The Best Technology Shouldn’t Be Reserved for Seasoned Painters: DeVilbiss’ Spray Gun Donation Allows Students to Produce a Flawless Finish
Created for Collision Repair Education Foundation
Educating students in collision repair requires instructors to cover a variety of topics to ensure students acquire the entry-level skills needed to obtain employment after graduation, but obtaining the necessary supplies, tools and equipment to provide instruction on everything from welding and bodywork to refinishing necessitates a financial investment that often exceeds the budgets allocated to collision educational programs. Fortunately, the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) aids these programs, with generous assistance from industry employers, such as DeVilbiss, a silver-level sponsor in the Foundation’s Industry Leadership Circle.
Last year, DeVilbiss’ donation of 20 DV1 Basecoat Spray Guns, 20 DV1 Clearcoat Spray Guns, 20 PROLite Spray Guns and 20 GPG Spray Guns was distributed to 15 schools across the country, allowing over 500 students to learn with this state-of-the-art refinishing technology. “This equipment represents the cutting edge of collision technology in terms of atomization and boasts the highest transfer efficiencies for the industry within our line,” shares Kevin Creegan, Eastern Regional Sales Manager for Binks, the manufacturer of DeVilbiss’ brand line of low-pressure automotive spray guns.
He believes it’s important to provide students with access to “this level of technology rather than having them learn on lower-quality spray guns that might not meet their expectations in terms of finish. The best technology our industry offers shouldn’t be reserved for those who have been in the business for decades; it should be made available early in a technician’s career. Rather than allowing them to struggle and grow frustrated trying to produce quality results with inferior products, it’s beneficial to enable young collision professionals to produce the best possible refinish results. Providing them with the best of the best enhances their performance and shows them what they can accomplish – in terms of the work they produce and the income they can earn – so they continue to pursue a collision career path, instead of becoming discouraged because they’re unable to meet their income or quality expectations.”
Kingwood Park High School in Kingwood, TX was one of the schools that received spray guns from DeVilbiss, and Jeff L Wilson, CTE Department Chair for Transportation, Distribution and Logistics agrees with Creegan’s assessment. “Modern equipment and technology positively impact student learning by promoting personalized one-on-one instruction. It also enhances engagement with hands-on tasks, creates collaboration among peers and instructors, motivates students and provides access to more diverse instruction that will promote students’ success in the industry after graduation.”
As evidence of these beliefs, Wilson recounts his students’ reactions to receiving the donated spray guns from DeVilbiss. “Once the students were aware that we received new guns, they were excited and more motivated to get into the booth because they would be shooting paint with newer and better spray guns than they were accustomed to. Before we received the DeVilbiss donation, we were spraying with guns that were a bit outdated, and the students realized the difference in equipment pretty quickly once they started spraying! These great products are very user-friendly and easy to learn. One student was thrilled to find that making adjustments before shooting a product was much quicker and spraying with the DeVilbiss guns resulted in a flawless finish.”
Creegan hopes that helping students achieve such results will inspire them with confidence to continue improving the quality of their workmanship throughout a long collision industry career. “Being able to produce such high-quality work provides a lot of satisfaction,” he suggests. Wilson agrees. “Putting new technology in a student’s hands – which allows them to produce a flawless finish in this case – encourages them to test themselves and strive for more difficult tasks, pushing their skill set as they strive for perfection on every project. It also allows students to use reliable resources to build upon their hands-on tasks to complete projects in a proficient and timely manner.”
Producing an esthetically pleasing product is particularly powerful for motivating students interested in pursuing a career in automotive refinishing. “It may seem like there are fewer opportunities available on the automotive refinish side of the business, and although that’s untrue, students interested in becoming painters do not always have their talents cultivated enough,” Creegan fears. “Ensuring they learn their trade on the best equipment reinforces how much the industry needs those skills and will pay dividends in the long run.”
And that return on investment doesn’t just pertain to those students’ careers; companies that donate to collision programs can also expect a ROI. “When students experience the high-quality finish that our spray guns produce, that’s the quality they’ll be looking for throughout their career,” Creegan suggests. “Collision repair refinishing professionals purchase their own equipment, and that personal investment demands a big leap of faith if they don’t have exposure to different types of spray guns. DeVilbiss Manufacturing Company was founded in 1888, and our customers can take comfort in that longevity, knowing that the equipment will be supported for a long time. We employ the best engineers to design our atomization process, so we have some of the best technology out there. By putting our spray guns in students’ hands, they get to experience exactly what we have to offer firsthand, so they know what they’re getting when they purchase our equipment. Introducing them to successful use of our products early in their career development gives us the potential to create customers for life.”
Wilson concurs: “If a student is trained on a certain spray gun and achieves perfection using it, what will that student purchase once they graduate and gain employment? It’s a win-win for both the industry and the brand being used.”
Collision instructors work hard to ensure program graduates are “knowledgeable about the tools and machines used daily in body shops across the nation and educated enough to obtain an entry-level position in our industry,” according to Wilson, but budgetary constraints can create roadblocks without additional support. He is grateful to CREF and its industry partners for providing tools and supplies to supplement what his funds would otherwise allow. “The Kingwood Park High School Collision and Refinishing program has received many tools and supplies over the past several years, which has helped our program grow to what we are today. They are a huge help when it comes to promoting collision and refinishing programs and supplying materials that our programs so desperately need. They replace broken and worn-out tools and give the students major scholarship opportunities. I encourage every school to develop a relationship with CREF to help build their programs to better prepare the students for this industry!”
Arming these students with the skills and tools needed to embark on their journey into the collision world is more important than ever as employers continue to lament the ongoing workforce shortage. “Our industry has a shortage of new technicians, and it only makes sense that everyone in the industry as a whole should participate in its future,” Wilson notes, explaining how donations of modern tools and equipment, like the DeVilbiss spray guns, helps do that in more than one way. “The old saying, ‘shiny things attract notice’ applies when it comes to new tools and technology. When our students have access to new tools and equipment, it attracts others to the program not only from word of mouth but by the products produced.” He also encourages industry professionals to join local schools’ advisory boards to help “advise educators about what they are looking for in the industry so we can better educate and prepare young talent. Attraction, education and interest is the key to allow our industry to grow and strive to sustain itself.”
Sustaining the industry’s future is paramount to DeVilbiss. Although DeVilbiss began supporting CREF recently, the company’s belief in equipping and supporting the next generation of collision professionals is nothing new. Through its Vo-Tech Program, the company offers equipment packages that include free product, while students entering the repair and refinishing industry can receive a gift card of up to $300 when they take advantage of DeVilbiss’ Student Rebate Program. “We believe in equipping and support the next generation of collision painters,” Creegan stresses. “Building these relationships is substantial for the future of the collision repair industry.”
Industry members interested in getting involved and supporting the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s efforts to assist high school and college collision repair training programs can Contact Us to learn about the many ways to get involved. Monetary donations can be made online.
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The Collision Repair Education Foundation, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting collision repair educational programs, schools and students to create qualified, entry-level employees and connect them with an array of career opportunities. For information on how to donate to programs supported by the Education Foundation, visit us online at: www.CollisionRepairEducationFoundation.org.
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If you would like more information about this topic or any of CREF’s initiatives, please email info@ed-foundation.org.
