West Ryde Smash Repairs has joined the swelling ranks of I-CAR Gold repairers. Marshall Collier the director at West Ryde Smash Repairs shared how his business has grown and how Road to Gold training helped them transition into new technologies as well as improve the quality, safety and efficiency of the repairs for the ultimate benefit of their customers. In celebrating West Ryde Smash Repairs’ 50th year anniversary, they are ready to face the next challenge with EV Charging station installations underway and preparing their workshop with dedicated EV bays.
“We entered the Road to Gold program wishing to be aligned and educated with industry standards and procedures across our whole repair process from estimating to repairing. West Ryde Smash Repair is in its 50th year of operation and we have an incredible team of workers, who are all dedicated to safety and quality. Our initial idea was to join I-CAR to upskill our team so that we can achieve the utmost safety for our customers and employees. The business benefitted greatly from using I-CAR’s Industry Training Alliance Partner, PPG. We were the first NSW repairer to install the Moonwalk system. With the help of Greg Tunks, we were able to complete Green Belt training. Adam Hogg assisted in the organisation of training our refinish technicians at their Eastern Creek facility. We have further vehicle mapping training scheduled in October,” said Marshall.
“We highly recommend this training. With today’s modern vehicles being EVs and with advancements in ADAS systems, it is critical for our managers, estimators and technicians to be familiar and confident with the latest technologies and methods. The I-CAR training assists the repairer to be trained and capable of dealing with current model vehicles that are more complex than ever before.
"Our workers’ feedback was positive after completing their training as they feel more confident in the way they repair the car, resulting in a safer and more efficient outcome for our business and the vehicle owners. Each worker had a different preference on their training journey. The shorter online courses appealed to our office staff with many of them choosing to complete a module first thing in the morning. The two-day Welding Certification hands-on workshop helped our technicians to become personally accredited and certified, whereas the private PPG training classes helped to upskill our refinishers in the water-base systems,” says Marshall.