Multi award winning family business, AJ Fleetcare, have launched a training academy, with a remit to improve standards through topflight, competitively priced learning, aimed at fellow technicians – starting with DPF training. It’s a move that has been welcomed by The Motor Ombudsman, on the basis that specialist technical training for independent garages, made accessible to the many, not the few, further supports the drive for the highest level of service and work delivered to motorists. This mirrors a primary purpose of businesses adhering to the Ombudsman’s Codes of Practice.
Commenting on the AJ Fleetcare Academy, Alan Landale, founder said: “In the next 12 months, our training will extend beyond DPF fundamentals, into other areas that are presently under wraps. We’re starting with a full day workshop
event on 22 nd November at our unit in Leeds, where we have ample room for up to 20 attendees. DPFs are big business, but for many workshops they’re either taking too long on cleaning a DPF, sending the DPF to another workshop
or as is more often the case, refusing the work. Our training will unlock a workshop’s potential. We’ve been cleaning DPFs for several years and have become renowned as the region’s go-to DPF experts. In the last six months, we have been converting our knowledge and experience into several accelerated learning modules that will lift the lid on what it takes to become a credible DPF specialist. We had such a positive reaction when chatting with technicians at the Automechanika show in Birmingham recently, that it was not a case of do we launch an academy, but when. Our first pilot event sold out within 24 hours, so it’s full steam ahead.”
As part of the training, the team will cover the fundamentals of DPF cleaning, including how to identify a damaged DPF, the folly of forced regenerations, cleaning products to avoid and the importance of the diagnostic process. Front of house staff will gain valuable knowledge because the AJ Fleetcare team will discuss the significance of DPF maintenance, explain the operation of the DPF, and will address common causes of blockages.
“We’re on a mission to educate, inform and inspire technicians, with time served, practical training, so they can realise the untapped potential of DPFs on
their doorstep,” continued Alan. “We’ll demonstrate our procedure for addressing a blocked DPF, given we’re on a firm foundation with hundreds of case studies. The Academy is a long held ambition and since winning The Motor Ombudsman’s coveted National Star Award last year, we’ve been exploring how we can share our blueprint for success. By offering delegate based training, a workshop can send one or all of their technicians, plus their front of house staff, knowing they will see a return on their investment with just a few DPF jobs.”
The team at AJ Fleetcare use the JLM Lubricants’ DPF professional toolkit and DPF cleaning and maintenance products. Commenting on this, Mike Schlup, JLM UK said: “We could not be more pleased that this award-winning team endorse JLM Lubricants’ products. The training academy they have launched fills a long-standing gap in the market for high quality expert training at an affordable price point.”
