Servicing your forklift truck plays a major role in the longevity of your equipment, work productivity, and workplace safety. With nationwide coverage and 600+ technicians, Toyota guarantees a 4 hour response time with a 96% first time fix rate. Customer satisfaction is Toyota’s number-one priority, and the field technicians are focused on doing whatever it takes to meet and exceed customer expectations. We went out on the road with Andy Brunt to experience a day in the life of a Toyota technician.
Andy Brunt started with BT Rolatruc 18.5 years ago before the merger which formed Toyota Material Handling in 2007. His first role involved servicing hand pallet trucks for 12 months before moving into his current field technician role.
The extensive training and refresher courses Toyota technicians undertake means that Andy has the product knowledge and expertise to service and repair all types of equipment, and he derives a great deal of job satisfaction from working on a variety of machines that are owned and operated by a diverse range of companies.
“I enjoy getting to meet different people and the challenge of fixing a range of trucks far more than working as a resident customer site technician where there is less variation,” says Andy.
“All Toyota technicians build strong relationships with customers over a period of years,” says Andy. “Toyota’s ‘customer first’ philosophy is a part of the company’s DNA and means that we always listen to what our customers have to say and use their opinions and experiences to make improvements across every aspect of the business.”
Technology has reshaped Andy’s day to day routine. “But,” he says, “despite the increase in the use of technology, the job remains very hands on. If a truck needs repairing it’s the service technician’s job to roll up his or her sleeves and get it working again quickly to limit the client’s downtime to the absolute minimum.”
What is the structure of the average day?
A typical day begins at 8.00am and finishes at 4.30pm, completing six visits on average throughout the day depending on the type of job requirements and equipment numbers.
Like all Toyota technicians Andy is responsible for planning his own daily route. He aims to keep travelling time between jobs to a minimum, so sites visits are arranged in a logical order depending on their geographic proximity and the availability of the parts required to complete the fix.
What are the key daily tasks?
- Review T-stream to assess planned service calls scheduled for the day.
- Plan a visitation route to minimise travelling time.
- Review T-stream to identify job type e.g. service job or breakdown and equipment issues.
- Undertake a pre-assessment of the potential parts requirements for the job. Experience in the role and historic customer issues can often save visiting the customer twice to resolve an issue.
- Arrive at the customer premises and evaluate equipment requirements. Certain key components are carried in the technicians’ van at all times but If the parts required are not already stocked in the van, T-stream is used to search and order required parts. Part delivery lead time is advised through T-stream and parts are usually delivered directly to the technician’s van via courier overnight to minimise delays.
- The job is rescheduled on T-stream in line with parts delivery advice.
- T-stream is synced for real-time updates and new jobs are added to technician’s schedule as required.
All technicians are provided with impact resistant laptops and mobile phones which are synced to T-stream for real-time scheduling updates.
Andy mentions “We are equipped with all sorts of hi-tech gadgetry that ensures we deliver the best possible level of service to our customers. In many ways the job has been completely transformed by developments in IT over the course of the past 20 years.”
The T-Stream Software
Developed in partnership with Microsoft, T-Stream is built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, it runs on Windows, utilises Bing Maps and GPS systems to provide technicians with an improved, proactive service that means maintenance is usually undertaken before breakdowns occur. New functionalities include an improved planner, parts finder, fleet management, picture functionality, integration with other applications and technical documentation.
With T-Stream technicians have all the right information at the right time, wherever they are, whether it’s an overview of service tasks or technical information.
“Not only can we plan our work more efficiently, but the back office can also offer better support more quickly, which benefits both technicians and the customers,” says Andy. “Field technicians who are armed with real-time insights can ensure factory equipment operates more predictably and efficiently, which, in turn, results in lower repair costs,” he adds.
More about Andy...
Away from work Andy enjoys spending time with his family and is also keen on classic cars. In fact he’s just taken on a new project that involves restoring a Rover P4 to its former glory. “I promised myself not to get another classic car – as anyone that’s ever attempted to ‘do one up’ will testify, they can be a bottomless money pit – but I took one look at the Rover and had to have it! I suppose I just love getting my hands dirty!”
