It’s been an exciting year for the auto glass industry and for Don’s Mobile Glass. Customers are beginning to understand the importance of ADAS Calibration and Re-Calibration. Now more than ever, vehicles are being designed with safety features that rely heavily on sensors built into the windshield. These sensors may not work if your windshield has been damaged, leaving drivers without the array of safety features they rely on every day to keep them and their loved ones safe.
Don’s Mobile Glass has been at the forefront of ADAS technology and we’ve introduced customers to some of the best methods for Calibration and Re-Calibration. ADAS Calibration and Re-Calibration was just one of the many topics discussed and practiced throughout Auto Glass Week™ 2019.
Auto Glass Week™ is THE convention for the auto glass industry. It’s like the Super Bowl for all things automotive glass and ADAS technology. It’s not only an educational event for automotive technicians and suppliers, it features the latest tools and technology for repairing and replacing auto glass. Tools like our proprietary part removal tool THE FROG®!
Did you know Don’s Mobile Glass doesn’t just train the best auto glass technicians in the world? We develop the tools used by the best auto glass technicians in the world. After years of top-secret research and development performed right here in Modesto, CA, we introduced The Frog® at this year’s event…and we took home the Ingenuity Award.
The Ingenuity Award® is one of the many honorable awards given during Auto Glass Week™. Within the AGR field, ingenuity is a requirement for growth. The industry is constantly looking for new ways to make auto glass repair and replacement safer, easier on the technician, and more reliable for customers. The Frog® is a Don’s Mobile Glass proprietary innovation. This branded cut-out tool is designed for removing your windshield & most body glass/panels using aircraft-grade aluminum and our proprietary Fiberline (Frog’s Tongue®).
The Frog® utilizes the highest ergonomic values to keep your vehicle damage-free while protecting our valued technicians from injury. The Frog® is designed to protect the vehicle and the technician and it was a crowd-favorite at Auto Glass Week™. Check out this video as Collin Walton accepts the award on behalf of Don’s Mobile Glass…this is right before he took home 2nd place at the Auto Glass Technician Olympics®, making him literally one of the best auto glass technicians competing in the world. *Coming October 2019, every Don’s Mobile Glass automotive technician will be issued and operating their own Frog®.
Auto Glass Week™ allows leaders from around the world to discuss industry challenges and successes, demonstrate the best practices developed for vehicles, technicians and customers, to test the latest tools and technology, and of course…to COMPETE!
Collin was also the very first Sika® Power Cure certified technician in the United States!
Sika® Power Cure is a state-of-the-art adhesive specially designed for vehicles with ADAS features. This amazing product rapidly cures to ensure your glass part stays where it needs to BEFORE and AFTER ADAS calibration/re-calibration.
One of the more exciting aspects of the Auto Glass Week™ convention are the competitions! There were three competitions held at Auto Glass Week™ 2019 and those were the Windshield Repair Competition, the Auto Glass Calibration Competition, and the Auto Glass Technician Competition® (AGTO®).
When we decided to enter Collin Walton into this year’s AGTO® competition, we knew we had a good chance of taking home the win. Collin, store manager and automotive technician of our Merced Store, has competed at AGTO® before. He won 3rd place at the event in 2018. With a lot more training and careful guidance provided by our Technical Director, Jacques Navant, Collin endured the precise preparation needed to re-enter AGTO®.
The AGTO® competition is fierce. It is the premier international competition in the automotive glass industry designed to honor the technician who completes the best automotive glass installation. *(Source: Auto Glass Week™ 2019). Judging is brutally specific in the areas of professionalism, credentials and knowledge, technician comportment and vehicle safety inspection, the use of proper product equipment and tools, the proper auto glass removal and installation procedures and techniques, and post-installation and customer procedures.
We were excited to have technicians on our team capable of entering a competition like AGTO®, let alone take home any prize. When Collin won 2nd place, we just about lost it. Don’s Mobile Glass is a family and this family is beyond proud of both Collin and Jacques’ Mr. Miyagi-style training that made our win possible. Their performance represented Don’s Mobile Glass to the fullest.
Don’s Mobile Glass serves on the Board of the Auto Glass Safety Council™ and we are active members on the Auto Glass Safety Council™ Standards Committee®, Education Committee®, and currently serves as Chairman of the ADAS Committee®.
Learn more about ADAS, Automotive Safety and more on Jacques Blog: Cure Time®. He writes for both the AGRR Magazine® and Glassbytes®.