Page 16 - Australasian Paint & Panel Mar-Apr 2019

NEWS
16
PAINT&PANEL
MARCH / APRIL 2019
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
GLASURIT TEAMS WITH VANTAGE
BRIEFS
IAG MAINTIANS GOLD
Mark Czvitkovits, CEO I-CAR Australia, presented a new Gold Class Insurer plaque to Steve Fitzpatrick, EGM Motor Repair Model, IAG on 6 February.
IAG was the first, and for several years the only Australian Insurer, to attain this internationally recognised status. Its ongoing commitment to training has seen IAG retain its Gold Class accreditation for six years.
To attain and maintain Gold Insurer status a minimum of 60 percent of its assessors must maintain their individual Platinum Status by completing 10 initial I-CAR training courses then a further two courses in the following years. Nationally, in excess of 90% of IAG assessors have Platinum status.
GLASURIT HAS PARTNERED WITH
Vantage Automotive, a provider of gov- ernment-funded vocational learning in the automotive industry. The partner- ship will focus on training motivated apprentices and mature age students to a high standard in the automotive refinish industry.
The partnership between Vantage Automotive, a nationally registered training organisation (RTO) with an extensive client list across Australia, and Glasurit is a natural fit, as both parties aim to encourage school leav- ers and mature age students to pursue a career as a spray technician in the automotive industry.
“Vantage are active in the field with repairers and schools and are highly ranked in doing mechanical and all re- lated fields for automotive training and they wanted a partner to conduct their training for OE’s ” said David Hand-
cock, BASF Technical Sales Support Manager. “Glasurit has a state-of-the- art education facility in the Glasurit Re- finish Competence Centre which allows apprentices to work with the latest technologies and equipment. This part- nership will offer training that is very beneficial for our industry.”
Apprentices in the paint refinishing apprenticeship will work towards a Cer- tificate III in automotive paint refinish- ing technology. The course will consist of 21 weeks of block training spread over three years with 30% theoretical and 70% skills training.
Glasurit trainers have been working closely with Vantage Automotive to sched- ule the 2019 course dates and the curricu- lum to RTO requirements. With an aim of targeting nine apprentices in 2019, the fo- cus will be on motor vehicle painting with the potential to move into commercial vehicle painting in the future.
Partnership aims to encourage more people to enter the industry as spray technicians.
NAPA PARTS NETWORK
The $25 billion American automotive giant Genuine Parts is overhauling part of its Australian operations, with up to 140 specialist auto electrical and vehicle parts stores to be rebadged as NAPA.
The NAPA business will service the trade workshop, mining, industrial, and commercial markets across Australia and New Zealand, operating alongside GPC Asia Pacific’s Repco business. Repco will continue to service trade and retail customers.
NAPA is one of the world’s largest suppliers of automotive parts and accessories, with a heritage stretching back to 1925. As part of the US$18bn global Genuine Parts group, NAPA operates 81 distribution centres and supports approximately 6,740 NAPA Auto Parts stores across North America.