Elk Grove-based auto-repair shop software company Alldata LLC has launched a toolkit for vocational training programs in partnership with the Automotive Service Excellence Education Foundation.
The Leesburg, Virginia-based foundation confers ASE certification for highly trained auto mechanics and technicians.
“The core complexity of cars is going up every year,” Satwinder Mangat, president of Alldata, told the Business Journal. “These newer cars are computers on wheels. They are supercomputers on wheels.”
Alldata is working with schools, career colleges and community colleges that have mechanic-training programs to assist them with up-to-date information about working on modern cars. Alldata updates its information on nearly a daily basis from what it learns in the field and from original equipment manufacturers.
Alldata is not charging schools for its Instructor Toolkit, rather it is a value-added part of its subscription service to schools and to auto shops globally, Mangat said.
Founded in 1986, Alldata provides independent shops and new car dealerships with updates to original equipment manufacturers’ latest technical bulletins for auto repair.
Alldata employed 529 people in its offices in Elk Grove, as of July this year, according to the most recent Business Journal list of Technology Companies. That ranks it the fourth-largest local tech employer behind Intel Corp. (Nasdaq INTC), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Hewlitt-Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE).
Alldata is a division of Autozone Inc. (NYSE:AZO), which bought the Elk Grove company in 1996. Autozone has 6,767 aftermarket auto parts and accessories stores globally.
The toolkit is a service to the industry as there is an ongoing shortage of automotive technicians, Mangat said. “We are addressing a market need.”
Alldata worked with the foundation to build the training based on its existing courses, including class work and labs.
“They learn better from the combination of training and labs,” Mangat said.
The Instructor Toolkit is based on original equipment manufacturers’ standards, which can change constantly for new cars and older models. The specifications and methods are also all different from manufacturer to manufacturer, so the education modules address specific information for all makes, Mangat said. Alldata already creates updates and bulletins for most major manufacturers.
The toolkit also allows educators and students to access ways to correctly use scan tools and what they mean for most makes and models.
For a mechanic, “whatever you do today is nothing like what your father did 20 years ago,” Mangat said. Even when doing collision repair, there are sensors and calibrations involved in most modern cars.
“You will need more information to fix it,” Mangat said. “And you will need that information at your fingertips.”
