For shop owners and other key team members attending AAPEX in Las Vegas, time will be at a premium. Here’s a plan to help you make the most of it.

AAPEX represents the $740 billion global automotive aftermarket industry and will take place Tuesday, Oct. 30 through Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas.

Beyond the show floor, though, there are some great opportunities to expand your knowledge. With dozens of sessions to choose from, this can be daunting, so at INDIE GARAGE we thought you would appreciate a shortlist.

We have purposely kept the extended technical training sessions to a minimum on this short list, but you can find the entire Service Professionals track HERE.

Tuesday October 30

The Wheel of Fortune

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 706

• Dan Gilley, Director, RLO Training, LLC

All repair facilities balance resources and customer requests to achieve desired results. This workshop looks at ways to achieve the balance and what shops should be measuring for best results.

The Essentials of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI)

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 705

• Bob Pattengale. National Training Manager, Robert Bosch LLC

If you are not already working on GDI vehicles, you will soon, which means you need to be prepared to diagnose and service these vehicles. This learning module will help you properly identify, understand and diagnose Bosch GDI engine management systems with an overview of GDI operating and fuel delivery systems.

Attendees will learn:

• Supply pump delivery
• High pressure delivery
• Fuel injection delivery
• Diagnostic and service tips.

Enabling the Connected Future: The Secure Vehicle Impact

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 703

• Dr. William Whyte, Chief Scientist. OnBoard Security
• Greg Potter, Executive Manager, Equipment Tool Institute
• Joe Register, Vice President, Emerging Technologies, Auto Care Association
• Knut Evensen, VP Technology/Chief Technologist, Q-Free ASA

Ground vehicles of every type have been evolving from simple mechanical machines to automated robots connected to the outside world. Experts believe that by 2020, more than 90% of new cars will be equipped with wireless communications, transmitting real-time information about the owner’s driving behavior and the vehicle’s condition. Much of this operational information and diagnostic data offers many benefits to car owners and aftermarket services alike. Our panelists will explain how both new and legacy vehicles can safely and securely participate in the world of connected vehicles, while protecting the owners right to control access to their vehicle’s information, without compromising the direct access aftermarket shops require to properly maintain and repair these vehicles.

Attendees will learn:

• Why the SVI collection of standards provide safe and secure access to vehicle data
• How SVI enables the vehicle owner to control access to their car’s operational data
• How retrofit devices based on SVI protect the aftermarket’s right to direct access
• Where they can see the features and benefits of SVI live at AAPEX

Wednesday, October 31

Trends in Emerging Technologies—Industry Plans and Consumer Reaction

Wednesday, October 31, 2018: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 706

• Karl Brauer, Executive  Publisher, Kelley Blue Book
• Kumar Saha, Research & Consulting Director, Mobility, Frost & Sullivan
• Philip Atkins, Director of Strategic Research and Planning, AASA

Industry representatives will discuss three important emerging vehicle technologies—the connected car, electrification, and automation in vehicles. The head of Frost & Sullivan’s downstream automotive practice in the Americas will present an outlook from the industry point of view on each technology, including the marketing opportunity, the benefits, and a technology update. Cox Automotive will share their outlook from the consumers’ point of view and describe how ready they are to embrace these technological advances. This will be a dynamic exchange of sometimes contrasting viewpoints.

Attendees will learn:

• An update on three critical emerging vehicle technologies– the connected car, electrification, and automation in vehicles
• The drivers force behind these technologies
• An understanding of the major new vehicle technologies that will ramp up over the next several decades
• An understanding of how those major new technologies will affect the size of future of the aftermarket

Thursday, November 1

AAPEX ADAS Forum – Servicing ADAS-Enabled Vehicles

Thursday, November 01, 2018: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 701

• Dwayne Myers, Co-owner and Managing Partner, Dynamic Automotive
• Joe Register, Vice President, Emerging Technologies, Auto Care Association
• Kaleb Silver, Director of Product Management, Hunter Engineering
• Todd Campau, Research and Analysis Associate Director, IHS Markit

While fully autonomous vehicles get the lion’s share of publicity, these vehicles rely on the types of Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) offered on many cars today. Reliable and accurate ADAS system behavior is fundamental in achieving the benefits of automated driving, while marginal, defective and/or poorly calibrated ADAS sensors create a suboptimal or even potentially dangerous driving experience. The experts in this session will help you understand and prepare for the opportunities and risks of maintaining ADAS equipped vehicles.

Attendees will learn:

• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and automated driving
• Size and composition of the current and future ADAS marketplace
• Results of operating vehicles with defective or poorly calibrated ADAS sensors
• What’s required for an aftermarket shop to repair and maintain ADAS equipped vehicles

Service Professionals General Session – Automotive Career Pathways: The Road to Great Technicians

Thursday, November 01, 2018: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Room: The Venetian, Marco Polo Room 701

• Carm Capriotto, Podcast Host, Remarkable Results Radio Podcast
• Chris Chesney, Senior Director of Customer Training, Carquest Technical Institute
• Donny Seyfer, Executive Officer, National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF)
• Jill Saunders, Curriculum Developer, Toyota Motor North America
• Kyle Holt, President, S/P2 (sp2.org)

Panel discussion with Chris Chesney, Donny Seyfer, Kyle Holt and moderated by Carm Capriotto. Current and future technicians need to see a clear pathway for a rewarding career. Students, parents, instructors and shop owners become key players. In-service technicians and employers role will be to provide a curriculum to ensure that regardless of where they work, technicians are uniformly trained and certified for their milestones of achievement. Accelerated technology predicates the need for formalized technician skill development. Automotive Career Pathways: The Road To Great Technicians is being led by NASTF with an alliance of aftermarket organizations and industry support.

Attendees will learn:

• Your role in building a competent technician workforce.
• How will we change the future education model to competency based.
• As technicians progress through their career, it is imperative to communicate career options to ensure they don’t leave the industry.