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against any additional cost to both garages and consumers. Ultimately, it is a competitive market at the moment, and consumers are winning out. If extra burdens are put on the garages through the need to invest in additional equipment, chances are consumers could lose out in the long run if MOT capacity reduces due to MOT stations closing their doors.” Fees 60% of motorists, who were due a MOT, still went through with it. That shows there is quite a high level of buy-in for the concept of the MOT from the consumer. Considering the need for investment, would now be a bad time to tell all garages to charge the full rate for MOTs? Frank commented: “If you look at some of the online forums, there is very much an appetite for getting closer to that maximum charge. There are lots of ways of doing it, and the IGA had a number of conversations at member events last year around this topic. There were lots of people saying ‘everyone should charge the maximum rate’, but what garages also realise is that they have got to compete in the marketplace. If you are on an industrial estate with six other garages, it only takes one to reduce their fees and that compromises everybody else - it can quickly become a race to the bottom on prices.” Frank added: “For me there is no right or wrong answer, it is set at a maximum fee for a reason. There is a calculation behind that, in terms of the time that is taken to do the test, the investment in training and equipment needed. I think now probably time for that maximum to be reviewed.” Delay The swing towards connected equipment is an example of where the MOT has been moved forward, but even that is now seeing delays. GEA Chief Executive Julian Woods commented: “The changes DVSA have been pushing through with regards to connected equipment have been delayed because of the lockdown, for obvious reasons. They have also postponed adding requirements for additional connected equipment for the time being. “I think what the recent lockdown has done is bring more focus in on the support of business-critical equipment. This has caused businesses to realise that some equipment does lock out when not calibrated, and so it is important to have some sort of contingency in place, and having the companies available who can support and calibrate the equipment to the correct standards.” Backlog The MOT extension meant that the number of tests being performed dropped by more than half. With many garages having shut-up shop entirely during lockdown, equipment calibration was the last thing on anybody’s mind. That has changed now however, and the inevitable result is a backlog for calibration engineers to clear: “A lot of garage equipment companies put their staff on furlough. Also, DVSA said during the period that to reduce the number of people out and moving around, MOT testing stations could carry on operating without visits from equipment calibrators, as long as the equipment was fully operational and safe to use.” In early July, a DVSA Special Notice (0 2-20) alerted testing stations that equipment calibrations are required again. “The result,” said Julian, “is that many thousands of pieces of MOT equipment have now got overdue calibrations. Naturally this will take time for equipment suppliers to get out and get them back to specification.” HSE also changed mandatory safety checks on equipment during lockdown, so garages need to ensure they have all the relevant safety inspection up to date. For more information, visit www.hse.gov.uk Remote According to Julian, the difficulty in getting support during the recent lockdown should now influence how businesses look at equipment providers, and what they expect from them: “I think garages need to consider in future when they are looking to source equipment, for ongoing support and everything else. Not only now is it about the best price/shortest lead time to buy the equipment, but how it is going to calibrated and support it with software and other issues. “In the past, in a lot of cases, it was just about what is the best price. During lockdown, support in many cases came via remote access. It has changed the philosophy – you don’t need to get an engineer in a van and drive to the site for a minor issue or update – They can now do it remotely via the internet!” Paradigm shift While lockdown may have slowed the roll-out rate for connected equipment, it may conversely be responsible for accelerating the rate at which garages consider connected equipment: “It brought that paradigm shift forwards,” observed Julian, “because lockdown brought everyone’s attention to the fact that internet-connected equipment is the right way to go. It’s accelerated that technology for all garage equipment.” The GEA’s advice to garages, said Julian, is that when you look at buying, look for somebody who can support you long term: “You need to look at the bigger package now. It’s not just about the supplier with the best price, it is about who can support the equipment in the longer-term. It is also about who can offer you remote diagnostics and fixes online. Not all of them can, but most of the key equipment manufacturers do and have expanded that service and functionality over the lockdown period. “The thing about the MOT equipment calibration is this; In an ideal world, it would be nice if there was a deadline on which everything had to be calibrated by and back to normal operation, but obviously, if you put a date in your going to cause problems with workloads, lead times and monitoring. Logistically, that 10 AFTERMARKET SEPTEMBER 2020 BIG ISSUE www.aftermarketonline.net

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