The two-year quest of the Volvo Masters competition, with the goal of finding the most skilled technicians in Volvo’s global network, recently ended in Eskilstuna, Sweden.
The final victory went to the United States team, which included members Billy Byers, Scotty Cox and James Dorton. All work for ASC Construction Equipment, which covers a large part of the southeastern United States.
The competition featured six teams: Israel, Oman and Australia from the International region; Thailand representing Asia; a British team representing Europe; and a United States team for North America. Each team had moved through a series of local, national, sub-regional and regional finals.
What began with more than 2,400 Volvo dealer employees came down to a final 24.
Second place went to the Australian team (2007 winners), and third place went to the Israeli team.
The Volvo Masters competition is a comprehensive test of the dealerships’ parts and service personnel. It provides a platform where teams of three (two service technicians and one parts technician) can apply practical experience and knowledge while solving problems on Volvo equipment.
“The competition provides a setting that acknowledges and rewards the best and brightest talent in the construction equipment field,” said Patrick Overstreet, customer support manager of ASC. “During the competition, a variety of challenging problems are placed in the equipment. The teams have a designated amount of time to safely and accurately diagnose the problems and apply the appropriate corrections. The teams are evaluated on the method they use, safety practices followed and effectiveness of the corrections. The problems vary from electrical, hydraulic, mechanical and machine software systems.”
In Eskilstuna, teams worked through two days of competition. Seven different tasks were involved, each at a different station that represented machines across the Volvo Construction Equipment range. Stations included wheel loaders, motorgraders, articulated haulers, excavators, backhoe loaders, compactors and one that tested electrical and hydraulic expertise.
Each station included a work order, and teams had 15 minutes to prepare and discuss the task. In some tasks, supervisors who were judging the competitors were available for questions. In others, the teams were required to solve the problem using the tools and materials at hand, as well as online tools such as Prosis and operating manuals.
The competition began in North America, with teams from across the country competing in Asheville, N.C. ASC won the North American competition in 2009 and finished second in the global competition in Sweden the same year.
The current team won both the North American and the Global competition this year.
“The ASC 2011 world champions studied, read and kept their hands on equipment every available minute leading up to the competition,” Overstreet said. “Late hours going over equipment and reading schematics paid off in a well earned victory. We are proud of our team and the tremendous accomplishment they have achieved. Bringing home the trophy as the world champions is rewarding for both the 2011 team as well as the 2009 team. This victory is a testimony to the quality of people we have at ASC.”
ASC Construction has been a Volvo Construction Equipment dealer in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Eastern Tennessee since 2004. The ASC corporate office is based in Charlotte, N.C., and ASC currently has 16 branch locations.
CEG
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
Read more from Brenda Ruggiero here.
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