Talking Points:

• A very important episode to listen to. The NASTF interview from Vision 2018: ‘The Road to Great Technicians’ Episode 312
• Just In Time. Came from the manufacturing
• If you are waiting for the car to show up to lean you are in trouble, you can’t expect to make any money when you are learning in the service bay.
• It is not fair to the customer if you are learning core competencies.
• But you have to learn in the service bay because many of the problems you come across you have never seen before.
• Core competencies are critically important.
• We need an approach to structured education.
• You can interpret Just in time learning is not an excuse for knowing core competencies.
• We need a structure for consistent for real education.
• Do not use Just In Time learning as an excuse not to have structured education.
• Managing your time is critical to profitability. So if core competencies are not ingrained in the tech assigned to the job will affect your profitability.
• The concept of triage in assigning work inside the shop considers the competencies of the technician that is assigned a particular job.
• As we attempt to keep up with technology we are falling further behind on core skills because we are not spending enough time in class or in labs so we can put that training to practical use in the bays.
• A tricky part is teaching technicians where to find specific information and if they have the core skills they can be viewed as a rocket scientist.
• The Road To Great Technicians. NASTF is creating a way to determine the competencies in the fundamental skills for the job you’ve hired for.
• Just In Time Training can include a YouTube Video on the task you need to do because you learn about a specific task through a Service Support Resource. -Mark Saxonberg
• The industry must cue up resources to make it easy for technicians. -Mark Saxonberg. This is an example of what Just In Time Learning should be.
• The real opportunity to improve the business process is that the tech knows what they do not know.
• To have the knowledge and tool is what being Service Readiness is all about.
• A well-run shop with a schedule allows a tech to know what they need to prepare for a vehicle because research could be done by anticipating the challenge.
• Much of this problem is because there is a lack of processes in shops.
• It can start with the root of onboarding with new techs. There is hardly any onboarding that exists in our industry. Here is your bay have a go at it.
• The Service Advisor is a critical component of this issue.
  • They need the skill set on who to assign the job to be based on the expectations that were set by the customer. Challenge is to do the job right the first time.
• Many Service Advisors are also brought on without a great onboarding process. Many SA’s go through Just In Time training at service counters all across North America.
• Estimate: How many shops are service ready for the vehicles they service?
  • 10% or lower.
• Define Service Reediness: Being prepared to service a vehicle before it shows up in your bay. That may be just 5% of the shops are ready. That demonstrates the power of having the core competencies as a foundation.
• The future may have specialists in certain disciplines, such as:
  • Data Network Specialists.
  • An electrified vehicle specialist
  • A 3 Phase AC motor generator specialist
• In the Car Quest program the program ‘Virtual Vehicle’ helps the customer understand systems but also helps to enable the Service Advisor learn systems to sell services.
  • You don’t need to be a tech to sell service but need to understand the system.
• The service advisor needs to know the capabilities of each tech.
• A learning culture needs to be in place at every shop.
• Your processes must include Service Ready Resources and training, so you can deliver and meet your customers’ expectations.
  • Must set the standard of performance for your people.
  • Don’t rely on a silver bullet data based to repair vehicles
  • Don’t rely on a resource of public opinion to guide them in their diagnostics.
  • They should rely on resources with the experience and education through foundation skills with ongoing training.
  • A program such as Car Quest’s Virtual Vehicle can support your Service Ready strategy.
  • More shops and technicians need to take it to the next level of commitment.
• Any professional shop needs to aspire to be Service Ready.
• The industry needs a model for technician development to demonstrate core competencies.
• Don’t make Just In Time Learning as just an excuse not to go to training because you can get it at your fingertips because you need the details and the knowledge and expertise to know when to apply them.

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The National Automotive Service Task Force, NASTF, is a cooperative effort among the automotive service industry, the equipment and tool industry and automotive manufacturers. 

There is no cost to participate in NASTF. If you are a professional auto service technician, shop owner, OEM service employee or any other automotive industry professional supporting the mission of NASTF, please enroll here on our website. Click HERE to Join NASTF.

Mission & Vision

Mission: The National Automotive Service Task Force will facilitate the identification and correction of gaps in the availability and accessibility of automotive service information, training, diagnostic tools and equipment, and communications to automotive service professionals.

Vision: Driving a professional, well-resourced vehicle service industry by uniting competent and diverse teams to solve industry-wide problems and effectively communicate solutions.

The panel:

• Chris Chesney is the Senior Director of Customer Training, CARQUEST Technical Institute and a NASTF board member and a member of the ‘Road To Great Technician’ project.  Listen to Chris’s previous episodes HERE.
• Donny Seyfer is the Executive Officer of NASTF. Listen to Donny’s previous episodes HERE.
• Jill Saunders is Curriculum Developer, Toyota Motor Sales, North America and a member of the ‘Road To Great Technicians’ project.

Link to the Road To Great Technicians project HERE.

Talking Points:

• A stake in the ground to move this project ahead. The project is in the ‘Stop Talking – Start Doing’.
• Milestone for the industry in 2018:
  • Mission and Vision for the program has been created.
  • To framework a career path for the technician.
  • They are excited to share the program and get the entire industry involved.
  • NASTF attended a Tech Force Meeting recently in Phoenix, AZ in early 2018.
• PIPS: Parents and Influencers of Peripheral Student
• Once the student gets out of school there is no plan for a career path. That is the focus of this program.
  • Mentor them and apprentice these students into the industry/shop.
  • Create a framework of education.
  • The college’s and OE can hang their curriculums on this program.
• Our current in-service technicians will come later. They want to start with new graduates of automotive technology courses either at secondary or post-secondary level.
• Key to the entire program is mentorship. Mentoring is a core skill and needs to be taught, learned and fostered year after year. Mentoring may not be a perfect match for the oldest or most senior person in the shop. The person selected must know how and want to be a mentor.
  • There will be a program for Mentor and Mentee through SP2.org with ASE.
• The Road To Great Technicians is about lifelong learning all the way through your career.
• You can’t buy a master technician anymore. You need to build your own.
• Standards will be developed.
• Donny feels that the ASE will be a pre-cursor to your practical exam.
• It is the job of the industry to set the standards.
• Mark Saxonberg, “Regardless of where you work, you need to be at the same skill set.”
• The consumer expects a certain skill level and because they don’t receive it consistently, we have a poor reputation.
• As consolidation persists, the bigger corporations are process driven and career paths and requirements of skill will be necessary.
• Like the FAA process: The competency exam will be a two-part practicum. A verbal/oral and a practical exam; to show you can accomplish the skills to a standard.
  • Chris Chesney feels that the oral exam will solve most of what we see today as a problem. For example, many techs could not explain a voltage drop.
• The way it works, as Donny Seyfer says, “It will be an extinction event.”
• Shop owners are business people and you need to make a business decision to get on board with this next level of career pathing and standards.
• Toyota has different entry points for technicians.
• Technician standards and requirements can be entered in a consolidated database.
• Chris is going to be an evangelist for this message.
  • The Chicken and the Pig Analogy. The Pig is committed, and the Chicken is involved.
  • Independent shop owners must pay attention to this movement because the larger groups who will develop career pathing will take the talent. You need to play in this sandbox.
  • Everyone must work toward these standards. If not the government will step in. We can monitor ourselves.
  • You cannot grow your own technician; just in time (when you need one). You’ve got to develop new young talent with the thoughts that they may leave you someday.

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