June 30, 2015

The biennial competition is designed to educate and develop participants’ technical knowledge and skills as well as to learn about the processes and business chain of how the company works – providing them the opportunity for professional self-development. VISTA is also a very effective way of motivating and inspiring employees, and is an avenue to cultivate teamwork.

It could also be the largest global competition for aftermarket personnel, VISTA starts in September with three rounds of theoretical questions, in which teams of three or four are required to complete in their workshops. Following these three rounds, the best performing teams will qualify for the semi-finals (Asia Finals) in Bangkok in April 2016. From there, the winning team in Asia will proceed to the World Finals, which is set to take place in June 2016 at Volvo’s birthplace and home in Gothenburg, Sweden.


PRESS RELEASE
Volvo Malaysia calls all Volvo aftermarket professionals to participate in VISTA World Championship 2015-2016


Shah Alam, 23 June 15: Renowned truck manufacturer Volvo Malaysia yesterday kicked off its largest global competition for aftermarket personnel, the Volvo International Service Training Award (VISTA) in the presence of its employees at its headquarters in Shah Alam.

The biennial competition is designed to educate and develop participants’ technical knowledge and skills as well as to learn about the processes and business chain of how the company works – providing them the opportunity for professional self-development. VISTA is also a very effective way of motivating and inspiring employees, and is an avenue to cultivate teamwork.

Mats Nilsson, Managing Director of Volvo Malaysia said, “VISTA is much more than a competition. It is a mass competency-training event. Our mechanics are the backbone of Volvo Malaysia – making us the best business partner for our customers, throughout the lifetime of our vehicles. This is why we invest heavily in competence development, establish a structured approach to our technicians upgrading, and provide support for further education.”

“VISTA is a simulation of the workshop environment that aims to build skills and share expertise, in addition to motivate and foster teamwork and collaboration among our employees. The competition additionally teaches our aftermarket employees to be pro-active and pre-emptive when diagnosing issues and providing solutions to problems,” said Santhara Saigaran, Market Leader for Volvo VISTA.

Saigaran also added that VISTA is an all-round 360° approach to employee and work excellence. The number of participants for this year’s VISTA competition has also increased and the responses and feedback by dealer managers are equally encouraging.

“The goal is to make us better at what we do every day. This competition is not only important for our aftermarket personnel; it is also of great importance for the entire Volvo Group. It is a way of showing how much we value the hard work carried out at our workshops, and that we invest in what our customers appreciate most – world class service,” added Nilsson.

The improved knowledge and skills set acquired from previous VISTA competitions were applied in the day-to-day work and it has been successfully reflected in the employees’ competency level. This has enhanced the aftermarket quality in Malaysia and has contributed to increased customer satisfaction in the Volvo brand.

With registration commencing from June, the competition is open to all aftermarket professionals within the Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses global service network. The competition starts in September with three rounds of theoretical questions, in which teams are required to complete in their workshops.

Following these three rounds, the best performing teams will be selected to qualify for the semi-finals (Asia Finals) in Bangkok in April 2016. From there, the winning team in Asia will proceed to the World Finals, which is set to take place in June 2016 at Volvo’s birthplace and home in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The 2015-2016 VISTA edition will see participation from approximately 200 employees comprising Technicians, Administrators and Parts Personnel from 13 service outlets (both owned dealers and private dealers) throughout Malaysia and Singapore. These participants will work in groups of three or four, to compete for a place in the Asia Finals.

“At Volvo, we do everything we can to inspire our customers all around the world – from building quality and technologically sound trucks to offering outstanding aftermarket service. This is because satisfied customers are key to making Volvo the number one brand in Malaysia’s commercial vehicle segment. Our VISTA Championships sets us firmly on that path and it achieves everything in a single competition,” Nilsson further commented.

VISTA is a global competition for all aftersales employees within the Volvo Trucks' and Volvo Buses' global service network. What originally started in 1957 as a competition exclusively for Volvo technicians in Sweden, has since grown to become an international biennial event, and the largest competition for aftermarket personnel in the world. VISTA 2012-2013 involved 93 countries all over the globe, 17,000 dedicated workshop professionals, 4,471 highly motivated teams, and millions of training hours.


For more information on VISTA, please visit http://vista.volvo.com/ or watch the video on Volvo Trucks YouTube channel

Good news. If you run and operate Volvo Trucks in and around Shah Alam.........




PRESS RELEASE

Volvo Trucks Launches Fast Track Service to Boost Customer Ownership Experience 

Shah Alam, 28 January 2015 – Volvo Trucks Malaysia (Volvo) has upped the ante in customer service
enhancement with the launch of Fast Track Service facility at its flagship Shah Alam dealership - designed to
increase efficiency for its customers by enabling quicker turnaround in truck repair. This latest move by the
global commercial vehicle manufacturer follows a string of dealership expansions and refurbishments under
the company’s network development strategy aimed at amplifying customer benefits and expanding the
value and experience of truck ownership for its customers.

Volvo’s Fast Track Service comprises of four dedicated bays or fast track lanes which are specially designed and allocated to undertake minor repair work of trucks with a duration of two hours or less. Thus, customers with trucks that require minimal repair or service do not need to waste time waiting in line with other trucks that may need more complex diagnosing and longer repair time.

Mats Nilsson, Managing Director, Volvo Malaysia said, “Volvo fully understands that efficient uptime of trucks is a mission critical to our customers’ business vitality and productivity. As a leading player in the commercial transportation sector, we strive to provide superior aftermarket services by constantly creating innovative solutions for our customers’ progress.”

A special Fast Track Service team comprising a group of highly-trained and skilled technicians and service
advisors has been tasked to ensure that the customers’ truck issues are attended to promptly. The team will
also see to an efficient scheduling of repair work, pre-diagnosing of problems, high quality repair and
management of smooth operational work flow in all the four bays, all to reduce waiting time whilst keeping
the regular bays available for trucks that need more attention and longer repair.

The Fast Track Service bookings must be made at least 48 working hours in advance in order for the
specialized team to pre-diagnose and prepare parts and tools for immediate repair of the affected trucks.

Gunasekaran Muthu, General Manager, Central Region, Volvo Malaysia commented, “Pre-diagnosis during
bookings helps speed the process as the team is able to determine the parts and tools needed way in
advance, thus creating efficiency and reducing wasted time at the workshops.”

“With a short and fixed time of maximum two hours to service or repair the trucks, our customers can plan
their truck stops and driver roster more effectively as compared to them not knowing when their trucks will be ready to hit the roads again. And in that two hours, drivers can wait comfortably at our drivers’ lounge and enjoy some beverages there,” said Gunasekaran.

“However, should unexpected problems be detected and which may require more than two hours’ of repair
time, we will inform the respective customer and reallocate the repair work to the regular bay to avoid
disruption to the Fast Track Service lanes,” Gunasekaran further added.

“We decided to introduce the Fast Track Service as a value-added service which directly respond to our
customers’ increasing need to improve and maintain uptime as the logistics and haulage industry continues
to burgeon. For now, this service is only available in our Shah Alam dealership where there is a high
concentration of trucks coming in as the location is close to the ports. In time to come, we may extend this
service to our other dealership locations across the country,” said Nilsson.

Nilsson also shared that this latest service will also improve the company’s workshop utilization and
productivity, and over time increases its revenue on parts and labour as a result of expected higher turnover
of fast moving parts.

The four-lane Fast Track Service facility can repair up to a maximum of 16 trucks per day. For urgent cases
only, bookings may be accepted a day prior and work hours may be extended to accommodate more trucks.

Other services complimenting the Fast Track Service include a brake testing facility located just next to the
lanes. Customers are advised to make early booking by calling 1-300-808-108.

Fast Track Service opens from Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 6.00pm (excluding public holidays) and accepts all Volvo truck models and variants.

More information on the new Volvo Fast Track Service can be obtained from www.volvotrucks.com.my

Today I was at Scania Malaysia for the launch of the Scania Assistance Service and Scania Fleet Management System. These are ownership solutions for better profitability for Scania bus and truck operators here in Malaysia. Of course, I get to view some nice machines too. In the heavy duty sort of scale that is. I was busy taking admiring the huge Garrett turbo fitted to the Scania bus chassis to the left of the photo above folks.



Anyway, before I get  sidetracked, the new Scania Assistance service is an operator based call centre that operates round the clock and allows Scania's customers to always be in contact with Scania when the need arises. This service is now based on Scania's global standards and this latest call centre system allows Scania to track and follow up on the status of a customer's case from start to finish. It will keep the customer informed on what is going on with, say a stranded vehicle and what are the folks at Scania doing about it.

The Scania Assistance is supported by a team of customer service personnel, a fleet of standby service vans with trained technicians who can connect with Scania's network of workshops which can assist any Scania customer in need even in difficult to reach areas.

The Scania Assistance number is 1800-08-8500 (or +603 5590 9077 for international calls – for those travelling to Thailand or Singapore probably) and every new Scania truck, bus or coach chassis now comes with two years of free Scania Assistance.

Aside from the Scania Assistance, Scania also provides the Scania Fleet Management System. This is a set of services that connects the Scania vehicles with the customer's office as well as Scania via a communicator device (shown above - the little box in the middle of the photo is essentially a GPS packet data device, connected to Scania's servers in Sweden and therefore allows global tracking even though most of the local customers would travel within Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand). Scania customers will be able to retreive vehicle data, fleet position and also review the driver's performance (fuel consumption, CO2 levels, idle time, brake, average speed etc). By being able to peruse through the data, the customers can make decisions to improve the productivity of their fleet.

During the briefing, we were shown what Scania Fleet Management can do. It basically can allow Scania vehicle operators to take control of their vehicles and actually see what their drivers are doing to their vehicles. You can tell if a driver is driving uneconomically or idling the vehicle longer than usual or even braking harder than supposed to. With supporting data it allows the fleet manager to actually coach the drivers on better driving habits which will in turn save fuel consumption as well as wear and tear on the vehicles. The demonstration included a Scania prime mover which was driven around the area surrounding the Scania Headquarters and we could see it being tracked by the system doing so. There was also a mock driver and driver trainer discussion informing on where the driver had driven badly or otherwise.

These two systems provide with a pretty good solution for those operating commercial vehicles. According to the Managing Director of Scania Southeast Asia, Mr James Armstrong (below), “Our customers' operations are at the center of the entire value chain. Scanias wide range or quality products and services are constantly improving and optimised for our customer's needs.”

“This is Scania's total solutions approach to help our customers achieve the best profitability.” He added.

Of course, these systems are not without a price but the increased productivity may actually over ride any extra costs. The Scania Fleet Management pricing is reasonable where all new vehicles ordered from the 1st of December 2014 will come with the Scania Communicator built into the vehicles and will get a 10 year subscription of the monitoring package. Current vehicles can also be retrofitted for a sum of RM3,100. One can also upgrade to the Control Package at a cost of RM136 per vehicle per month.

The difference between the two is that the reporting in the Control Package is more detailed (of course) in that it provides more detailed reports. It even includes traffic lights report, fleet position and even geo fencing (which allows customers to have an alarm when a vehicle enters or leaves a predetermined zone). There are tons more functions and stuff about the Scania Fleet Management system. I am just skimming the surface of it actually. For more detailed information, just head on over to the Scania Malaysia website.

From what I can see the Scania Fleet Management system works quite well. And coupled with the Scania Assistance service a customer should be able to maximise their fleet of vehicles in any circumstances and plan for any contingencies. From a layman's point of view, it is this sort of value added services that make the Swedish trucking industry stay way ahead of their competitors.

Volvo Trucks have announced the winner of this year's Fuelwatch Challenge. Clocking the lowest fuel consumption over the 40-kilometre drive challenge in the final stage, En Ahmad Bin Othman from Logistik Petikemas Sdn Bhd in Prai emerged as the victor of this year’s Fuelwatch Challenge. He achieved a strong result of 2.52 kilometres using only 1 litre of fuel driving a Volvo truck with a 40-footer container carrying 20 tonnes of load. As the national champion and the next Fuelwatch ambassador, En Ahmad Bin Othman is set to represent Malaysia at the Fuelwatch APAC and World Finals 2014, to be held in Volvo’s home country in Gothenburg, Sweden later this September. Go and make us proud.



One must be aware that unlike the 'more interesting stuff' like supercars, sports cars and even any type of cars, trucks (or lorries) and their very real and human drivers are the heartbeat of our nation, transporting what we need throughout the country day in and day out. This is why we here at Motoring-Malaysia.blogspot.com continue to bring in trucking news, day in and day out.


Press Release

Volvo Trucks Announces the Fuelwatch Challenge 2014 Champion! 

The Challenge aims to build the overall value entity of Malaysian truck drivers; 

Winner to represent Malaysia at the Fuelwatch APAC and World Finals in Sweden



Subang Jaya, 9 June 2014 – Going beyond the durability and technology of the trucks, Volvo Malaysia began its search for Malaysia’s most fuel efficient driver two months ago through its annual nationwide fuel-saving competition, Fuelwatch Challenge 2014. Today, the search concludes with the crowning of Malaysia’s most fuel efficient truck driver at a Gala Dinner held at Holiday Inn to celebrate the occasion.

Recognising the contribution of truck drivers to the whole nation, the Fuelwatch Challenge 2014 kicked off
with six preliminary rounds across the country covering Shah Alam where it was launched, Johor Bahru, Prai, Kuantan, Kuching, and Bintulu.

Close to 800 truckers participated in the challenge where they underwent a series of written tests on driver’s
training to qualify for the semi-finals. Out of this total, only 20 participants were shortlisted for a real drive challenge in the semi-finals, where three of the most skilled drivers proceeded to compete in the finals.

In the finals, the champion was selected based on the lowest percentage of fuel consumption within the time limit set, taking into account all the applied safe driving techniques. Clocking the lowest fuel consumption in a 40-kilometre drive challenge in the final stage, En Ahmad Bin Othman from Logistik Petikemas Sdn Bhd in Prai emerged as the champion of this year’s Fuelwatch Challenge. He achieved a strong result of 2.52 kilometres using only 1 litre of fuel driving a Volvo truck with a 40-footer container carrying 20 tonnes of load. As the national champion and the next Fuelwatch ambassador, En Ahmad Bin Othman is set to represent Malaysia at the Fuelwatch APAC and World Finals 2014, to be held in Volvo’s home country in Gothenburg, Sweden later this September.

“Prior to Fuelwatch, driving a truck has just been a daily task for me. It was just a job to feed my family. Now I know that driving is about so much more after gaining these useful knowledge and experience. The
challenge has taught me a great deal about the efficient use of fuel and the impact of driving behaviours on both the business and the environment. Winning the Malaysian chapter has given me the inspiration to improve my skills and push my capabilities further. I really look forward to the challenge in Sweden as it’ll be a great experience and learning opportunity for me,” said En Ahmad Bin Othman.

Close behind the trails of Volvo’s new Fuelwatch champion are the second and third place winners from Shah Alam - En. Zaril Nizam Bin Zakaria from Linfox Transport (M) Sdn Bhd (second place) and En. Azrul
Haiza Bin Abdul Aziz from Vertex Mission Sdn Bhd (third place).

An annual event over the last five years, the Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge has helped put Malaysian truckers
on the global map, pitting local champions against the world’s best truckers. The Fuelwatch Challenge is about achieving maximum fuel efficiency through a comprehensive approach incorporating vehicle optimisation, maintenance, performance monitoring, safety measures and driver behaviour through a nationwide competition format.

The event was attended by Guest-of-Honor, En. A. Halim Husain, Head – Operations Group, Suruhanjaya
Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD), who expressed his wish to see more companies in the private sector
follow the footsteps of Volvo Trucks Malaysia and spearhead initiatives such as Fuelwatch to help shape a
stronger trucking community.

Managing Director of Volvo Malaysia, Mr Mats Nilsson said, “The Fuelwatch Challenge has proven to be one of our successful annual signature events. We have seen increased participation every single year. We had about 200 participants in the first year, which increased to more than 300 in the following year, 500 last year and 800 this year.”

“Beyond the popularity of the challenge, what we really strive to achieve is to inspire a positive change in truck drivers’ role by empowering them to adopt fuel efficient and safe driving behaviour. Trucker drivers are movers of the economy and we want them to take pride and responsibility in their job” added Mr Nilsson.

This year’s Fuelwatch Challenge was also paired with the Volvo Driver Development Programme (DDP) which is currently offered free to Volvo’s customers. Given the importance of the role of truck drivers to the economy, the DDP provides an additional and more in-depth training platform to impart useful, comprehensive and hands-on approach to building well-rounded Malaysian truck drivers and overall fleet management.

The Fuelwatch Challenge is endorsed by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) of the Malaysia Ministry of
Transport (MOT). All information, tips, and know-hows about Fuelwatch are available to the Malaysian truck drivers through the Globe Truckers Club. Free membership to the club is opened to ALL truck drivers in Malaysia with a valid truck license Class E and/or GDL (bersendi) license.

More information can be obtained from the official Volvo Trucks Malaysia facebook page at www.facebook.com/VolvoTrucksMalaysia.