Vamag celebrates 40 years of constant innovation

Vamag turns 40. The Italian company, specialized in the production of workshop equipment and for some years now in the design and construction of multi-service centres, continues its expansion by focusing on new technologies and professional skills. We talked about it with Gianfranco Crosta, Vamag’s Pgm.

President Crosta, 40 years is an important milestone. Are you satisfied with the results so far?

"We are very proud! If I think about where we started 40 years ago, I can only be happy. From small distributors, we have gone on to become producers, subcontractors for important international groups and now we have our own global brand. However, any of this would not have been possible without the efforts of a large family made up of people who put their passion into whatever they do. Our goal is to create products that fully satisfy the needs of our customers, and to do this we rely on what I call the "Philosophy of Why".

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "Philosophy of Why"?

"Every time we think about a product, the first question we ask ourselves is: why are we doing this? By way of an example, I remember when in the 90's after having produced the first CCD Wheel Aligners, technology allowed the industry to upgrade the production with 3D Wheel Aligners. More established players on the market joined the cause and ushered in several production lines following that concept. Vamag, had all the technology available to ride that wave, but our "why" prompted us to make different choices. We chose to study a product that would help our customers use that technology in a different way, offering equipment characterized by higher performance, faster procedures and greater precision, all in a compact size.

This is all in the past. However, looking at the technological changes taking place, what future does Vamag expect?

"Multichannel or multiservice has now taken over and it is clear that our industry must adapt. The need to increase the number of services offered in order to remain competitive is now clear to all, just as clear as the difficulty our customers experience in facing this change. I am convinced that purchasing new equipment is the least of the problems and the costs that a repairer has to face and evaluate when adding a lift or a tire changer will not bring growth, but only higher fixed costs. Workshops have to focus on aspects such as the ability to carry out commercial and marketing activities, a fundamental weapon to generate income and higher margins and at the same time become multi-service centres where customers can find all the assistance they need".

Can Dynamic Acceptance be a solution?

Dynamic Acceptance, is a service that, as always, stems from the same question: why?

Workshops, as we were saying, need to expand their scope of operations, but to do so they need to understand how they want to evolve and how quickly. In order to do this, however, they need to have a clear plan that allows them to schedule the necessary investments and build a path that leads to growth. Dynamic Acceptance contributes to this, as it allows them to change their working methods, improving their focus on the client. In fact, thanks to Dynamic Acceptance, car repairers will become more familiar with their customers, their numbers and their potential. In this way, a virtuous process is triggered that leads to investments in technological innovations, an improved image and greater professionalism".

One of your latest initiatives involves helping garages to become more competitive. What does it involve?

"Historically, our work ends once a sale has been successfully completed, besides guaranteeing the necessary assistance on the equipment. Today, however, we can say that our work begins with a sale, because repairers are no longer interested in buying a piece of equipment or a product, what they want is a project. As a matter of fact, for some time now we have been collaborating with garages in providing assistance, innovative products, services and training. At the end of last year, we started the "Vamag Academy" project, which, besides being a technical training centre, provides car repairs with digital tools to improve their organization and their managerial and commercial skills".