Name: David Welham
Job Title: Service Manager
Company: Manns, Bury St Edmunds
Picture: David is on the left, being trained on the latest Claas combine diagnostic software

Back Ground
David Welham has been in the agricultural machinery sector for 24 years, the last 13 years with J Mann & sons in Bury St Edmunds. He worked up through the ranks from a technician to master mechanic to service manger spending the last 18 months as service manager.

The first 11 years were spent with 2 dealers which had both agricultural and construction equipment, giving a broad range of experience early in his career. Changing roles hasn't been easy, but with the support of a dynamic team of engineers and a structure within the Claas business he has found the transition easier than he expected.

He now has responsibility for 14 technicians in the J Mann business at Bury St Edmunds, very impressive for someone who has no background in agriculture.

What does the role of Service manager involve?
Making sure the workshop is running efficiently basically. I have technicians that I have to keep busy all year round so that does take a lot of planning. I also have to handle issues from customers which may be complaints, may be suggestions or may be discussions on invoices etc. There's a lot more people skills required compared to being a technician.

What have been the main changes in the industry since you started?
Technology. There has been a huge range of developments in the way technology is used to create, diagnose and repair tractors and combines since I started. The electronics the increasingly large machinery is hugely complex, I imagine more complex than the motor vehicle sector.

Where will the technology of the future going to be?
I think that far more diagnostics will be done by computer and we may well see the ability to diagnose faults from my workshop through the use of mobile phone technology.

What do you spend most of your time doing?
Managing people and creating business for my technicians. At Claas we have a programme called Maxicare which promotes the routine maintenance of tractors and combines. It's a great product and generates a lot of business for us. I spend a lot of time planning the workload and talking to customers.

Since your apprenticeship have you done any training?
At Manns we have annual reviews where we identify the training we are going to undertake for the forthcoming year. This encourages me to attend a range of technical update courses which our technicians attend as well. This serves two purposes; firstly I know and understand the latest technology on the machines in the market so when I'm talking to the technicians we are on a similar level of understanding, secondly it enables me to talk with confidence with our customers if they have a problem. It's very helpful to go on these courses.

What do you enjoy about your job?
Variety. Ever since I started as an apprentice there has never been a day where I've done the same job twice on consecutive days. I enjoyed the engineering nature of my job when I was a technician, the service manager job is different and requires new skills which gives me a great challenge.

What's the hardest part of your job?
People management. Being technically skilled doesn't mean that you're automatically going to make a good service manager. I like to ensure the team I have responsibility for are happy in their work and don't have any cause to raise issues. I've had to learn this skill as I go and I've had some training to manage people, sometimes I wish I'd had much more!