Luke Rowley of Toyota Material Handling in Moorebank won the event following a series of tests and he will now travel to Japan for a tour of the company’s forklift manufacturing facility in Toyota City, which is located close to Nagoya.Three winners were named in the tradesmen section of the TMH National Skills Competition – one each for the three brands within the Toyota Material Handling Group – and they received $3000 worth of travel vouchers. John Grozdovski from TMH (Victoria) was the Toyota Industrial Equipment winner, Shaun Xerri from TMH (New South Wales) was the BT Lift Truck winner, and TMH Queensland’s John Robertson won the Raymond Forklift section.Toyota Material Handling Australia president Steve Harper said the final round of the TMH National Skills Competition was the culmination of a three-stage process of written, oral and practical testing. “Contestants from Toyota Material Handling branches across Australia underwent three preliminary examinations, with those scoring the highest score in each region advancing to the national final,” he said. Each of the finalists was given 45 minutes to identify a fault using the forklift’s sophisticated onboard diagnosis system, and advise the adjudicator of their diagnosis.They were then judged on customer service, adherence to work practices, use of the Toyota workshop manual and the following of correct procedures.“Two decades ago, Toyota was the first material handling equipment supplier in Australia to develop and offer specialist TAFE training for forklift truck technicians,” said Harper. “To stay in front, Toyota must keep pace with both the needs of the customer and the support necessary for the products we sell.“The level of skill required to deal with customers and service their needs is increasing daily.”Harper believes that skills training at all levels is both a customer expectation and a career requirement.
