LAS VEGAS — Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) member manufacturers partnered to hold a five-day all-in-one training, testing and practical inspection event in Las Vegas Nov. 3-6 to help accelerate the certification process and fill the need for certified lift inspectors.

Called “Five Days to Victory,” the event offered candidate inspectors who had passed the pre-course exam the opportunity to complete all the other certification requirements: an orientation workshop, course examination and 12 practical inspections. Additionally, participants could attend a full-day study group led by ALI factory designated trainers to prepare for the next day’s exam.

ALI members Rotary Lift; Forward Lift; Challenger Lifts; Mohawk Lifts; PKS; and Stertil-Koni USA created the event.

Although ALI has held previous all-in-one events, this manufacturer-led event was the first to include practical inspections, according to ALI. A total of 91 candidates participated over the course of the event.

"Five Days to Victory" kicked off on Nov. 3 with an orientation workshop led by Dale Soos, ALI senior project engineer. The next day was dedicated to the study group session. Ron Lainhart, an ALI factory designated trainer with Rotary Lift, led the training. ALI subject matter experts conducted reviews throughout the day. The training was interactive, with trainers and ALI staff answering candidates’ questions, and candidates discussing their own best practices.

“Our goal for the study group was to provide training and help the candidate inspectors be confident in their abilities,” said Lainhart, who spearheaded the event. “At the end of the week, a couple of participants told me that they didn’t think they would have passed the course exam without having attended the training session.”

One of the unique benefits of the event was the access candidates had to factory designated trainers, ALI staff and certified inspectors, who answered questions, provided advice and helped the inspectors achieve their goals.

On Nov. 5, 72 participants sat for the course exam, while another 12 who had already taken the exam started on their practical inspections. Organizers secured the seven types of light-duty and heavy-duty lifts necessary for the candidates to perform all 12 inspections in a field environment. John Ventura, automotive program director for the College of Southern Nevada, and Warren Rich, manager of facilities for the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada, worked with ALI to make sure all the lifts were accommodated at their facilities.

“It can be challenging for inspector candidates to find all of the lifts they need to perform their practical inspections on a local level,” said Jon Bennett, ALI factory designated trainer from Challenger Lifts. “That can lead to time delays in achieving certification. Bringing together all the lift types at once made it very efficient for the Five Days to Victory candidates to complete all their inspection requirements in a timely manner, and to learn more while doing it.”

Candidates inspected six heavy-duty lifts, including mobile column, runway style, inground scissor and two-post models made by Stertil-Koni at the RTC Regional Transportation Center. At the same time, six light-duty lifts, including two-post, four-post, scissor and inground models by Challenger Lifts, Hunter Engineering and Forward Lift were available for inspection at the College of Southern Nevada. ALI staff, factory designated trainers and certified lift inspectors were on hand at both facilities.

By the end of the day on Nov. 6, all participants had finished their inspections and were well on their way to certification.

“We’re very proud of our manufacturer members for putting together the Five Days to Victory event, and helping more than 90 candidate inspectors down the path to certification,” said ALI President R.W. “Bob” O’Gorman. “We currently have more than 700 candidates representing more than 450 firms participating in the ALI Lift Inspector Certification program, and we anticipate that up to 350 inspectors will have achieved certification by the end of March 2015.”