The Automotive Service Association (ASA) recently hosted its Service Information Workshop series in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Workshops were held in six cities May 27, 28 and 29 to educate shop owners and technicians about the availability of service information to automotive repair shops. Donny Seyfer, AAM, co-owner of Seyfer Automotive, Wheatridge, Colo., led three Massachusetts workshops in West Springfield, North Adams and Middleton on behalf of the association; John Francis III, co-owner of Francis Automotive Services, West Chester, Pa., led three New Jersey workshops in Newark, Trenton and Mount Laurel. Representatives from Ford Motor Co. and Subaru were also present to assist with the workshops. “We had a great time. Because I have been doing service information classes for so long, I am able to tailor the classes to whomever is in the room,” says Seyfer. “We had a guy from a transmission shop there who felt he had no use for one of these subscriptions. After I showed him some of the diagnostic information available, he was a convert.”
The agenda included education on computers and Internet resources necessary to access service information, use of manufacturer and third-party Web sites and diagnostic tools that may assist in handling a repair most efficiently. Additionally, both instructors discussed the role of the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), which accommodates the identification and correction of gaps involved in the access of automotive service information, diagnostic tools and equipment, and training.
“The people who showed up were well informed and got a lot of information out of the workshops,” says Francis. “The guys who were there, were there to learn.”
Attendees were able to ask questions to address specific service information issues they have experienced. “We are still reeling from all that we learned that night,” said Diane Larson, owner of Larson’s Service Inc., Peabody, Mass. “Here we were, thinking we did not need OEM Web sites, but we are already blown away by the all the information. The info at that class was just what we needed.”
Matt McIntosh, a technician from Westampton, N.J., states, “I want to thank everyone involved with setting up and instructing the seminars. The information and the packets I received were great.”
ASA believes the current voluntary, industry-supported service information process protects independent repairers and consumers by allowing them access to the same information available to manufacturers and dealers. The workshops in Massachusetts and New Jersey are part of ASA’s efforts to educate shop owners and technicians about current systems and how they can manage the service information options available to them.
Additional free workshops are scheduled for the upcoming weeks in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida. For more information, including dates, locations and times, visit www.ASAshop.org/KEYS. |
