SCHAEFflER REPXPERT
SCHAEFflER INDIA’S AUTOMOTIVE-AFTERMARKET DIVISION UPS THE ANTE OF QUALITY TRAINING TO GARAGES WITH THE LAUNCH OF REPXPERT.
With Schaeffler’s India automotive aftermarket division responsible for the company’s global spare parts business and for delivering innovative repair solutions in original equipment quality, the company recently announced a new aftermarket initiative to up the ante. To ensure that components from its four brands LuK, INA, FAG and Ruville like clutch and release systems, engine and transmission applications, and chassis applications are well-tuned to work in sync, the company announced its focus on offering comprehensive services to garages through a new brand REPXPERT. Through the new brand, the company aims to conduct practically oriented training seminars besides offering repair assistance via a dedicated hotline and a garage portal. It has additionally developed specialised tools to meet the objective of training. The company has also launched a mobile training centre called the ‘REPXPERT Truck’ under the new brand. As the company’s first mobile training centre, the van will travel across 50 cities by the end of this year covering a total distance of around 2300 kms in a span of 100 days, with over 400 man training hours. The truck will primarily target the multi-brand repair garages across the country. Besides, existing fleet owners and retailers can also avail the benefits offered through the REPXPERT Truck. It was in 2016, in Langen, in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany where the company first announced the REPXPERT brand suite of an online portal, service hotline, installation instructions and videos, training seminars or events built from the learnings gathered over forty years of the Schaeffler experience in the automotive aftermarket.
In India, the mobile training facility will provide customers with training modules covering transmissions, engines and chassis system. Among its technical programs are included facilities like special fitment tools, standard fitment practices, failure diagnosis, product demo, tutorial videos and the Schaeffler product portfolio. For instance, the company with around 15 product lines and almost 40 product types, will impart training over these in one session. Each session will span a duration of three-four hours. Each batch size would be around eight to 10 trainees. The company intends to keep small batches keeping in mind the ideal trainer to student ratio for better-personalised attention. According to Debasish Satpathy, Vice President (Automotive Aftermarket), Schaeffler India, all efforts are being made by the technical training department at Schaeffler to ensure that the most relevant target segment is
addressed. “The mobile training centre is equipped with state-ofart automotive technical training facilities, products, spare parts and repair tools as well as handson training materials, bringing to fore the latest in automotive technology,” averred Satpathy. He claimed that the company had appointed full-time trainers to engage at the centre.
These trainers would inturn impart training on standard fitment practices and in areas like examination of failure diagnosis of all mechanical parts, along-with facilities of effective home-tutorial videos looked at as effective and productive ways over conventional training methodology. “This also forms part of our brand-building exercise as well as we believe it is not sufficient to supply parts to our customers, but it is equally important to keep them abreast with the latest technology and techniques to extract the best from our components,” added Satpathy. To address the void existent in skill-set levels identified in the aftermarket especially garages, Satpathy explained that it was crucial to address the anomaly for which constant training is mandatory. “This technical van has been equipped with all the required tools to provide a handson-training to mechanics,” he said. Satpathy further drew attention to repairs in the CV space, where he opined that professional repairs were not possible without deploying special tools for the task. The tailor-made special tools on offer with this mobile training unit are expected to provide mechanics with an optimal solution. “The training systems are specially designed for your requirements in the garage. With them, installing or removing parts, or conducting damage diagnosis, is fast and easy,” he claimed.
Acknowledging a slowdown, Schaeffler India is constantly upscaling its range of products along with its service offerings in order to ensure its customers are granted with wider access to the market. “We are facing an acute downturn in the automotive sector currently and in such a situation, this is probably one of the best initiatives for us,” quipped Satpathy. “When BSVI is implemented, the first impact will be on the exhaust or the emission systems. We will see vehicles with more electronic components. Along with this we will see changes in the transmission systems and it will be important to educate and train manpower towards addressing the challenges, which might come up once the new norms are in place,” he explained. With Schaeffler having recognised that rising complexity of vehicles with passing time, the focus is on supporting garage professionals in dealing with these challenges. It is for this reason that the REPXPERT Truck is equipped with all engine, transmission and chassis products and tools along with professionally-trained service-personnel who will be providing hands-on-training, especially given the demand identified by Schaeffler India in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
In phase 1, the van would cover the northern and western regions, followed by the southern and eastern regions of India. Citing the BSVI norms nearing the rollout deadline of April 01, 2020, Satpathy explained that the OEs were especially paying attention to lower NVH levels made possible by a revamped clutch system. It is where Schaeffler intends to gain an early advantage and develop solutions customised for OEM
requirements. Schaeffler is already in talks with its customers having training centres, and plans to take this training initiative across to students as well. It is banking on collaborative efforts with colleges and technical institutes. However, the students training activity will be taken up in a later phase with the aftermarket segment calling for immediate focus.