Zubak Grupa opened its AutoZubak EDU Academy in Velika Gorica on 1 September 2023 as well as the AutoZubak PRO Centre for damage claim reporting and assessment. Over 2 million euro have been invested in these two projects so far and the total investment in the next 5 years has been estimated to 10 million €.
The goal of AutoZubak EDU Academy is to popularize the automotive panel beater and painter occupations and to attract more students to vocational schools for these scarce skills. Besides, the goal of the Academy is to educate the existing automotive panel beaters and painters on new technologies and materials used for car repairs. There is a huge discrepancy between the perception of a car painter and panel beater job and the respective occupation and applicable technologies, in particular the robotization of the whole process where the occupation has a technological character but also includes a “craft” form making it a copyright work of the persons involved therein. On the other hand, the need for car repairs, in particular the services of automotive panel beaters and painters is becoming a critical issue in Europe due to climate changes that cause and increase the occurrence of car damages by more of 40% in specific periods and areas because of ever more frequent hails and other natural disasters.
Partners of EDU Academy include some leading companies in the industry, such as AkzoNobel, USI Italia, Mirka and SATA, with full support of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, School of Electro-Mechanical Engineering and Trade & Industry Vocational School.
– AutoZubak EDU Academy has been established because of our needs in the first place but also of our passion for learning and with the aim to transfer superior know-how and new technologies to professionals in the automotive industry and those who will join them in the future, with assistance with renowned instructors and partners from this industry. It is one of the first initiatives in Croatia to deal with and solve the scarce skills issue. There is no simple way to replace in the labour market the vocational skills that require specialized education and training and, therefore, educational institutions shall cooperate with the industry interested in the development of this activity, said Dimitrije Trbović, member of the Board of Zubak Grupa who will speak about this critical issue of scarce skills at the forthcoming Weekend Media Festival.
AutoZubak PRO is an innovative and unique project in Croatia which will allow the clients to report the claims and obtain assessment of car damages and repair of the damage itself. Through direct coordination with insurance companies the complex and long-lasting process of claim reporting and damage assessment will be facilitated and accelerated for better customer experience and improved repair quality.
With the opening of EDU Academy and PRO Centre for damage reporting Zubak Grupa will continue to invest in specialized staff, both existing and future, as well as in the improvement of post-sales processes.
