said.
In addition, Flaten said the instructors were thorough in explaining the science and impact of what was being taught. Much of what he learned was new information, including how to follow OEM procedures best. With limited options for in-shop training, he said this approach was especially valuable.
Freeman Collision
Alex St. Andre, a prepper at Freeman Collision in Santa Rosa, CA, attended the three-day paint prep and refinish course at the 3M Skills Development Center earlier this year. He has worked in the industry for two to three years, and this was his first experience with a formal trainer. He shared how much he enjoyed the communal environment during the trainer-led discussions and was impressed how 3M discussed the “why” behind the processes.
St. Andre also learned about new products he hadn’t used before.
“It was definitely helpful to be able to learn about the paint lines and the similarities and difference between each one,” he said.
Overall, he found the training very informative and said he had a great instructor, Jason Garfoot, global portfolio manager Paint Application Solutions at 3M.
“He was awesome,” said St. Andre. “If he didn't know the answer to a question, he would go and find out during on our breaks. It was really cool to learn from him.”
St. Andre recalls Garfoot being very patient and personalizing the training based on everyone’s painting style.
Freeman Collision is part of Freeman Motors, which also includes a Toyota and Lexus dealership and a rental car center. Built in 2000 for $6.5 million, the award-winning collision center, modeled off a European style, brings in about $800,000 a month.
Jesse Parks, collision director at Freeman Motors, has found his employees have had a very rewarding experience taking classes at the 3M Skills Development Center.
Parks said the business focuses on OEM certifications and prides itself on having extremely well-trained employees. This includes extensive OEM training, with all staff Master Certified and educated by 3M, I-CAR and ASE.
Over the last year, he has sent several body apprentices, painters and experienced technicians to the 3M Skills Development Center for classes.
“They come back really pumped up and engaged,” said Parks. “They even brought back knowledge and very valuable skills to people here who have been in the trade for decades.”
Parks stressed the importance of keeping up with the new repair methods.
“The industry has been really unorganized with training,” he said. “Technicians these days are generally trained by somebody else, and each time, they train their own way. This is the equivalent of a copy of a copy of a copy. Many basic foundations get lost in the evolution.”
What Parks likes about the 3M process is that it gives everybody the same foundation.
“This provides the industry confidence that 3M is going to meet the needs of future technicians,” he noted.
He appreciates how 3M training classes are evolving and how trainers are open to suggestions for additional classes that meet the industry’s needs.
To help build a learning culture in his business, Parks makes it a priority for his employees to attend regular training. He has found some of the required aftermarket educational classes haven’t been well-received by technicians.
“They dread doing it and don’t enjoy the classes,” he said. “They also don’t retain the information.”
However, the experience with 3M training has been very positive.
“To see technicians come back excited is really rewarding for the leadership in the shop,” he said.
Parks is proud to share that his business has had zero turnover. “I attribute that to a reasonable work environment, flexibility meeting them where they're at and promoting their growth,” he explained. “I think that when staff is stagnant, they start looking over the fence and 3M is another great vehicle for us to continue delivering a growth path for employees.”
Stacey Phillips Ronak