Technology in the automotive industry has been advancing rapidly—especially as EVs become more common in the market. A considerable part of that technological advance has been advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Ratchet+Wrench sat down with Kevin FitzPatrick, senior vice president of North America Operations at Opus IVS, to talk about the company’s classes on ADAS, what their courses can offer to technicians and why shop owners should be paying attention.
Classes Addressing Real Problems
Opus IVS offers several webinars and online resources discussing ADAS, as well as other emerging technology, led by industry professionals.
Recently, the company has started “a series of what we’re calling master classes:” a free training program released on a monthly basis. He says the company is in a “unique” position with around 100 master technicians answering nearly 800 calls daily from shops asking for advice.
“So we'll look at the issues that we're getting through the call center seeing what is affecting our customers,” FitzPatrick explains.
With the help of those technicians, course material has been created based on reports from shops related to vehicle technology. Most recently, a class on the Audi e-tron due to the number of calls to Opus.
The company has several different classes online and the list is rapidly expanding. Webinars are announced through social media as they are released and the company is launching a training page on its website soon to access all its content in one place.
The Need for ADAS Training
FitzPatrick has co-owned a successful repair shop on Long Island with his brother since 1996. In the past seven years, he has seen a “tremendous amount” of growth in the ADAS field.
He started seeing more vehicles equipped with ADAS come into his shop around 2015, but with things such as backup cameras on nearly every car, “now it’s on everything,” he says.
ADAS is a huge component of EVs, as well; many of the customers at FitzPatrick’s shop have switched to EVs, and there is business to be had from working on those vehicles.
“When you compare a Tesla with a similar sized car, such as a Honda Accord, the Tesla weighs about 1,300 pounds more, which means it kinda eats up tires and the suspension components get worn a little bit quicker,” he says, “so there’s a good bit of profit to be made on these vehicles, as well as preparing yourself for the future.”
ADAS has seen many evolutions over the past few years through EVs and has more in store. Throughout the next couple of years, “the vehicles are going to learn,” FitzPatrick says. New cameras and sensors will be added and vehicles will be able to recognize road markings and signs.
“But of course,” he adds, “those systems being technical, they’ll break plenty.”
When they do fail, technicians need to know what course of action to take. FitzPatrick says one of the biggest hurdles technicians face is how ADAS can vary between vehicles and that Opus’ classes on ADAS help to prepare technicians for that.
“If you look at a late model Chevy product, for instance, you might have three trim levels of the same vehicle, all with different ADAS on them,” he explains.
Shops Preparing Their Technicians
FitzPatrick says a shop expecting technicians to train on their own time is unreasonable. He suggests giving time off to technicians to attend classes or offering incentives such as a bonus.
Whether businesses want to be involved with ADAS or not, it’s unavoidable at this point and can jeopardize drivers’ safety if improperly managed.
From suspension repairs to alignments, when the vehicle is returned to the customer, it will operate differently than it did before, and technicians that know how to calibrate these systems properly are crucial to a car working correctly.
“You wanna make sure the techs obviously have all the information; No. 1, from a profitability standpoint, but No. 2, to make sure they’re returning them to their customers in an absolutely safe condition,” FitzPatrick says.
ADAS is becoming more prevalent in the automotive industry. As vehicle technology continues to evolve, supporting technicians in preparing results in quality work and a reliable brand that can keep up with the change.
