CFESA-Certified Foodservice & Commercial Kitchen Equipment Repair Technicians Rock

General Parts Group has a long-standing relationship with the Commercial Food Equipment Service Association – CFESA for short. CFESA provides industry certification programs in the areas of Electrical, Gas, Refrigeration, Steam, and Installations. CFESA, working in partnership with equipment manufacturers and service companies, developed these specific certification programs for foodservice equipment repair technicians working in the commercial kitchen environment. These certifications have been widely adopted by the foodservice and commercial kitchen equipment repair industry as they establish minimum standards and raise the overall professional standards.

As well as the certified technician program, General Parts greatly supports the work done in other areas. In fact, in 2002, they were the first service company to meet service requirements and become a CFESA “Certified Company”.

To support the CFESA technician certification program General Parts Group invests in their service technicians with time and covering the exam expenses to become certified in any, or all of the five Service Technician Certifications. Upon completing three of the four certifications, not including Installation, the technician has earned the status of a ‘Master CFESA Certified Technician’.

“Becoming CFESA certified in any one of the categories is one of the most important stepping stones for a technician to provide unparalleled repair services,” stated Mike Armstrong, Service Manager, General Parts Group’s Kansas City branch office. The Kansas City team is a prime example of how strongly General Parts Group believes in CFESA and the continued development of their team members. Early 2019 the KC team, led by Ernie Ketcham, KC Branch Manager, General Parts Group set a goal of supporting each service technician in becoming certified in as many of the five CFESA subject matters as they are interested in. The General Parts Group team recognizes the strength that the certification process provides its service technicians when they are out on a job site conducting an installation, repair, or even scheduled maintenance. “Certification is not a requirement of the position but it does develop the technician to become faster in completing the task at hand, they diagnose the problem sooner, and repairs are completed more efficiently,” per Mr. Armstrong. The additional training also makes the technician more valuable in their role. Within the last two months, 6 service technicians in the KC team have passed the certification, 12 of the 15 are CFESA certified in at least one specialty, and 7 have reached Master Certification! Congratulations to ALL!!

Ernie and his team are not driven by the numbers of certification, but by what the certification and all other training their team completes, means to their clientele. They know their clients are getting a sound level of standard knowledge in their technicians, working on their equipment. They are much better suited to have a first-time fix rate, something that General Parts Group strives to provide in every service call. General Parts Group is proud of their 200 plus foodservice and commercial kitchen equipment repair technicians and continues to support CFESA’s certification program along with other continuing education programs for their service technicians.

Contact General Parts Group for more information on becoming a CFESA certified technician or for your commercial kitchen equipment repair needs.