A Volvo Trucks’ ‘Train the trainers’ course which took place in Gothenburg in March dealt with all aspects of the I-Shift dual clutch gearbox. Those who took part returned to their respective countries and will train technicians in what they learned. Sharing skills and knowledge about this kind of new technology benefits the whole organisation and can also prove extremely useful in the forthcoming VISTA competition.
67 participants and market trainers representing 24 different countries took part in six two-day programmes, which were spread over a three-week period. There are generally two ‘Train the trainers’ courses held each year. Benny Gustavsson works with training development and delivery in Volvo Trucks’ Technical Training department and, together with colleague Johan Lindberg, was responsible for holding the training programme. “This course has been organised because the I-Shift dual clutch gearbox includes a lot of new technology. We are going through all the theoretical and practical aspects, so that technicians in all Volvo markets will be able to service and diagnose any faults in future. Those present will take back what they learn here and offer exactly the same training to the technicians at their own locations.”
The Technical Training department is responsible for generating all material used on ‘Train the trainers’ and other technical training courses. This material is used globally by Volvo Trucks and to a large extent by Volvo Buses. The same Technical Training team will be responsible for formulating questions in the VISTA competition. Ola Aldensjö is Manager of Technical Training in Gothenburg. “Our material is targeted towards workshop technicians. Our teams meet together with market representatives and discuss which particular cases and topics are important to focus on. We map out a way forward, incorporating product development and create a specific framework for the training. The material is then produced in the form of text, images, e-learning and other programmes.”
One of those participating in the recent course in Gothenburg was Peter Hendriks, a Technical Trainer who travelled from his base in the Netherlands. “Due to the advanced technical specifications that are used in this gearbox, it’s very important that a mechanic uses the information in Impact and Tech Tool. The training was very beneficial for this purpose. We learned a lot about new materials, techniques, and now we feel that we can service and diagnose the dual clutch gearbox.”
Benny Gustavsson sees the connection between the VISTA competition and ‘Train the trainers’. “Regardless of whether there will be questions on the dual clutch in the forthcoming competition, the high-tech advanced knowledge that the participants are taking home with them has much in common with the high-tech advanced nature of the I-Shift dual clutch gearbox.”
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