Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) members who traveled to Hawaii last week for several days of meetings and education may have now returned home to the cold, but the initiatives they worked on together are still glowing brightly.
Many AGSC members who attended the committee meetings and education in Hawaii also attended a traditional Hawaiian luau.Chief among those initiatives was the launch of the Hispanic Outreach Committee, designed to facilitate Hispanic members’ use of AGSC services and to attract future Spanish-speaking members.
“Outreach is so important, and we are excited to be able to offer AGSC’s great services and education in Spanish,” said Gilbert Gutierrez of Equalizer, the committee’s inaugural chair.
The AGSC Manufacturer’s Committee also held its first meeting. This committee, chaired by Carlex CEO Ramzi Hermiz, is focused on identifying and documenting engineering and design standards as well as providing education and sharing non-proprietary technical data on issues of importance related to glass safety.
The Hispanic Outreach Committee distributed buttons that read “Se habla español,” (Spanish is spoken [here]).AGSC’s Insurance Committee focused on strategic planning and a series of benefits it is debuting for insurance companies.
“We are rooted in providing education for insurers that is accurate and complete,” said committee chair Lenny Hennessy of Neural Claim System.
The Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard™ (AGRSS) Committee and the Repair of Laminated Auto Glass Committee 2 (ROLAGS™ 2) also met. Both standards development committees are organized under the auspices of ANSI. The AGRSS Committee focused on calibration procedures, while ROLAGS 2 focused on promoting the new version of the ROLAGS standard once it is ready.
AGSC’s highly successful networking circles and webinars were also discussed and targeted for expansion.
AGSC’s committees met all day on Feb. 3 and 4.Although meetings started at 7 a.m. and ran through 5 p.m., there was still time for fun. Some were able to visit AGSC member company Ace Auto Glass as part of a tour of local glass shops; and a group of 83 capped off the event with a traditional Hawaiian luau at the Royal Hawaiian Center.
Feb. 5 began with the AGSC’s “State of the Industry” address presented by president Jacques Navant, who discussed how AGSC members can prepare for future industry changes, including advances in ADAS technology.
His session was followed by three certification training programs: Repair, Replacement and Glass Calibration Specialist, which were held throughout the day.
“All the training sessions and meetings went well,” says Navant. “They were very productive, and I look forward to watching these initiatives continue to unfold.”