Smart Glasses in the Shop: Inside NAPA Autotech’s XcceleratoR Training [THA 478]

This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.

Everybody, Karm Capriotto,

Remarkable Results Radio and another Town Hall Academy.

Thank you so much to our great friends at NapaTracks for sponsoring us to be here.

We've been talking way too much on this trip about,

so how's your SMS doing?

What are you learning from it?

How are you implementing it?

The amazing thing is we find that there's so many features inside of

SMSes today that people aren't using.

I know one thing for sure,

what NapaTracks does,

wow, constant training, local representation.

If you're not playing in the big deep sandbox at NapaTracks,

shame on you, N-A-P-A-T-R-A-C-S.com.

I have an episode coming up for you that is something I've been waiting a long time

to really see the evolution from last April when we were in Vegas with the Napa Now,

and this whole extended reality thing came on and we played with virtual things and everything,

and the two guys that are so responsible for it are here,

and they're going to give us an update, something you just don't want to miss.

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and NapaTracks will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with on-site training,

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Okay, I'm with Matt Crumpton.

Are you still the director of program development,

or did you get 10 more titles that Jason gave you?

I think I got them without the titles.

That's a great answer. I love that answer.

But yeah, my job title's still the same, but yeah,

the responsibilities sometimes grow a little bit,

but that's the beauty of how our team works.

By the way, I read this article today about the shortest sentence in the world.

No, period.

We don't know that word.

It's not in the Napa lexicon, actually.

Robin Koeh is here, creative technologist, content producer development,

this whole AI point of view stuff.

So Napa saw the stuff that you did and said,

this guy may be able to help us go to the next level.

Is that what happened?

Yeah, and we got introduced to Napa through a friend.

It was the very beginning of the business that we had just started.

I think the thing that kind of started to make,

or at least caught Napa's attention was,

we were very, very focused on the return of investment,

and we were very focused on not the technology,

but the result and the impact that what we're doing could have.

So you work backwards.

And then we work backwards.

Yeah.

By the way, I forgot to mention that we are here at Vision 2026.

Thanks to Sherry Hamilton for giving us our same studio

that I think we've had for like eight years in a row.

This is such a cool place.

And in fact, I don't hear any air conditioning going on.

Usually, we always have a big hum up top.

Just look at Robin's shirt.

Do you have one like this?

Actually, I do.

I actually have the matching underwear as well.

In fact, whoa.

QR code right across the button.

We just went with the racing vibes all over that.

And I only wear it when I'm at the cabin with the wife alone.

That's right.

Wait, I have a cabin?

You tell me you go to the lake all the time.

Yeah, that's the lake.

That's where the Speedo version.

And so we were just coming out of lunch,

and I saw these like five or six, obviously your trainers.

We've actually got 10 people here.

We've got seven stations.

We're doing demos of the headsets,

demos of the glasses, demos of the mixed reality.

And we're just letting everybody get their hands on this stuff

that we've been talking about.

And I was with you guys at Apex where you, again,

you keep bringing on these incredible announcements

and these new levels that you're going at.

And I'm sure there are new listeners

that have not heard about this yet

because it's a pretty big world out there.

What's it all about?

And why is it so important and so critical

that we need to be in the stratosphere

as far as the level of education,

the ability to repair an efficient time frame,

and having knowledge at our fingertips?

Wow, I mean, when you want to talk about the 30,000-foot view,

is NAPA is always looking for solutions

to help its auto care centers and different types of customers.

And you look at the shortfall of technicians,

that's one major problem.

The speed to get a technician up to what we would call a billable state

to where that ROI for shop owners

that's investing in a young man or woman in this industry,

that has to ratchet up dramatically.

Also the level of technology today and how fast it comes,

any way that we can speed up education,

raise recruitment and retention,

and then also how do we speed up the ability

to reach out and touch information

and make everybody more efficient?

It's not just good for shop owners, it's good for technicians.

Technicians have a massive barrier eventually

when it comes to tools and investments and things like that.

So the faster we can get them up to speed or her up to speed

and be able to start to get that return of investment,

then everybody's winning across the board.

And this also allows us to attract

some new type of talent into the industry

and keep this industry rolling the way it should.

You inspired me to think that if I was a B&A tech working,

I got eight, nine years in,

my owner of my NAPA auto care or NAPA gold shop

comes in and says, look at guys, we're going there.

And I've got these glasses on and I am connected

to the outside world in my little old

cool little high technology bay here.

And all of a sudden I learned something new

because I asked and I was curious, where are the aha moments?

I guarantee you they're happening,

even from the trainers who are helping you do this.

Do you see that the aha moments, the learning curve,

even though we've got seasoned people,

are going to go on to the stratosphere?

This whole experience has been about, listen, truly,

when we first started working on this,

we went for two months, we just went and talked to shop owners

and we talked to techs.

And at the beginning, we were really working on

this kind of entry level tech question,

like how do we get guys and girls in high school?

How do we get them coming out of tech school?

Or how do we get people who are new to the shop?

How do we get them basically making more money

themselves individually as techs,

but then also making more money for the shop and etc.

We spent a lot of time listening to what those challenges were.

And the result of that is we developed 53 lessons

in virtual reality that basically provides the core information

that you need to know.

I love the way that Jim Przbilski had a training,

works with Matt, sums it up, he says,

look, breaks pay bills.

So start with, let's have people being able to fix breaks.

And at this show, we are delivering 21 of those 53 lessons.

And of course, the thing that we're addressing

is breaks pay bills.

And what we realized is, wow,

there's such a rich amount of Napa know-how.

And Matt and I were having breakfast,

I think it was at A-S-T-A,

and we're having breakfast and just talking about things.

And he just went on this, like, aha moment.

Like, you know, he said, you know,

what if we could take this know-how and this knowledge

and basically put it at the tip of your tongue?

And if you were in the context of like, oh, here I am,

whatever, I'm a C tech or a B tech,

and I reach this problem that I just don't have,

you know, the real answer for,

what if you could just ask that question

and instantly get a verified,

true, contextually accurate answer?

And I was like, yeah, man, we can do that.

See, I don't think there's anything you can't do.

I think that's what makes this so exciting.

Where we started and where it's kind of morphed

is every time we sit down and talk,

and the more we deep dive into the technology,

and of course, that changes so fast.

And the more that we get to test and play with the equipment

and all of its capabilities,

it just opens up another door and another door

and another door.

And it's been like lightning in a bottle

in the last six months of everything

that's kind of developed in the direction that we're heading.

I thought I was excited about it in April at Napa Now,

but now I realize what a difference it's going to make

because the training aspect,

we knew it was going to impact a lot of people.

The smart glass with the integrations

to be able to provide that type of service,

that impacts everybody.

So from shop owners to technicians,

all levels of technicians, things like that,

all of that can be impacted.

And we know we're working with some pretty special.

Napa Know-How is back.

That's right.

How cool is that?

Robin, are you like a kid in a candy store?

I am.

You know, I have a very weird origin story.

You know, my father, we're originally from South Africa,

he worked in these gold mines right out of,

he's an industrial psychologist.

And he picked up a film camera

and started filming from the point of view

of people who are trying to learn how to be gold miners.

And it was this kind of first person experience,

he called it point of view learning,

that became the basis of 50 years

of learning and development, training that he's done,

did a lot of work from Mercedes-Benz in Germany and Ford.

And so automotive and teaching people how to learn things

has been a part of my dad's life, his whole life.

And then I stole that idea of this kind of first person thing

when I was in film school

and I decided to apply it to a movie

called The Bly Witch Project and I made that film.

And that kind of changed my life

because obviously it was a great success,

but it really put me kind of with the ability

to explore technology.

I got into gaming, ended up running the Madden football franchise

for a couple of years and then really got into,

okay, how do we use this technology to help people?

And dad and I worked on a program

where we helped electricians, entry-level electricians.

We reduced the amount of time from about eight months

down to 15 days for entry-level electricians

to learn how to get into that business.

And that's when we decided, you know what,

we really need to take this to other enterprises.

We met Napa and that's how it got started.

So from this literally down in a gold mine shaft,

all the way to what we're doing now,

it's a really exciting process to bring these tools

to such an important career and such an important task.

The industry is going to start hearing about XR.

And when you say XR to me,

the next words that come out of your mouth are mixed reality.

Let's explain mixed reality to the audience.

Let them understand the options that are there.

Yeah, so extended reality, XR,

includes something called virtual reality.

So that's complete immersion.

So I want to basically transport you into a shop

and we built a studio.

We worked with Matt.

Matt took out one of the training centers

and we turned it into basically a capture studio.

And we then built that, a digital double of it,

in virtual reality.

By the way, is Jim Perlbisky,

is he signing autographs?

I mean, he's going to be the hit parade.

He's the new movie star, isn't he?

Between him and Daryl,

I don't need you to quote their ego anymore.

Yeah, Daryl's the guy.

Daryl won a great award at the conference.

He did.

The vendor major.

Daryl's the most amazing host.

Daryl stepped up, man.

Yeah, he did.

In virtual reality, you basically experience,

you see his big hands.

They call him Sasquatch.

You see his Sasquatch hands

and you see it from his point of view.

And so you learn from Daryl's point of view

as he shows you what to do.

And then you actually do that and test in it, right?

So that's virtual reality.

Then you got mixed reality

where you're looking through,

you're using real tools

and actually working on mock-ups.

Napa has been so successful

with their mock-up program

that they have for in-person instruction.

That, you know, this is such a big part

of what Matt does and Scott and...

So now imagine having those things,

but now you've got a digital help

so you're working with real things.

And then finally, now you're actually on the job

and you're wearing these very light glasses

and that's called augmented reality.

So you've got virtual reality, mixed reality,

and augmented reality.

Those are the technologies.

And who cares about the technologies?

We put it all together and it's called XR.

Did you ever think that you'd be

a glasses salesperson right now?

Because he came into the studio

before we sat down and he goes,

I got to show you these.

It's funny.

That's exactly what he did to me

before we came in here.

I'm pretty sure he gets a commission.

Yeah, like, hey, man.

Oh, man, come here.

I mean, I did order some,

so he does his job.

I'll take a couple.

I mean, these things are amazing.

Yeah, he's showing...

Look at the camera.

So they're super lightweight.

They've got dual cameras on either side.

You can take still pictures.

You can take video.

They got microphones on the belly here.

So you got stereo microphones.

He got speakers or you got these

that just slip into your ears

so you can hear really clearly.

And then essentially, you have the power

to basically talk into these.

It gives you information back.

You can take a photograph.

You can take a video.

That can then integrate with all sorts of technology.

So you can integrate with shop software.

You can integrate with DVI.

You can integrate with one of our new partners.

Can we mention who our partners are with Identifix?

Yeah.

So we've been working with Identifix

and their diagnostics tools

and all of the incredibly rich information

that Identifix has with Direct Hit.

Let's face it.

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Robin, is it coming to you through the earpiece or are you seeing it somehow?

No, so right now it's all audio.

And the reason is, and this goes back to that breakfast we were talking about, when you're

in the flow of doing the work that you're doing, if you've got to come out and interrupt

that work and go to a, you know, get out from under the vehicle, that kind of stops.

You want to be able to use your hands the whole time, just ask a question, get an answer

in your ears.

So right now we're just doing audio cameras, video.

And right now we're not doing anything on the screen because we don't want to get in

between the technician.

Now it may be, it does have the capability.

You know, Matt and I have really tried to like test something, learn something where,

you know, this has been a very live project.

We've purposefully tried to expose it to people so that they can tell us what they need.

And if somebody says to me, oh, I really need something on the display, we'll figure out

how to do that.

But for right now it's just audio, answers, questions, takes pictures, you know, and sends

it to other things.

So it's an input device?

But can you have a tablet and say, can you send it to my tablet?

So the wiring diagram that you want, you don't have to go back and type it in.

As a technician, if I need to look at a wiring diagram or something a little bit more in-depth

diagnostic process, that's when you should stop what you're doing.

Take the time to research, develop a diagnostic process and then walk through that process.

What we want to impact is, I don't want the technician leaving the car to look up a torque

spec, a location, a description of operation, a wire color or a pin out, or technical service

bulletins that may give me a head start of what items I need to test first.

And it's all in this idea of just trying to shave one to three minutes a job.

If you can do that, it's dramatically impacting.

It's going to be more in-depth than that.

That's where you do want the technician to step back and want to be able to look at things

in plain sight.

And again, you know, Matt Fanzlow talks about it, that diagnostic process is that don't

go head over heels into a car, create a plan and then work your plan.

So when we need to be able to do that, then we want them to take a break from the vehicle

and develop that.

But this is that quick hit information that keeps you at the car, keeps you in the rhythm

and in the flow.

And of course, I know my experience is sometimes I am laid out on my back in the floorboard

of the car, which is extremely comfortable.

Oh, right.

That's why you walk like you walk.

Right.

I walk at an angle and I keep making left-hand turns.

So but you look at it as I'm under the dash and if I had a light there, I'm still hands

free and I'm trying to track down a wire or electrical problem.

And I want to ask the pin out on a connector under the dash.

It's worth it if I can ask and it gives me that information instead of me having to crawl

back out and go over to the computer, pull something out.

Or even if you've already printed it, looking at pieces of paper, we're beyond that.

We have the technology to improve technician efficiency and also their lifestyle is that

they want to be able to be done with the job faster.

And if we can make that easier, we impact them in a positive way.

Let me ask a question about wearing the glasses.

And if I'm going to take a picture, I'm recording Robin.

If I'm looking directly at you, it's going to get you.

Is it my head?

It's not my eyes.

It's my head.

So I've got to make sure that I'm looking straight ahead if I want that picture.

So it's actually what was very important to technicians that we talked to was that it's

not always on, the device is not always on, you control it when you want to control it.

So you can activate it, you can say, take a picture or take a video, you're in control.

And, you know, I think everybody, we're not about spying on people or like, you know,

gathering all this, this is a tool like any other tool to be used when you need to use it.

And, you know, yeah, you can, it's very light, it's lightweight.

One thing I want to add here, and I want to be kind of clear about where we are in our journey.

We started a year ago listening, like I said, we've built really valuable VR,

which I think is what we've got right now.

And we have a very early version of the glasses.

That's where we are now.

By the end of the year, all of these things that we're talking about,

like Identifix and we've got other partners that we're talking to,

all of that will be incorporated into what we're doing.

And so that'll come out by SEMA.

And so this is an evolving product where we're building on top of the technology by

continuing to listen to what technicians need and what is actually valuable to them and for them.

So I want to make sure we make a distinction when Matt and I are talking about it.

We're actively not only thinking about it ourselves,

or Jim Prasbilsky or Darrell or any of the other Napa, you know, techs who are there,

but we're also talking to shops all the time.

We're talking to techs all the time and we're trying to figure out,

okay, what would be valuable to you?

And so it's really kind of building it in the open as we discover these things that have value.

So I just want to make that clarification.

I get the glasses right now.

Yes, sir.

And the possibility of this continuing to double what it can do is going to happen.

Let's say at once a quarter, something with this investment continued to have value

in say a year or with somebody say, way to get this done.

I mean, I hate when people don't want to get involved.

I guess my point is this investment, this commitment to this Napa XR,

it really should happen now.

Yeah, no, it is valuable now.

And we wouldn't be here putting it out here for people to purchase today.

Today's really the first day that people can get in.

At Napa Now, we had some super early believers.

We called them the early adopters.

And it was literally only Napa Now that we opened that window.

And those people amazingly came in and supported us right in the very beginning.

And then we've been listening to them the whole way through.

And so now a week ago, we opened it up for those early believers to purchase.

They were the first people who could purchase.

And now today is the first time anyone outside of those early adopters can actually purchase.

And that value will continue to stack.

Absolutely.

That's a perfect opening to what I was going to ask next.

And that is you had your vendor's summit a couple of weeks ago.

You gave some great awards out to people.

And when you think about all the vendors in the room,

there are so many that can play in this sandbox.

Oh, yeah.

And so let's just think about digital vehicle inspections,

comprehensive safety reviews.

If I was going to, again, maybe it's not happening today, but maybe it is.

I'm looking straight ahead and I take a picture.

I'm doing a video.

However you have to explain that to your glasses,

I can't imagine how much time it can save from inspecting and looking camera up,

picture and back.

You're already in the moment.

Why should you have to stop and click?

I think, yeah.

When you think of like DVI, and we'll just talk about that for a second,

but you look at it as a hands-free extension of that DVI tablet to be able to take videos,

pictures, be able to annotate instead of sitting there typing your notes in, things like that.

I also look at it from a customer experience is we all know a lot of customers today.

They don't want to talk to anybody.

Just send it to me through text.

Let me look at it and I approve or anything else.

But the more information you provide a customer, the more educated decision they can make.

But you still want to keep some personal touches there.

So if you think about if I am a technician or a service advisor,

I can click video and talk through and actually point live and sit there and say,

here's where the old leak is.

This is the process we need to do.

We need to clean this up.

We need to put dye in it.

We need to be able to test and things like that.

But this is where we're looking at and be able to add that to the DVI and be sent to the customer.

It's a lot more personal and then somebody can sit there and go, wow,

they're just talking to me like one of the other people and explaining what's going on with my car.

I think that gives a whole not a level of confidence.

So it's an enhancement.

Also, it's not always the easiest to take a tablet and shove it in an area to try to take a picture.

Exactly right.

And the thought that I had was in all the great DVI companies that are out there,

they're going to integrate.

You're walking down the line in the tablet, but the glasses are going to be integrated there.

If not wherever on the cloud, this picture goes as I'm looking at front end, for example.

So there's people that have to step to the plate and help you integrate the glasses, right?

I would almost envision it is, and once they select the vehicle on the DVI,

I want us to get to a point where they don't have to pick up the tablet at all.

It is select the vehicle, be able to take pictures and it prompts you to the next inspection,

the next inspection.

And you should say, are you recommending vakes?

Yes, no.

Are you recommending this?

Yes, no.

And it's all verbal and prompted in pictures and everything else.

And the tablet just stays on the docking station.

That's where I would like us to be.

Think about the amount of knowledge, for example, that's in tracks, right?

If that knowledge from tracks is actually then going to the DVI,

which that's already happening on some really important partners that we already have.

And then you've got all of that.

It's the ease of the interface.

It's the simplicity of, in a way, being able to talk to the car, right?

Because you've got all the history there.

You've got all the information.

Once you have that VIN number, it's like the VIN number is the gateway to the world, right?

But now you're just talking to that vehicle.

And like Matt said, I actually love, I'm going to start using what you just said.

It's about the humanity of it, right?

It's about the personalization of it,

both to the technician and also to the customer.

I love that because that is definitely, yeah, like in my stack,

whether it's XR or AI, I've got a lot of technology.

But again, who cares about the technology if you're not actually serving a problem?

Yeah, the technology is to supercharge everything, but we don't want to take away

the personal touch and the relationship piece of it.

So it's to find balance of using technology to enhance everything we're doing,

but not taking out all those personal touch points.

The words, seamless workflow, just flowed through me.

That the glasses can function as the next thing you're doing,

it's almost ready or prepared or all you have to do is hit a one particular button

and then jump into a project that it knows you're getting ready to do.

And think of an orchestration, think of the conductor.

You've got all these tools in front of you in this wonderful technology bay.

And the glasses are just sitting up on a shelf, brightly lit, just hanging there.

We've talked about that is that they're just sitting on a docking station

and when you need them, you pick them up and it's an extension.

But I'll say this, I mean, even going further is that

look at what a technician and shop owners, service advisors deal with every single day.

This is already a very tough industry.

Those days of working on cars, it's a little volatile because things can go wrong.

It's extremely challenging mentally, emotionally and physically.

Technicians go through a lot and they're never fully appreciated of

how difficult this job is.

All we want to do is give them a lifeline and say, we're here for you.

We understand what you're going through and we're trying to make your life just a little

bit easier. And if we can do that, then we're impacting our customers in a good way.

And that's really the number one reason we're doing this is we recognize because almost everybody

working on this project on the back end with development has been in that space.

We know how hard this job is.

And if somebody would have told me I had this 20 years ago,

15 years ago when I was turning wrenches, then yeah, I couldn't believe what I could have done

in my career. But I just think that that's what really we need to recognize is we're just trying

to impact them in a positive way. You would have said it's Disney back then.

This is Disney. And Robin, is it Disney? No, no, it's very real. I think I'll go one step further

because it is an ecosystem that we're really working on because when people use the glasses,

they're essentially updating the knowledge base by being in the real world doing real fixes.

I think sometimes training or learning development or whatever you call it,

sometimes it's gotten a bad reputation where maybe it's not connected to the real world.

Here's the theory of how to fix something. And then people often say, well, yeah, that's what

it said in a book. But when I actually got in the trenches and I was really fixing it,

this is the real world. And you call that experience, right? Well, the glasses can actually

then teach the virtual reality and teach that other side of it how to do it. It's a complete,

like continuous cycle of making it better. So every tech who uses these glasses are basically

helping their other brethren to use that term by improving the technology because it gets better

and stronger. And then that loops back to the entry level people, right? Like when we started this,

we were excited about getting young people into being an auto technician, right? Like we wanted

to reach out to them just like the people who bolt mad and from us who are excited about that

game world. When young kids put on that headset, they're like, I know this, like I know this,

you know, I've played lots of games like this. So it's like making that entire ecosystem work.

I love what you're saying. And I've never been more impressed with established industries

are focusing on young people and giving them not only is this technology tool going to make

us more efficient and smarter and better, but it lends itself to our younger people.

And I'm not saying it's a toy. It's not. No, but it's how they're going to want to exist in this

world. It's an app. It's a phone. It's a set of, you know, reality glasses. It's my screens. It's my

connection. It's my wireless. It's my Bluetooth. It's all this stuff and it's all wrapped into

where we've got to be in the future and how we're going to engage young people

in this high tech industry. Every industry is searching for the silver bullet of how do I

go after young demographics and attract them. We're no different in this industry. We just

struggled at it probably more than some others. This is one of those ways to get there. And I

think, you know, from the ASE case study that we did, there was one resonating thing that one of

the students said, he says, this allows me to learn and kind of a real world format without

the anxiety of making mistakes. Because you look at it, you know, when I started out, you made

mistakes. It was part of learning. Well, today's mistakes are three times more expensive than the

mistakes I ever made. Yeah. Now, maybe my first boss may argue about some of the mistakes I made,

but I do think that that's important is that when we have to look at is every generation is a

little bit different and we have to adapt to how do we attract them and how do we make them feel

comfortable and how do we educate them? Really the way that they prefer to be educated instead of

just trying to force a square peg in a round hole, we've got to adapt and say, this is the best

way that we can attract, train and retain. And that's the angle that we got to take. I think he

actually said is like the quote unquote is like it gave me the confidence to do this in the real

world. So it became that bridge, that word confidence is so important. So help me understand

the rollout, virtual mixed augmented. How do we get the virtual glasses and then the mixed

in the field? Can you do this online? Do you have to go to a center? We try to simplify it as much

as possible. It's XR, it comes in a package, right? So you get a headset, you got a pair of glasses,

we've got a package actually where you could get a headset that has three users and you got

three pairs of glasses. So you got two packages, one is a single headset glasses and then you

have one that's headset, three sets of glasses, three users of the headset. So those are the two

basic packages and it's all involved, right? And all the updates, all the customer support,

everything comes with it like going forward as you go forward. I was at NapaNOW and there was a

caliper in front of me. I guess it was virtual. Where's that augmented? A mix, a mix, okay. And

I had to pick the right tool. Oh, that was virtual. Okay. If I'm a shop and I'm hooked

to the internet and I'm doing this, do I as the shop have to know from, if you will, a teacher's

guide what to put in front of that student? You know, let's back up. The one thing I have gotten

from shops is like, what requirements do I need? That's good. And really, it's Wi-Fi. I will say,

like anything else, and shops already deal with this with diagnostic tablets, things like that,

especially ADOS equipment that are using camera systems, is sometimes there are some firewall

or security that you have to adjust. But for the most part, it's pretty plug and play. It's Wi-Fi.

Yeah. It's Wi-Fi. It's Wi-Fi and keeping it charged. It is a self-contained unit. So you just,

once you connect, you put it on, you connect it to the Wi-Fi and you go. And then you do need,

you know, basically, the reason it's using Wi-Fi is we've got so much content. Like,

think of this from my perspective, right? I made nine feature films. They averaged two hours.

We made 53 movies. That's what we've done over the last year. We've made 53 movies

over the last basically two years. We're making 53 movies. So it's a lot of content. And so the

reason it has to have Wi-Fi is it goes up in the background. You don't have to do anything. It goes

up, it grabs the next piece of thing and it brings it down. This is for the VR that we're talking about,

right? With the glasses, because it's audio, it's instant. It's real time. It's much what we call

lighter in the technology sense. So the glasses are hyper-contextual. You're asking a very specific

question about a very specific situation, a Torx spec, or a, you know, as the list.

TSP or location or description of operation. So think the glasses are very specific and

they're non-linear. They're not in a sequence. They're just whatever you need. The headset is

the opposite, right? It is, okay, especially as a beginner, here's the best practice. Do this,

then do this, then do this. And instead of just telling you do this, do this,

you're actively actually doing it in the headset. So you're learning by doing. You're not reading

text on a screen. Who wants to read like lots of text? People just want to fix things, right?

And that builds that muscle memory as well. It is over and over and over again. And by the way,

they're being kind of assessed or measured throughout that. So you can't just keep going

through the modules just because it's not a participation trophy. They've got to be able to

complete the module, answer the questions, have to be able to be at 100% before they can go to

the next stage. So again, muscle memory, repetitiveness, and what we used to call that was just work

experience. So now we're trying to do that at an accelerated rate before they even have to go out

there and touch a car and start actually changing parts. We teach five ideas and we test five ideas.

Teach five, test five. You don't get to idea number six unless you've passed all five of those ideas.

So teach five, test five. And my dad has been using that for years and it's what we're still using.

So that's fantastic. And then we worked incredibly closely, not only with the

amazing guys at Napa, but with the amazing people at AASC, because we wanted to make sure,

okay, you reach an end of a lesson and you're going to have to take your AASC certification test.

So we had one of the AASC instructors come in and say, okay,

from the lesson you just learned, here's the things that you really need to pay attention

to for your AASC test. Again, it's all about improving. It's got to be better for tax,

better for shops, better for customers. I love that hook. That's a great hook. And I don't mean

hook in a negative way. It's exactly what should be done. Are you having any fun, Robin?

Matt and I get them to laugh. He's playing music you're conducting. Am I right?

He is the orchestra. I cannot believe how many plates Matt spins. It's remarkable.

Look, the other thing that I have, you know, over the, since we talked and I've gotten to meet

this incredible group of companies that Matt has brought together and the partners,

the partner ecosystem at Napa is remarkable. The quality of people across the board.

And boy, they talk about like being honored to be part of this peer group. And that is all of,

you know, big tribute to Matt and his team. I think most of the partners would tell you that's

probably more Lauren than anybody else. I think they like Lauren more than they like me.

You're just tougher. I'm not mean. Everybody keeps thinking I'm mean. No, you're not mean.

You're tougher. Okay. Okay. Except that. Yeah. Especially with Jason, my boss. I'm really tough

on him. He deserves it. First responders who said, Hey, we're in. Yeah. And they're getting ready

to get on board. Yeah, those early adopters. Anyone else that's saying, I got to do this thing.

Is there a timeframe? Do we have to wait another few months before today's the day?

Because Napa, we're going to announce big here at Vision and you are.

Yeah. He's already got orders. Napa, accelerator.com is where you can go. Napa,

accelerator.com. That's what the X, not a A. Yes. Sorry. Accelerator X.

Accelerator. Thank you. Yes. Here at the show, we've got a QR code. We're wearing these, you know,

super obnoxious shirts. I love it. They're awesome. We've got QR codes here. You can

go to the website. You can call the AutoCare number, the AutoTech Napa Training Service Center.

It's a 1-800 number. We'll get that number over to you, Karn. But yeah, they can call and even

be walked through that way. But going back to the shirt when he says, Matt, I got to show you

something for Vision. And I was like, Oh my God, what is he thought of now? We get on a team's

meeting and he shows me this. And I was like, what is this? And he's like, this is a shirt.

We're going to, all of our teams are going to wear it at Vision. It's going to have QR codes that

go to this. I was like, you're going to be a walking billboard. And he's like, yes, yes, I am.

I was like, I love it. Just go ahead and do it. And he's like, I've got you one too. And I was like,

okay. So I can see somebody walking up to Robin here on the show floor. And they're walking up

to him and Robin smiles. He says, I'm just doing the QR code, man. I'm about taking your picture.

Because it's right here on his chest. I got front, front and back, front and back.

Right. Robin's going to be like, I'm married, like back off. And then he relies like, oh,

wait, you may be a potential customer. Look at this guy following Robin all over,

taking a picture of his back. What's going to be better is that there's a little like

wrinkle in these trying to flatten out his shirt so you can get a better picture of the QR code.

That's right. Exactly. It fits my curves too, Seth. You have them too? Oh, yeah, you know.

It's amazing how that happens. It's always getting around the corners that matters when you're racing.

Yeah. But I tell you that blue Napa logo up front really hides that really. That's right.

It's the dark colors. They're slimming. I got this strong belief. You take your weaknesses and

you make them straggs, right? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. This was great. Thank you for coming in.

I'm thrilled that you guys are on track. I mean, as far as, you know, the launch and

everything that's going on, I think this is so exciting and so healthy for our industry and to

be involved in helping get part of the message out. That's great. Robin,

all the great work that you're doing is your, his dad is more fun than Robin.

And he's 81. He's up there. He's up there. He's probably mad at me to say,

are you so easy? Don't treat me like that. I'm 50 years old. No. First of all,

you would never know. You can't keep up with him. No, you can't. No, he's amazing. He's on the team.

What I love about him is like, is a continual life learner. Yeah. And so many of the people

that we worked with like Daryl and Jim and like, and Matt, like, and actually most technicians,

they just love learning new tech and new things. And so I think that's the thing I respect the most

about my dad. You know what I call that? What's that? Being a perpetual student. Yes, sir. That's

what he is. That's what I am. I want to learn something new every day. And I just learned a

ton of stuff here today. Thank you so much to Matt Crumpton, director of program development

and Robin Coey, creative technologist, content producer, developer, and distributor of glasses

now I see. That's right. Hey, you like my glasses? I am going to be checking if there's a commission

going on. Thanks guys. All right. Bye bye. Thanks for being on board to listen and learn from the

premier automotive repair business podcast, Remarkable Results Radio. Get your episodic

education on the ARPN listening app at automotiverepairpodcastnetwork.com. Also,

enjoy the podcast on our Carm Capriado YouTube channel. Carm is all for advancing the professional

automotive service industry. Until next time.

Smart Glasses in the Shop: Inside NAPA Autotech’s XcceleratoR Training [THA 478]

About this episode

NapaTracks

website conversions

automated follow-up

one and done cycle

return of investment

technician shortfall

ROI

53 lessons

Mercedes-Benz

Ford

XR

mixed reality

extended reality, XR

virtual reality

mock-up program

augmented reality

torque spec

technical service bulletins

electrical problem

pin out

service advisor

dye

smart glasses

VIN number

ASE case study

Wi-Fi

learning by doing

muscle memory

participation trophy

Teach five, test five

early adopters

QR code

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