Designing Custom Training Rigs for Auto OEM Dealers │ AES
- Anil Patil
- Jul 27
- 6 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Most automotive training equipment sold in India is built for one buyer: a polytechnic or ITI procuring standardised kits through a tender. That is a different problem from the one an OEM dealer network actually has — getting a technician to diagnose a fault on the specific vehicle model and system that will be in the service bay tomorrow. A catalogue kit built around a generic circuit does not teach that.
Ameet Electro Systems (Nashik, Maharashtra) manufactures vehicle-specific automotive training boards built to the specification of the vehicle model and the training objective. Every board is engineered against a defined brief — component part numbers, circuit topology, fault-simulation points, and the power supply for the destination market.
We have built training boards for the dealer networks of VE Commercial Vehicles (the Volvo–Eicher joint venture) and Mahindra, among others. If you have a vehicle model, a training objective, and a deployment scale, we will build the board to match.
What makes an OEM training board different from a catalogue kit?
A custom OEM training board is designed around one specific vehicle's actual wiring architecture, sensor set, or control system — not a generic representation of a vehicle. It exists so a dealer technician can practise fault-finding on something that behaves like the real machine, rather than learning principles on equipment that does not match what is in the workshop.
Three gaps open up with catalogue equipment, and a vehicle-specific board closes each one:
Component recognition. A generic relay board teaches relay theory, but the form factor, connector and part number rarely match the OEM's vehicle. A technician who hesitates over the real component during a warranty job costs the OEM money. A board carrying the actual part removes that hesitation.
Fault topology. Catalogue kits simulate faults on generic circuits. OEM diagnostic training needs the documented fault sequences from that model's service manual — the failures technicians actually meet, in the combinations they occur in.
Instructor credibility. When the board carries real part numbers, an instructor teaches directly against the service manual and diagnostic tree. That link between classroom and service bay is what moves a new technician to competence — and a generic kit breaks it.
How we design and build a custom training board
If none of our existing boards matches your training objective, we design to brief. The typical engagement runs five steps.
Step 1 — Requirement brief. You share the vehicle model, the system to be trained (sensors, telematics, hydraulics, electrical), the learner profile, and any existing training content — syllabus, service-manual extracts, component lists. We ask specifically which fault scenarios the technician needs to learn to diagnose. This matters more than it sounds: a board built to show a system operating normally teaches recognition, while a board built to simulate the faults your dealers actually report teaches diagnosis. We ask for both.
Step 2 — Component mapping. Our engineering team maps the requirement to a board layout and prepares a bill of materials, referencing component part numbers against your service documentation. For a headlamp circuit that means tracing the real wiring topology of that model — including DRL, adaptive lighting or CAN-bus integration where the vehicle has it — rather than a simplified stand-in.
Step 3 — Prototype. We fabricate a first unit and ship it for evaluation. Your training team reviews it against the syllabus and returns revision notes.
Step 4 — Sign-off and series production. Once you approve the prototype, we produce the agreed quantity. Lead time from confirmed order is 4–8 weeks, depending on volume and component availability. Fault simulation is built in through accessible switches rather than physically damaged components, so a board stays serviceable across many training cohorts instead of degrading after the first.
Step 5 — Ongoing supply. We retain the BOM and board design. Repeat orders, spares and revised versions are fulfilled against the same reference as your vehicle platform evolves.
Boards are manufactured and tested in-house at our facility in Satpur MIDC, Nashik — Maharashtra's established industrial corridor. Each board ships with a manual covering component identification, operating instructions, and, where applicable, fault-simulation or quiz procedures.
A built example: the Eicher LIVE telematics concept board
VE Commercial Vehicles needed its dealer network trained to diagnose issues on a live telematics system — GPS positioning, GSM connectivity, and the data the system reports back to the portals. A generic electronics trainer cannot replicate this, because the diagnostic skill required is specific to how that OEM's telematics chain behaves.
The Eicher LIVE concept board teaches the full architecture of a connected commercial vehicle. On the board, the data path is laid out end to end:
Sensors → Engine ECU (EECU) + Vehicle ECU (VECU) + Instrument Cluster → CAN bus → Telematics Gateway / TCU (with SIM card and GPS antenna) → GSM tower → Cloud Server → Dealer Portal / Call-Centre Portal / Customer Portal.
It runs in three selectable modes — Information (fuel management and uptime reporting), GPS (live vehicle-tracking concept), and Fault (fault-code generation and dealer-portal notification). LEDs trace activity along the path in slow or fast mode via a speed switch, so a trainer can walk a group through the sequence or run it at realistic pace. The portals demonstrate uptime management, proactive service, advance breakdown assistance, dynamic service reminders, fuel management and trip management.
View the Telematics Concept Board →
Other boards built to OEM brief
Vehicle Sensor 17-Demo Board (Model V03) — commissioned by VE Commercial Vehicles for its dealer service network. All 17 sensors and relay components used on the commercial-vehicle platform, mounted Plug-N-Play on a single LED-backlit board so technicians can identify each component, observe its behaviour, and practise removal and refitting without a live vehicle. Runs from 230VAC and generates its 12V and 24V rails internally. A 10-station variant suits induction modules and smaller training bays.
QB-A01-R1 "Play & Learn" Quiz Board — built for Mahindra's NOVO and YUVO tractor dealer network and deployed at Mahindra Exclusive Service Centres. It presents a hydraulic fault scenario and asks the technician to identify the probable cause, with a green LED and voice confirmation for a correct answer and a red LED for an incorrect one — turning diagnostic training into a measurable exercise.
The full range is on our automotive training boards page. Component-level learning kits and the headlamp circuit board sit in the custom automotive training kits range.
Export supply
We ship training boards internationally, with active supply relationships in Australia, South Africa and West Africa.
Shipping: FOB Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Navi Mumbai) Lead time: 4–8 weeks from confirmed order Power supply: The documented boards (17-sensor, telematics, quiz) are 230VAC — suitable for India, Australia (240V), South Africa (230V) and West Africa (220–240V). Buyers in 120V markets will require a step-up transformer. Documentation: We handle commercial invoice, packing list, Certificate of Origin (India), and HS code classification. Buyers handle import customs in their country.
We are an MSME-registered manufacturer (UDYAM-MH-23-0235305) with export credentials (IEC 3116911487), manufacturing in-house since 2008.
Frequently asked questions
Can AES build a training board for a specific vehicle model we manufacture?
Yes — this is our core offering. Share the vehicle model, the system to train (sensors, telematics, hydraulics, electrical), and your learner profile. We map components to your service documentation and design a board layout accordingly.
How long does a custom training board take to build?
4–8 weeks from confirmed order, depending on volume and component availability. Telematics and connectivity boards sit at the longer end of that range.
Do you supply standard training kits as well as custom boards?
Yes. Alongside custom OEM boards we supply a standard range of learning kits, demo benches and pneumatics trainers suitable for polytechnics, ITIs and engineering colleges — see custom automotive training kits.
Can we order spares and replacement components after delivery?
Yes. We retain the BOM for every board we produce, so spares, repeat units and revised versions are fulfilled against the same reference.
Do the boards come with training manuals?
Yes. Each board ships with a manual covering component identification, operating instructions, and — where applicable — fault-simulation or quiz procedures.
What is the minimum order quantity?
There is no stated minimum. We have built single pilot units and network-wide series quantities. Contact us with your deployment scale and we will advise on lead time and cost structure.
Request a board specification
Tell us:
The vehicle model or system you need to train on
The training objective and learner profile
The fault scenarios technicians need to diagnose
Deployment scale and destination country
Email: ameetsys@yahoo.com
We respond within one working day with a specification outline and any additional information we need to begin the design.
Ameet Electro Systems Plot No. 27, Survey No. 76/2A+B, Someshwar Colony, Satpur MIDC, Nashik – 422007, Maharashtra, India MSME UDYAM-MH-23-0235305 · IEC 3116911487 · GSTIN 27AHZPP6922A1ZY
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