Above and Beyond Scania Preventive Maintenance Service

When we talk about preventive maintenance service, the first thing that comes to mind is oil change. In fact, it is a whole lot more than that. In a recent interview with Truck & Bus News, Gary Archer, Service Director of Scania Southeast Asia, talked about the importance of preventive maintenance service and how Scania made the extra effort to take its preventive maintenance service above and beyond for customers. “Keeping preventive maintenance schedule on track for fleet vehicles is very important, as a vehicle is one of the largest investments for the fleet owner. With proper preventive maintenance, the fleet owner not only reduce the possibility of future breakdowns or more expensive repairs later on, but also maximise his/her truck performance and uptime.” To attract and encourage customers to experience the preventive maintenance service, Gary said the company ran a Scania Preventive Maintenance Campaign from 6th June to 31st December, 2016. During this period, special price packages were offered to suit the different needs of fleet operators, with savings of up to 20 per cent.

Scania categorised its service package to small, medium and large maintenance, with promo prices from RM1,200 onwards. In addition, he said about 50 items of essential parts were on offer. Gary was aware that there were always cheaper alternatives in the market. However, he urged the customers to look beyond the dollar and cents. “You get more than just an oil change when you maintain your vehicle with Scania. Our mechanic will check the vehicle thoroughly according to the checklist of the services required. He will identify

the potential areas that might cause a breakdown of the vehicle, measure whether those areas need to be fixed immediately or note them down for the next service. “We are able to inform the customer regarding the condition of the vehicle once the preventive checks are completed. The customer can then decide whether or not to do the necessary adjustments or repairs on the spot, or send in the vehicle later to minimise the impact on their scheduled business.”

There were many benefits for Scania’s customers who sent their trucks to Scania. “We have invested heavily in equipment and tools. We are able to download the vehicle’s operating report before our customer visit the Scania workshop, which means quicker visits and more uptime for the customers. It also allows us to make recommendations to our customer based on the breakdown analysis. Furthermore, we have the latest equipment such as the battery tester and wheel drum test. “Batteries are only occasionally checked over and often not until there is a problem. With the battery tester we are able to check whether the battery is in good condition each time a Scania comes for service. We will also check the coolant level to prevent rust and corrosion from accumulating in the radiator as well as to ensure the engine does not overheat,” he added. Apart from that, he said customer could also benefit from having superior Scania parts fitted and software updates. A walk through the Scania workshop at its headquarters in Bukit Jelutong, one could see how busy the workshop was, which was said to run at almost full capacity. “The response is good. We are glad to see an increase in the number of customers who choose to maintain their trucks with us. To ensure a quick and efficient service, we will call our customer a couple of days or a week before the vehicle is due for service, and schedule the service that best fit their operations.” To ensure high quality, professional services, he said Scania invested significantly in training. “All of our mechanics, including those from our branches, had just finished their 4-day refresher training. It is quite obvious that a fair amount of knowledge and skills fade over time. There may be various reasons for this degradation of knowledge and skills, but whatever the reasons may be, they all point to the need to be refreshed!” The refresher course consists of classroom (theory) and on-job (practical) training. Its content includes understanding the vehicle, how to look beyond the maintenance checklist and conducting maintenance service properly. “This will increase their confidence, allowing them to better detect when something is wrong to ensure the safety and well-being of the truck. We believe that some knowledge and skills need to get refreshed, even within the area of our mechanics’ expertise. We will continue to do so to ensure that we provide the best possible maintenance and repair service for our customers.”