Motor Coach Industries (MCI), a subsidiary of New Flyer Industries Inc., announced a new Design Engineering Field Support Team to provide enhanced customer care in the field. The new team will support MCI Technical Solutions Managers (TSMs) to troubleshoot field issues and streamline solutions.

TSMs, part of MCI’s aftermarket group, are regionally assigned to coach customers to provide technical expertise and handle a range of field matters. The new DEFS Team will work with MCI’s TSMs on issues that require further expertise and to accommodate special engineering requests.

“The new team has two benefits — first, it better serves our customers,” said J.P. Pelletier, MCI executive director, design engineering. “Second, it provides a straight line to product improvements at the factory level because we’ll spot these production opportunities before future deliveries.”

Pelletier explained that the team will be “focused full-time on resolving field issues brought to their attention through the TSMs and MCI’s Issue Resolution Process. Any field issue requiring an in-depth solution or a design change will be channeled to the Design Engineering Field Support Team.”

Michael Mi, lead electrical engineer who reports to Pelletier, will take on the additional responsibility of Field Support/Service, leading the DEFS Team, and will be supported by engineers with expertise in electrical systems and coach programming; ride and drive systems; and interior and exterior components.

“This senior-level team’s combined experience in coach and vehicle design is a tremendous asset to the way we manage field projects,” said Pelletier. “The move will enhance our response time and our Reliability Driven goal of building coaches with automotive quality while providing our customers fast, expert care.”

All together, MCI has 26 Technical Solution Managers, with 15 dedicated to exclusively to private sector operators in the U.S. and Canada.