Etobicoke, Ontario — AkzoNobel hosted a class of 15 students for an Acoat Estimating, Consistency and Documenting Damage course on Wednesday.
The course, designed to review and refine estimator skills relative to collision repair estimating, was held at AkzoNobel’s Ontario headquarters and training centre and led by Aaron Hebb, AkzoNobel service consultant. Participants were presented with knowledge on how to optimize profitability per repair order while complying with insurer DRP requirements.
Collision Repair magazine also spoke with four students who attended the class, all of which think it is extremely beneficial to be a part of a course like this.”
“I started only 10 months ago in the business. So for me it’s great to learn a lot from like minded people in the same industry, and just to get a better picture of estimating,” said Sietzi Stelpstra of CSN Hutten in Fergus, Ont.
“I would definitely recommend this training to others, especially people who are new to estimating. It’s very informative,” added Andrea Payawal from Intact Service Centre in Markham, Ont.
Nathan Elcich, CSN Glen Merritt, St Catharine’s, Ont., said he gained some valuable new knowledge.
“I definitely learned some new things, some tips and tricks. I’m hoping to bring some back to my colleagues,” he said.
Davie Pereira of Color Compass Corporation and PBE Distributors said he chose to attend the session so he could be in tune with topics relevant to his customers.
The course was divided into nine topics, including writing a consistent estimate, estimating guidelines, approach to estimating, key estimating decisions, judgement time, P-pages and refinish time justification, assessing structure damage and negotiations.
Hebb said that the goal of hosting these sessions is to bring the industry together and support its continuous improvement and development.
“It’s about coming together as an industry and supporting the industry’s growth and development. I think it’s so important that one of the key pieces of our future is coming together”
“I think the goal of today is that the students come away with a new mindset that they take into estimating when they’re done. When they’re in their day to day jobs, when they’re doing the estimates, what matters is how they approach the estimate and how they approach the customer.”
“I need to be more relevant and valuable to my customers, just in educating them, or anything that I can help them with. Anything to help them be more successful and profitable, I want to be a part of.”
By taking part in this event, students will be awarded a certificate for completing the course, along with I-CAR points which can go towards certification. 
