For other employees, added productivity can mean less overtime and—if your compensation plan is set up to include bonuses or profit-sharing—some added income as well.
    No matter what department your employees are in, there is training available to help boost their skills, speed and accuracy.

I-CAR brings training to you
I-CAR is perhaps the best-known provider of collision repair technical training, but there may be things you aren’t aware about the training organization and its offerings.
    For example: It’s no longer necessary to leave your shop to get I-CAR training, information or even welding qualification testing. Although I-CAR’s instructor-led classroom training is still its key offering, a number of other options are available.
    Go online to the I-CAR website (www.i-car.com ) and check out more than 40 online training programs. Most of the classes are 30-60 minutes in length and cost $45. While some of these classes are vehicle-specific (such as, “Ford F-150 Frame Replacement”), other more general classes have been added on such topics as “keyless entry” and “MIG brazing.”
    The online training catalogue always includes a free demo class, and successful completion of any of the classes’ online post test will earn you one-quarter of a Gold Class point.
    I-CAR offers its steel and aluminum welding qualification tests in about 100 sites across the country, but is also now equipped to bring the tests to you. Specially-equipped trucks can bring the testing to any location where there are at least five participants (which can include those outside your company), a couple of open stalls for the testing, and a lunchroom or other quiet area for the classroom training.
    That I-CAR training can now also help you earn a college degree. I-CAR has developed a relationship with the University of Phoenix, which offers associate or bachelor’s degrees online and through its nearly 200 campuses nationwide. A student with I-CAR training may receive up to 30 transfer units, which can knock as much as a year and $10,000 to $15,000 off the cost of a degree.
    Details and a course transfer guide can be obtained through a special joint website (www.uopx.com/icar), or by calling the University’s Teresa Hutchinson at (800) 433-2490, ext. 71740.