Motor Equipment News recently visited the GPC Training Centre in Auckland to see how they operate.

The Training Centre was opened last year and was designed for a mixture of internal and external uses. Some of the key rationales for the centre were that GPC wanted to take the lead to support the industry, to ensure staff and clients were suitably trained, to increase safety in the industry and to assist in industry upskilling.

Currently GPC offer two main courses which use EV & Future Tech branding for the BEV and Hybrid servicing courses and OEX Automotive Air Conditioning Industry Training branding for the air conditioning courses. Training Manager Paul Findlater commented that the courses are not designed to sell equipment, although they do cover what features to look for when selecting equipment. The courses are designed in cooperation with Unitec.

GPC put a number of their own staff through the courses to increase their product knowledge and skills.

One of the interesting observations is that inside the centre is not branded (There is a GPC Training Centre sign on the exterior). This is to allow other non-GPC Group entities to make use of the training centre for running their own courses and related activities. The day we visited there was a Formula Ford car and Flags following the Formula Ford Series (Sponsored by NAPA) prize giving that had been held there over the weekend.

The facilities consist of a meeting room that can seat up to 20 around a table with AV facilities, this is used for the theory sessions and there is a spacious workshop area where the practical components can be taught or where participants can study systems in actual vehicles, the high stud allows commercial vehicles training to occur. The workshop can be set up for theatre style presentations for up to 200 people. It also has video quality lighting to allow filming of trainings and presentations. The centre has it’d own Kia EV6 to demonstrate modern BEV technology and a Toyota Aqua for hybrid technology.

Main equipment includes a hoist, a set of HandiJack Go Jacks for moving vehicles without turning the wheels, an EV charger, EV repair safety and diagnostic equipment, an EV battery hoist, air conditioning servicing equipment, air conditioning simulator and other miscellaneous tools. The Workshop area can also be reconfigured with chairs for larger style theatre presentations when needed.

I

t is great to seeing an organisation like GPC looking to put something back into the industry by providing some much-needed training opportunities.

For more information please contact Paul Findlater on 027 264 0486 or email pfindlater@gpcasiapac.com