3M Automotive Aftermarket Division has stepped up its efforts to help America’s collision repair instructors through the 3M Technical Training Forum, an annual educational program held at 3M World Headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Two four-day sessions are held at no cost for the instructors, other than transportation to St. Paul. Each session hosts approximately 12 educators from around the country for a total of 25 attendees in 2018. It is the eighth year that 3M has held the 3M Technical Training Forum.
“Our 3M Technical Training Forum is a great way to connect with the people on the front line of training the future professionals in our industry,” said Dan Wittek, application engineering manager for 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Not only is it an excellent way to share new repair procedures, innovative tools, solutions, and repair standards for our industry, it allows us to learn more about the challenges these instructors and their students face in their coursework and career pursuits. It’s no secret that our industry is short on quality technicians. It’s our goal to help instructors prepare their students with immediately employable skills that are strongly desired by our industry.”
The forum addresses key repair topics including:
- General product and process training
- Demonstration panel creation featuring “right way vs. wrong way” to better explain to students why repairs are made in particular ways
- Bonding techniques including weld-bonding and rivet-bonding
- Aluminum repair
- Teaching technicians to refer to OEM guidelines and relevant industry recommended practices for each particular vehicle.
Instructors are nominated by the 3M AAD Collision Repair Specialists to attend. For more information on future events, contact Dan Wittek at [email protected]
