Professional training and certification

[glassman24]

Hi.

I am just getting the ball rolling with my windshield repair business. As mentioned from my last post, I have all the equipment and have done some practice jobs on my own vehicle and an old truck that has been parked on my place for some time. I bought a professional kit from Delta that seems to have all I need. My concern is that I do not feel the confidence that I should to do professional repairs that a customer is truly entitled to. Some of the ones I have done came out decent, but others really would not make me happy as a customer. The dvd included with the kit is great, but there are way too many questions that I have that can only be answered by a true pro. I am really considering flying to Vegas to receive formal training along with receiving a certification. I know Delta offers training, but my schedule does not match up unfortunately with there upcoming training dates. I would love to hear from anyone who thinks this is the correct way to approach it, and if any of you have attended formal training at either of these two locations. Your input and suggestions will really be appreciated. Thanks.

[I102bs]

Hi, I just went to the Eugene training and I believe that it was very worthwhile. Everyone who attended could make high quality repairs and knew that they were right. Your repairs may all be excellent but you may be demanding more quality out of the process than is possible. There is always some small evidence of a repair, they are not quite invisible but can be hard to find. Small gray ghost lines are usual. Try and describe the repairs that you are finding fault with and the guys here with lots of experience will jump in and help you. Good Luck!

[Brent Deines]

Glassman,

If you could make it to the NACE show in November you would have the opportunity to watch the Windshield Repair Olympics, and see some very good technicians at work. I think this would help you to set some realistic expectations, and you may have the opportunity to speak directly with the competitors.

There will also be opportunities to receive Delta Kits training there as well as at Glass Build America in October, also in Vegas. I believe there will be opportunities to obtain your NGA certification at the October show, and your NWRA certification at the November show, but I really believe that your hands on training needs to be done by Delta Kits if you will be using our equipment.

Training by another company will help you if you are using the equipment they sell, but it will only confuse you if you use anything other than what they sell. Technicians often think that the process is the same no matter what equipment you use, but nothing could be further from the truth.

We sometimes get tech support calls only to find out the our customer was taught to bottom load, cure under pressure, slide the bridge, drill every break, etc. While these methods may be fine, or even necessary when using other systems, they will not help you get the best results from your Delta Kits windshield repair system.

If this is to be a full time business I am not sure what could be more important than proper training, even if it means rearranging your schedule, however I understand that scheduling can be very difficult for part timers, but we do everything we can to accommodate our customer's needs. If you can't make it to one of our regularly scheduled training classes or make it to either the Glass Build or NACE shows, give us a call to see if we can work something out.

Depending on what part of the country you are from we may also have someone else who is very familiar with Delta Kits products and procedures that could help you with training.

If you fill out your profile so everyone know where you live you will find that more of the experienced technicians on this forum will respond to you.

[SGT]

Hi.

I am just getting the ball rolling with my windshield repair business. As mentioned from my last post, I have all the equipment and have done some practice jobs on my own vehicle and an old truck that has been parked on my place for some time. I bought a professional kit from Delta that seems to have all I need. My concern is that I do not feel the confidence that I should to do professional repairs that a customer is truly entitled to. Some of the ones I have done came out decent, but others really would not make me happy as a customer. The dvd included with the kit is great, but there are way too many questions that I have that can only be answered by a true pro. I am really considering flying to Vegas to receive formal training along with receiving a certification. I know Delta offers training, but my schedule does not match up unfortunately with there upcoming training dates. I would love to hear from anyone who thinks this is the correct way to approach it, and if any of you have attended formal training at either of these two locations. Your input and suggestions will really be appreciated. Thanks.

IMHO, MFG training is probably the best way to ensure proper use of your specific tooling but not the only way if you absolutley can not make it work for what ever reason. You could also try to find someone more local that uses your specific brand of tooling that has a solid foundation of MFG recommended procedures. Becareful with who you select as you may aquire more bad habits than anything else. The video is good but is not interactive and you surely will have questions but you can always call the MFG. This forum is an invaluble source of information but again you need realize there are many technicians of vary skill levels on various brands of equipment.

[glassman24]

Thanks Brent.

What are the exact dates for the Glass Build America in Vegas in October? Also, can you confirm that I would recieve my NGA certification before I embark on this as well as being trained on the Delata Kit that I currently own. Please let me know. Thanks Brent!

[Brent Deines]

Here is the GlassBuild schedule of events: http://www.glassbuildamerica.com/scheduleatglance.htm

I'll have trainers there on the show floor on the 6th, 7th, and 8th, so you can get quite a bit of free quality training on any or all of those days.

Now that the NGA certification test is on line I'm not sure it really matters if they offer it at the GlassBuild show or not, but should have an answer for you on that this afternoon.

[Brent Deines]

I have been informed that the NGA will not be offering a windshield repair certification at GlassBuild, but as I said, it is available online, and I believe the cost is only $69.

[glassman24]

Thanks Brent.

I will register for the Novemeber 21st training in Oregon with the training and certification from Delta - since this is the kit I have. See you there.

[Brent Deines]

Excellent, I look forward to meeting you.

[jayjacque]

Nov. 21st is training class in Eugene? And can you promise no rain, Brent?