As time flies, so do the needs of the industry and the projects for the ATRA team. Most recently, we’ve worked on providing training for students at technical schools through ATRA’s VTS (Virtual Training Solutions) platform. We’ll continue increasing ATRA’s reach to people interested in starting a career in the transmission repair industry. But while we pursue that work, another group of people can use more of our attention. These are the people who make the call whether or not to pull the transmission for repairs.
As an old hand at taking Hotline calls, I can share how that goes. That phone call goes something like this, “I’m working on a (name your transmission) that came in for a no-second gear complaint. We got it out, and I’ve taken it apart and can’t find anything wrong. Any ideas?” Now, that’s going back quite a few years, but it continues today. The only difference is that instead of being a 4L60 or AODE, it’s a 6L80 or a 6F35.
Or how’s this one? You get a ZF8HP90 with intermittent shifting problems. You’ve never worked on one, but you’re pretty confident it’s in the unit. After all, it had four transmission-related codes. You take the safe route and decide to buy an exchange transmission. You install it, only to find that it’s doing the same thing and still has three of the four codes.
This isn’t a criticism of the people working on the car, but rather, recognizing that we can do a better job of helping them diagnose these odd problems.
We started brainstorming ideas for addressing this issue back in January. We had two whiteboards filled with thoughts and ideas, one of which was a name for the project. After about a month of cute sayings and lofty wording, Lance Wiggins came in one morning and said, “Hey, why don’t we call it ATRA plus?” Perfect!
That’s how collaboration works; some of the best ideas come about when you don’t think too hard; you just let the ideas float around for a while.
The essence of the program is this: To help the person make the right call, whether it’s inside or outside the transmission. And to do so with confidence. Every shop needs this specialty, and it’s a skill that new people coming into the industry can learn.
We’re in the assessment stage of the project, and for that, we’re headed to the field. On June 11th and 12th, ATRA’s Technical Director, Keith Clark, will conduct a training session at Norfolk Transmissions in Norfolk, Nebraska, aimed at this topic. We’ll have other industry leaders, along with yours truly, to help get this project off the ground. Why Norfolk Transmissions? The owner, Ron, started with an idea for a local training session, which led to something bigger. Then, before he knew it, his shop became ground zero for this exciting new project. We hope to have other training sessions around the country to understand the needs of the shops better.
It’s a big project, and I’m proud to be a part of it. But like you, as the project unfolds, I’ll learn about it right here, in the pages of Gears magazine. The premier trade publication of the transmission rebuilding industry.
