october2021 - 40

DIAGNOSTIC TECH
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of them have their data organized in
different ways which means that the
technician accessing such information
needs to know how to navigate
the system with efficiency. Most systems
have implemented search to find
information quickly but what I have
found through experience is that often
search has been poorly implemented. I
have found it to be extremely beneficial
to think about how the service provider
is trying to help so you can identify the
times they come up short and possibly
lead you astray.
For example, keyword searching
is oftentimes my first angle of attack.
But one thing to be on the look out
for is that you may be presented with
autosuggestions as you're beginning
to type. These autosuggestions may
or may not have been keenly applied
to the platform you're working in. Some
are attempting to mimic what a Google
search does but on the back end they
may end up failing. Additionally, there
may be words you would think should
be common and useful in getting you
right into the service information you
need quickly. However, it still amazes
me sometimes when this is not the
case. For example, oftentimes I find
myself looking for the aiming procedure
for a radar or camera module on a
late model vehicle. Typing in the words
" radar aim " sometimes ends up with
zero search results. If I slice off " aim "
and hit any of the results that talks
about replacement, I'll usually find
a hyper-linked step that takes me to
the aiming procedure. An example of
this is shown in Figure 2. As you can
see the likely reason " radar aim " didn't
return the results is because the service
information platform did not index the
keyword(s) in a way that matched up
" radar aim " with the document titled
" Radar Unit Aiming. " Performing a
search with " radar aiming " resulted
in a positive search result.
Figure 2 - MotoLogic service information
TRAINING AND
KNOWLEDGE GROWTH
With some OEMs, their service information
and diagnostics are packaged
up into a single solution. And within
these solutions one may also find that
they now have access to some of the
same service training literature that
dealership technicians have access to.
For example, we work on a lot of Toyota
Motor Corporation (TMC) vehicles
and therefore found it to be extremely
beneficial to subscribe to Toyota TIS
(Figure 1). The TIS platform provides
us with OEM scan tool operations,
diagnostics, programming, and more.
Additionally, there is a great deal of
training information found with the
platform that your service personnel
can leverage as well.
BMW is another OEM that provides
similar access, offering access options
spanning short- and long-term periods.
40 Professional Distributor I October 2021 I VehicleServicePros.com
For example, we're not a BMW specialty
shop but earlier this year I needed
to perform some specific tasks on a
vehicle where I was able to purchase
a short-term subscription and with a
properly configured computer, I was
able to access a wealth of information
that included diagnostics, vehicle service
history, service information and access
to training information and videos.
The downside to the OEM platforms
is that if you're working on
multiple brands, you'll need to become
proficient with using the platform. If
you're only occasionally using the system,
there may be an extreme learning
curve each time to go into the platform,
since mostly all platforms are
in a constant state of change. This is
likely one of the main reasons multicarline
shops prefer to use aftermarket
services such as ALLDATA, Mitchell
1, MotoShop, and others.
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october2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of october2021

Editor's Note: Show me the money
Sneak Peek
Most Wanted
In Focus
2021 PTEN People's Choice Award Winners
Cover Story: Storage control
Diagnostic Tech: Leveraging service information resources
Show Me Your Truck: 'It's not the truck, it's the salesman'
Go Sell Something: Skips cost more than you may think
Driving Sales
Tales From the Road: Wine and tool pairings
october2021 - 1
october2021 - 2
october2021 - 3
october2021 - Editor's Note: Show me the money
october2021 - 5
october2021 - Sneak Peek
october2021 - 7
october2021 - 8
october2021 - 9
october2021 - 10
october2021 - 11
october2021 - 12
october2021 - 13
october2021 - 14
october2021 - 15
october2021 - 16
october2021 - 17
october2021 - 18
october2021 - 19
october2021 - Most Wanted
october2021 - 21
october2021 - In Focus
october2021 - 23
october2021 - 24
october2021 - 25
october2021 - 2021 PTEN People's Choice Award Winners
october2021 - 27
october2021 - 28
october2021 - 29
october2021 - 30
october2021 - 31
october2021 - 32
october2021 - 33
october2021 - Cover Story: Storage control
october2021 - 35
october2021 - 36
october2021 - 37
october2021 - Diagnostic Tech: Leveraging service information resources
october2021 - 39
october2021 - 40
october2021 - 41
october2021 - Show Me Your Truck: 'It's not the truck, it's the salesman'
october2021 - 43
october2021 - Go Sell Something: Skips cost more than you may think
october2021 - 45
october2021 - Driving Sales
october2021 - 47
october2021 - 48
october2021 - 49
october2021 - Tales From the Road: Wine and tool pairings
october2021 - 51
october2021 - 52
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