Over 3,000 vie for honours in Yamaha’s National Technician Grand Prix

A little over 3,000 staffers from different Yamaha entities in India participated in this year’s skills competition organised by the Japanese two-wheeler major. Started in 2010 as part of the Yamaha Technical Academy (YTA) program, the eighth edition of Yamaha Motor India Sales’ (YMIS) National Technician Grand Prix competition, culminated today at the Surajpur plant in Greater Noida.

The annual competition judges technicians from across Yamaha's service network, which currently stands at 2,300 (Primary: 600, Secondary: 1,700) outlets, on the basis of their skills, repair accuracy, speed, as well as customer handling skills. In line with its goal to achieve top ranking in the JD Power Customer Service Index (CSI) study, YMIS has also included service advisors into the contest and also commenced a new National Parts Manager Grand Prix (NPGP) within the 2017 edition of the skill competition.

The three-tier tournament saw participation of 2,243 workshop technicians, 555 service advisors and 257 parts managers, who contested in the competition at the regional level, held at Yamaha authorised dealerships across the country. Top 60 contestants from each of the four regions then went on to compete against each other in the zonal round, which took place at the YTA in Surajpur. The elimination process brought out 20 of the best contestants from each of the three categories, who finally competed in the national round of the grand prix, held at YTA Surajpur over three days between November 25-27.

While assessment of the technician skill set subjects them to undergo various scenarios created to diagnose and repair vehicle faults including powertrain issues like injector misfiring, abnormal engine noise, electrical troubleshooting and to some extent customer handling as well, service advisor evaluation, on the other hand, puts more focus on excellent customer handling, along with one's ability to determine basic faults and suggesting their repair. Parts managers are judged over the skills of warehouse operations handling and parts handling.

Nurturing world-class technicians
According to Ravinder Singh, senior vice-president (Strategy and Planning), YMIS, “The National Technician Grand Prix is in tune with our idea of producing world-class technicians, who are up-to-date with the latest technical upgradations, and it also provides the contestants an opportunity to witness the best talents within their peer groups.”

The top three winners in each category in the finals also stand a chance to compete on a global platform at the biennial World Technician Grand Prix, held at Yamaha HQ in Japan. “India was first representated at the WTGP in 2012. We clinched our first global award in 2014 and continued the winning streak in 2016 as well to bag a prize for the second time in a row. This feat has not yet been achieved by any of the 52 nations participating in Yamaha's global skill competition,” added Singh.

Yamaha Motor India operates four training centres (YTAs), one each in Surajpur, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. The company has a structured training course that helps train all mechanics and aftersales personnel working in its direct and secondary service network in various aspects of diagnosis, repair, communication skills, 5S and safety. Ravinder Singh says, “Of the total 8,452 mechanics working in the Yamaha service network all over India, each one has been trained at least in one level of the course structure (beginner, bronze, silver engine, silver body and silver electrical). Our current manpower training stands at 95.4 percent.”

Like other automakers in India including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Ashok Leyland, Yamaha is also working towards imparting skills through its Yamaha Training Schools (YTS). Begun as a CSR activity in 2013 to lend support to underprivileged youth, at present there are 35 such training schools run in collaboration with ITIs and NGOs; five more are set to come up by the end of FY2018. The company has also signed 42 MoUs with government and private technical institutions to expand this operation.

According to Ravinder Singh, “YTS is playing a role which is in line with ‘Skill India’ program, and we are focusing on job creation and on improving knowledge and skills. Yamaha also places a strong focus on women empowerment in these programs through training which helps them in getting jobs. In the past four years, 842 (male: 801, female: 41) students have enrolled with us, of which 628 (75% -- male: 595, female: 33) have been absorbed within Yamaha's dealer network. We place strong focus on imparting skills to girls and are seeing growth in the  number of female co-workers in technical jobs in service centres and also at our manufacturing facilities.”

While each YTS can train 30 students every year, the company plans to increase this number.  “We aim to increase the number of these schools to 100 by 2020 and will also retain the nominal fee so as to support young people who are not academically strong. The course involves 80 percent practical training, with only 20 percent theoretical aspect in the curriculum”, added Singh.

While a good number of benefit by applying for diploma courses after completing their skill training at YTC, the one-year program, which is approved by the Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) gets the students a certification after quarterly evaluation by invigilators from the governing body. “ASDC’s accreditation is very helpful for students to grow their careers as it is a nationally recognised certificate. It allows them to either apply for loans to start a business and become entrepreneurs or seek jobs in established companies,” Singh concluded.