We attended the Best of Belron 2022, the eleventh edition of the World Championship in windscreen repair

The Best of Belron 2022 event brought together, on 29 and 30 June, the best windscreen fitters from Carglass Spain’s parent company at the Fira de Barcelona, where more than 1,600 attendees between participants, guests and organisers gathered to find out which technician is the most capable of winning this great recognition.

In total, technicians from 28 countries competed over the two days, facing demanding tests that included replacing a rear windscreen, replacing a side window, replacing a front windscreen, recalibrating ADAS systems and a surprise test that consisted of repairing a front windscreen.

The spectacle was already promising from the moment it opened: its giant screens along Pavilion 1 of the Fira de Barcelona, the red lighting, the workstations reserved for each technician and, in addition, several areas reserved for high-level partners such as Bosch, Pilkington, Fuyao Group or Dupont left us astonished by a setup of such a high standard.

Two judges per participant to assess them

Representing our country and Carglass Spain, we had the great Javier Fernández, currently a Carglass technician in Cáceres, who put in an excellent performance, standing out especially in the ADAS system recalibration test, one of the most complex tests.

Gold went to Joe Milligan from the United States, who delivered a flawless performance in all the tests, followed by Paulo Silva from our neighbouring country Portugal, and Faruk Çelik from Turkey. This eleventh edition marks the third time that an American has been crowned Best of Belron.

Beyond serving as a showcase for the “Belron Method” that all technicians of this great company, with more than 20,000 technicians worldwide, learn, Neil Rogers, managing director of Carglass Spain, stated that “Best of Belron motivates each of our technicians to reach the highest levels of excellence”, highlighting Javier’s performance and the record-breaking customer satisfaction rate.

Each participant’s scores were the result of an expert team of judges assessing 1,027 items contained in the so-called “Belron Way of Fitting”. Although at first glance it may seem a simple process, there is a large set of issues such as sustainability and compliance with quality standards that are of great importance to this company.

An example in sustainability

Sustainability was one of the most recurring themes in the event’s talks and presentations, as Belron can boast of recycling 98% of the glass from the vehicles it handles, bearing in mind also its customer base of more than 16 million people worldwide.

In the interview granted to the Spanish media, both Gary Lubner (CEO of Belron International) and Neil Rogers (managing director of Carglass Spain) told us that they now sell technology, not simple glass, since today 16% of the cars whose windscreen Carglass Spain replaced needed their ADAS camera systems recalibrated. This percentage is gradually increasing and is also vital for all of the vehicle’s safety systems to function correctly.

With all this, Best of Belron 2022 has been crowned as the most visited edition since its first, a clear sign of the great interest this company shows in making life simpler for its customers, being more sustainable, and positioning itself as the benchmark in automotive glass repair.