Hands-On Practical training in class sizes of no more than five ensures that students learn quickly and benefit from high levels of personal supervision.

Training Information.
General -
Selection of Technicians -
The Training Day -
Health & Safety -
Systems Instructor -
Certificates -
Training School and Environment -
After Training Support -

General
Training is a structured combination of theory and lecture with practical body shop and field experience.
Each Intelligent Repair system comes with a number of hours/days training provided dependent on the specific application.
All facilities are fully equipped with representative national training teams in place who speak the relevant language. CSI questionnaires are completed by trainer and trainee.
Post-training regular on going assessments are co-ordinated on site where technicians can refresh areas they may now feel less confident on, or ask further questions on any aspect of the Smart Repair market. Ashford International has always subscribed to providing comprehensive technical support programmes either by mobile phone, fax or email. It has created a unique 'hot line' service, where even during the job in hand, a technician experiencing difficulty can contact a member of the training or product team directly and seek assistance on technique, product application, colour formulation, process and finish. These services are available on either one or two rolling year contracts.
Customer feedback suggests that this is seen as not only invaluable to its customers but unique to Ashford International and core to the company's long term successful working relationships across Europe.
The company continues to work closely with industry bodies such as Thatcham who also operate across Europe. Back to List

The Selection of Technicians -Qualifications / experience required.
Practical industry experience is not always necessary although some form of bodyshop/mechanical/ valeting experience is preferable.

Paintless dent removal.

Candidates should be physically fit, should have good eye sight, no colour blindness. and reasonable co-ordination skills. They should demonstrate a positive attitude to their employer and the market place and show willingness to learn a new trade.

Ashford encourages both employers and trainees to consider Smart Repairs as a new skilled trade they are learning in which they can take pride. The concept of repairing/restoring a part or panel is integral to the sense of workmanship.

Successful trainees can commence repair work immediately subject to previous experience. All courses leave the trainee with requisite skills to perform competent repairs. Speed and competence can only be increased with practical 'sharp end' supervised and non- supervised activity.

They are deemed to have reached full capacity as a general rule 8 weeks after completion of the training although certain technicians with the appropriate attitude, and previous skill-set will be fully capable immediately after training. Post training none of the repairs are difficult.

Continuous assessment and on- site supervision is important to allow feedback and further advice and guidance to be provided to the technician. This also builds a string relationship between trainer and trainee and reduces reluctance on the part of the trainee to ask for assistance. Back to List


The Training Day
Each full training day commences at 08.30hrs and concludes at 17.30hrs, or later for students who may require additional assistance to complete the day's Schedule. Mid-morning and afternoon breaks of fifteen minutes plus thirty minutes for lunch are allowed each day. Tea, coffee, or soft drinks are provided by Ashford as well as a light lunch. Students are expected to remain on site for the duration of the Training Day. NB. No smoking (except for the Canteen area) or consumption of alcohol is permitted.



Health & Safety- Issues & degree of compliance with European legislation.
As part of our training is completed within a Bodyshop Environment, it is important that each Student is fully briefed. Our Instructors will at the commencement of each Training Course brief Students on Health and Safety issues that apply to them whilst on our site.

Each country has individual legislation and safety compliance requirements which each of the company's distributors are necessarily aware of and compliant with. Material Safety Data Sheets with all relevant v.o.c. references included are produced for all markets in the respective national language.

Full advise is provided pre, during and post training with reference to breathing equipment, protective clothing and codes of practice.
Paintless Dent Removal is the most specialist discipline requiring the most training. For that reason we vet all potential candidates prior to training, mandate a full 5 days continuous training (being sure to mix theory with practical application) and monitor their performance post training. However PDR is non-hazardous and extremely profitable once training has been completed. It is also a skill area where technicians take pride in the repair or restoration of the panel rather than a simple replacement.

Job satisfaction amongst this employee group is therefore high. Those technicians, with a combination of bodyshop/panel beating experience in conjunction with the specific training, become very valuable, productive and satisfied employees in any dealer service environment.
Paint spraying -it is recommended that dust extraction devices are installed in Smart Bay areas where none exist in the normal workshop environment. Depending on climate and seasonality, a significant amount of work can be completed outside.
Paint spraying is a skilled function but represents a necessary and constituent part of the Smart Repair activity range. Back to List

Systems Instructor



Our Group Training Manager at Ashford International Ltd., is Alun Williams. Alun has had many years practical experience within the vehicle repair industry, and has spent considerable time delivering training in many of the countries we operate in.



Certificates
All students completing one of our training courses are assessed by the group training manager to ensure they can produce quality workmanship consistently. A certificate of Achievement by Ashford International Ltd. is awarded on successful assessment.

Training School and Environment
The training school is fully equipped to reflect a ‘real world’ working environment. This enables students to learn the correct repair process and theory, whilst understanding the complexities of ‘real repairs’ at the sharp end.

After Training Support
Every Student who has completed their Training is entitled to call our Instructor on our Helpline should they require Technical Assistance. Students are also entitled to some free limited retraining if required. Back to List