Friday 21 November, marked a significant milestone for the MTA as we hosted the ‘Future Driven’ event at the MTA Training and Employment Centre for a packed crowd of industry members, government representatives and apprentices.
Joined by special guests South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and Federal Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles, we officially launched Australia’s best automotive refinishing training facilities, as well as re-opened our largest training workshop which was impacted by a fire in September last year.
The Automotive Refinishing Centre of Excellence sets a global standard for automotive training. As the pace of change in automotive technology accelerates, it is designed to prepare apprentices and skilled technicians for the future of our industry.
This event was a showcase of technology and a strong declaration of our commitment to addressing skill shortages across the automotive sector.
Thank you to MTA members, including those from our Board and Industry Advisory Council and Life Members who helped us celebrate our next era of Future Driven training.
A special thank you goes to our members and industry partners who generously donated over 40 of the best and latest vehicles on display at the event.
Paint Booths and Classroom Become One
The launch of the Automotive Refinishing Centre of Excellence transcends the technology it deploys.
It is about integrating the delivery of training in a way which connects trainer, technology and apprentice into a seamless learning environment.
This state-of-the-art facility firmly establishes MTA Training and Employment at the forefront of vocational training and is a demonstration of our commitment to excellence and innovation.
The Centre is headlined by Australia’s only Low Bake Alpha-E paint booths, a strategic investment focused on efficiency, sustainability, and real-world relevance. These cutting-edge booths achieve up to 40% faster bake times than conventional systems using rapid air-drying and low-bake functionality reaching 80 degrees Celsius.
This performance directly translates into significantly lower energy consumption for the modern repairer, teaching apprentices a critical skill for managing higher throughput and reduced operational costs.
Key features that position us ahead of the curve
- We integrated a smart monitoring and carbon tracking system, a first for Australian automotive training, that automatically generates electronic emissions reports for every refinishing job. This data-driven approach is key to embedding environmental responsibility into our apprentice training.
- The Low Bake Alpha-E booths are multi-fuel capable. One is powered by electricity drawn from our 100kw solar array. The other is powered by gas with the ability to integrate hydrogen.
- The physical layout fosters an immersive learning ecosystem, seamlessly connecting the two Alpha-E booths with an interactive classroom.
- The paint mixing room uses innovation like QR-coded barcodes linking to Technical Data Sheets and tablets with paint recognition apps to provide a fully interactive, data-driven learning experience.
We are the only Registered Training Organisation in Australia offering hands-on experience across PPG Envirobase, Standox, and DeBeer systems, ensuring apprentices are proficient in both solvent and water-based technologies.
This investment, following MTA Training and Employment winning Large Training Provider of the Year at the SA Training Awards, ensures our apprentices receive the highest calibre of training, equipped with the smart, sustainable, and high-performance techniques that define our Future Driven vision.
