Original Equipment Suppliers Aftermarket Association (OESAA) Chairman, Nigel Morgan, has been speaking about the development of the association, including the successful return of Autoinform Live. 

Nigel says that OESAA was delighted to return with two separate events in Wolverhampton and Dublin recently after the a two year break due to COVID-19. He comments, “If technicians were apprehensive about attending large-scale events, they didn’t show it! We were thrilled with the levels of engagement, passion and interest in the various seminars and workshop programmes that were on offer. What’s more, technicians were able to gain important Institute of the Motor Industry qualifications following specific seminars.” 

Nigel added, “It was a reminder that there is still a large demand from forward-thinking professionals, eager to strengthen their offering, so customers aren’t tempted to go elsewhere or to the main dealer. Our members are all determined to relinquish their knowledge, to the advantage of the independent aftermarket workshop, and visitors took full advantage. Elsewhere, we’ve been both flattered and reassured that our strategy of being a supportive arm to aftermarket personnel, showing the demise of the internal combustion engine is a long way off – at least from an aftermarket perspective – has proved right, with the arrival of new members and a passionate garage forum network.”

Speaking about a spike in companies joining OESAA, Nigel commented, “Waeco, BILSTEIN, Laser Tools, First Brands Group, Brembo and Delphi Technologies have all joined OESAA over the last 12 months. They all bring different product groups and ideas to the organisation, but all have the same drive and determination to protect the interests of the independent automotive aftermarket.”

Nigel also points out that synergies between OESAA members are clearly a priority for the organisation. He says, “Members, with their own set of specialisms, come together to help produce a block of content that features video, images and a write-up; for example, Dayco, Fil Filter, Schaeffler and Motul all contributed to a 1.2 Puretech Belt in Oil system project. Our experts offered advice on efficient system diagnosis, replacement, supporting services and commercial advice that would help a workshop’s reception.”

He goes on, “We are just putting the finishing touches to our latest project, which features Delphi Technologies and Laser Tools. Following the same media format, the first video is a case study of changing the gearbox oil on a Volkswagen Passat plug-in hybrid. The aim is to provide advice and expertise on common service jobs on hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). The next video will look at the pressure test on an EV battery on a Nissan Leaf. We’ve also hosted several webinars, including one held by Schaeffler and DENSO. These types of sessions are designed and scheduled so technicians can use their break and/or downtime to digest bitesize pieces of technical content.”

Moving on to the very hot industry topic of recruitment Nigel says, “We were very pleased to host Autotech Group’s Talent Recharge presentation in Dublin, with the idea to help automotive businesses devise and deploy successful long-term talent strategies, keeping the recruitment conversation going and retaining professionals within the industry. It was concerning to hear that the majority of workshops Autotech Group surveyed, during its first Talent Recharge event, believe that recruiting skilled technicians will become harder and that the skills shortage is holding their business back from making higher profits. The relationships with our garage forum and Autotech Group will be crucial on this topic, so we can use our collective brains to take action.”