Tuvlita UAB hosts a delegation of TÜV Thüringen managers
Tuvlita UAB hosted a group of guests from TÜV Thüringen. This time the delegation consisted of the heads of the car inspection department and the accredited maintenance organisation, as well as experts in technological systems, who focused their attention on the equipment of the TA centres operating in Lithuania, the digitalisation of vehicle inspections, quality control and other similar issues.
It will be recalled that TÜV Thüringen was one of the main donors of ideas when, a quarter of a century ago, it was decided to create a modern, up-to-date vehicle inspection system in Lithuania, which would make a real contribution to the solution of traffic safety problems. This German group of companies providing certification services for technical safety and quality systems owns 50% of Tuvlita.
"TÜV Thüringen's managers visit us quite often, but many of the people in charge of the inspection departments have only heard about how our company is organised, the role of TRANSEKSTA, how we cooperate with our colleagues from other inspection companies or with the national regulatory authorities. Importantly, although the basic processes of technical inspection are governed by the same European legislation, new approaches are needed to tackle some of the challenges at national level. This is where we can share our experience, because we are a little further advanced, whether in terms of the introduction of information technology, the calibration of inspection equipment or metrological verification. We have now virtually eliminated paper documents altogether, and everything has been transferred to the relevant databases. In Lithuania, technical inspection companies have already undergone accreditation procedures and have the status of Type A inspection bodies. Our German colleagues still have to take some similar steps, so the opportunity to see working examples is really useful, and we also benefit from this kind of communication and exchange of views on relevant issues," said Povilas Imbrasas, Managing Director of Tuvlita.
There are also more "mundane" problems common to all testing centres. Take the exhaust extraction system during the inspection: how to protect inspectors from being in a health hazardous environment all the time when car designers have turned the exhaust pipe into a stylistic accent and integrated it into the bumper? There are so many different configurations that universal ventilation systems can only exist in theory, and if offered to business practitioners would probably be very expensive.
Interestingly, TÜV Thüringen managers themselves asked for a detailed presentation of the internal quality control system of TA companies operating in Lithuania. Traditionally, the German mentality leaves no room for "agreements" with car owners who try to mask technical defects, but there are problems of their own. It was no coincidence that the guests were particularly interested in the solutions already implemented in Lithuania to automatically transfer the data recorded by the equipment on the inspection line into the technical inspection report.
"Gerald Vogel, Head of Vehicle Inspection at TÜV Thüringen, confirmed that although the inspection algorithm is basically the same in Lithuania and Germany, there are some differences due to the much earlier start-up year in our country and some other historical circumstances.
"Admittedly, the Lithuanian inspection system is much more efficient, with a much smaller administrative apparatus and surprisingly low inspection prices. Obviously, this is largely due to the decision to have vehicles inspected only by specialised inspection companies. In Germany, in the 1980s, it was decided to give customers the right to have their cars assessed in garages as well, and TA companies had to increase their staffing levels considerably in order to allow inspectors to travel to these locations to carry out the checks. In some cases, our technicians receive only a couple of people a day who want to have their vehicle inspected, so it's difficult to talk about productivity," said the head of TÜV Thüringen's vehicle inspection department.
Andreas Neumann, Technical Manager of an accredited maintenance organisation, noted that in recent years, the demands on the equipment used for inspections have been steadily increasing, making it less attractive for some small service companies and causing them to withdraw from the field.
"This means that the centralisation of technical inspections is intensifying in Germany, while service companies are trying to purify their activities and invest in what adds the most value to their business," emphasised Mr Neumann.
By the way, car repair and parts sales have always been strictly separated from technical inspection. The authorised garages have only allowed the official TA dealers to use certain diagnostic equipment. Despite the fact that the German car industry is indeed very influential, the idea of liberalisation has been rejected by politicians, leaving a clear separation between the service and control functions.
"Officially - as in the case of specialised TA companies - only the results of exhaust gas checks carried out in the workshops were recognised. From next year, only accredited inspection bodies will be able to provide this service, so the question is how many garages will be willing to implement this requirement. My personal guess is that a minority will do so," said Mr Neumann.
"G. Vogel, Head of Car Inspection at TÜV Thüringen, also stressed that the digitisation of the TA system in Lithuania, the transfer of information from the inspection devices to the relevant databases, and the cooperation with the police, insurance companies and other state institutions are functioning extremely well.
At the end of the in-depth acquaintance with the Lithuanian technical inspection system, both the guests from TÜV Thüringen and the leaders of TRANSEKSTA and Tuvlita stated that meetings of this kind are one of the best and fastest ways to optimize the companies' activities and to gain new ideas.






