Benefits of General Parts and CFESA Training Partnership
By Ann Gall – Training & Development Specialist
In the commercial foodservice industry, a customer’s safe operation and reliable working equipment is essential to the success of their business. In many cases when a piece of equipment stops working, the business can stop. Knowing where to go for skilled, technically trained, certified technicians to help maintain and service your equipment makes good business sense. As a manufacturer authorized service provider in the foodservice industry, General Parts Group partners with the Commercial Food Service Equipment Association (CFESA) to ensure our technicians are trained and skilled to service your foodservice equipment whenever you need us.
Since 1963 CFESA has been partnering with industry service providers and setting the standard for service quality and performance in the commercial foodservice industry. CFESA supports the industry standards by offering ongoing continuing education and training programs that are uniquely designed to meet the industry needs. Training programs offered by CFESA focus on the four basic fields of electric, gas, steam, and refrigeration. The structured programs provide technicians with learning opportunities through classroom and hands-on instruction, which is followed up with testing on the technician’s ability to diagnose, troubleshoot, and repair various problems on several types of manufacturers’ equipment. The frequency and variety of training sessions offered by CFESA allow for our General Parts Group technicians to attend as needed, to maintain, add to, or enhance their technical skillsets.
Once a technician has successfully completed their training, CFESA promotes certification in each of the four fields: electric, gas, steam, and refrigeration. To become certified in any of the four fields, a technician must successfully pass a rigorous exam to demonstrate they have acquired the required knowledge for the certification. General Parts rewards certified technicians through pay incentives for acquiring and maintaining certifications. Once a technician obtains certification in three of the four fields, they earn the title of a CFESA Master Certified Technician and become one of the most knowledgeable and skilled technicians in the industry.
The training partnership between General Parts Group and CFESA has been a success. As of today, more than 70% of the technicians who have worked at General Parts for 5 years or more are CFESA Master Certified Technicians. Partnering with CFESA for our technician training is a win-win for technicians, General Parts, and customers alike. CFESA training leads to and supports CFESA certification, and certification shows that a technician is trained using the established industry standards to service your commercial kitchen equipment.
Visit our website to learn of our service locations and the foodservice equipment manufacturers we support in each, or contact us at 888-498-1238 to learn more.