Seal of approval
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Twelve months ago York-based Britcom International gained official chassis converter status with MAN. CM
takes a closer look at what is involved Words: Kevin Swallow Famed for its export business, Britcom International, based in Market Weighton, also has a lourishing domestic business (CM 7 July). Used sales, engineering, and the bodyshop are all trained to meet export demands as much as domestic needs, and the converter role is another string to the company’s bow.
Brent Carmichael, operations manager, says having MAN converter status means that the company can offer customers a full range of services with the full backing of the manufacturer and its warranties.
“This means that if we require any technical assistance, we can contact the technical departments in either the UK or Germany and get an immediate response.
“Coupled with the fact that we now apply for and download our own data iles for the converted vehicles, this means that we can speed up the time from a vehicle coming on site to going on the road, having been converted, bodied and painted all under one roof. This is very important for a dealer who will start to pay for a vehicle once they have taken possession of it from the factory,” he says.
Becoming approved meant incorporating chassis engineering, body and trailer building, including associated design, into its scope of BS EN ISO 9001:2008. “It took us a year from our submission to certiication,” Carmichael explains.
Proposal
Britcom worked with audit team Munich and Swindon to analyse its ISO systems and procedures before proposing a vehicle conversion that included all the elements of a conversion such as chassis alteration, wheel formula change, and changing a tractor into a rigid.
“When our design had been accepted by Munich, we then had to carry out the works as planned. Once completed, the audit team had to return to inspect the vehicle, again over a three-day period, before compiling a dossier and recommending Britcom to become an approved converter,” he says.
In the 12 months since the appointment, Britcom has converted more than 20 chassis for both domestic and international markets and directly employed 20 people for the process. “Whether working on a chassis for the UK or export market we work to the same standard.
A project that we have developed for the export market is converting a 4x2 tractor to a 6x2 tag-lift speciication.
“The big difference, with this being for the export market, is that we are going backwards with technology and removing the air suspension from the drive axle and replacing it with multi-leaf springs to match the added tag axle.
“This is a fantastic set up for the African markets due to the poor road infrastructures as it gives excellent vehicle handling and yet still allows the tag axle to lift 150mm from the ground when needed,” he says.
Customer orders tend to be for bespoke applications, but Britcom is also working on an order for six 6x2 tractors to be converted to 6x2 drawbar speciication – the biggest single order to date.
“To a certain degree, orders are driven by the demands of the customer but we are carrying out conversions for our own sales department, plugging the hole in the market place for things such as low mileage 26-tonne rigids,” Carmichael says.
From prepping a vehicle to delivery conversion work can take two days for a wheelbase extension, while an artic to rigid with an added axle followed by the addition of a complex body and painting can take two months.
“The conversion process for any vehicle being done for the manufacturer requires us to carry out the work as dictated by them to the letter of the law to ensure that the vehicle, once converted, can be warranted by the manufacturer to that of a standard vehicle,” he says. “This includes using the correct grades of steel, manufacturers’ ittings and extending electrics with genuine extension harnesses, to name but a few.”
Data file
When a truck is inished, Britcom then has to obtain a new data ile from the manufacturer and download it to the vehicle to conigure the new vehicle parameters. “Conirmation of this, along with supporting documentation, is then submitted to the VOSA technical department for approval. An appointment is made for inspection and, if required, the re-plating of the vehicle,” Carmichael says.
The work done by Britcom carries the full manufacturers’ warranty on a new chassis or the remainder, if the truck is still within the warranty period.
On a used truck, Britcom offers a 12-month parts and labour warranty. ■