The half-life of knowledge on the internet is about five years. Anyone who doesn’t regularly keep up-to-date will soon be left well behind in the world of digital business. Although half-life times in skilled crafts and trades are significantly longer, knowledge in this field now tends to age faster and is constantly being supplemented by new knowledge, without which makes it is nearly impossible to repair and maintain modern vehicles correctly.

Messe Frankfurt has again worked closely with exhibitors and trade associations to create a professional development program for attendees from the workshop sector, with 12 workshops for repair specialists from the collision-damage segment being held throughout the fair, from Sept. 13-17. Experts also will hold the three-hour courses in German during the mornings and English in the afternoons.

Repairing tomorrow’s technology today

This year, the popular professional development program is characterized by three focal points: complete and precise damage assessment and cost calculation; working on hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles; and taking account of driver assistance systems when calculating, repairing and re-commissioning damaged vehicles.

With this program, Messe Frankfurt and the companies supporting the 12 workshops with speakers and equipment link up with the “Tomorrow’s Service & Mobility” special exhibition in the “Festhalle,” where experts present their future-oriented technological ideas, such as the driverless car and a completely networked world of mobility.

The practical presentations given by experts at the workshops for body and paint repairs in the Galleria will cover, inter alia, the question of how modern assistance systems for partially autonomous vehicles should be handled and repaired correctly after a collision.

This process begins with the damage assessment and calculation. If assistance-system components are located in the area affected by the collision, they could be damaged or, if not, must in any case be dismantled for the repair work. Furthermore, they must be refitted precisely and recalibrated after the repairs have been completed. This is the only way the vehicle can be guaranteed to be operational and road safe. These steps mean extra work that must be taken into account when assessing and calculating the damage. Accordingly, the workshops on “Systematic Damage Assessment of Collision Damage” and “Digital Repair Cost Calculation and Communication” will focus on these challenges for workshops and illustrate them with live demonstrations.

Held for the first time at the 22nd Automechanika in 2012, the workshop about working on the high-voltage systems in hybrid vehicles is being expanded this year to include basic knowledge about fuel-cell vehicles. After successfully completing the workshop, participants will be able to describe themselves as having been instructed for working with intrinsically safe high-voltage systems (in accordance with the requirements in Germany).

Also significantly expanded and updated are the workshops on “Headlight adjustment and on-board electronic diagnostics with reading out the fault memory” and “Wheel Alignment / Calibration of Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).”

Adjusting camera systems also is on the agenda. The precision with which radar sensors need to be calibrated and the fatal consequences of even the smallest deviations from the values specified will be the subject of another demonstration during the workshop.

The professional-development program also includes workshops on new body sealing technology, innovative materials and composites in automobile manufacturing and new repainting techniques.

The companies cooperating with Messe Frankfurt on the body and paint workshops include Adam Opel AG, BASF Coatings/Glasurit, Beissbarth, BMW, Carbon, Car-o-Liner, DEKRA Automobil GmbH, Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Farécla, Festool GmbH, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, L-Tec, Robert Bosch GmbH, SATA, Sehon, Toyota, Vosschemie GmbH, Wieländer + Schill and the Technical Academy of the Automobile Trade (TAK).

Participation by advance registration only

In view of the high degree of interest expected to be shown in the workshops, the participants are asked to register for one or more of the courses on the Automechanika website by Aug. 19.

Participation in all courses, all of which will be held in the Galleria between Halls 8, 9 and 10, is free of charge.

Detailed descriptions of the individual workshops and the registration form can be found at training.automechanika.com. A video about the workshop program is on YouTube at youtu.be/PRIJEn7x4Dk.

Further information can be found at automechanika.com, and on social media at facebook.com/automechanika and twitter.com/automechanika.