Diagnosing the skills shortage

Diagnostic equipment is becoming ever-more sophisticated, but are garage technicians being given enough training to keep up with the pace? Natasha Rosset reports...

Autotrade October 1998, Workshop Diagnostics

Diagnostics equipment is developing at speed to keep up with the relentless pace of new vehicle technology. Garages increasingly have the technology at their finger tips to find faults and fix them, but there is often a weak link in the chain - the technician.

As the saying goes, we have the technology. The problem seems to be that, in many cases, the technicians who use the equipment are lacking the knowledge to use the equipment effectively. Most are highly trained mechanical engineers, but electronics is a different ball game. And that can be bad news for both individual garages, and the industry as a whole.

Garages have been criticised for replacing parts which could have been repaired, thanks to technicians lacking the skills needed to use the latest diagnostic equipment

Whether this can be put down to training being given low priority, or tight margins making it a luxury many businesses struggle to afford, the results are often the same - battles over bills and poor customer loyalty. But some believe the | long-term price will be higher, with garages which | ignore training now facing threats to their business in years to come.

The automotive industry lags behind other | markets in terms of training. While many other I areas of business now embrace training as a I costly but vital element of staff and company i development, many companies within the automotive sector see it as an add-on extra - and : the first thing to be cut when margins are tight. Steve Davies, marketing manager, technology, at Sykes-Pickavant, said that when it comes to i diagnostics, independent garages who ignore the need for training were likely to face an uncertain future. Only those prepared to learn new skills or I put in place the necessary training can hope to still be in business in the next century. ‘There seems to be a lack of appreciation that training is a critical thing that actually takes staff one level to the next level and helps the garage to earn more money as a result," he said. "There are now some people coming round to the view that training is important, just as having the right equipment is important. They realise that if you don't keep yourself up to date and stay ahead then your business will suffer. For the independent market training is critical. Unless garages do it they will not be in business in three or five years' time in terms of servicing or repairing cars."

Sykes-Pickavant runs regular courses, both for those who have bought their equipment and others, but the company has actively moved away from the idea that the equipment supplier should offer free' training within the price of the goods. Davies said such moves devalued training, and it was much better for companies to pay for training because they were committed to it. The company does, however, from time to time offer free" training as part of a special promotion or package.

The counter effect of a decline in the apprenticeship of garage mechanics has made the better trained individuals very rare," said Davies. "We must, as an industry, put more effort into the support of quality training of the new generation. We can no longer sit idly by whilst the standards of training decline. We should work towards a higher level of formal qualification which would then establish a minimum technician' standard for all persons who use diagnostics in the garage."

He believes training is one of a trio of key factors - which he calls the three point turn' -which have the power to turn around a declining business. The others are equipment and information. 'These are the three key items needed for survival. Anything less will lead the garage into decline," he said.