Slowly does it
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Renowned tyre fitter Kwik Fit is expanding its offering to tackle mechanical and electrical work for vans with a slow-fit team of mechanics By Steve Banner
KWIK FIT IS expanding its offering by employing slow-fit technicians for vans that need more than just two new front tyres. They will be employed at its 25 new Kwik Fit Plus centres, which should be trading by the end of the year.
Upgraded from existing Kwik Fit depots, the centres can handle complex mechanical and electrical repairs — the task of the slow-fit mechanics — as well as simpler fast-fit jobs.
"We're hoping to have 150 sites out of our total of over 600 operating to Plus standard nationwide by the end of 2015," says fleet director Peter Lambert.
Light commercial operators are being targeted. "We're determined to attract more van business," he says. As a consequence, all Kwik Fit Plus
depots can carry out Class 7 as well as Class 4 MoT tests — as can some mainstream Kwik Fit branches — and are equipped with 5-tonne capacity ramps.
Further investment
Kwik Fit is also investing in 5-tonne axle stands, 6-tonne trolley jacks, and suitable tyre cages, wheel chocks and extension bars in line with its light commercial ambitions.
In addition, it is installing floor-mounted hydraulic scissor lifts in branches that don't have them yet. These will be used instead of trolley jacks, where possible and practical. Kwik Fit is broadening the selection of van tyres it offers and says it can now cover the bulk of sizes with premium, mid-range, and budget-price products. Using almost 200 vehicles, it provides a mobile tyre fitting
service to customers who want the work done at their own premises.
The company's flagship Kwik Fit Plus site is in Slough. It took £300,000 and 10 weeks to bring it up to Plus standard, and it has one of only two £35,000 Hunter fast-check lanes in the world on trial.
Capable of rapidly checking the brakes, tyre pressures, exhaust emissions, the state of the battery and a variety of other functions, the lane's findings can be displayed on an iPad to make it easy for the technician to talk the customer through them.
Alternatively, they can also be shown on a screen in Slough's air-conditioned customer waiting area, which features Wi-Fi access and a huge flat-screen TV, and is designed to match main dealer standards. As well as the news and sport, a split screen allows the television to show Kwik Fit's offers.
Kwik Fit branches are open from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. While that allows Kwik Fit to compete with car and van dealerships, many heavy truck franchised dealers that also sell, service and repair light commercials operate their workshops 24/7. "We are, however, looking at extending our opening hours later into the evening," says Lambert. •