05/07/10

Actia Muller Company Profile - Garage & MOT Professional

Allan Hughes visits Newtown in Powys, Wales and discovers that a new entrant to the aftermarket is actually very well placed to serve the industry and should be very successful.

When Monsieur’s Bem and Muller began selling nuts and bolts from a handcart in Paris nearly 100 years ago, they could hardly have dreamt that their enterprise would have grown into the multinational provider of garage equipment that is today known as Actia Muller.

Actia Muller was created in October 2003 following the merger of Meiga and Muller Bem, and more recently acquired by the Actia Group. The merger brought together Actia as leaders in automotive electronics and Muller Bem who have been a leading force in Garage Equipment since 1919. Actia Muller (UK) Ltd was set up by Actia (UK) Ltd in April 2008 as its wholly owned subsidiary for the marketing, sales installation and support of Actia Muller’s  garage and MOT equipment in the UK.

The Actia Group are not only leaders in the field of automotive electronics but their interests include complimentary automotive business areas such as diagnostics, bus and coach power management, instrumentation, vehicle diagnostics, vehicle CCTV, digital tachograph,  in-coach entertainment systems and telematics.

The French based Actia Group are now a global company with 22 subsidiaries worldwide, including research and production facilities in Chartres, France as well as Germany and Tunisia. Their UK office is in Newtown, Powys which, as well as being the base for the sales and marketing resource, has for many years been a centre for diagnostic software development.

Whilst the list of Actia product areas is large, it is nevertheless focused on their core electronics, diagnostics and garage equipment skills and includes

• Workshop Diagnostics
• Garage and MOT Equipment
• Car, Van and Truck Diagnostics
• Telematics
• Multiplexed onboard electronics
• Bus and Coach Diagnostics
• Digital Tachographs
• Dashboards and Switch Panels

They provide Diagnostic equipment for most of the large VMs and OEs as well as diagnostic equipment for trucks, They also manufacture bus and coach components such as the dashboards and ECUs on  Alexander Dennis and Optare vehicles.

The products of the Actia Group are better known to the VM and OE markets but with the creation of Actia Muller, they have begun to penetrate the aftermarket and are already having significant impact in other parts of Europe.
The ethos of Actia Muller is to provide excellent products that benefit from their engineering and electronics excellence, give value for money and offer additional revenue capabilities for the customer. Being part of the VM and OE environment is a real advantage in being able to deliver products that have been part of the original manufacture and are built to the same level of quality as the VMs would require.

Price is always a factor in the Garage Equipment market and it is not surprising that the products from Actia Muller are the same price or cheaper than many of its competitors. This is possible because they manufacture the majority of the products themselves and thus have better price control and also by the way, automated test lane products are linked together to form an integrated solution.

The integration of individual products to form a larger entity is important within any garage or workshop where the presence of equipment from different suppliers which do not communicate with each other can slow down activity and increase the cost of operation. Can-Bus technology is used throughout their garage equipment range and used to link the various automated test lane components together. This is particularly useful if expansion has been planned in the original design and installation phase; the cost of upgrades is relatively low. And with some of the options, such as the shock absorber tester, the opportunity for extra revenue is very attractive.

Garage Equipment
Actia Muller supply a full range of products for the garage or workshop

• Automated Test Lanes
• Brake Testers
• Emissions Testers
• Headlamp Aligners
• Diagnostics
• Tyre and Wheel
• Lifting equipment
• Air Conditioning

Tyre and Wheel products in the light vehicle range include wheel aligners as well as tyre changers and wheel balancing equipment. There is a full range of each product type, benefitting from the corporate electronic strengths and spanning both light and commercial vehicles.

Particularly interesting is the Expert Shock Absorber Tester, developed in conjunction with Monroe, which is available as an in-floor or on-floor facility and in an ATL environment can plug straight into the bus that communicates all data to the central controlling PC. It is also available as a mobile unit so that it may be used in multiple locations. The Shock Absorber Tester, when fitted as part of the planned upgrade of an ATL can cost as little as £3500 and is able to generate enormous added revenue. When used as a free advisory check with the MOT or pre-MOT it can accurately, and in just a couple of minutes, shows the status of the shock absorbers and present an opportunity to quote for replacement if necessary.

Diagnostics

In 1985, Actia invented vehicle diagnostics when they produced the first diagnostics tool for Renault. It is no surprise that they are now the leading supplier of diagnostic equipment to the VM and OE market and as such already meet all the Euro 5 requirements. The Multi-Diag covers both light and commercial vehicles and is available as either a full 12 or 8 inch touch-screen tablet or the newly released 7” Pocket, equipped with Bluetooth communications facilities. The unit shows much more than most of its competitors even down to schematics that show where the diagnostics plug is located on the vehicle, maintenance plans, technical data, diagrams and component locations. The Multi-Diag can cover an enormous range of vehicles but when configured to target the market relevant to a particular garage can work out much cheaper and more effective than many of its competitors. The service package available for the updates and services is payable annually with the first year included in the cost of the unit.

Automated Test Lane

Actia Muller have nearly 25 years experience in ATL, having invented the first ATL as far back as 1987. For the ATL package the only product not manufactured by Actia Muller is the range of lift equipment which is sourced from Werther and Ravaglioli. The quality reputation of the lifts together with that of the other equipment manufactured by Actia Muller will make them a real force in the industry.

The ATL is available for Class IV and Class VII MOT use, and light and commercial pre-MOT testing. They are all modular and with the components all plugging together give not only a very good integrated solution but also a product designed to easily become a multi-lane testing facility. The Actia Muller system has been developed in a number of directions that not only allow it to be plugged together to form a multi-lane facility but there are also mobile models, built into a artic trailers and utilising on-board generators for power.

For a small additional investment, the standard ATL facility can be upgraded to include not only the Expert Shock Absorber Tester but also an automatic tracking sensor. Both can be “in floor” options so that they don’t interfere with the utilisation of floor-space and can be used with little or no delay in the MOT schedule and yet both can offer exceptional opportunities for added revenues.

The Actia Muller ATL is backed up by a design team with more than 50 years’ experience in the motor industry, and a consultation service that includes site survey, considered advice and drawings, combined with installation, commissioning and training. This expertise means customers know they are getting the best solution for their workshop and business model.

The history and pedigree of Actia Muller is not as well known in the aftermarket as in the primary VM and OE environments. However the quality of the products, the level of its support and the value for money that it represents will surely mean that we will see a similar rise in its UK user base as has been seen in the rest of Europe since they decided to enter this very challenging market.