December/January 2019

MOT connectivity draws near NEWS NGK and Seven-times British Pro Mod drag racing champion and race car builder Andy Robinson have teamed up to launch the MO70 project to transform a standard ride- on lawn mower in to a speed machine capable of reaching more than 70mph. Andy will be spending the next few months working on the Honda mower to enable it to at least exceed the road speed limit at the Santa Pod Raceway drag racing circuit in Northamptonshire in 2019. NGK announced the MO70 project at the Saltex horticultural show at Birmingham’s NEC and plans to show the souped-up mower next year in its full racing livery. Mark Hallam, NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd Marketing Manager, said: “We bought the standard Honda mower off eBay for just a few hundred pounds and have given Andy the task of making it reach 70mph, but knowing him it could well achieve 100mph! We will be reporting on Andy’s progress over the coming months as he prepares the MO70 to make its track debut.” Direct transmission of MOT data could reduce errors and the fraudulent misreporting of results, and the DVSA is continuing to move towards greater connectivity. At the GEA annual members meeting, held at the Mini plant in Oxford in November, the DVSA provided an update on its work on introducing connected equipment into the UK MOT. The DVSA presentation covered a pilot project run during summer 2018. The DVSA has also completed an initial version of a cloud-based application program interface (API) and demonstrated connectivity with a Roller Brake Tester. The DVSA’s solution would permit the use of any inter-equipment networked system. Benefits of connected technology for garages, according to the DVSA, include reduced costs, increased efficiency and a reduction in MOT fraud, along with general future-proofing and an improvement to risk ratings. The DVSA's next move will be to begin live trials with RBT connectivity. At the same time it will extend API capability to enable connections from on board diagnostics, exhaust gas analysers and diesel smoke meters. They are also hoping to extend this to electronic headlamp beam testers. Neil Barlow, DVSA’s Head of Vehicle Engineering, said: “DVSA’s priority is helping everyone keep their vehicles safe to drive. Vehicle testing technology is continuing to improve and DVSA is determined that GB testing makes the most of that. We already have trials underway with connected testing technology, and will shortly be adding to our standards for new equipment, and working towards making this available to the garage industry.” The DVSA also wanted to reassure garages that any rollout would be phased. Garages would not be expected to immediately replace existing equipment that doesn’t meet the new standard. Commenting on the move towards greater connectivity, GEA Chief Executive Dave Garratt said: "Upholding the quality of the MOT test is very important. What we do now is rely on the operator to take the results and enter them onto the website. That allows error to creep in, as the operator may make a mistake, take the wrong results and put them in. To keep the quality high, it would be much better if the equipment transmitted that result directly from the equipment to the DVSA website. It makes a lot of sense, speeds up tests and takes out human error. That is the most important thing. good idea. The next step would be to enable equipment and test lanes to connect directly to it." According to Dave, greater connectivity is a must for the MOT: "The rest of Europe went connected some time ago. It makes sense for us to do the same. It just takes out any human errors - even identifying the car correctly. As time moves on they will probably want to connect to the OBD socket as well, which means you will be able to check the VIN number." NGK go for mower power record 6 AFTERMARKET DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019 www.aftermarketonline.net Walker Products awards: Las Vegas Just before the opening of the 2018 AAPEX show in Las Vegas, Walker Products held its annual sales meeting for their international team of sales representatives at the Grand Lux Café, located in the Palazzo hotel. Nearly 80 reps, sales staff, and management were present for the event, which included an awards ceremony. Geoffrey Wilsey, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, announced this year’s winners. Walker’s Director of Marketing and Product Development Adam Fell, and Eastern Regional Sales Manager Brad Schenk, presented the awards with Geoffrey Wilsey. Hirsig-Frazier Company, based in Richardson, Texas was named Sales Rep Agency of the Year. Meanwhile, Ken Byrnes of Stan Padover and Associates New Jersey, was named Sales Rep of the Year.