Hino Motors Philippines (HMP), exclusive distributor of Japan’s Hino trucks and buses and the longest operating truckmaker in the country, unveiled the new Technical Support and Training Center (TSTC) at their factory complex in Laguna last September 5.
HMP chairman Vicente T. Mills, Jr. puts their investment at P700 million for the new TSTC plus the centralized parts warehouse added to its premises as well as new corporate offices in a nearby location at Hino’s sprawling complex–what Mills describes as them putting money where their mouths are when it comes to all-important, all-around support for Hino customers.
Complete support center
Mills says they built the TSTC to house their services for customer vehicle maintenance as well as for training all people having a role in maintaining and operating Hino trucks and buses–people such as HMP personnel, Hino dealer technicians, and Hino customer drivers and their vehicle maintenance technicians.
Built on a 15,900sqm land tract added to Hino’s factory complex at the Canlubang Industrial Estate in Calamba City, Laguna, the TSTC building is surrounded by a hard-top apron large enough for truck-driving lessons as well as for staging trucks and buses for servicing.
The TSTC building itself is a long, cavernous two-storey structure with 5,800sqm. of floor area that features …
- 14 truck servicing bays for working on client vehicles
- 5 truck-service training bays (collectively called a service training “dojo”) for training Hino personnel, dealer technicians and their clients’ vehicle maintenance people
- A centralized warehouse for serving up a ready inventory of 71,120 spare parts items under 5,415 classifications–all amounting to P160 million
- A motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) area with two inspection bays for periodic examination of client vehicles’ brakes, running gear, headlights, telematics and engine emissions
- Multiple offices, and meeting and lecture rooms on both lower and upper floors
For new customers and new customer needs
The TSTC building and its grounds are dramatic additions that look to grow Hino’s factory complex by another 60 percent. The proportions seem appropriate (even looking conservative despite the sheer scale of the new build) given how it readies Hino to face some radical new opportunities and challenges over the next few years.
The bulk of HMP’s sales have generally been in the buses segment that they have dominated since the 1980’s. But by the middle of this decade, weighty volumes shifted from buses to trucks–particularly to light-duty trucks with Hino’s sales volumes for these doubling annually for three straight years from 2014 to 2016.
Now, with the mandated replacement of all traditional jeepneys with modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) that are being built on light-duty truck (LDT) platforms, this could mean a doubling and then a quadrupling of total market volume for LDT’s over the next two years. But that dramatic growth comes from a redefined public transport sector that brings new customer needs as well as new kinds of customers. And, now, with their new TSTC, Hino appears to be gearing up to face these.
HMP chairman Mills pointed out that the transport cooperative customers for their modern PUV models are actually required to put up their own maintenance centers for fleet upkeep. In addition to having their vehicles serviced at the TSTC, or them availing of maintenance “house calls” from Hino’s cadre of TSTC-trained technicians, or even sending their drivers over to the TSTC for update classes on driving Hino modern PUVs, Mills said that PUV transport cooperatives can have their members trained up at the TSTC for rendering more cost-effective in-house and on-demand maintenance services.
Support through key training
Mills confirmed that Hino would also consider training modern PUV operators on the management of vehicle maintenance cost centers as well as on other aspects of running entire public transport fleets. This dovetails with their plan to eventually put up a full-blown vocational school similar to that of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
HMP president Mitsuharu Tabata says, “everything that we have done, what we are doing and will continue to do is a testament of how we value a dedicated support program that delivers results and exceeds expectations as the local one stop shop for truck and bus needs.”
