ZF supports industry with [pro]Service Network

ZF has long operated as a major player in the many facets of Australia’s transport industry. For decades, the German-based manufacturer has supplied the local market with various components for a multitude of vehicles and machinery such as prime movers, buses and construction equipment.

These wide-spreading capabilities have resulted in an equally wide-spreading product range.

“Our product portfolio is so broad that you could almost build a whole vehicle with the components that we manufacture,” says ZF Head of Sales Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket and OE Trailer, Oceania, Damon Baffico. “We make everything from driveline parts all the way to steering components, suspension components and braking equipment.”

ZF’s product range has further expanded within the last five years to service Australia’s trailer market as well. This was facilitated by the global acquisition of leading braking technology manufacturer, WABCO, in 2020.

“The acquisition united two industry leaders to create a customer-focused powerhouse, and advance commercial vehicle technology and integrated support services,” Damon explains. “WABCO is a very prominent company in trailer componentry and is well-known for its Trailer Electronic Braking Systems (TEBS) in particular.

“There have been more than 100,000 WABCO (now ZF) TEBS units fitted to trailers in Australia over the years. We now oversee between 75 and 80 per cent of all these fitments through our distribution partners in the market.”

ZF, having such a large presence in the country, is focused on developing a service support network to deal with its [pro]Service partners’ maintenance needs.

“Fleets require maintenance support for their trailers across the country,” Damon explains. “Trailers routinely travel from one end of the country to the other, and we are developing our service network to ensure we can support them all.”

ZF established the system in the form of the [pro]Service network – an integration of the former WABCO aftersales support program and the resources and expertise of ZF’s own technical and aftersales service platform, ZF Service Point.

“Up until our acquisition, WABCO had its own service partner network which looked after its products,” Damon says. “ZF had something similar, predominantly for prime mover and bus transmissions.

“We have since unified these two services into one all-encompassing service network, providing a much more comprehensive experience for our workshops.”

The [pro]Service network is a next-generation workshop concept designed to provide partners and their workshops with diagnostic assistance, aftersales support and technology training related to TEBS modules and the entire ZF product portfolio. As Damon explains, the process of becoming a service partner of ZF’s network involves a request to join and an evaluation for eligibility.

“The [pro]Service network collaborates with key partners to ensure they have all the right technical competencies and equipment to maintain our products in the field,” he says. “Workshops must undergo a competency evaluation to join it. We do this to make sure they are properly equipped with the right space and tools to apply the best in class service.”

Service partners have access to a direct line of communication with ZF’s expert technical support team and Australian headquarters based in Sydney, New South Wales. The support team can be reached via phone and email to provide personalised equipment assistance with any service partner’s issues.

“Our technical support staff team strives to help service partners achieve the most vehicle uptime possible,” Damon says. “We recognise that operators have invested in their trailers and components as assets, and that they need to be on the road in order to be making returns.”

In addition to the [pro]Service network, ZF supports the market with specialty training courses through its [pro]Academy service. ZF has run 50 TEBS module dedicated training sessions with fleets and workshops in the past two years – training a total of 500 service technicians on the requirements of TEBS.

The current form of the [pro]Service network has proven to be extremely successful in recent years, amassing 40 partners and workshops which span from Western Australia to Queensland. According to Damon, these service partners have praised ZF’s diligence and availability to provide essential technical support and training workshops for trailer components and other technologies.

“The partners in our service network are very grateful for the opportunity to consult us directly,” he says. “They are very enthusiastic to learn hands-on skills from us as one of the global leaders of commercial vehicle components. We are equally happy to give this assistance and are looking to expand the network to more workshops around the country.

“There are roughly 15 locations which we call ‘white spots’ that could benefit from the [pro]Service network representation. We’re looking to break into these regions and give them direct access to our support team.”

Damon says the [pro]Service network will benefit from the introduction of technical support for emerging technologies in the future, particularly as new component developments such as e-mobility continue to arrive in the transport industry.

ZF also hopes to expand the number of products the [pro]Service network can assist with – particularly as new component developments continue to break in.

“The complexity of components in the industry is increasing,” Damon says. “As a global leader in the design of new technology, it’s our responsibility to impart the right knowledge to the market through the [pro]Service network.

“With the right teachings and the right partners, our service network will help keep operators on the road and the industry running smoothly. That’s all we are committed to do.”