Success comes with professionalism, hard work and dedication. Success for service technicians is a result of all these things and more. Scania Top Team is a competition and training event that focuses on the service technician as the key for effective service. Effective service yields improved uptime and increased productivity for customers.

More information at http://www.scania.com/topteam

“I felt it was time to move on, so I applied for the job,” he says. “Now I have a six-month contract that I hope will be extended.”

Hallberg was a member of the winning Swedish Top Team contestants. Having eliminated the Swedish competition, his team had high hopes – but the dream ended in May at the European final in Brussels.

“At first I was really disappointed,” says Hallberg, “but after speaking with the winning British team, I fully understood why they won. Their team had invested countless hours in training and had received great support; it might be compared to a match between a Premier League club and a League 2 team. But it was our first entry, and we walked away with a rich experience.”

Now Hallberg is taking on a different challenge in Hong Kong, which is a growing market for Scania. His main piece of advice for the local service technicians is to study diagnostics programmes and manuals closer before reaching for tools. “The service technicians are skilled and well-organised, but occasionally slightly too eager to start disassembling components before having analysed what causes the fault. Trucks these days are far more complicated than the 3-series, and it is necessary to ponder a while.”

Hallberg feels fully at home in the former British colony and has mastered the art of using chopsticks. “My teenage daughters will be visiting during the autumn school holidays, and if the assignment is extended my wife will join me in January.”

Read more about Scania Top Team 2011 >

The winning team from Austria has practiced three evenings a week after work over the last month.

This was the third and concluding European regional final, all of which took place in Brussels. Nine teams participated in this round: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Turkey.

Austria and Latvia displayed superb cooperation and remained focused all the way through. The competition was decided at the final station.

“Competence, cooperation and team spirit always pays off. It has been clear in all of the regional finals, especially today”, says Harald Cederberg, chairman of the jury.

The winning team from Austria (from the Scania Kirchbichl workshop) has practiced three evenings a week after work over the last month. “This, and the fact that we have a lot of fun together made us successful”, says Florian Fahringere, the Austrian team leader.

The next regional final will take place in São Paulo at the end of August and the World Final in will be held in Södertälje, Sweden, 14–16 October.

Harald Cederberg adds: “The best advice I can give to the teams for the upcoming final is to set aside time to practice together in order to cultivate cooperation and improve upon any weaknesses”.

Latvia displayed superb cooperation and remained focused all the way through.

Six countries from Europe have qualified for the World Final including Austria, Latvia, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. From the Asian regional final, China and Australia have also qualified for the World Final.

Mikael Salomonsson, Product Manager

“I hope that the competition will be fair and exciting and that all participants will feel like winners regardless of the final result. The competition rounds are both theoretical and practical. The participants can expect a good mix of difficulty levels.”

How important is Top Team for improving the work quality of service personnel?

“The commitment and time that all participants put in to learn more about our products is very important. It means that we can take care of our vehicles and customers in a better way. The ratio we get from the money invested by the company and the time each person spends at work and during spare time to enhance skills is enormous.”

This year’s Top Team has attracted a record number of participants. Why do you think interest has increased?

“For many it is a fun way to gain more knowledge. Talented people get rewarded. Service technicians have a significant effect on sales in the long run. The company has taken this up and pushed the organization to reward our talented men and women around the world.”

The other two European regional finals will take place in Brussels during 20–22 and 27–29 May.

The Swedish national Top Team final was held in Södertälje 22 January 2011. Of the ten finalists, the team “Snoddas drängar” (Snoddas’ lads) from Jönköping will represent Sweden at the international competitions in Brussels.

Scania Top Team is back. Following a moratorium during the financial crisis, Scania has resumed competitions for service market staff including technicians and parts staff. International competitions are being organised throughout the world and during 2011 a total of 46 countries will participate.

After winning both qualifications in competition with 138 Swedish teams, Snoddas drängar – representing Atteviks Lastbilar in Jönköping – will compete as Sweden’s representative in the international finals in Brussels 20–22 May. A total of five finals will be decided and the two best teams from each final will qualify for the Top Team World Championship Final to be held in Södertälje in October 2011.

The winning team ”Snoddas Drängar” from Atteviks Lastvagnar i Jönköping. From left: Gunnar Harrysson (coach), Tommy Hallberg, Joakim Edlund, Johan Södergård, Fredrik Liljeberg and Mikael Olsson.

The tenth Swedish final was organised at Scania’s Training Centre in Södertälje. The competition focuses on areas such as problem analysis, troubleshooting, parts and product issues, remedial action and verification. “To solve the various assignments under strong time pressure competitors need, in addition to excellent skills, a good team spirit and an organised approach,” says Gunnar Carlsson, responsible for technical training at Scania. “The competitions are designed to emulate daily work in which customer needs constitute the competition’s challenging assignments.”

Fierce races against the allotted time took place at the practical and theoretical assignment stations. A combination of a systematic approach, team discipline, skills and keeping nerves under control were decisive.

Snoddas drängar’s team coach Gunnar Harrysson believes that his team’s excellent collaboration worked in their favour. “Before results were announced, we weren’t aware that we had succeeded, especially considering the fact that we competed for the first time and the other teams were more experienced. But perhaps our lower average age contributed toward the victory; we’re faster with the computer,” Gunnar Harrysson says adding his thanks to the other teams for cordially congratulating them on being victorious.

Interestingly, Tony Svensson whose nickname is Snoddas, was missing from the competition line-up since he had travelled on previously planned holidays. As substitute, Fredrik Liljeberg with less than three years’ experience was called in. “Competing was a tremendously nervous experience, although it isn’t all that different from everyday work with the pressure from drivers and hauliers,” he says.

Scania’s Top Team competition is now under way around the world. Teams of service technicians and specialists in 46 markets have been honing their skills and competing to qualify for the regional finals, with the world final in Södertälje in October 2011 as their ultimate goal.

The main purpose of the competition is that the participants should increase their knowledge of Scania products, work methods and tools. Other goals include strengthening the cooperation and to boost motivation among the workshop staff. The competition also enables participants to gain practical experience equivalent to numerous hours of training.

“Skilled service technicians give customers quick, correct service,” emphasises Anders Gustafsson, head of Service Operations within Scania. “For Scania, this enables us to service more vehicles and to ensure that we have more satisfied customers.”

When the first such competition took place in Sweden in 1989, its aim was to raise the status of an occupational group that rarely attracted attention at the time. But today the situation is different. Once simply skilled workers, parts and service staff have increasingly assumed the role of problem solvers.

“Today, above all, it is a matter of listening to the customer and interpreting symptoms,” says Dan Löfgren, who is in charge of services development efforts within Scania Services and Parts Operations. “With the increasingly advanced electronics, trouble-shooting software-related problems has become more and more complex.”

The competition emphasises the importance of teamwork. It reflects the growing need for collaboration both on the service workshop floor and between parts and service specialists.

“Solving problems together reduces the pressure on each individual while improving the chances of getting vehicles back on the road quickly,” Löfgren says.

There is increasing interest in joining the Top Team competition. In the 2010/11 round the number of contestants and the number of qualifying rounds has been larger than in previous competitions. Löfgren is convinced that participation helps strengthen the professional identity of the service market staff.

“The competition gives them a unique chance to measure their skills on equal terms against colleagues from around the world,” he says.

The Top Team competition 2010/11

• The 6,000 participants come from 46 markets
• Regional finals – three in Europe, one each in Asia and Latin America (including South Africa) – take place April through August
• The two best teams from each regional final continue on to the world final
• The world final takes place 14–16 October 2011 in Södertälje.

“Scania’s service offer is designed to enable our customers to concentrate on their core business, while we ensure the best possible care for their vehicles and drivers – that’s what we mean by one-stop shopping!” says Urban Erdtman, Group Vice President Sales and Services Management. “Scania is continuously investing in the geographical coverage and technical competence of its sales and service network. Wherever they are, our customers shall be able to turn to dedicated professionals to keep their transport business in top shape.”

The range of services and the packaging differs between markets, but their modularity makes for compatibility across borders.

Driver training

Driver training and driver information have a long tradition at Scania – 20 years or more in mature markets. The objective is to familiarise drivers with all the important product features and support them to get the best out of their vehicles.

Scania Driver Training

Driver training typically results in a fuel saving of 10% on average initially, and with regular training this level can be maintained over time.

Some 5500 drivers in Europe attended Scania driver training during 2007. Courses are adapted to local conditions and in many cases form part of national training schemes for professional drivers. In some countries, Scania joins with truck safety experts in organising dedicated safe driving courses, for example in Germany.

Legally required driver training

Important recent additions are courses for truck and bus drivers designed to conform to the EU directive on driver training, thus enabling drivers to update their Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). The directive applies to bus drivers from 10 September 2008 and to truck drivers from 10 September 2009.

These courses are already established and highly appreciated in EU markets, having been available for some time to truck as well as bus drivers.

Scania’s long-standing efforts to promote driver competence and boost driver status have grown into a global affair. Scania driver competitions are held on five continents with close to 50,000 participants. In 2009 the next round of Young European Truck Driver will be held all over the European continent. Some countries are also running special events for bus and coach drivers.

Financing and insurance

Demand is growing rapidly in this sector and these products are much appreciated in emerging markets as well. Financing is currently offered in 34 countries in Europe and the solutions include financing, leasing, hire-purchase and insurance. Scania’s experts are fully familiar with the truck and bus business. Hence customer needs are assessed on an individual basis taking into account financial and operational stability, reputation and relationships with Scania.

Scania Rental

Long- and short-term schemes are included in Scania’s rental portfolio. The composition of the rental fleets varies depending on market conditions, but in most cases includes international and regional tractor units and rigids with box bodies.

In Germany and Austria Scania is pioneering a system of long- and short-term rental semitrailers to be able to provide customers with complete tractor-semitrailer combinations.

Scania Assistance

Various roadside assistance schemes have been in operation in mature markets for at least 25 years and since the early 1990s on a closely coordinated international level. Scania drivers in distress have access to free-of-charge round-the-clock support in their own language if required, as well as prompt roadside assistance from Scania’s closely-knit local service network. The average time to get the vehicle back on the road has dropped from 10.5 hours in 1999 to 6 hours today.

Scania Assistance

Workshop services

Scania has one of the tightest-knit and most proficient service networks in the business. Around 1000 workshops are spread out to cover all parts of the European continent, and some 500 additional workshops cover the rest of the world.

The network is continually upgraded and extended to cover new markets and regions where Scania customers operate. Workshop standards are maintained and improved via a set of promises that provide a commitment from Scania towards its customers. These promises include staff training, which is much facilitated by Scania’s modular product system.

Scania dealership, service workshop

Workshop services are of course tightly linked to the roadside assistance and parts activities to provide seamless support and maximum uptime. In many countries distributors also undertake specialised services to provide one-stop shopping for maximum convenience, taking care of trailer and bodywork, air conditioning, glass repairs and tachographs, for example.

The workshops are also outlets for Scania Oil (see below), Scania Accessories and Service Exchange parts, and in many cases frequently employed parts for bodywork and trailers.

Via the workshops customers also have access to Scania Truck Gear, a range of garments designed for male and female professional drivers.

Scania Oil

Following more than 10 years of testing of 150 different oil qualities in customer vehicles, Scania is now introducing a range of lubrication oils that have been specially developed for Scania vehicles, optimised to provide minimum wear and minimum deposits – and hence maximum uptime.

Scania Oil

The range comprises three grades of engine oil (Scania Oil E7 for normal operation and LDF and LDF2 for tougher conditions), two grades of gearbox oil (normal and high performance) and three grades of rear axle oil (two with different viscosities for normal operation and one for extra high demands). The oils are supplied in 5-litre canisters, and for workshop in 208-litre drums or 1000-litre containers.

Learn more about Scania oil here

Repair and maintenance contracts

Depending on local conditions and customer requirements, Scania distributors offer various types of repair and maintenance contracts, covering the chassis, the complete vehicle or the complete vehicle combination.

Used trucks and buses

The international Scania network co-operates in the supply of used vehicles to the market. Particularly useful is the Internet service via Scania’s national homepages that provides ready access to a thousand or so vehicles and trailers on offer. Detailed search options help narrow down the choice. The technical data included make it easier to select the most suitable vehicle for each purpose.

Scania has also introduced special repair and maintenance schemes devised to cost-effectively maintain ‘long-serving friends’, i.e. vehicles that are 4-5 years or older.

Scania Fleet Management

Scania’s fleet management solutions are designed to help drivers and operators achieve the highest possible efficiency from their vehicle fleet, while also allowing smooth interaction with the office and other on-board equipment and systems.

Scania’s data logging and communication service has been developed to provide a powerful tool for detailed monitoring and follow-up of fleet operations. The transport operator gets a complete package that provides an overview of how the fleet of vehicles is used, which in turn contributes to lower fuel costs and more perceptive and motivated drivers. The service is fully compatible with a mixed fleet of vehicles.

The service includes an on-board data logging unit, GPS positioning and communication with the office. Vehicle data as well as digital tachograph data (from 2009) can be read and analysed on the office portal or via an on-board computer, if fitted.

On-board computers are available in two sizes: Scania Interactor 300 and 500 with 7-inch and 10-inch touch screens. The Scania Interactor 500 is an open Windows-based platform that permits free installation of third-party software, whereas the 300 is intended for pre-installed software. Both allow for the same functionality with Scania fleet management software.

Scania Driver Log and Scania Order Support are services designed for simple integration into administration and order handling systems at the office.

Various national fleet management packages are available from Scania distributors.

For further information, please contact

Per-Erik Nordström, Product Affairs, mobile tel. +46 705 53 55 77, email per-erik.nordstrom[at]scania.com