Training in transition08 February 2011

Under the joint stewardship of IRTE and IMI, the development of the irtec licensing scheme is gathering pace. John Challen talks to high profile industry partners

The December 2010 issue of Transport Engineer reported latest developments surrounding the service maintenance technician (SMT) and inspection technician (IT) assessment routes for achieving irtec commercial vehicle technician licensing – work on which is now complete.

Now, as attention turns to the trials and testing for the advanced technician (AT) and master technician (MT) qualifications, irtec has announced the support of two major industry figures: DAF Trucks and FirstBus.

After much deliberation, these two parties have both concluded that the time is now right to strengthen their association with the irtec scheme, so have entered into partnership agreements.

Tony Shepherd, aftersales service manager at DAF, says it's is a very welcome development that fits well with the requirement to prove engineering competence. "All manufacturers have their own standards that dealers have to adhere to, and this allows us to be confident that our technicians are competent," he states.
"But the introduction of OCRS [operator compliance risk score] and a greater industry focus on O-licenses have driven us to commit to irtec," continues the DAF man. "Both require vehicles to be inspected regularly, but there is nothing that says who must undertake the inspections. So now we will be able to say that everyone responsible for vehicle inspections at DAF has been independently assessed."

Shepard concedes that getting the 1,600 technicians on its books – who each undertake more than 2,000 inspections a year – irtec-qualified, will be neither easy not fast. "Putting all of our guys through the scheme will take several years, and, because the licence has a five-year lifespan, if everyone goes through now, we will have a big a problem in five years' time," he reasons.

As for FirstBus, Graham Belgum, FirstBus' business improvement director, sees benefits for his entire organisation. "This [irtec] accreditation is good for the technicians themselves, as it gives them national recognition of their skills. But it is also beneficial for us as an organisation, because it demonstrates our professionalism and commitment to independent assessment," comments Belgum.

"We have been working very closely as a partner, to ensure that the right skill sets are included in irtec," he explains. "We have made a conscious decision, based on our own skills, and irtec has come up with an assessment for the industry that meets our requirements, and gives us that external accreditation."
Belgum confirms that FuirstBus' candidates for assessment will be subject to some internal testing first, to identify their training needs. "We will be using FTA and FirstGroup assessors, who have been accredited by the IMI [Institute of the Motor Industry], and training them to cope with any knowledge gaps before they are assessed to the irtec standards," he says.

Belgum explains that his company is adopting a more flexible approach to training, as well as pinpointing exactly what engineers and technicians require. "In the past, we have sent some people on a three-day training course where they turned out only to need five minutes, whereas others have come back from the same course needing more training. The beauty of irtec is that you have a guiding light, so you can never under-train the staff, because they are working towards a specific requirement."

Belgum believes that the net result is that irtec will help FirstBus move forward and help technicians to do their job more effectively. "Our plan is to raise the internal [testing] capability, because if we don't have that, we'll have to buy it in," he observes. "We don't want to buy it in; we want to have it in-house: it makes our staff frustrated if they see us investing in outside help, rather than paying for them to be trained."

Such a vision will allow FirstGroup to grow proficient and capable workshop teams, further adding to the quality of the bus and coach services for which they are ultimately responsible. "We want anyone maintaining our vehicles to get onto the technician maintenance grade at a minimum," states Belgum. "Our next step is looking at how we can assess our skilled engineers and get them accredited."

The FirstBus man agrees that this second stage will not come to fruition for around three years, but hopes that, by that time, the first steps will be complete. "The partnering is about making irtec fit for purpose," concludes Belgum. "We will work with them to ensure that what irtec is assessing is meeting our needs."

irtec certification programme re-launched
irtec industry partners were confirmed at the re-launch of irtec, at SOE HQ in late January. Speaking at the event, both Tony Shepherd of DAF Trucks and Graham Belgum of FirstBus express confidence that the newly evolved scheme will help grow the quality of commercial vehicle technicians for the future.

"DAF Trucks has carried out a trial of the redeveloped irtec service maintenance technician licence, and we're now keen to work alongside irtec to promote this licence within our dealer network," commented Shepherd.

"While DAF dealers comply with DAF training requirements, which include safety and maintenance inspections, an independent accreditation from irtec would provide additional confidence for customers, VOSA inspectors and traffic commissioners," he added.

And in a similar vein, FirstBus' Belgum commented: "Over the next few years, we plan to put all FirstGroup technicians through irtec certification. The irtec assessments will be carried out onboard our recently launched mobile training facility, which will work its way around the country assessing and, where required, developing our skilled technicians in order to give them a licence that recognises their competence."

Belgum also explained that FirstBus' initial focus will be on the new inspection technician module. "Inspection is the core process in vehicle maintenance; the ability of technicians to correctly identify and diagnose faults is vital. It is key to ensuring that correct repairs are carried out, which also results in less vehicle downtime.

"Over the next few months, FirstGroup will assess and develop all staff who carry out vehicle inspections [currently around 400], with a view to awarding them irtec licences in recognition of the important role they perform."

FTA gets irtec approved centre status
FTA (the Freight Transport Association) has been awarded 'irtec approved centre' status by the Sector Skills Council representative, IMI Awards. FTA will be focusing on the new inspection technician (IT) licence within the irtec programme.

Lawrie Alford, FTA's strategic business manager, points out that the association has provided operators with technical training products for the last 10 years – and adds that larger fleet operators completing these have shown a marked improvement, with reduced mechanical defects and improved OCRS.

"I am convinced that regular technical training and assessment of technicians will improve fleet standards and performance," says Alford.

"By providing the latest support and resources to this sector of the industry, competence-based assessments will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of workshops throughout the UK, and provide a clear direction for companies' training requirements," he continues. "This will benefit operators with in-house workshops and contract repairers seeking to illustrate compliance improvement to their customers."

FTA is offering a three-day specialist inspection training programme and a one-day Technical OLAT (Operator Licence Awareness Training) course – delivered nationally, engineer-to-engineer at the workshop's premises, so minimising downtime. Alford adds that technician assessments can be enhanced to include a company's bespoke features, if required.

Author
John Challen

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