TRAINING NETWORK FOR THE EUROPEAN CAR INDUSTRY

The TAP project TECAR project developed and implemented an integrated on-demand training service for training in European automobile companies. The service provides access to multimedia training material, such as technical documents, videos and Computer Based Training resources,. and is integrated with GroupWare to support co-operation among distributed teams.

Service quality has become an important strategic factor in the automobile industry and better training for service personnel is seen as a key issue. By providing an on-demand training service, TECAR improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of training in the automobile industry. TECAR has provided a distributed training environment accessible via the corporate Intranet for two major European car companies, Mercedes-Benz and Fiat.

The prototype solutions have been tested in two successful field trials:

  • decentralised, cooperative production of training material throughout 1997 associated with the market introduction of new Mercedes vehicles;
  • integration of the courseware-on-demand service into the Melfi Learning Centre of Isvor-Fiat.

    The TECAR demonstrators were implemented to support a wide range of services and working modes. A main objective of the project was to develop a generic platform of services, which is reusable for various application scenarios for network based corporate training. The generic platform offers the following set of services:

  • task control: the organisational process of joint cooperation and development is scheduled by this service;
  • groupware: synchronous and asynchronous services support on-line consultation and collaboration between trainers or between trainee and trainer;
  • mediathek: a multimedia server supports distribution and exchange of training material with other users from a geographically distributed group for adaptation and development;
  • courseware-on-demand: the Courseware-on-demand service supports selection, ordering and distribution of ready-to-use courseware.

    The generic system also includes software components for standard functionality such as database, Web server, E-mail, News, TCP/IP or multimedia handling. The tools for the access and administration of the multimedia server were made part of a product-like platform, so that they can be offered as part of a generic on-demand service to those involved in industrial training.

    The TECAR on-demand training service could be extended from the original in-house users (trainers, workers, service technicians) to other groups (e.g. car dealers). Although developed for the motor industry, it could be used by other organisations with similar training conditions.

    The partners of the TECAR consortium intend to market the tools and services for distributing courses and courseware over a network and to convert these tools into products. These products will be offered as part of a service to companies with departments or branches spread throughout Europe and who have similar training needs.