ALOR GAJAH, Melaka, 18 October 2008 The Tech Challenge 2008, in its third year ended with applause to Mr. Ramu A/L Suppramaniam from Ban Lee Heng Motor Sdn Bhd, Muhammad Zai Yaazi Bin Ibrahim from Delima Kinta Sdn Bhd, Loh Poh Yee from Sri Utama Auto Sdn Bhd, Sam Chai Huat from Yong Ming Motor Sdn Bhd, and Kua Choon Aun from Sri Utama BP Sdn Bhd, the champions of the all 4 contested categories.

Tech Challenge is a technical competition initiated by Honda in 2006. Kick-started in the month of July this year, the main aim of the competition is to challenge its service personnel in the quest for skills and knowledge advancement.

"Customer satisfaction does not stop at the moment the car is delivered but is to be carried on further and better whenever a customer steps back to the dealer. Thus, every process in every step of the service operation has to be stepped up as an ongoing effort to achieve the high level of customer satisfaction," Mr. Atsushi Fujimoto, CEO and MD of Honda Malaysia commented in his opening address. It is Honda Malaysia's commitment to continuously strive to achieve Customer Satisfaction No.1.

This year, the competition registered a record participation of 706 contestants from 50 dealers' nationwide, who confidently challenged their very own skills and capability in the pursuit of service excellence. After two rounds of neck-to-neck qualifying sessions among the equally well trained service personnel, 33 finalists made their distinctions and qualified for the finals.

There were a total of four categories in the competition, which are Technician / Foreman, Service Advisor, Parts Controller, and Body & Paint Repair; the latter was newly added to the competition structure.

Held in HMSB Training Centre located in Pegoh Plant in Melaka, the final stage of the competition held all finalists in great anticipation when their technical knowledge and skill once again put on test. The competition was judged by 33 professional judges from Honda Malaysia and other organizations.

The champion in the category of Foreman / Technician, Mr Ramu from Ban Lee Heng Motor Sdn Bhd was grateful for the opportunity given by his employer and Honda Malaysia to participate in the competition, "I am really happy to have won. It is a great motivation for me," he said when contacted.

Tech Challenge always carries a clear mission with the Customer Satisfaction in mind. As all our service personnel progress through upskilling, so do our dealers and Honda Malaysia," Mr. Fujimoto added further.

Over 200 guests cheered the contestants on and created a much needed excitement throughout the jaw clenching battle.

Champions of each category were awarded with a Middle Earth Tour in New Zealand, where the legendary movie, Lord of The Rings was made. The 2^nd and 3^rd runner-ups walked home with Tag Heuer Formula 1 watch and a Nikon DSLR D40X respectively, while the other finalists were presented with Seiko Honda Racing F1 Team watches.

Following are charts of winners by category.

Ten (10) contenders under the category of Technicians/Foreman went through 2 stages: Workbench Practices and Shop Floor Practices.

Under the category of Service Advisor, eight (8) finalists went through Job Control Board (JCB) Practice and Role-play Practice.

In the Parts Controller category, 5 finalists were carefully tested in the areas of Parts Rack Preparation, Inventory Control Management, Parts Receiving Process, Parts Outgoing Process and Dead Stock Management.

In Body Repair, finalists were tested on hammer and washer welder repair while Paint Repair put the finalists' skills of dry sanding, degreasing, panel masking, color mixing, spraying, and dying on test.