Four big names from the transport and logistics sector have come together to supply an HGV driver training simulator for the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Zambia, which Transaid has partnered with since 2008 to help meet the country’s growing demand for professional driver training.
Further demonstrating its commitment to training, the Schaeffler Repxpert technical team were back out on the road at the end of May, supporting staff from the In ‘n’ Out Autocentres network. During two days of intense training at the In ‘n’ Out HQ in Northampton, selected technicians learned about the latest developments in OE clutch, timing system and wheel bearing technology – from one of the world’s most trusted original equipment suppliers.
The RMI Academy of Automotive Skills is opening a new training facility in Lincoln to broaden the reach of its high-quality automotive training. The new site joins three existing locations in Southam, Runcorn and Winchester, and is the first of a number of additional academies planned as part of the trade body’s wider strategy to provide training for garages on a more local basis. A wide array of MOT and technical courses will be available when the site opens in July.
DENSO Aftermarket, the aftermarket division of original equipment (OE) component manufacturer DENSO, originally developed its e-Learning programme in response to the reduction in face-to-face training, due to the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, and such has been its success that not only has the number of courses grown, but it has paved the way for a European competition – the ‘League of True Mechanics’ or LOTM.
Despite the pandemic, Tenneco’s Garage Gurus automotive technical education platform has attracted record numbers of aftermarket professionals from across the EMEA region to its expanded curriculum of online and onsite courses. More than 32,000 participants have completed Garage Gurus training sessions since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Garage Gurus is a no-cost technical education and support program that helps workshop professionals and other participants remain on the leading edge of vehicle service technology.
Recognising the need to invest in the next generation of technicians, Dayco is expanding its training programme to reach out to students still in technical college, with a series of events starting at Engineering Innovation Centre, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire on 26 April. It is also encouraging other colleges to make contact if they too would like to take advantage of this free educational opportunity.
More than 3,000 vehicle technicians, service advisors and garage owners have now benefitted from TechMan’s advanced training and support programme, developed to ensure garage businesses realise their goals through the successful implementation of its Garage Management System.
Michelin is now offering expert tyre fitting and maintenance training for operators of industrial and heavy-duty machinery via two new one-day courses. The Safe Earthmover Tyre Fitting and Safe Crane Tyre Fitting programmes are delivered at the customer’s site by experts from the Michelin Training & Information Centre (MTIC). The sessions are appropriate for in-house technicians, or tyre dealers, working in a variety of sectors, including surface mining, underground mining, quarries, construction and materials handling.
The Covid-19 pandemic may have caused the biggest financial crisis of a generation as well as record spending and borrowing levels, but economic highlights aren’t as bad as was expected and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak isn’t raising taxes as fast as feared. Here, Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the main points pertaining to the tyre business and specifically: the furlough extension, the corporation tax increase, continued business rates holiday, and the introduction of freeports.
There is no question that during these socially distanced times, Schaeffler’s Repxpert ‘Tea-break training’ concept has captured the attention of the workshop community, with more than 200 workshops and technicians again attending the latest INA cooling module.
Face-to-face training has been difficult at best and often impossible during the past year, and to accommodate this development Vipal Rubber bolstered its online training programme in 2020. Univipal, the retreading materials supplier’s corporate university and vocational training centre, has responded to an increased demand for virtual learning by developing a series of new resources, intensifying its online training and expanding content.
TecAlliance, a leading data management specialists in the independent automotive aftermarket, is launching its new series “What the Fix?!”. From now on, every month a new episode will present a repair query from workshop practice that the specialists on TecAlliance’s Expert Hotline have solved. On LinkedIn, Facebook and in the TecAlliance Newsletter, the problem will be described and the solution provided – a service from automotive professionals for automotive professionals. The first episode involves a Toyota Yaris with a stuttering engine that is losing fuel.
Vehicle manufacturers, dealerships, the DVSA and driving instructors should include a comprehensive lesson for motorists on how to use advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) so they are a road safety benefit and not a potential hazard, says IAM RoadSmart following the publication of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) ‘How to maximize the road safety benefits of ADAS’ report.
Schaeffler’s Repxpert technical training team has announced more details about its new programme of ‘Tea-Break Training’, designed to appeal to as many people as possible by offering informative and invaluable information in bite-size chunks at three different starting times.
Digitisation has been an extremely important trend in 2020, to say the least. Due to the restrictions implemented by global governments to combat the spread of Covid-19, the use of technology to perform all sorts of basic business functions has never been as widespread in its usage. While tyre fitting businesses have been spared enforced closure with their rightful designation as an essential service, the implementation of solid digital systems to assist operational and marketing functions has been vital – more so than ever before. Tyres & Accessories used one digital system with which many are now intimately acquainted – Microsoft Teams – to speak to the commercial director of tyre business software systems provider CAM, Steve Daly, about how the company has supported this increased digitisation, as well as the general growth in companies employing CAM’s solutions, such as e-jobsheet and Fitter-Force. This interview is also available as a video to subscribers below.
Tumisu; Pixabay
IAM RoadSmart
Clint Randall www.pixelprphotography.co.uk