- Detailed, product-focused concept from ZF Services grows fast
- Optimized services for passenger car and commercial vehicle workshops
- Launch planned in Poland, Spain, and South America
Compared to their authorized competitors, independent workshops are attracting more and more customers. One major reason is their systematic professionalization, not least due to workshop concepts such as ZF Services [pro]Tech. Some two and a half years after its launch, the scheme has won over a total of 4 100 “independents”. Inspired by this sustained success story, the aftermarket specialist from ZF is further expanding its training program for passenger car and commercial vehicle workshops. Soon, ZF Services [pro]Tech will also be available on other markets worldwide.
Especially popular and increasingly in demand, the ZF Services [pro]Tech practical training program will be expanded further in 2015. “With our new Audi A4 8K 2.0 TDI training vehicle, we’re adding steering systems and manual transmissions to our passenger car training program – and simultaneously we perfect our know-how transfer. Learning must provide perceptible added value for everyday life, and it should also be fun,” explains Markus Schmitt, Head of Workshop Concepts at ZF Services. The current modules have used a VW Passat 3C 2.0 TDI to demonstrate aspects of the clutch, dual-mass flywheel, and chassis components, and these will remain permanent parts of the training program. The experts use a BMW 525d E61 to show the important aspects of automatic transmissions. Always a big hit is the three-hour high voltage training module which gives all participants an EUP certificate (certificate for persons instructed in electrical engineering).
“We’ve also put together an optimized training package for independent commercial vehicle workshops – with a practical training session on transmissions as the highlight”, says Schmitt. During a two-day basic training course, commercial vehicle specialists learn practically and in depth how the ZFAS Tronic lite transmission is built and how it works. The workshop staff also have the opportunity to use the ZF Testman diagnostic unit to search for potential faults, expanding their knowledge of maintenance and operation of a commercial vehicle transmission.
More know-how for growing requirements
A better price/performance ratio than authorized workshops yet a similarly high level of expertise: German drivers attributed these and further qualities to independent workshops in the latest “Trend-Tacho”, a survey by the German KÜS expert organization. “In our view, comprehensive know-how is one of the most important factors that allow independent workshops to improve their competitiveness and attract new customers,” says Dr. Ulrich Walz, member of the Board of Directors, ZF Services. “In the context of ZF Services [pro]Tech, their staff receive valuable practical knowledge at first hand.”
Since its launch in April 2012, ZF Services has attracted some 4 000 partners in Germany alone with this detailed, product-focused concept. There has been above-average interest from Austrian workshops. That is why the aftersales specialist expects participation there to triple in 2015 to more than 200 [pro]Tech or [pro]Tech plus partners. To serve this demand, the company is developing further training courses as well as employing an additional industry expert locally.
Simultaneously, ZF Services is ramping up its activities in the other [pro]Tech countries. There are already initial workshop partners in the UK and Switzerland. In the coming year, ZF Services [pro]Tech will be launched in Poland as well. That will be followed in the course of 2016 by rollouts in Spain as well as on the South American market. “As part of our systematic internationalization strategy, we plan to give independent workshops in Argentina, Brazil, and other growth regions around the globe the opportunity to profit from ZF Services [pro]Tech,” says Walz, looking to the future.
