MOT
Maha UK has reported that it is the first company to achieve class IV and VII GEA and VOSA approval for test equipment for Automatic Test Lanes (ATLs). The introduction of Automatic Test Lanes, (ATL) and one-man operation is due to be introduced by VOSA in September 2005.
In February 2005 Supply Direct managing director, John Prout, closed an exclusive distribution deal with Chinese equipment manufacturer, Ever Eternal. Now, as a result of “mass demand” Ever Eternal exports its equipment to the UK at an accelerated rate.
Supply Direct’s management team regularly visits China in order to maintain strong relations with the company’s supplier. The most recent visit was in July with product development for the UK market at the top of their agenda. With the company reporting such strong business in the UK, John Prout, hints that expansion into Europe could be the next step.
MAM Software has announced that it has completed the successful installation and commissioning of a new Autopart business management system at independent tyre retail chain Formula One Autocentres. The new system is now fully operational and is being productively used in all 37 Formula One stores across the South, South East and the Midlands.
The installation of this new Autopart software has given Formula One Autocentres a fully integrated system capable of supporting their fast-fit, servicing and MoT business. The system links over 100 users with a central database at the company’s head office in Stevenage. Using dedicated communication technology developed by MAM, it enables Formula One to maintain data centrally and pool statistics from each of its 37 branches. It also provides the ability to transfer stock between branches whenever required.
Test lanes are working well in Ireland and are becoming increasingly popular, so why are we so slow to catch on in the UK? asks Beissbarth UK’s managing director, Philip Hodges.
He said: “There is no doubt that test lanes are the future. They make absolute sense on every level from efficiency through to profitability. A lot of companies which haven’t invested will lose out because they won’t be able to offer the best service, and consumers always demand the best. Garages are reluctant to look at what they can earn from investing in new equipment and are stuck on how much the initial outlay costs.”
The MOT Trade Forum is urging the Minister of Transport, David Jamieson, to amend the MOT Test fee structure and introduce a reduced but mandatory fee and a new scale of re-test charges.
The Forum’s membership represents the interests of the country’s 19,500 MOT testing stations and has proposed a complete overhaul of the MOT Test fee structure that would both reward motorists who keep their vehicles in good condition and encourage those running badly maintained and potentially dangerous vehicles to improve their maintenance standards.
Michelin has confirmed that it will be injecting a multi-million pound investment package into its UK service chain ATS Euromaster this year, so that it can continue to develop its added value customer focus started in 2004. According to the company this 10-year programme is part of a wider investment schedule that will be introduced and rolled out throughout the coming years.
UK Equipment Ltd has appointed Warren McKay as its area sales manager for the North-West. He has over twenty years experience in the automotive industry, primarily in the wheel service and parts industry.
In the last 12 months Tyres & Accessories has covered the ongoing winter tyre debate in some detail. Now, after the NTDA held a successful seminar alongside January’s Aftermarket Show, the topic is once again the subject of attention. The NTDA organised the seminar in response to demand from members who discussed the subject at the annual conference in Marbella. According to national chairman, Martin Rowlands, the subject of winter tyres was “by far the most popular topic,” along with the three millimetre replacement market and serving female customers.
A long-running civil strike in Northern Ireland, that began earlier this year, has had a “devastating effect on the industry,” say market representatives. The dispute has had adverse affects on the operations of the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency Northern Ireland (DVTA) which handles all MOTs and HGV tests and there is call to privatise all vehicle testing.
In light of the recent ‘Which?’ report criticising the quality of MOT testing the emphasis has once again been drawn to what the industry and government can do to improve standards. Computerisation appears to be the government’s answer to improving the quality of the MOT test, but what will this mean for those at the sharp end of MOT testing?
Industry members are becoming increasingly concerned by the imminent arrival of MOT computerisation. However, government association representatives have contradicted these uncertainties by claiming that historically this was not the view of the trade. The Vehicle Operating Service Agency maintains that computerisation was introduced in accordance with the trade’s past response that it was the answer to improving the standards of the MOT test. Whichever side of the argument you are on one thing is certain – MOT computerisation is underway and will set the standard for future changes to build upon.
VOSA has been condemned for continuously delaying the delivery of the computerised system, and this in itself is increasing concerns about the system’s impact on businesses. The official line is that testing of the computerised system has been delayed by “slippage in SBS software.” VOSA spokesperson Miranda Roberts explained: “We have completed trial stage one of the introduction process and are currently installing the equipment into five test stations and 38 MOT garages. We will then begin a wider roll out involving more stations before the system goes live before the end of the year.” The agency predicts the roll out will take about six months to complete. The agency openly admits that some garages are experiencing problems with the software, and so VOSA is trying to make sure the equipment “fulfils all the requirements and is as effective as possible.”
When the system is cleared of all its glitches all 19,000 MOT testing stations will be provided with PCs, monitors and printers, and gas analysers will be fitted with a smart card reader. The equipment will be connected to a central database of vehicle information, test results and details of authorised examiners and testers. Access to the system is designed for authorised users only, via electronic smart cards and a password, however anyone with any computer experience knows how hard this method of security is to maintain in a hectic and pressurised work place.
The majority of mechanics disapprove of computerisation because of the cost and the fact that it has been forced on them, but more simply because it means change. Upgrading equipment will be a cost they didn’t budget for, although installation of the equipment is free, the consequences such as updating equipment are not.
UK Equipment Ltd has appointed Linda Norman as service manager. In her new role she will be responsible for directing the company’s team of service engineers and its service call centre based in Reading. Through her new position Linda will aim to ensure that best practice is implemented across UK Equipment’s service organisation and she will also be working closely with key customers and partners to ensure that a premium service is provided.
Before joining the company Linda held a number of managerial positions within the UK workshop equipment industry, including 20 years at Transervice and more recently David Brown Radicon.
“Linda’s appointment will strengthen our service organisation and allow us to expand our market profile in the wheel service and MoT sectors,” said Brian O’Sullivan, general manager at UK Equipment Ltd. “One of our unique strengths is that we design, manufacture and service all of our products within our company. Enhancing our service team will allow us to provide the strongest offering to garage equipment customers in the UK”.
Maha has developed a new Profi test lane for workshops and MOT stations. The test lane will check brakes, suspension and tracking, and offers a print out of results within five minutes.
The test lane also features a large analogue and digital display with automatic or manual test programmes and is fully MOT approved for both class four and seven.
Profi can be linked to Maha’s range of lifts to complete the MOT bay. The Maha lifts, 4 poster, scissor and below floor, are all to the MOT specification and can befitted with play detectors, jacking beam, turn plates and recessed if required.
Ten years of quiet growth have brought this Bradford firm to a leading position in the automotive equipment market.
Equipment Services is a Bradford-based garage equipment supplier specialising in the fast-fit sector. The business was founded in 1993 as a garage equipment service and maintenance operation. As the business developed the then partners decided that since there was a potential volume to be attained by the business they would make the move into selling equipment and latterly to become importers and sole distributors of garage equipment wherever the opportunity arose.
As the stature of the company grew so too did the service contracts, amongst which could be counted Charlie Browns, Chessington Tyres, F1 Auto Centres, Kwik-Fit and Nationwide Autocentres. The business grew on these contracts and in spring 2003, Equipment Services became a UK PLC. The company now has five directors, John Prout is the managing director, Carl Allenson the sales and marketing director responsible for all sales operations and marketing the company. Paul Duckworth the service director looks after the service operation and Andrew Marshall the field operations director is responsible for ongoing training, development and quality in the field. The financial director is B.S. Panesar whom has a wealth of business and financial knowledge has recently been named by Natwest entrepreneur of the year 2003.
In the space of five years Equipment Services has committed to volume and through its sole distribution contracts with Teco, tyre changers and wheel balancing equipment, Parise compressors and OMA vehicle lifts. The company offers a full equipment range under its own Equip brand and also has a full range of reconditioned and used garage equipment to meet all requirements.
The head office in Bradford has a fully fitted showroom and training centre with a comprehensive range of fully operational equipment always on display for both sales and training purposes.
Equipment Services also offer a range of service options on three main levels. There is a nationwide service division responding to call outs to service and repair equipment wherever it may be in the UK at the beck and call of the trade at large. Secondly there is a preventative maintenance division carrying out preventative maintenance work under contract, and thirdly there is the nationwide installation division that undertakes anything from installing a single tyre changer through to complete garage design and fitting out services.
Equipment Services also offer a comprehensive project management facility from initial measurements and drawings through to commissioning equipment. The company has a great deal of experience in working with the vehicle inspectorate and installing and calibrating equipment to VI standards and will readily undertake class 1,2,4,5 and 7 full MoT bay installation to turnkey standard.
For every business there are items that you can hold in stock and you can sell them at any time. Tyres, wheels, exhausts, batteries, all can be sold off the shelf. If you don’t sell them today you can sell them tomorrow. For some businesses their stock in trade is time. The hotel trade doesn’t sell rooms, it sells time. The rooms will always be there, but they are each allocated time which they sell. The problem with selling time is that you can only sell it once. The fast fit operator – indeed any garage operator – has the same difficulty which we call ramp time. Fast fits may not actually sell the ramp time, but every minute the ramps are not occupied by vehicles undergoing profitable work the option to sell work on that ramp is vanishing down the plughole of time. Most service managers recognise this and try to minimise the time vehicles spend on the ramps. Buyers will ensure that the exhausts they buy have a problem-free fitting procedure. In the efficient garage, time management is everything. However, even with the best time management of jobs there is, for many depots, the point where the work being done fails to fill all the available time. There can be three outcomes to this. The first, and most likely, is that the time allocated to the job is stretched to fill the time available. We all recognise the scenario – we take our car to the garage for a repair – the garage is devoid of customers, four mechanics sit reading the newspaper – it takes all day to do the job. On another day we arrive and the cars are lined up outside the doors. The same job is done in an hour. The second outcome is that the jobs are carried out as efficiently as possible and the ramps lie ready for their next customer. This may well be a better practice than the first, but it doesn’t sell the time when the ramps are not in use. The third option is to find another profit centre which will see the ramps in use. Since we are in the wheel and tyre business there is a tendency to keep the business revolving around the four corners of the car – brakes and shock absorbers are the most popular additional parts’ areas for fast fits. Skill levels required are relatively low, so labour costs remain low. The parts are often, though not always, fast fit. Pull off the old and fit the new. Some have dabbled in so-called fast fit clutch operations – but fast fit is all relative. If someone drives in with a Ford Mondeo or a Transit and asks for a fast fit clutch they may think your fast fit description is stretching the realms of credibility. Further, your mechanic’s time with the vehicle on the ramps – possibly special ramps – ties that bay up and, again, you can only sell your time once. There are, of course, other options; basic servicing is only a short step from fast fit work, though your reputation depends upon the skills of your mechanics. Can you afford to pay a mechanic rate to someone who may spend most of his time as a tyre fitter? MoT bays are yet another option. Both MoT bays and service operations can be used to open doors to enhanced tyre, exhaust, and accessory sales. However, there is one profit centre which may well be worth considering as a development to ensure those ramps are never left empty. As one commentator told T&A, “without diagnostics all the service garages are going to be left with are tyres and exhausts.” That statement should send shivers down the spine of every fast fit operator in the country. If the service garages are being forced to move into tyres and exhausts in a big way in order to retain their revenue, that must ultimately have a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of the fast fit depot – dragging revenues down.
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