Every day somewhere in the world, Axalta experts work side-by-side with customers to help them use our products more effectively and sustain their business.
Goal
Collaborate with customers to identify opportunities for improvements on customer operations: reduced energy use, lower emissions and greater productivity.
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At our 47 Customer Learning and Development Centers on five continents, we provide refinish technicians an opportunity to enhance their skills repainting vehicles that are being repaired or painting vehicles in the aftermarket with the liveries of the brands that they carry. Classroom and hands-on training show customers how to safely handle, manage and dispose of Axalta products, as well as how to optimize product use to save time, reduce waste and minimize their impact on the environment.
“Aligning our company brand with an organization focused on encouraging, educating and inspiring women in the industry demonstrates our company’s commitment to do the same with our own female employees.”Debbie Menz, Axalta Strategic Account Manager, Refinish Member, WIN Board of Directors
During 2016 and 2017, Axalta opened training centers in Dubai, UAE; Perth, Australia; and, in Shanghai, China, a new facility housed in Axalta’s new Asia-Pacific Technology Center. Existing facilities in Scandinavia and Belgium were upgraded and in the United Kingdom and Ireland, new programs were tailor-made for customers.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, our new facility located on the campus of the renowned Hendrick Motor Sports complex provides training for both Axalta’s refinish and wood coatings customers as well as a venue for collaboration and conferences.
Adapting to the needs of the market, Axalta introduced a new, mobile training concept across Latin America. In parts of the region where it is difficult for refinish technicians to travel to an Axalta Learning and Development Center, the training comes to them. In Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, during 2016 and 2017, 259 sessions were held for 4,627 painters.
“Sustainability is an important factor in the automotive repair industry and has many facets. Keeping up with staff training, developing forward-thinking business strategies, investing in new equipment, tools and processes to increase efficiency and ways to reduce waste and energy usage will enable body shops to strengthen their position in the marketplace, while helping to future-proof our industry.Steven Brett, Managing Director, Axalta Coating Systems Australia
From receiving our first order to the use of the products and services we provide, our goal is to offer our customers the best coating systems for their business and to reinforce a quality experience in every interaction that every customer has with Axalta. In addition to our products, Axalta provides support on the coatings application lines of our transportation and industrial original equipment manufacturers. Experts in chemistry, paint application technology, logistics and operations are embedded in our customers’ facilities to assist in keeping production lines running smoothly and ensuring flawless application of our products.
Building Customer Resources
In some parts of the world, there is a need to provide a network of skilled painters, especially in the refinish repair sector. In China, Axalta collaborates with the Tianjin Vehicle Maintenance Administrative Office to offer advanced, technical education on waterborne coating technology to more than 60 Tianjin automotive service companies.Technicians received training on the benefits of waterborne coatings and learned to improve their application skills. Axalta’s participation contributes to the success of the Tianjin Blue Sky project, a local, government-led sustainable auto repair program. The adoption of sustainable processes and solutions by Tianjin’s automotive businesses will accelerate support for the local government's efforts to improve air quality in the region.
In collaboration with local business partners and the Industrial and Communities Education College, located near Axalta’s refinish training center in the country’s northeast, Axalta provided students of the college with vocational training to develop their automotive refinish skills.
WorldSkills
In other parts of the world, Axalta supports WorldSkills, a leading source of technical expertise across a range of industries. In the United States and Canada, Axalta provides material, expertise and judges for WorldSkills events. In Australia, Axalta has hosted regional qualifying events, winners of which went on to participate in the Nationals competition in Sydney, Australia. We support our importer in New Zealand that directly supports WorldSkills, New Zealand.
In the WorldSkills Car Painting Skills category, 26 participants from different countries competed in the competition, held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, United Arab Emirates in October 2017. The annual event, organized by WorldSkills International, aims at promoting vocational education and training in countries or regions. With the support of Axalta, Team India won the Medallion of Excellency and Sustainability Award in the 44th WorldSkills competition, Car Painting Skills category. Axalta Technical Executive Ajay Ram led a team to provide training and skills development support to candidate SM Shahad, a paint technician with the Maruti Suzuki India dealer network. Ajay Ram also served as part of the jury for skills assessment of participants.
