The Answer-Men: Just Learn It Part Il By Traci Matt STAFF WRITER Editors Note: It has become obvious that only those who work smart are going to survive in this industry. We’ve used a lot of space in the Exchange telling you to stay up on your education, and this short series is intended to show you how to do just that. Last month we profiled rebuilders who also teach, this final installment takes a look at vendors, associations and teachers who offer information on just about any technical or business topic you can name. If you’re a rebuilder, you probably found your first love in nitty-gritty, hands-on work. You probably weren’t the kid who relished spending the evening at the library working on a term paper. That’s why you’re in the shop today applying what you know in a con- crete way, and not drawing pictures at Daimler-Chrysler. But it’s time for a paradigm shift. The old patterns need to go. Rebuilders who want to succeed need to become students again. “They’ve always been shown what to do, they’ve always been told what to do,’ said Juan Grube, owner of test equipment manufacturer JIMCO, Raymore, MO. “Now they need to learn how to do more research on their own. I’m taking about becoming a student. If youre going to digest and disseminate information you’re never going to stop being a student.” According to Grube, one key is to understand the difference between train- ing and education. Training is “show me how to do this;” education is “show me how to decide what to do.’ When rebuilders are investing in education, they are learning where resources are and how to use them. “The difference is when they’ve been educated, they don’t have to be re-trained every time there’s a small change in what they do,” he said. At JIMCO they put that into practice by giving an open invitation to cus- tomers to spend a day being exposed to the “beginning of the process” of operating the equipment. The jumping- off point for this is an introduction to the user’s manual, including how it is laid out and what the terminology means. “If you picked up a dictionary without knowing how to use it, you wouldn’t use it very effectively,” said Grube. “TI try to control the situation using the paper part of the hook-up manuals so eventually they can do it themselves. People respond to being shown. It’s absolutely the simplest thing to do—explain to someone who wants to learn.” In the Beginning… Grube and his wife Carolyn are patron saints of the Electrical Rebuilder’s Exchange organization. Exchange founder, the late Ralph Albares, was doing marketing for JIMCO in 1983 when the idea for the first all-electrical publication was born. Albares had the journalism background to make the publication fly, but counted on the Grubes for rebuilding industry expertise. Albares’ wife Margaret, who now resides in a retirement community in Little Rock, AR, said that Ralph’s aim with the newspaper was to show rebuilders where to get help. He expanded this vision in 1987 and began sponsoring a series of educational seminars which were the precursors of the E+ Show. “Through the newspaper and semi- nars Ralph offered the rebuilder a chance to get better acquainted with the industry,’ said Margaret. “The seminars were an attempt to draw the small rebuilder into the fold and to help sharpen their acumen.” Today the E+ Show offers technical and business seminars, as well as hands-on training stations and a chance to network with vendors and other rebuilders. The 2002 E+ Show will be held in conjunction with the Automotive Electrical Rebuilders Association of Canada (A.E.R.A.C.) in Niagara Falls, Canada, in April. If you just can’t wait until spring for your chance to learn more about your industry, check out the Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association’s 2001 “International Big R Show” in Dallas next month. Besides offering an exhibit hall of vendors, they are sponsoring a number of electrical technical work- shops, electrical certification training and testing, as well as panel discussion presentations. For more information see the inside wrap of this issue of the Exchange. Vendor-sponsored training sessions are also in the works for the winter and spring. WAI is planning several techni- cal seminars presented by Joe Davis and held at their Wetherill Rebuilders Supply (WRS) locations. Transpo/Ace is also planning free clinics for the small rebuilder beginning in the spring of 2002. These will be held in the area of the Ace warehouses and independent re-distributors and will deal with every- day problems rebuilders face. You Can Lead a Horse… “Tt reminds me of the old blues tune ‘everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.’ A lot of people cry they want training, but when it’s offered to them they don’t support it,’ said Dan Marinucci, who has been teaching basic electricity and starting/charging system diagnosis to installer/technicians since 1989. His renowned seminars are offered through his business Communiqué. Marinucci said man