Isuzu has again staged its National Technical Skills Competition the company’s nation-wide contest that pits the best of Australia’s Isuzu technicians against time, trickily faulty engines, and nerves with ten competing technicians from nine dealerships across Australia
The contest fought out at Isuzu’s new national HQ in Melbourne in August was the 11thtime Isuzu had staged the Technical Skills Competition and involved an intense 75 minute written examination followed by a series of three rigorous practical tests, focussing on diagnosis and repair.
The annual competition is not just a contest of technical know-how, it’s a test of each technician’s mettle, their approach towards problem-solving and how they perform under pressure. From this the cream of Australia’s best technicians are selected to represent the Isuzu Australia at the upcoming 2018 Isuzu World Technical Competition.
As explained by IAL’s national training manager David Smith, the competition’s testing phases, the practical aspects are especially designed so that even accomplished technicians will find it hard to even come close to completing each segment.
“It’s designed to be so hard because we really want to be able to identify the best of the best—there’s no point if the tests are easy and everyone manages to,” David Smith explained,
“We want to see how they perform under pressure and especially look at how they approach difficult problems,” he added.
“We also want to look at the ability to solve underlying mechanical issues and not just be satisfied with symptomatic relief. That’s really what we’re developing here and in preparation for the international contest which will see terrifically difficult tests.”
“Really, our mission is to invest in our technicians, to upskill them and provide a fun, engaging platform for them to develop professionally and recognise the value we see in them.”
There are ten competing technicians from nine Isuzu dealerships across Australia, and to even manage to be selected to participate in the National Technical Skills competition, these technicians have to already be some of the best techs around.
The conclusion of the competition saw Michael Primmer from Winter & Taylor in Geelong, Victoria, and Jason Peterkin from Tony Ireland Isuzu in Townsville, Queensland, clinch the top two spots, respectively. Mr Primmer and Mr Peterkin will represent Australia at the upcoming Isuzu World Technical Competition together with team coach Paul Harrison (IAL technical support consultant), which will be held in Japan in early December.
In preparation for the Isuzu World Technical Competition, IAL has devised an intense three-week training program. This program will see one-to-one diagnostic training for the technicians, and will be held at the new 1,700 m2, purpose-built training facility in Truganina, which houses dedicated training vehicles and equipment.
“What we’re really doing is investing in our technicians for long-term results in real-world settings, with support from the dealerships, which will ultimately benefit our valued customers—they’ll have confidence knowing that our world-class technicians deliver reliable repairs and servicing that focus on long-term, not short-term, solutions.
“And we’re also hoping that with this, we’ll be able to perform even better at this Isuzu World Technical Competition. We’re all very excited,” Mr Smith said.