The Volvo Masters is a global competition that sees teams of three to four from Volvo Construction Equipment dealer’s aftersales departments team up to demonstrate their skills, knowledge, and expertise when it comes to all elements of the aftersales operation.
Having worked through the first three rounds of online questions and assessments SMT GB’s Team North scored highly enough to be shortlisted to take part in regional face-to-face finals in Konz, Germany. The Volvo CE site in Konz specializes in the development and production of wheeled excavators, compact wheel loaders, electric machines, and special customer solutions, so an ideal place to test the best of the best from around Europe. The team faced 13 opponents in Konz, including SMT Netherlands alongside teams from other major dealerships Swecon and Ascendum.
The Region Europe final took place from the 26 February to the 29 February to allow all the teams to visit and learn from the Volvo site and have some fun in the surrounding area before the competition got underway.
Tuesday was a racing start with a group trip to the Nürburgring for team exercises including driver challenge and tour of pit lane, hospitality, and race control area.
After a day of fun, the challenge picked up on Wednesday as the competition began. The competition consisted of practical stations for each of the machine groups as well as Fluid Analysis and Harness. To finish the days with something fun, the teams also were put through a simulator and EMOB driving challenge similar to the Operators Club challenges. After the two days of competition were complete, the teams travelled to a mountain top hotel for the presentation ceremony.
“A huge well done to the GB team, this was a first for them all where they conducted themselves with the upmost professionalism throughout. I would also like to thank the many people working behind the scenes both SMT & Volvo whose efforts and support have contributed towards making this such a fantastic experience.”
Just pipped to a place in the Volvo Masters Global Final by SMT Netherlands, SMT GB Team North placed third, a fantastic achievement out of 14 teams. Commenting on the challenge, Team Lead Craig Spence said “A huge well done to the GB team, this was a first for them all where they conducted themselves with the upmost professionalism throughout. I would also like to thank the many people working behind the scenes both SMT & Volvo whose efforts and support have contributed towards making this such a fantastic experience.”
Unfortunately, this is where the journey ends for the team, as only the top two teams progress on to the Global final in Dubai. Having never participated in the competition before Team North really did illustrate the SMT Daring value and put their all into it the competition, here’s to coming back even stronger in 2025.
ABOUT SMT
SMT is a leading full-service distribution company specialising in machinery and trucks. Our focus is on providing equipment for the construction, material handling, recycling, and transport industry. Launched in 2010, we are a relatively young company. Nevertheless, with recent acquisitions, we have already obtained significant heritage that dates back to 1946. This mix of energy and international experience gives us the advantage of a synergetic environment.
Established in Great Britain in 1967 the SMT GB dealership has an established reputation for market leading quality equipment and unrivalled customer support. Operating from eight Customer Support Centres throughout Great Britain, supplemented by strategically located home based engineers, we can offer the level of support that you would expect from a global construction equipment distributor.