National Windscreens and Fleet Service GB (FSGB) recently collaborated at a supplier open day to give fleet managers and support teams a closer look at the realities of modern vehicle glass repair and the growing impact of advanced driving assist systems (ADAS) on downtime and safety.
The open day brought together partners, suppliers and technical experts to share knowledge, demonstrate equipment and strengthen relationships from across the fleet sector.
“As market leaders in vehicle glass repair and replacement, we are dedicated to delivering the most efficient fleet servicing for our partners across the UK,” said Dawn Milne, regional key account manager at National Windscreens.
“The relationship between FSGB and National Windscreens has evolved considerably in recent years. Being able to show our partners the tools the technicians use to repair and replace glass, as well as the calibration equipment, gives them a much deeper understanding of our work.
“The supplier open day was a great opportunity for our connections to see and interact with the tools used in aftermarket glass repair and replacement. By bringing the industry closer together, we help both our partners and our suppliers prosper,” said Dawn.
Andrew Beale, fitting assistant manager at National Windscreens, put the FSGB team through their paces with a glue gun competition.
The growing impact of ADAS
To give FSGB staff a first-hand view, National Windscreens brought experienced technicians to the open day, supported by the internal team from the Leicester training centre.
“We brought highly experienced technicians from across the South West to showcase the skills and equipment used by National Windscreens,” said Richard Coupe, training assessor at National Windscreens.
“We also had Josh Deaves, our training centre trainer from Leicester, in attendance to explain how we upskill the technicians throughout their career journey.
“The proliferation of ADAS technology in vehicles brings complexities to aftermarket automotive glass. The cameras and sensors mounted to the windscreen must be accurately calibrated to ensure the vehicle’s safety systems work as intended, which adds a significant amount time to each ADAS job,” Richard explained.
To bring that to life, National Windscreens invited its long-term partner Hella Gutmann to the event. Ricardo Sorrano, national key account manager at Hella Gutmann, demonstrated the ADAS calibration equipment that National Windscreens technicians use, highlighting what is required to safely return a vehicle to the road.
Technicians demonstrated the full process around glass repair and replacement, including:
- ADAS calibration procedures
- Use of specialist lifting equipment to handle large windscreens safely
- Diagnostic and calibration tools such as Core Diagnostics, Panther Pro Lite and Mega Macs X
Richard continued: “We also held interactive tasks for the FSGB team to test their glass repair and replacement skills against one another, including carrying out a repair on a demonstration screen and trying out drawing a line of urethane with the glue gun.
“The collaboration knowledge between partners, suppliers and industry professionals made the event a success, and we would like to thank Peter and his team at FSGB for their outstanding hospitality,” said Richard.
Bringing partners, suppliers and technical experts together at FSGB is part of the wider National Windscreens collaboration strategy.
A partnership focused on reducing fleet downtime
Pete Hitt, Commercial Operations Director at FSGB, comments:
“National Windscreens is a trusted supplier of ours, and the relationship has developed significantly in recent years. We now have 95% of our vehicle glass work carried out by their technicians across the UK.
“The supplier open day was a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn about repairing and replacing glass. Reducing downtime for our customers is our absolute priority, so by expanding our industry knowledge, we can continue to improve as business and deliver for our customers,” said Pete.
“We want to provide a truly personal service, and bringing together the different suppliers to educate our team is a big part of that,” Pete added. “The supplier day was a great demonstration of the partnership between National Windscreens and FSGB and we look forward to working together in the future.”
Visit the National Windscreens fleet page for more information.