For leading 3M trainer James Lawson, it has been a long and diverse journey in the collision industry, but one thing has been a constant; a commitment to the highest possible quality repair outcomes.
Now with 3M’s expanded focus on training and education, it is a passion he is determined to bring to the wider industry.
One advantage James Lawson brings to 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division as a Collision Repair Specialist and Educator, is exposure to top-end European automotive markets and the exacting standards of the OEMs.
“I did my apprenticeship at the Thatcham Research Centre, which gave me a lot of different insights into not just collision repair, but also collision testing,” he says.
“I did my dual trade certificate, and then became a master technician for panel and then subsequently paint. And then I was afforded the opportunity to move through and do a lot more OEM training.”
An ongoing factor for Lawson was the need for continual learning.
“I was continually putting my hand up for further development, further skills opportunities,” he says.
“I travelled around in Europe, where we were blessed with a lot of training facilities. I did UK based training for both Volkswagen Audi Group and Jaguar Land Rover Group in Milton Keynes and the Jaguar Training Centre in the Midlands. And then I also did, a couple of week-long courses in Germany for the Volkswagen Audi Group.”
His pathway then led into his own business in the UK, until – fortunately for Australia’s sake – a wider urge came calling.
“I had a shop in the UK where I was predominantly doing a lot of high-end restorations and then historic race car building. But it always has been a sort of lifelong dream to move to Sydney.”
Lawson made the move in 2016 but quickly realised Australia wasn’t quite so lucky in its exposure to some of this top-end OEM training.
“When I first came to Australia, I worked at a few shops, and I quickly realised that the trade didn’t have as many training opportunities as I had had in the UK and Europe.
“3M was a brand that I’ve worked with all of my career. I’d used the products in my day-to-day life and I’d had 3M come through and do product training. So, when I saw there weren’t too many of those training opportunities here, especially in the panel side of things, the opening ( to move into training) really piqued my interest.
“When the 3M training job came up it really spoke to my sort of passion for high level repairs. Ensuring that every vehicle that’s involved in a collision goes back to that pre accident status,” he says.
“That’s something that really sits well with me. Ensuring that all technicians have the opportunity to aim for that and upskill, to learn new things and new technologies.”
Expanded capabilities
Since that time six years ago, 3M has ramped up its training program for collision repair, including its investment in its state-of-the-art training centre in Sydney.
“We’ve continually invested in equipment for the training centre,” Lawson says.
“In the last 12 months, we’ve invested and bought new technologies in, UV curing lamps for the UV primers and paints and a glue pulling system for dent repair. All sorts of new and emerging technologies that we’re adapting our training for.”
Whether it is at the Sydney training centre or in the customised training that 3M takes on the road to workshops around Australia, one of Lawson’s priorities is to make sure the training has practical relevance to their business practices.
“I’ll always try and tailor the messaging, and what we’re using to make sure that it’s relevant,” he says.
“It’s got to be really tailored for that relevancy, because otherwise that there really is very little sort of skills and knowledge that will be learned and retained.”
He says part of this is not assuming workshops have some of the material and process fundamentals that underlie advances in repair technique
“I can be talking about a process with somebody, it might be plastic repairs, but they have no understanding of plastic repairs because their shop doesn’t engage in them, as they’ll outsource it or just replace the part. Or understanding even the basics of metals, for instance, and how they react and how to work with them best. It’s really the basics, but it’s not always known.”
Lawson wants to make sure in the training, nothing is taken for granted and that some of these basics form the foundation to developing their skills.
“I make sure I’m getting across these really basic bits of information before we start getting into the sort of the real nuts and bolts of what we’re then going to train in.”
Knowing the why’s
Part of Lawson’s success as a trainer is communicating the ‘whys’ behind learning.
“With all of my training, I will go through a theory or classroom session as well,” he says. “The theory sessions are always around the 3M science of ‘why’. It’s giving these little nuggets of information into why we have a certain process, why 3M says this is best practice, because there’s always a reason behind it.
“And it’s in the classroom that we get the majority of our light-bulb moments. It’s quite empowering to watch when you drop a powerpoint slide or a little bit of information, and you see the technicians faces and they say, ‘Ah!’.
And I think, ‘It’s landed!’- We’re halfway there, we’ve just got to go to the shop floor and do the practical side.”
Lawson also ensures his on-the-road program is enhanced by the best preparation of the businesses possible.
“The site manager or the shop owner, they know what we’re coming in to do,” he says.
“They know the downtime of their technicians. And if I don’t have anything, if I don’t have the right equipment and tooling there, then I’ll ship it down along with the materials and the consumables that we’ll use.”
Product Agnostic
Lawson says he is proud of the fact that the training program is largely product agnostic because the main focus is skills development and with this the reputation of 3M follows.
“We know by giving the industry skills knowledge and helping them with that support, the product flows afterwards,” he says.
“We are one of the only organisations supplying into the panel side of the market, who are really coming to the party with training.”
Lawson has experienced some reluctance to embrace change in the industry over his career, chiefly with an attitude that this is the way ‘they have always done it,’ but in Australia one of the most encouraging elements of training he has found is the energy and enthusiasm to learn new things.
“There definitely is a change of opinion within our industry. There always will be some people that are left behind but what we are constantly seeing, is the MSO groups coming to us and saying, ‘What do you have for us? How can you upskill our technicians?’”
3M has a global directive to focus on up-skilling with a skills and knowledge development program and the industry is eager for it, he says.
“The sheer numbers we train, the trainees that we’re able to be in front of just shows that there the industry has an appetite and a definite need to continually try and upskill and develop.”
Skilled mentors
Lawson stresses the importance of upskilling for existing qualified employees, who make up about 80 per cent of their trainees, as a way of continually evolving the skills levels of the industry.
“It’s good bringing new people through, however, those apprentices also need a mentor in the workshop. There’s got to be an understanding within the industry that those mentors should be at the highest level of skills and knowledge to be able to pass that knowledge on through the industry to newcomers into the industry.”
Part of this need is driven by the pace of change in the automotive industry. Even as a trainer he marvels at the continual innovation and must actively seek and source the latest developments.
“It’s the way that technology moves on at such a rapid pace,” he says. “I’ve been away from the shop floor now for six years and I’m constantly finding new things, reading publications, or putting myself into environments like the I-CAR training facilities, where I can just absorb even more knowledge.”
Investment for the future
Lawson explains that in the competitive and high-tech nature of the workshop, business owners know training not only prevents them being left behind but is an investment in efficiency.
“Everybody’s looking for those little one per cents. Even individual shops now are looking for ways to do the job that little bit quicker.
“There’s an obvious productivity benefit to the shops in training, so much so that they are willing to invest both financially, but also invest time, taking away technicians from the job for a day or even longer. They’re happy to do that, knowing that they’re getting a better, more efficient, more productive technician back at the end.”
When Lawson is not on the road or delivering training at the Sydney centre, he is continually fine-tuning aspects of the training.
“I will be doing training aids for our sales team, or doing some sort of product testing, or potential alterations to training courses. There really is a sort of continual focus on making our training better and better than before.”
The driving force
But whether it is another class successfully completed or the latest workshop up to speed on new techniques, Lawson says his motivation remains the same.
“What I’m most proud about of all my training is that when I walk away and know the technicians have got skills and knowledge that they can put into practice the next day,” Lawson says.
“The industry has given me so much, and I said this time and time again, but it’s afforded me the opportunity to, move 10,000 miles away from where I used to live, to come to Australia. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for our industry. And it’s because of that love for the industry, and just giving back, trying to develop people to have the same drive for quality, that I had when I was on the shop floor.”
This is not just about pride in his work but also in the industry’s vital safety role.
“I’d always go out of my way to make sure that a job was at the best of my ability, and to the point if I was repairing a vehicle, I’d always be able to say at the end of that job, I’d be happy to put my child or my family in that car.
“If I can get through to the one per cent of our industry, who then take on that same sort of philosophy and mindset, then I’d be more than happy.”