February 25, 2020
MOT Juice is your suit of armour. Your protection against losing your authorisation to conduct MOTs.
MOT Juice is your virtual watchtower equipped with a telescope and searchlight (throw in our Messaging Centre – Platinum Tools and you get the megaphone too)
MOT Juice is your diagnostic tool. It will tell you
MOT Juice will give you the ability to show records and demonstrate you take MOT compliance seriously and have systems in place to manage your VTS.
MOT Juice is a cloud-based software system that delivers and records the compulsory 3 hours annual tester training and prompts and records VTS compliance activity.
MOT Juice will allow you to see further than you thought possible and in more detail than you ever imagined.
As a manager you will be able to see and track completion of training modules and annual assessment scores for all testers at multi site level and single garage.
You will also be able to track and record completion and score of regular site audits, QC checks and equipment calibrations at every location.
MOT Juice will improve performance across all areas of your MOT business simply because you can see what is going on. MOT Juice tells you what needs to be done and then shows you if it has been done.
It will therefore save you time and ultimately make you more profitable as well as giving you the peace of mind that you are compliant to the increasing levels of regulation from the DVSA.
For a quick, entertaining overview of what we can do for you just watch the video below.
If you get it wrong, you can lose your licence to test for up to 5 years!
According to the DVSA website – Manage your MOT centre – DVSA Guidance
You must ensure the MOT tests at your garage meet the standards set out by the DVSA.
The DVSA say you should:
If you do not meet the standards.
DVSA can ban you from running an MOT centre for up to 5 years in the most serious cases of you failing to meet the required standards.
How did MOT Juice begin?
Built by testers for testers, MOT Juice was conceived by Barry Babister – smarter than the average bear and one-time World Banger Racing Champion (yes, really!). Barry has been a tester for around 15 years. He runs and manages a busy MOT business with six class 4 bays, one class 4 and 7 and one class 1 and 2 and has 12 testers over the three locations.
Barry’s vision was to be able to deliver MOT annual training to all his testers and have that recorded automatically. In 2015 the DVSA gave notice that all testers would have to complete training and pass the Annual Assessment before 31st March 2017.
The annual assessment was added once the training platform had been developed. Testers could then buy and then take that without leaving MOT Juice. It was a natural progression to add CPD training modules for the testers to keep them ahead of the game.
The ability to manage Vehicle Testing Station (VTS) standards was added to make MOT Juice the complete management system for MOT garages. Read on to find out how we actually do that.
Bite sized, high quality, 15-minute E-learning modules that are easy to access on any device from phone to PC. All MOT training is automatically recorded and stored to DVSA requirements and a full training log is available to download and print at any time. Great for when the VE pays a visit and is not happy with online records, just hit the print training log button.
Each month, as training becomes available, you and your testers will get reminder emails that a new module is in the system. This means you know your testers know and it should ease the burden of chasing them around and nagging them to do their training. You will be able to see who has, and who has not, completed training modules for performance management of individuals at each site.
Because our training is delivered in E-learning modules directly to the testers email address and accessible on any device you do not need to send your testers off site to complete training. Training can be accomplished during tea break, at home on the sofa etc which means you can keep them busy testing and keep earning revenue for the business.
Each year the DVSA release a curriculum and it this curriculum that forms the basis of, not only the Annual Assessment for testers, but also for the training. Our training is written to this curriculum with testers in mind and is specifically designed to get you ready to take the Annual Assessment.
MOT Testing Guide – Ongoing requirements for testers Section E3 Para. 2
Testers must keep up to date with current practices and standards by:
a: studying all relevant Special Notices (and acknowledge on MTS when required), the MOT Testing Guide, Matters of Testing, emailed messages from DVSA and appropriate Inspection Manuals and their amendments.
Continuing Professional Development or CPD is something every professional from doctors to drilling engineers and everything in between, should be doing to keep abreast of important changes and developments within their industry.
MOT Testing is just the same. Performing safety checks on vehicles driven on the public roads is and incredibly responsible job and contributes enormously to the world envied safety record we have for the roads in the UK. You are all trained professionals and need to keep up-to-date.
You have a requirement to read and understand Special Notices, changes to MOT Testing manuals, how the MTS works, changes to how the DVSA want you to be managing your station and testers. As a tester you need to know how the DVSA will be looking at your test quality information and what you need to do.
“You don’t need to out-run the tiger… You just need to be faster than the person next to you!”
CPD, taken on a regular basis, is highly advised by the DVSA and is your pair of Nike Vaporflys. If you take and complete the MOT Juice CPD you will immediately be more compliant than the testers down the road (as long as they don’t have the MOT Juice system!) so when the VE turns up out of the blue you will be able to prove compliance to the next level.
Supplied within the MOT Juice system, all you or your testers have to do is log in and answer the questions.
“The annual assessment is not a test of memory!”
The annual mot tester exam is ‘open book’. You can look the answers up if you are quick enough. The annual assessment is a test of your understanding of the methods and standards applied to the MOT test.
It is a requirement that the results of the MOT assessment are recorded on the MTS before midnight on the last day of March each year. Every tester is urged to double check their annual assessment result is logged in their account on the MTS.
It’s all about your risk ratings – MOT Juice VTS Tools overview
If you don’t know what risk ratings are you’ve had your head in a cupboard for the last couple of years or you’ve not been taking our CPD.
MOT risk ratings for both testers and MOT centres are currently controversial. Many testers feel very passionately about risk ratings and there is a lot of negative feeling towards them. That being said the DVSA are adamant they are here to stay.
From 12th November 2018, the DVSA started calculating risk ratings in a different way. Risk rating is a measure of the risk of noncompliance to MOT test standards and therefore the incorrect outcome of an MOT.
MOT Juice produces its own risk rating for your garage or garages. It is based on the information from within the MOT Juice system. i.e. what you can control.
MOT Juice encourages and reminds you to complete and then records for the record all of the following vital elements to a successful MOT business. It then gives you a management overview second to none allowing you to see clearly what needs to be done to deal with any problem areas and improve your risk ratings.
Making sure you and your testers are applying the correct testing methods to the correct standard is at the heart of the new Site Review which replaces the Site Assessment and is, therefore, a vital task to undertake.
Both an observed test and a re-test assurance check can be accommodated within MOT Juice. Documents supporting the checks can be uploaded and the easy to follow checklist ensures that no area of the testing procedure is forgotten.
MOT Juice prompts completion of QC checks for you and your testers and records the results with comments which have to be acknowledged by the tester being checked. This feedback system is a fundamental element to a quality management system, something the DVSA really want you to employ in the day-to-day running of your MOT garage.
The MOT Juice system contains a site audit process that covers all aspects of your MOT Garage. Designed with the DVSA site assessment in mind it will walk you through a thorough review of your MOT testing station each month with a checklist that can be completed on either a mobile phone or a printed checklist which can then be transferred to the system.
Ensure your performance is improving by logging and tracking things that need to get done. This is the essence of a quality management system and this is exactly what the VE will be looking for from you as a manager of an MOT centre.
The Site Audit also contains a list of items and actions considered to be ‘best practice’. This is essentially a maintenance reminder list and will if used correctly keep your equipment and premises in tip-top condition.
Regular site audits are a key element in keeping your risk rating under control and avoiding any unnecessary flack from the VE when they come to visit. Site audits can be delegated to other members of your team not only saving you time but giving everyone an appreciation of what it takes to run and operate a compliant test centre.
If a piece of MOT equipment does not get calibrated on time and is used in the administration of MOT tests, then there is the chance that a vehicle could be issued with a pass when it should be a fail. Particularly if the brake roller is giving an incorrect reading. Not only that but you can expect some serious disciplinary points should it come to light.
When setting up the MOT Juice system you are asked to log the equipment that needs calibration, the date of the next calibration, make and model numbers etc which will create a reminder diary. From this, you will get automated emails to tell you when a calibration is due so you can book it in.
You can also upload calibration certificates. This is as easy as taking a picture of it with your phone and uploading it to the MOT juice system. The MOT Juice system is compatible with any device. It is not just the training that is configured across phone, tablet and PC.
Calibration records and certificates are just one click away when the VE comes to visit. A further click and you can have printed versions should they be necessary.
MOT Juice also has the facility for you to use it as a maintenance scheduler for any equipment or area of your building.
Fire extinguishers, gutters, workshop cleaning, compressor tank draining. You name it MOT Juice can help you keep your entire premises spic and span.
As a manager of or within an MOT business, you need to be able to make decisions. To make decisions you need information and the better the information the better the decisions.
On one page MOT Juice will show you which training modules each tester has completed. The same for CPD and you can also see who has taken their exam and who has passed.
Don’t forget that you, the manager or AE, are held to account for ensuring that testers have actually done training and recorded it. You can send training reminders to each tester at the click of a button.
Not only can you see who has completed training, but you can drill down and see their score on any particular module. Go further and you can even see the questions they got right and wrong. If a tester is falling behind on their training, you can see the reminders they have been sent by the MOT Juice system. There is nowhere to hide. Testers must do their training and you have the means to see that they do.
If a tester has completed training in-house in the past or even with another organisation you can now record this within the MOT Juice System. This will allow you to keep an up-to-date record to DVSA standards that will build to the 16 hours of training in 5 years that is a requirement of the DVSA.
MOT Juice presents you and your testers with your Test Quality Information in a clear uncomplicated way. Colour coded depending on the magnitude of variance to national averages it allows the tester and the manger to immediately see the areas that the DVSA might consider a risk.
All you need to do is to consider why you may have unusual differences to the national average and record your thoughts within the system. Store and record your comments. Again, these records are retrievable and are kept for you to prove to the VE that you take TQI seriously and are
Measure your improvements when TQI data is updated next month.
.Anomalies within the test logs are indicators that something may not be quite right and as such is vital information for you. Therefore analysis of Test Logs for the MOT garage is an important way of auditing all the MOT’s tests performed on your premises.
MOT Juices Test Log analysis tools will allow you to set parameters and filters to detect and uncover any such discrepancies. Test duration outside normal length, unusual or uncommon vehicles, strange times of tests being logged on etc.
The MOT Juice Invoice Cross Check feature will allow you to identify any MOT performed at your VTS that does not have an accompanying invoice so you can investigate further. How else do know there are no fraudulent MOTs carried out under your authority?
Would you like to know at a glance the state of your business? I guess we all would. KPI’s will give you a headline figure that you can measure to ensure things are going in the right direction.
MOT Juice will provide you with a top-level figure for completion of elements such as Training, current MOT Juice Risk Rating, Calibrations, TQI, Site Audits and QC checks.
Being able to drill down into the KPIs from the top to the bottom of your business gives you unrivalled insight into how your business is improving over time. You will be able to spot problem areas and be able to take corrective action before they become an issue.
As a manger you now have 20:20 vision so what do you do with it?. Good management is all about good communication. The MOT Juice messaging centre will allow you to communicate to your fellow managers and to your site managers and NTs. It does not allow communication up the management hierarchy. This is not a dialogue. You have a message to get across. Expectations, praise, underachievement. All have to be communicated.
Every communication has a read receipt function. You know who has seen your message and therefore who has logged in. Read receipts mean accountability which is vital to performance manage individuals.
MOT Juice is a complete quality management system for mot business. With its suite of compliance logging tools and sophisticated data analysis, you will be able to manage every element across a multi-site business or just a single branch.
Because MOT Juice allows you to see further and in more detail you have better information. Better information means better decisions.
Information is power.
That is why MOT Juice is so useful to MOT managers.
