November and December saw the New Holland training programme in full swing. New Holland has always been proud of its commitment to training, not only for its own sales force, but also for its after sales staff and customers too.
At the heart of the programme is the International Training Centre based at the New Holland Tractor Plant in Basildon: With three large workshops, four classrooms, two practical rooms and a conference room that seats 100, the centre is custom-built for tractor and combine technical training.
The workshops are large enough to take six tractors each. Two of the workshops are big enough to accommodate combine harvesters – the largest of which can house three combines at one time. The classrooms have also been designed with big machines in mind and have double width doors so training equipment can be brought in to the lecture area.
Running the centre from behind the scenes and front of house, are the manager, the course authors, the training instructors, administrators and technical support staff.
The courses deal with different levels of expertise from the Fundamentals, through to Product Training and on to a High Level of technical training. The courses are normally four days long and over half that time is spent on practical projects and programmes.
James Fermor, New Holland’s after sales technical training manager says the courses are carefully put together:
"The courses we run are designed to create a high skill base while developing a good underpinning knowledge which is designed to improve diagnostic and repair skills. The Fundamental Courses give technicians the building blocks of core knowledge and deal with the main systems used in the tractors and other machinery. So at this stage we’re dealing with engines, powertrains, electrics, hydraulics and so on."
From here, technicians can go on to develop more specific knowledge and skills on Product Courses. These go into more depth about specific procedures and cover the technology specific to a certain range. So a technician may come along to specialise in T7000 Auto Command, or the T9000s, for example, or they may want to improve their ability to provide a good service back-up for a specific baler or combine range.
The pinnacle of New Holland’s technician training is the High Level Training. James says that only the most experienced technicians apply for these courses:
"At this level, the programmes are designed to hone the knowledge and skills that have been developed over years of practice and training. The courses push the technician to become a true professional, enabling them to provide customer support at the highest level. Courses include specialist areas dealing with subjects such as DATAR Diagnostic Equipment, a course like Farm Systems RTK Level 3, or diagnostic courses for combines."
The ITC mainly caters for New Holland technicians from the UK and Ireland, but it also serves technicians from around the world – particularly Importer staff, who can attend the normal technical training and specialised courses for technical trainers.
The programmes are also tied into the Institute of Agricultural Engineers qualification programme and the courses encompass both New Holland Agriculture and New Holland Construction brands.
But it is not just the technicians who benefit from the training facilities: In November, the Centre hosted a series of preview days for customers – allowing them exclusive access to the latest products: They were shown the new T7, T8 and T9 ranges – complete with their new numbering system. Around 150 customers and dealers took part in the three day event, where they were shown the new machines that are compliant with the Tier 4A emission regulations and then taken on a tour of the Basildon plant.
New Holland is also continuing its commitment to ’people at the heart of everything we do’. In November, the Tier 4A training team took to the road visiting dealerships around the country to explain to customers how the new regulations will affect them on the ground. This was also an ideal opportunity to promote New Holland’s solution and how dealers will support customers every step of the way.
Tier 4A was also the subject of some very specialised training in December, when 150 dealers arrived at the ITC for a full day of training on the technology used by the new engines. The training included detailed discussion on how the emission regulations are being implemented by New Holland.
James Fermor says the method adopted by New Holland is well proven:
"The training explains how New Holland machines are being engineered to meet the new emissions regulations: We’re using a system called Selective Catalytic Reduction. It’s been used in truck technology for years. We are drawing on FIAT group expertise through the Iveco truck division and so it is tried and tested many, many times over.
"Reducing harmful emissions is achieved by introducing a urea/water mix into the exhaust, which treats the emissions as it passes through a catalytic converter. The SCR solution has many benefits that all of our dealer staff are made aware of. Benefits to the customer include lower fuel consumption, while increasing power and torque levels, and the longest engine service interval in the business."
But the New Holland training philosophy goes beyond the current dealers and customers – New Holland is looking to the future too. To that end, it helps to sponsor apprentices at Reaseheath College in Cheshire. James says New Holland’s chief role is to ensure the students have the equipment and machinery they need:
"The apprentices are employed by the dealerships and over four years they’ll do three years at Reaseheath College and one year in their dealership workshop. At the moment we have over 100 apprentices at Reaseheath – around thirty to forty per year, most of whom are training for a National Diploma in Land Based Technology.
"New Holland makes sure the students have lots of tractors, gear boxes, engines and other equipment to train on. We also ensure that the lecturers are given up to date information, not just on New Holland products, but information about market awareness too. We aim to get these New Holland apprentices up to LTA stage two – so that when they’ve finished their college courses they really are quite skilled young people."
