Professional Distributor - 8

COVER STORY
"In most cases, you simply need to
show the customer how to navigate the
user interface and where to find the key
functions," says Jeremy Hyde, product
manager at Cornwell Quality Tools. "If
you can show them a couple short cuts
or useful features along the way, you are
a hero."
Often, mobile dealers will lend a
demo scan tool to a technician for a
short period of time. If the technician
has a question, the manufacturer is able
to assist, whether by remoting in or by
offering online resources.
"If a [technician] requires assistance
we can remote into that scan tool and
walk them through the process of how
it works and where the test functions are
that they need," says Tao Shichun, sales
manager of international market center
at Launch Tech.
Many scan tool companies have
made the shift towards online training,
enabling technicians to view the full
functionality of the scan tool on their
own clock. Now end-users can reference
feature-specific videos on their YouTube
channel, as well as webinars with actual
calibrations and real-world examples.
Companies also offer online videos
and content to help train technicians on
the most prominent features of their
scan tools.

UP AND COMING FEATURES
As technology on vehicles advances, so
do scan tool features. One key feature is
the integration of traditional diagnostics
and technical information.
"Technicians appreciate additional
information like wiring diagrams, troubleshooting, and procedures," TEXA's
Peruch says. "This focus towards quality and completeness is a key factor
and an important trend. Remote diagnostics, OTA (over-the-air) capabilities,
and ADAS systems are a hot topic; it's
a completely new market that will grow
even bigger [over] the next years."
Cojali's Gattamorta agrees that as the

Photo from Autel

complexity of vehicle systems become
more advanced, having only the diagnostics part is not enough. "A lot of
[technicians] may know what the specific
part looks like or where it is at, so the
technical information is becoming more
and more of the driver of the diagnostics
platforms and the functionality of the
shop," he says. "Not just reading codes."
Topology and direct CAN bus scanning are additional features new to the
aftermarket. Topology provides a technician a map of the vehicle's network.
"From the initial all-systems scan,
the technician can see how the modules are connected and how the systems
communicate with each other," Schnitz
says. "Not only are we now able to see all
the modules and codes present, we can
see the communication lines between
those modules to see the health of the
network as well."
As for direct CAN bus scanning,
some advanced scan tools now have a
lab scope built into the vehicle communication interface (VCI), enabling them
to perform scope analysis on a network
with the already connected OBD-II connector, Schnitz adds.
For shops servicing highway trucks,

8 Professional Distributor I September 2020 I VehicleServicePros.com

Topology features are new to the aftermarket
and gives the technician a map of the
vehicle's network.

school buses, and light commercial
trucks, Cojali recently launched its
Jaltest Commercial Vehicles Diagnostics
Kit with a feature that lets users copy
ECM configurations onto their computer, then take that same configuration and put it onto a new ECM. Cojali's
Gattamorta notes that being able to copy
the parameters provides a benefit to customers that previously had to go directly
to the dealer.
Another noteworthy feature that has
been recently introduced to scan tools is
the ability to program keys.
"More and more systems in vehicles
are being tied to security," Schnitz says.
"If a module is replaced, the key may
have to be re-synchronized or reprogrammed to the vehicle. Having a tool in
the shop that can read keys and program
keys to vehicles [is] becoming an everyday need in some shops." For example,
Autel's IM508 can be used in conjunction with the shop's scan tool to program
keys, whereas the IM608 combines the
diagnostics and key programming into
one unit.

http://www.VehicleServicePros.com

Professional Distributor

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Professional Distributor