Toronto, ON – Yamaha Motor Corp. hosted the seventh World Technical Grand Prix (WTGP) in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan at Yamaha Motor Corp. headquarters.
The WTGP is a competition that not only tests technical skill, but also the mind and effort of technicians as they work to improve customer satisfaction.
After a qualifying process that included 32,739 competitors, the field was whittled down to representatives from 21 countries. With that, it was Luke Pakkala from Oakville Yamaha that took home second place in the sport bike category offering Yamaha Motor Canada Ltd. its first podium finish at the WTGP.
Leading up to the event, Luke explained how his 10 years of Yamaha dealership experience had helped prepare him for the challenges faced in the competition. The approach Luke and his dealership take with their customers helped him focus on the basics of having thorough product knowledge, good work habits and slowing down.
Through his WTGP involvement, Luke is looking to continue to improve his teaching and management skills, noting, “I would like to expand my focus on teaching habits for engaging employees, apprentices and future apprentices.”
The WTGP is an expansion of the Yamaha Technical Academy (YTA) training program that is utilized around the world for technicians based on Yamaha’s own globally standardized guidelines. The culmination of the YTA program is the National Technical Grand Prix (NTGP) which is held in various regions around the world. Once every two years, the elite technicians who won the NTGP in their own country come together at the WTGP in Japan.
The objective of the WTGP is to generate greater motivation and willingness to attain higher skills among Yamaha technicians who were trained in the YTA education program. Specifically, the focus for 2016 was to offer technicians who are making efforts to improve their skill and service performance based on “One to One Service” a platform to showcase their talent.
Reflecting upon the demanding competition and his efforts, Luke praised Yamaha’s willingness, at all levels of business, to listen to employees at the dealership level about what works and what does not.
Congratulations to all those that competed in the seventh WTGP and Luke Pakkala for representing Yamaha Motor Canada in the utmost professional manner.