38 | Scania & Tuatara Structures: Scania Warehouse T T Virginia Wright Strategy pays off for global company After nearly six years in the country, Scania are continuing their long-term strategy to invest in developing their service capacity and ensure they can support the trucks already here. “We offer a one-stop-shop by bringing everything into a single location and not relying on third-party service providers. Last year, we invested in more than 11,000 hours of technical training to make sure our people can maintain and service any truck that comes in....” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Transport provider Scania opened their new business unit in New Zealand at the start of 2019, having made the strategic decision to operate here themselves, rather than through their existing dealership with Cable Price. Marketing themselves as ‘a world-leading provider of transport solutions, including trucks and buses for heavy transport applications combined with an extensive product-related service offering,’ Scania employ 50,000 people across close to 100 countries. Based on what they saw as a good fit between the company’s philosophy and the customer profile of their New Zealand clients, Scania could see potential for growth in the New Zealand market, and the numbers have so far proved them right as they are now market leaders for both sales and servicing, with their market share for heavy trucks rising from 13% in 2020 to 23% last year. “Customers were concerned that the sales in New Zealand wouldn’t be backed up with support on the servicing side, so we’re investing to ensure we provide premium servicing as well as a premium product. One follows the other,” explains managing director Victor Carvalho. Part and parcel of their expansion is the wish to bring all the Scania facilities around the country in line with their global standards. With headquarters in Auckland, they had existing premises in Wiri, Waikato, Rotorua, and Christchurch, all of which they are looking to expand, and in the last year they have opened two new, state-of-the-art facilities. “Invercargill was our first priority because it had a very small workshop, so that was the first in New Zealand to be upgraded, and Hastings is the second. We have two more planned, one for Palmerston North and the other a new, purpose-built site in Waikato,” says Victor. When a new site is identified, along with the sort of capacity the workshop needs to be capable of handling, the developer, which in Hastings’ case was Tuatara Structures, works closely with Scania’s local facilities manager, who in turn works closely with Scania’s real estate department based in Sweden. They do the calculations dictating the size of the yard, the size of the warehouse and so on, design the layout according to their global standards, and that design is then worked through locally, taking into account New Zealand’s specific needs, local materials, building regulations and so on, which may be vastly different from those of Brazil, for example. This part of the process is given all the time it needs to ensure they get it right – they know it is money well spent. The resulting workshop in Hastings has a six-bay drive-through capacity with the ability to accommodate 11 technicians. It includes a Certificate of Fitness (COF) compliant lane, full brake-roller (breaking balance) and shaker-plate (steering and suspension quality) capabilities, along with a certified Dangerous Goods pit suitable for fuel tanker work, as well as full air-conditioning servicing and re-gassing, all operated by highly trained technicians using full factory tooling and diagnostic equipment. “We service truck-trailers, chassis, and bodies, and we provide solutions to our customers in one place to minimise their downtime. “We offer a one-stop-shop by bringing everything into a single location and not relying on third-party service providers. Last year, we invested in more than 11,000 hours of technical training to make sure our people can maintain and service any truck that comes in, whether it’s Scania or not,” explains Victor. After nearly six years in the country, Scania are continuing their long-term strategy to invest in developing their service capacity and ensure they can support the trucks already here, and those destined to arrive in the years to come. For the first time, they have taken top position nationally in the 10-year rolling fleet with more than 3300 trucks on the road, and they intend to ensure that those trucks can access the same Scania services here as they can anywhere else in the world. Scania want to ensure they remain the best truck solution provider, in both sales and service, no matter where their clients are in New Zealand, so they will continue to develop their world-class workshops around the country as numbers increase and the need arises. Proudly supporting Scania & Tuatara Structures Dedicated Steelfixing team. From residential house slabs to civil structures, apartment blocks to wind farm bases. STRENGTH FROM THE GROUND UP! Ngoi, mai I te papa ki runga! 021 271 0505 dane@amuareinforcement.co.nz
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