After taking out the Top Team competition in New Zealand last July, Scania New Zealand’s ‘Cog Swappers’ are off to Bangkok, Thailand this weekend to represent New Zealand in the Scania Top Team Asia Oceania regional final.

Scania’s global Top Team competition challenges the technological skills of professional service teams within the Scania network, putting them through theoretical and practical exercises that require specialist knowledge, team spirit, and discipline.

If the Cog Swappers can take out the top spot in Thailand this month, they’ll head to Sodertalje, Sweden later this year to compete in the global final against 11 other countries to win just over $80,000 in prize money!

The team has been preparing with technical trainer and team coach Russell Dixon who says he’s confident the Cog Swappers have a very good chance of winning.

“We have a good team, however the unknown factor is the other teams and how well they have prepared. Australia, China and Singapore present strong challenges, but all teams are capable to take it out on the day. It will also depend on how we can handle the pressure of the competition and the heat and humidity of Bangkok!”

The Cog Swappers have been training in Scania’s recently opened National Training Facility in Christchurch giving them the ability to meet after work and prepare potential task scenarios.

The competition’s format is designed around daily work patterns with the main objective being to satisfy the needs of the customer. Teams of five are required to complete five practical work stations each with a 20 minutes time limit.

The global Scania Top Team competition started in Sweden in 1989, originally restricted to Swedish workshops. In 1996 the competition grew to the five Nordic countries and extended to 17 markets internationally in 2003. The last competition in 2018 saw 70 international markets compete where the New Zealand team was crowned champions.