SECTION A

$(40$ MARKS$)$

There are FIVE $(5)$ questions in this section. Answer ALL questions in the Answer Booklet.

CASE STUDY: Trained to think; how our Toyota technicians deliver great quality

Lifelong learning benefits you as a person, therefore we support the growth of our employees with

all our heart. Toyota Material Handling Europe has developed online tools for its employees to

expand their knowledge and skills, like our TMHE academy. These tools are supported by

complete training programmes, like our Service Technician Education Programme or STEP. We

asked Antoine Reminiac $($Senior Operations Development Manager for Service Market$)$ what

STEP is all about.

At Toyota Material Handling we have a STEP$-$training for technicians, what is that exactly?

Well, STEP is a training development programme that exceeds the technical fundamentals of the

technician's job. They'll learn about our company culture, tools, safety, customer interaction and

so on$.$ They'll get a thorough understanding of everything that is required within their job as

technicians

There are three levels in our STEP$-$training: Bronze, Silver and Gold.$\text{'}$

'The Bronze level covers the basics; technicians join Toyota Material Handling, they learn about

our company and its values. During their first weeks we provide them with the basics: customer

interaction and truck knowledge, safety guidelines, information about how to find support etcetera.

They also get to work with tools like T$-$Stream. We call this step "onboarding and product

knowledge: :

'After a few years of field experience, a technician can deepen his or her technical expertise by

taking our Silver STEP; this part of the programme focusses on strengthening technical

knowledge and efficiency. This way they become experts on any type of product. Eventually,

some will have the opportunity to become "senior technicians"; these technicians specialise in

dealing with challenging customers, like those who need immediate repairs, or have a set of

complicated equipment, or customers with autonomous vehicles.$\text{'}$

'Through Gold STEP, employees get a grasp of how to grow in our company by studying various

soft skills such as time management, communication, and leadership to potentially become

Service Leaders or managers.$\text{'}$

What does one of these typical training days look like?

'Traditionally, training sessions take place in a classroom or workshop. We also added a digital

orientation. We try to mix online classes with physical ones as not everything can be taught online.

Technicians get the theory online, they then put it into practise by spending time working on the

truck with their trainer, by service roleplay or even by joining our digital classroom, where the

trainee takes control of the trainer's laptop to configure the truck, while the trainer can correct him

or her.$\text{'}$