COmPETITION

To have confidence in your local garage is always comforting. Especially when the workshop personnel are recognised as world-leading technicians, it takes comfort to a new level. That high level is what the team at Delaney Commercials in Naas have achieved as they have recently been acknowledged as world leaders through their participation in the Scania Top Team competition.

Every year Scania hosts its Top Team competition to find the best team of technicians drawn from 70 countries across the Swedish truck, bus and powertrain brand’s service network worldwide. The events are run over several weekends with teams of three to five people competing, first on a national basis and then on a regional level. In total there are six regional finals and this year the three European finals were held

in Bratislava, Slovakia. Two other finals were held in Bangkok, Thailand, with the South American event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The outright winners of the six regional finals will now travel to the home of Scania in Sodertalje near Stockholm to compete in the world final.

The Irish team of five from Delaney Commercials includes four technicians and one parts specialist. The technicians are John Brennan, Tommy Behan, Alan Auld, and Robert Brannock, while the team’s parts expert is Dave Ryall, and the team’s co-ordinator is Mick Conlan. All team members have various lengths of service with Delaney Commercials including one member working there for thirty-six years.

From first winning the Irish national competition, the Delaney Top Team travelled to Bratislava to take part in one of the three regional (European) finals. Here they would compete against the other national winning teams from Scania dealers across Europe - so it goes without saying the competition was stiff. Nevertheless, team Delaney won through, a significant achievement as this is the first time an Irish team has qualified for the finals. As team coordinator Mick Conlan pointed out: “They are really making history”.

The tasks involved are varied, with participants first undergoing a series of multiple-choice questionnaires. Once completed the teams move onto a series of work stations where they have 20 minutes to diagnose and solve a variety of faults and issues that Scania has generated in the test engines and vehicle systems. What makes the tasks even more complicated is that the technicians can be presented with problems not solely related to trucks. They are also presented with issues concerning bus and coach as well as marine, plant and power generation engines - in fact, any type of engine or vehicle that Scania

produce, or has produced over the years. There is no doubt that this is where the real-time hands-on experience comes into its own.

When the technicians diagnose the problem and arrive at a solution, the problem then transfers to the team’s parts specialist to source the correct part to remedy the issue. As is often the case with sourcing parts, especially for older models, there always comes a point where real-life experience and a feeling for what parts will work - will beat any computer system. This is where

the knowledge of what parts can be common to different models and what parts may have been superseded over time comes to the fore.

Team Delaney will now travel to Sodertalje to compete as one of the top twelve teams from around the world. This in itself is a great achievement for what could be described as a small private independent dealer in Ireland to be recognised as one of the top 12 Scania garages worldwide. In context, it must be remembered that Delaneys are up against some of the mega workshops found in Europe and beyond and many of which are owned by Scania.

When viewed from Scania’s perspective the competition provides a definitive barometer of the skill levels across the network. Consequently it will highlight where a training need might be found and allow the manufacturer to develop and better target upskilling with technicians. This is especially true of the teams that are not successful in the competition. It is also an event that Scania are highly supportive of, and not just by presenting the winning team with a trophy but the worldwide honour and prestige that goes with it. Scania puts its money where its mouth is. The overall winners will walk away with a prize fund of €50,000, the second place team takes home €30,000 and the third place finishers receive €20,000. This is a very encouraging gesture, and one that is deserved and pays due recognition to the time and effort that all of the Top Team entrants put in behind-the-scenes training and studying.

However, what all the teams say, and what Scania has found, is that the competition works to promote teamwork and problem-solving throughout the network and among the 8,000 competitors who take part in the Top Team event. What the result delivers is an unquestionable benefit for the customer and the Scania brand, and this year, the company has a particular focus on sustainable transport for the 2022/23 Top Team Competition.

What is the key to the success of the team? Managing Director John Delaney explained: “There is a great buzz around the garage and the lads are training as best they can, although they have no idea what scenarios they will be presented with.” However, John feels that in addition to their experience and the training, one of the most important factors to their success so far is “that the guys really want to do it.” The Scania Top Team is a way of highlighting the importance of service personnel and their ability. The Top Teams represents the outstanding talent and expertise of Scania organisation’s throughout. To get this far is what the Scania Top Team is all about…knowledge, ability, technical skills, teamwork and of course, experience.

Mick Conlan is well aware how good the standard of competition is that they will be facing in the world final. “You do not know how well your competitor does as it is all done on a points basis. They are all national champions, so they are going to be good.” How confident is his team going into the world finals? “Well, all we can do is to do our best but we are going to give it one hell of a shot, though even to come out of the regionals they are winners now, and they are great ambassadors for Delaney Commercials, for the Scania network, and for Ireland.”

While no date has been confirmed yet, John and Michael expect the World Final to take place sometime during April 2023.

Text: Paul White – paul@fleet.ie