April 15, 2015—Federal-Mogul Motorparts unveiled it’s new Garage Gurus regional training center in Skokie, Ill., Tuesday night with a packed kickoff event that included a special appearance from Danny “The Count” Koker of TV’s Counting Cars, and a fervent speech from CEO Dan Ninivaggi, the aftermarket parts division’s CEO.
The center is one of 15 technician training facilities being opened across the country, and more are planned. Federal-Mogul calls the Garage Gurus effort a “tech-first” initiative designed to provide comprehensive support, not only through high-end regional training centers, but also expanded online support and mobile education from teams in product technology vans. The aim is to not only provide training to tens of thousands of repairers nationwide, but also to improve their familiarity with Federal-Mogul parts, to help them better understand the value, and to pass that on to the consumer.
Ninivaggi said though the efforts seem fresh and new, they’re really getting back to the company’s roots, when it had 50 service centers, field techs and a stronger emphasis on the technician and training. The company is sparing no expense to restore and build upon those tenets.
“We’re going to spend a lot of money to do it,” Ninivaggi told the crowd of technicians, shop owners and other industry professionals at the Skokie facility opening. “And there’s no financial model that would justify it. There’s no spreadsheet that says this is going to give us an X percent return. It’s based on the simple premise that if we can’t be valuable, if we can’t prove our value to our end customers, who are installers and repair shop owners, then we cease to exist.”
Attendees of the 15,000-square-foot Skokie facility grand opening got to tour its two high-end, well-equipped service bays, modern classroom, and get a look at the “Gurus-On-The-Go” vans, while mingling with instructors, executives and reality TV star Danny Koker. The other training centers, in what Ninivaggi termed “big, NFL cities where the shops are,” will be similar in size and equipment. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are the first to roll out. Fifteen centers will be open by the end of the year and the total is expected to reach 25 to 30 in 2016.
Federal-Mogul Motorparts offers over 100 courses designed to meet a wide variety of shop needs, and continues to expand them. For more information on Garage Gurus, go to fmgaragegurus.com.
