The Garage 325

BODYSHOP
Equipping repairers with the requisite skills
As vehicle technology continues to
evolve and repairs become more
advanced, technicians are required
to expand their skillset and acquire new
repair techniques. As a result, training
whether on or off site, is an important
function in equipping repairers with the
requisite skills and helping them develop
more business to meet the constantly
changing demands of their customer
base and increase the menu of services
they can offer, while increasing efficiency,
productivity and profitability, and reducing
key to key times.
One company that places training at
the heart of its organisation is Mirka UK,
which is committed to helping businesses
expand and develop through training.
This commitment is highlighted by Mirka’s
significant continued investment in training
programmes, which are available both on
site and at its state-of-the-art national
training centre in Milton Keynes.
Steve Smith, national sales manager ART
of Mirka UK, opens the doors to Mirka’s
training programme to provide an overview
of its facilities.
“Our training is market leading, as our
team is made up of experienced technical
specialists, who provide the customer
with peace of mind to know that their
staff are in the best hands. In addition,
the training we offer is not one size fits all,
it is bespoke to the customer’s needs to
ensure maximum benefits can be achieved
in the time period we have with them.
“When it comes to the location of
the training, we leave that decision with
the customer, but we know there are
benefits to running the courses on site or
at the training centre. For on site, we find
that the customer has the familiarity of
their usual surroundings, which enables
us to highlight how their own specific
products or processes would work in
an environment they are familiar with.
When we take the training away from the
workshop floor to our training centre,
participants can take part in e-learning
and classroom-based learning in advance
of the course, before having their handson
experience.
“We see our training as offering a full
circle for the customer because once a full
evaluation has been carried out, an action
plan is agreed and implemented, and all
training is documented and followed up
with regular review meetings to monitor
progress. This enables us to ensure that
businesses that undertake the training are
reaping its benefits in the short, medium
and long term, and we can deal with any
queries they might have post training.
“Overall, the impact on quality,
production and output is the key driver for
businesses to undertake training and, to
date, many end users have benefited from
the experience and knowledge gained
from the Mirka team. With restrictions now
slowly lifting, it hopefully won’t be too long
now before more businesses benefit from
the training we offer and expertise we have
at our disposal.”
THE GARAGE 45