Staff from ignition specialist NGK, have attended a bespoke, two-day technical product training programme at Kingston College, in the UK designed to give them a unique product insight.  

The course was created by Tim Howes, Deputy General Manager – Supply Chain & Technical Service and Paul Warnett, Head of Automotive Engineering for the South Thames Colleges Group. Tim said,  “The training was intended to provide a detailed overview of how the complete range of NGK and NTK products function within the motor vehicle’s associated systems and an appreciation of modern diagnostic techniques and the necessary equipment to carry this out effectively. It also offered the opportunity to get down and dirty with several hands-on sessions which included the complete strip and rebuild of a modern IC engine and instruction on how to correctly remove and install many of the products NGK provides the automotive sector.”

The NGK team attending included representatives from marketing, technical services, OE and supply chain and featured several managers, including Marketing Manager Mark Hallam, who said, “The training was excellent. There were ten of us who took part and it gave us all the opportunity to learn more about our products and have hands-on experience of working on vehicles in a workshop environment. We were stripping engines, diagnosing faults and fitting sensors, all of which I believe will help us when we engage with our customers. It was a very enjoyable and, more importantly, invaluable experience.”

Tim added: “All who attended found it highly beneficial, as the opportunity to see and handle the products in a real-life environment is something not usually available to them. We see new units fresh out of the box or grubby, returned items but never the relevant vehicle and training is often confined to theoretical classroom sessions.”  He added, “We would certainly like to repeat this event in the future for more members of the NGK team, as the knowledge acquired provides a much greater understanding of how our products interact with the vehicle as a whole and the challenges faced by those who maintain the vehicle parc.”