News Briefs

By Levy Joffrion

Poster Now Available as Customer Pamphlet

The Automotive Service Association's popular “10 Steps to Professional Diagnostics” poster is now available as a customer pamphlet. Designed and developed by ASA's Mechanical Division Operations Committee, the document illustrates the procedures technicians use to repair troubled cars and the education and training they must receive to do so.

The new pamphlet is a member benefit that will provide ASA members' customers with a reference tool they can take with them, rather than a poster that can be read only in the shop.

ASA national members can order 50 brochures for $10. The 14-inch by 19-inch laminated poster is $10 a copy. To order, or for more information, contact ASA Membership Services at (800) 272-7467, ext. 295.

Valspar Acquires Coil, Packaging Coatings

Valspar Corp. has purchased selected assets of the coil, spray applied door and rigid packaging businesses of Technical Coatings, a subsidiary of Benjamin Moore & Co.

Under terms of the transaction, Valspar did not acquire any manufacturing facilities from Benjamin Moore. Benjamin Moore will manufacture products for Valspar for a short period until Valspar can transfer production to its own facilities.

Air Bag Switches Often Misused

A study of vehicles equipped with air bag cutoff switches has revealed widespread misuse of the switches, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Passenger side air bags have saved more than a thousand lives, but some people - including children 1-12 - should not be exposed to an air bag deployment. The force of deploying air bags has killed 104 children. In 1995 NHTSA issued a rule allowing manufacturers to install an on-off switch for the passenger air bag in vehicles that cannot accommodate a rear-facing child seat anywhere except in the front seat, such as pickup trucks and cars either with no rear seats or with small rear seats. The survey showed that 48 percent of the air bags were left on for child passengers 1-12 years old, potentially exposing these children to serious injury or death from the force of deployment. In most cases, the drivers erroneously assumed that air bags needed to be turned off only for babies or for children younger than their passenger - or they left the switch on all the time, thinking air bags were safe for all passengers.

ASE Program Expands

The Blue Seal of Excellence Recognition Program, a National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) program designed to recognize businesses committed to excellence, has been expanded to include retail parts establishments and businesses that offer technical support (such as diagnostic hotlines). More than 1,000 repair shops have already made this commitment to excellence.

To qualify, 75 percent of service professionals employed at a business must be ASE certified, and at least one professional must be certified in each area of service offered. Once a business receives initial Blue Seal recognition, its status is reviewed annually to ensure that program requirements are still being met.

I-CAR Hosts Training Alliance Meeting

I-CAR recently hosted an all-day meeting at its corporate headquarters for members of its Industry Training Alliance to discuss the value of training. Formed by I-CAR in 2000, the alliance brings together technical training providers to optimize the training efforts of the collision industry.

Among companies represented in the alliance are Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc., Car Refinishes; BASF Corp.; Car-O-Liner Co.; Chief Automotive Systems; DuPont Automotive Finishes/Spies Hecker Inc.; PPG Industries; and Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes/Martin Senour Paints.

All I-CAR training resources are now available to vocational-technical schools and industry training organizations participating in the Industry Training Alliance. I-CAR also maintains a database that includes student records for all alliance training programs. A complete listing of these programs is available online at www.i-car.com.

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