Association’s first-ever conference well attended
Mr. S. Muralidharan, President, Lucas Indian Service Ltd., was a hit among the 150-odd members of the All India Automobile Workshops Association (AIAWA) present at its first-ever national conference (NatCon) held in Bengaluru on July 16-17. His oratorical skill and his expert views has expressed in his address as the chief guest on the occasion impressed the select audience much.
He called for unity among the members of the Association by working with a precise agenda and deliver tangible results by next year. Garages and workshops in India remain scattered and unorganized. Hence, building a strong bond among the members of this one-year-old association with a common agenda would imply progress.
He said: “AIAWA must become meaningful. Work towards substantial stages like setting quality standards as per AIAWA and its certification. Know that companies have clout, finance and technology. You cannot take them on single-handedly.”
He also urged the members to grow stronger and beware of internal rivalry and competition.
Echoing him views, Mr. Vikrantt Mohan, National President, AIAWA, said: “AIAWA is one year old. About 53 per cent of vehicles in India are being served by the AIAWA workshops. Together we can be a strong force to realise our targets and making bodies which were not ready to acknowledge us before to take us seriously and be ready to collaborate with us. They now understand what we can do and they know that AIAWA is necessary for the industry.”
According to him, the automobile service industry requires two props – manufacturers of various parts, and those who service the parts and tools. He shared: “We correlate with each other and we try to give the best, which even an authorized dealer cannot give. It is so because an independent workshop, as against an authorized dealer, will work with all the requirements of the client. We go the extra mile to serve the customer.”
With advancing automotive technology, Indian garages in the unorganized sector will soon be floundering. Mr. Muralidharan cautioned: “View technology as an opportunity. It is a challenge. We are at the cross-roads today. One workshop will never be able to offer a full range of diagnostics for all vehicles and all models. If you as a garage specialize in one kind of technology, then you will have a chance to serve more customers. The world over, technology is changing fast. You, as a garage, should not be scared of it.”
He drew the attention of the AIAWA members to the fast changing scenario in terms of electronics in the next three years. That is why he advised them to ‘know your electronics’ because “if emission norms come in faster, there will be common rail pumps, especially in smaller vehicles, which you will not be able to repair.” He urged them to be ‘electronics savvy’ to overcome such a scenario in future.
Garages and workshops in India, compared to authorized dealers, are those businesses which are generally handed down from generation to generation. Its ubiquitous nature is such that it is high time that bodies like AIAWA looked at training the mechanics who even now are mostly invisible and remain illiterate entities.
Mr. Muralidharan wished that AIAWA looks at this point closely, “Imagine a vehicle worth a few lakhs of rupees being given to be worked on by an unskilled mechanic! AIAWA is now here to get them organized by giving them training to take them to the next level and certify the standards reached by these garages and workshops.”
But as a service industry which is still fragmented, it faces some serious challenges, of which one is training. Mr. Mohan pointed out: “We face a few but serious challenges like training and sourcing spare parts from the right source. It is only now that people are realizing that AIAWA can be given special consideration such as in rates which till now only an authorized dealer has received. But with a platform like AIAWA and numbers backing us, people have started realizing that contributing to and supporting AIAWA makes sense.”
With the agenda for the next one year outlined as offering technical and soft skill training at the local level, holding regional meetings to expand membership, visiting plants and factories to talk to them into offering parts and equipments to AIAWA members, Mr. Mohan and his core group have their hands full. Also in the works are a mobile app and a website; offering special warranties to its members; and standardization of labour rates, working hours and holidays, so that AIAWA as an umbrella can bring together disconnected garages and workshops and offer them a benefit of their lifetime and beyond.