WGR Reports
repair news

EVENTS
NWRA Pre-Registration Opens
Pre-registration for the National Windshield Repair Association (NWRA) annual conference and for the second annual Windshield Repair Olympics (WRO) opened Friday, June 15. The NWRA Annual Conference will take place at the Mandalay Bay Conference Center in Las Vegas on November 2, and this year, the association is also sponsoring the Walt Gorman Memorial Windshield Repair Olympics. The Windshield Repair Olympics will take place the day before the conference on Thursday, November 1 (see page 32).

The NWRA conference kicks off at 8 a.m. on Friday, November 2, with the official event opening and welcome and will continue with seminars covering topics ranging from new services and benefits to “Boosting Your Bottom Line.”

Both the NWRA conference and the Windshield Repair Olympics will run in conjunction with Auto Glass Week™, which also includes the Auto Glass Expo @ NACE, the Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards Conference, the Third Annual Auto Glass Technician Olympics and the Independent Glass Association’s Fall Conference.

To register, visit www.nwrassn.org. Pre-registration runs through October 12, 2007 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

NEW PRODUCTS
GlasWeld Develops Inspection Guide and Testing System
 Bend, Ore.-based GlasWeld has announced that it has developed the Gzone™ Windshield Repair Inspection Guide, a new template tool that it says is based on the Repair of Laminated Glass Standard, and G Flex, a system that tests the quality of a completed repair under stress. 

The patent-pending Gzone Windshield Repair Inspection Guide gives windshield repair professionals a reference tool to determine whether a repair falls within the requirements of the new ANSI Standard, according to GlasWeld. Gzone will help technicians conclude if a break is in the driver’s primary viewing area and whether the break is repairable or if a replacement should be recommended to the customer.

“GlasWeld is pleased to develop new tools that help our customers provide the best repairs possible to the consumer,” says Mike Boyle, president of GlasWeld. “Gzone gives technicians a quick reference guide as well as a legitimate tool to demonstrate to their customers what can and cannot be repaired.” The new G Flex system subjects glass to the stresses that laminated auto glass endures on a daily basis. Through the use of specialized photography, GlasWeld is able to illustrate and analyze the impact of the stress on a repaired area, according to the company.

GlasWeld says it plans to integrate the G Flex into an enhanced certification program that will combine in-depth testing of the participants’ knowledge of the windshield repair process with the physical testing of the completed repair. www.glasweld.com

AGRR
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