Automobile

Start with who needs vehicle sales and service support and why. Around drivers and fleets drive demand in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates.

• List 10 offers or suppliers in the UAE with price per vehicle in AED and who buys.
• Interview 5 people from drivers and fleets: what do they buy now, how often, what do they pay, what annoys them?
• Learn three terms: Job card (the written record of work on a vehicle); Torque (the turning force for tightening a bolt); Road test (a drive after repair to check it).
• Write a one-page brief: user, need, hoped-for price, and the rule that matters most.

Activity. Complete the market table, five interview notes and the brief.

Standard to meet. Price ten offers, interview five users, and state one need in one sentence.

Know the rule before the work. Main hazards here: lifting accidents and fluid spills. Hazard thinking means list each step, ask what could go wrong, and decide the control.

• Ask your local authority or free zone which licence, permit or inspection applies. Write the answer and the date you asked.
• For each step (book in; inspect; quote; repair; test and return) write the hazard and the control.
• Use a hierarchy: remove the hazard, replace it, separate people from it, change the way of work, then protective equipment last.
• Keep a one-page incident rule: who you call, what you stop, what you record.

Activity. Draw the flow and mark hazard and control at each step.

Standard to meet. Name a hazard and a control for every step, and answer the licence question in writing.

The work is a short chain: book in, inspect, quote, repair, test and return. Learn each link, then link them with records.

• Write a checklist for each of the 5 steps: input, action, check, output.
• Time each step three times and note the slowest.
• Record a defect or delay each time it happens: what, where, cause, fix.
• Measure vehicles returned fixed first time; this is your main number.

Activity. Run the chain three times (simulated or real) and fill the log.

Standard to meet. Complete three logs, and give the slowest step a cause and a fix.

What you do not measure you cannot improve. Your main measure is vehicles returned fixed first time.

• Define vehicles returned fixed first time: what counts, what does not, and over what period.
• Draw a simple chart of the last 10 results and mark the average.
• Find the top two causes of loss with a tally sheet, then fix the biggest one first.
• Check measuring tools: are they accurate, clean and in date?

Activity. Collect a tally for one week and make a Pareto chart.

Standard to meet. Complete the tally, name the biggest cause, and plan one fix with a date.

Know the cost of one vehicle before you set the price. Include materials, labour, energy, transport, licence share, waste and a safety margin.

• Cost per vehicle = total cost divided by vehicles sold (not made).
• Margin = (price minus cost) divided by price.
• Break-even units = fixed costs divided by gain per unit.
• Test the price with two users and write down the answer.

Activity. Build the cost sheet with AED on every line and have your mentor check it.

Standard to meet. Check that no cost is missing, and calculate the margin twice by different routes.

Customers return when you keep promises. Promise only what your workflow can deliver.

• Write a one-page offer: what is included, what is not, price, time, how you fix mistakes.
• Write a short script for the first call or visit.
• Agree dates in writing; confirm each change.
• Handle a complaint in four steps: listen, apologise for the impact, fix, record what changed.

Activity. Present the offer to two users and note changes.

Standard to meet. Write an offer with scope, price, time and a fix rule, and collect comments from two users.

Small, real and recorded. Change one thing at a time and learn quickly.

• Keep a daily log: date, units, cost, delays, defects, safety notes.
• Hold a 15-minute review each week with your mentor.
• Write down every complaint and what you changed.
• Take photos only where allowed and never of people without consent.

Activity. Complete 30 days of the log and four weekly reviews.

Standard to meet. Log 30 days, give each defect a cause, and keep weekly notes.

A decision beats a feeling. Compare plan with result and choose to scale, change or stop.

• Make a before and after table: cost per unit, defects, delays, repeat users.
• Write three lessons.
• Decide scale, change or stop, with the numbers behind it.
• Give two peers one strength and one fix each.

Activity. Present to a review room and collect one written comment from a user.

Standard to meet. Justify the decision with numbers, and give two peer reviews.

The job card is the contract.

• List symptoms in the customer's words.
• Inspect before quoting.
• Get approval for extra work.
• Keep replaced parts to show.

Activity. Fill a job card for three sample faults.

Standard to meet. Write the approval step.

Desert heat is hard on cars.

• Test battery and coolant.
• Check tyre age and pressure.
• Lift vehicles safely.
• Road-test after repair.

Activity. Create a summer check list.

Standard to meet. Write measurable items.

Faults rarely announce their cause. A step-by-step drill avoids guessing, avoids unneeded parts and builds trust with the owner.

• Confirm the complaint, then reproduce it before touching anything.
• Check the cheap and likely causes first: fluids, fuses, connectors, battery.
• Use a scan tool for codes but treat codes as clues, not answers.
• Show the owner the faulty part and explain what is needed and what can wait.

Activity. Build a six-step fault tree for "engine cranks but will not start" and test it on a worked case.

Standard to meet. Start the tree with simple checks, give each step a pass or fail result, and end with a stated cause.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Name the job card parts

Notes: Name the parts of a job card, a torque value and a road test. Notes: the job card is the written record of work on a vehicle; learners watch and name only, and work on vehicles only under a competent supervisor.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Lifting, spills and desert heat

Notes: Describe the lifting and fluid-spill hazards and how desert heat affects batteries, tyres and air conditioning. Notes: always work only under a competent supervisor, use stands and not a jack alone, and clean spills at once.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Fill a job card

Notes: Fill a job card for a sample fault with symptoms in the customer's words and an approval step for extra work. Notes: check the quote sum; brake pads at 2 hours x AED 90 + AED 260 parts = AED 440.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Run the full service workflow

Notes: Run book-in, inspect, quote, repair, test and return on a supervised vehicle with complete records. Notes: the standard is a road test and a signed job card; the target is vehicles returned fixed first time.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Analyse faults and decide

Notes: Analyse a month of job cards for repeat faults and decide what to change. Notes: at AED 650 per vehicle and AED 380 cost the gain is AED 270, 41.5 per cent; break-even on AED 11,400 fixed costs is 43 vehicles.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Coach safe lifting and checks

Notes: Coach apprentices on lifting, spill control and the pre-repair check, under a competent supervisor. Notes: sample five job cards a week for a hazard note and a test record; target five out of five.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Design the workshop system

Notes: Design a workshop system with hazard controls, heat checks, diagnostic steps, an audit and a 12-month plan. Notes: at 150 vehicles a month the gross gain is AED 40,500; present one safety risk, one saving and a yearly first-time-fix target.