3M Provides Training, Judging Team, Products for Collision Repair and Paint Refinishing Contests at National SkillsUSA Championship in Kansas City
ST. PAUL, Minn. (June 20, 2014) – For nearly 20 years, the 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division has been helping collision repair students competing at the SkillsUSA National Championships prepare for careers in the collision repair field. Again in 2014, 3M automotive experts will provide the training, staffing and judging for the paint refininshing and collision repair technology competitions, along with an array of innovative product solutions and tools for the students.
“It’s always exciting to get to work with the students who are competing at this level,” said Mark Algie, Business Development Manager for 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “These are the best of the best in the country, and represent the future of our industry. We want to make sure they are learning the latest techniques in collision repair and using the products and tools needed for today’s advanced vehicles.”
3M is providing the segment leaders for two competitions – Automotive Refinish Technology – Masking Segment and Collision Repair Technology – Plastic Repair Segment.
Contestants in the Automotive Refinish Technology competition will demonstrate the ability to perform jobs and skills based on the task list outlined by the National Institute for Automotive Excellence (ASE) and the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). The competition includes a series of workstations to assess skills in the following areas: Feather Prime and Block, Masking and Paint Code ID, Blending and Color Matching. The competitor will also complete an interview, a written estimate and an ASE written exam. The overall appearance of the finished products, speed and proper safety practices will be judged.
In the paint preparation segment, Dan Wittek, 3M Automotive Aftermarket technical expert, will oversee students as they mask off an identified repair area on donated vehicles from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The featured 3M products include 3M™ 233+ green masking tape, 3M Overspray Protective Sheeting and 3M Smooth Transition Tape.
In the Collision Repair Technology competition, contestants demonstrate their ability to perform jobs and skills based on the task list outlined by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). The competition includes a series of workstations to assess skills in the following areas: metal straightening, welding, plastic repair and structural analysis. The overall appearance of the finished product, speed and proper safety practices are judged. There are written tests on estimating, structural analysis, and a mock ASE exam. The students are also interviewed by the judges.
In the plastic repair segment, Mark Algie will manage the students as they repair a plastic fascia, from prepping and sanding the repair area to fixing minor damage and tabs using 3M repair adhesives and cleaning products.
The 3M corporate team also will host a company booth at the SkillsUSA trade show.
The SkillsUSA Championships will be held on Wednesday June 25 and Thursday, June 26 in H. Roe Bartle Hall and Municipal Auditorium of the Kansas City Convention Center. More than 6,000 outstanding career and technical education students – all state contest winners – will compete hands-on in 99 different trade, technical and leadership fields. Winners receive scholarships, tool grants and other prizes for gold, silver and bronze place finishes.
For more information about the 3M product solutions and tools used at SkillsUSA, call 1.877.MMM.CARS, contact your 3M Distributor or 3M Sales Representative, or visit the website atwww.3MCollision.com.
About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $31 billion in sales, 3M employs 89,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.
3M, Accuspray, Dynamic Mixing System and PPS are trademarks of 3M Company.
Justin Leigh says
June 25, 2014 at 5:00 amI would like to state that although 3M has some of the greatest product out there for our industry, and I truly do mean that! They had indeed provided our program with supplies as they promised, however just three days before the SkillsUSA event, They (3M) backed out, claimed they had prior engagements scheduled and “Would Not” be participating in the event. Yeah it really was a bum deal and I am disappointed 3M wasn’t there and all, I still think their products are excellent and will continue to use them. I Just hope that I’ll be using them right
Bryan says
June 25, 2014 at 7:37 amWell Gluing plastic needs some efforts if we were not able to find proper glue for it. Adhesives in market are having much more variety and making choice amongst them would be difficult according to our needs.