UD Trucks Australia staff shine in 2024 Gemba Challenge

The UD Trucks Gemba Challenge, now in its tenth year, is a global bi-annual competition aimed at developing and demonstrating the service excellence of frontline dealership and workshop staff.

This year saw Australian participation and performance reach new heights, with two teams qualifying for the global final at the home of UD Trucks in Ageo, Japan, in November.

The Gemba Challenge ran locally from March to August this year, entailing two qualifying rounds of theory. Australian participation was up by more than 200 percent since 2022 with 105 teams competing, collectively comprising of more than 400 frontline staff.

The word ‘Gemba’ loosely translates to ‘where value is created’, which for UD Trucks, and its customers, is the dealership and workshop floors where passionate personnel are committed to delivering premium and dependable products and services.

The Australian team from CMV Truck & Bus Epping, self-named ‘STOP LOOKING AT ME QUON!!!’, placed first nationally. The all-technician team, led by Justin Westcott, includes members Nitin Soman, James Greenwood, and Rob Boletti, all of whom began their careers with CMV and UD Trucks as apprentice technicians and all share a passion for customer success.

Team UD11, from Truck Centre WA Forrestfield, also performed particularly well and earned one of the two coveted wildcard spots up for grabs among the 650+ global competing teams. Led by Sam Morris, with team members Neil Aramil, Nik Glovata, and Chris Gunning, the team embraces a culture of learning and leadership.

“The teamwork, dedication and skill we’ve seen from our Australian teams in this year’s Gemba Challenge is a demonstration of their Gemba Spirit and the passion that drives them to go the Extra Mile for our customers day in and day out,” said Vice President Services and Retail Development at Volvo Group Australia, Martin Jerresand.

“The theme for this years’ competition is ‘All Stars’, and it couldn’t be more fitting given the level of performance we’ve seen. Each team has completed a combined 80 hours of training as part of the challenge, which is a solid commitment from our dealer network to developing its people.”

The UD Trucks Gemba Challenge is part of UD’s heavy investment in developing and empowering frontline staff through hands-on training and support across its leading dealer network.

“At UD Trucks, our core value is delivering Ultimate Dependability to our customers, and the Gemba Challenge supports this by ensuring our customers and their fleets are backed by some of Australia’s most skilled, capable and passionate technical staff,” said Vice President UD Trucks Australia, Philippa Wood.

“We congratulate all of our Gemba All Stars teams that participated in this year’s competition and look forward to seeing our Australian finalists competing on the Gemba Challenge Final world stage in November.”