Making life easier for you
Customers tend to think of Haldex as a commercial vehicle components manufacturer; and of course it is, manufacturing and supplying not only brakes but also suspension and braking components and other equipment for vehicles worldwide.
But that is not all Haldex does, by any means. To ensure the safe and effective operation and maintenance of its parts, Haldex publishes documentation, delivers training and offers technical assistance. This broad portfolio of services is available in a number of European languages (as a minimum English, French and German).
These services are offered by Haldex’s European Technical Services Organisation. Its technicians and service engineers offer customers real-world expertise, sharing their passion for engineering via training and problem-solving.
Trailer Application Guide
The Trailer Application Guide locates Haldex components around the vehicle visualised by means of an overhead view of a tractor-trailer combination. It takes the form of an interactive table of contents; the user accesses an overview and technical specifications by clicking on a part. This is a free online service, with no registration required: www.haldex.com/en/Europe/trailer-guide/trailer-application-guide/.
Diagnostics assistant
A new section of the U-ABS guide helps you find the right cable in a flash and provides useful information such as cable length, availability and diagnostics data. If you are unable to find the information you need, diagnostics assistance is offered to support workshops. As not all technicians have access to a laptop, the diagnostics checklist can be printed out with the fields that need filling in and kept for future reference. This service should be available for EBS too in the near future.
ModulT parts search
This section will be available in English, French and German to help customers across Europe identify parts needed for these popular GenI ModulT and GenII ModulT disc brakes.
Calculator
Haldex’s load sensing valves make sure that brake performance always matches drivers’ needs on the road by modulating the vehicle’s braking pressure depending on vehicle load (static load). As the braking valve is not pre-set with suspension and brake pressures for specific trailers, this setting must be performed by the installer. For a steel suspension, the lever length must be calculated; for air suspension, a mechanical pivot point, in both cases a mathematical formula is used. Vehicle safety and performance depend on the accuracy of this calculation. Customers can make use of a new online calculator available in English, French and German which helps perform the task faster and with less risk of error. Once completed, the results can be printed out to perform the setting or for future reference.
Technical Training
Webinars. According to Pascal Blais, leader of the company’s European technical service organization: “The pandemic and restrictions speeded up the implementation of online training across industry, and also at Haldex.” Haldex has launched customer webinars with some countries, in particular Poland, UK, Italy, France and Germany, taking the lead. They are paving the way for a new approach to training for vehicle component OEMs. A face-to-face basic EB+ training course lasts two days, but that format is not suitable for remote training. Instead, Haldex has split the course into five shorter modules, each lasting about 90 minutes. Although the online course includes the same content, it is structured differently to take into account the attention span of virtual attendees. In addition, Haldex has developed one-hour training sessions on tyre pressure management systems (TPMS) and traction assist, the function that actuates the Haldex lift axle valve to transfer the load onto the drive wheels in the event of loss of grip.
Customer demonstrations. Whether on or off-line, technical training is carried out live in response to customers’ unique needs. Although a fee is often charged for this kind of training, Haldex is also planning to offer technical sales tutorials free of charge. These will include an explanation of how to use the Trailer Application Guide, an introduction to the Haldex website and information on how to find the right spare parts or replace brake pads. These tutorials will regularly be made available to customers either directly by Haldex or via its distributors.
Technical support
Customer hotline. Haldex has recently begun trials of a hotline for customers in the UK, France and Germany. These technical hotlines, offered in the country’s language, connect workshops with Haldex technicians and service engineers. They can provide a part reference, help find alternatives to discontinued products and aid customers with diagnostics through documentation, drawings and advice. Haldex plans to roll out this service to other countries, if the results of the trial are conclusive.
Remote service. Haldex can provide remote tailored, task-specific support to workshops. For example, during the holiday period when most of the technicians are away, Haldex can support less-experienced site technicians with more challenging tasks. For example, to identify any issues with EB+ EBS braking systems, Haldex technicians can access the workshop’s computer remotely to run the diagnostic procedure. “We are the eyes, they are the hands,” is how Pascal Blais describes it. Technical support from Haldex is now also available via an app which the workshop technicians can download and activate. In the future, an augmented reality function could be added to provide live video streaming so that site technicians can follow instructions from Haldex.
