A global competition held every other year to develop and demonstrate the service excellence of the frontline people in UD dealerships and workshops around the world.

Cancellation of UD Gemba Challenge 2020

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continuing to intensify worldwide, UD Trucks has the responsibility to prevent the spread of the disease and ensure the health and safety of our stakeholders. In line with the company’s guidelines on health and safety, UD Trucks has taken the decision to cancel all major events for the foreseeable future. This includes the UD Gemba Challenge 2020.  

UD Trucks truly appreciates the efforts and preparation by all people involved in this global event. The UD Gemba Challenge gets its name from the Gemba Spirit and this is a core value at UD Trucks. It is this spirit that fills our service market teams with passion and drives them to go the extra mile for our customers every single day. The UD Gemba Challenge will always be a crucial activity for UD Trucks and will be back in the future.  

Thank you for your continued support and please stay safe.

Sincerely,
UD Gemba Challenge Team

UD Gemba Challenge

The first competition was in 2014, and the second was in 2016, when 289 teams from Japan, Indonesia,  Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Africa fought to qualify for the world final in Japan.  The UD Gemba Challenge is based on the idea of the gemba spirit. The gemba spirit is something that all UD Trucks frontline people have. It is the passion that drives them to go the extra mile for our customers. We call it the gemba spirit, because it lives in our dealer network, which we call the gemba – where the value is created for our customers.

The aim of the UD Gemba Challenge
- To act as a motivational tool driving a global UD culture of loyalty, brand awareness and competence development
- To showcase the high skills level in the UD Trucks markets 
- To ultimately deliver direct benefits in the form of improved knowledge and skills of UD colleagues, which will lead to an enhanced service experience for customers

UD Gemba Challenge 2018 – “Celebrating our Heroes”
Every day thousands of UD colleagues embody the gemba spirit and serve customers all over the world. This year, the UD Gemba Challenge 2018 is an opportunity to celebrate these efforts!  

The UD Gemba Challenge is a perfect stage to showcase the competence and talent among UD colleagues, and to recognize the excellent work that is done in the gemba every single day. As teamwork is such an important part of success in the workshop, the UD Gemba Challenge is a team competition. The first 2 rounds of the competition are a mixture of technical, commercial and brand related questions. The best teams are then invited to the final, which will be held in Ageo in Japan, the home of UD Trucks. You can keep up with the UD Gemba Challenge by following the UD Gemba Challenge Facebook page. Here you will receive competition updates, as well as lots of other content showcasing the high skill level at UD Trucks. Join us there to help us celebrate our UD Heroes!

For more information, please contact Therese Palmquist at therese.palmquist@volvo.com