Advantage Technical
Solutions Architect Vehicle Services Group
As TACs evolve and automation changes the people side, how do you determine what can move to digital and self-service and when technicians still need direct access to an expert?
The panel will explore the journey toward a hybrid TAC model, including Ford’s evolution of its technical hotline from outsourced resources, to leveraging Field Service Engineers in the field, and ultimately bringing the hotline back in-house with dedicated Ford resources. The discussion will examine how organizations balance efficiency and expertise while developing new capabilities for analytics, anomaly investigation and AI-supported decision-making.
Kerwyn (Dan) Dobbs is currently a Solutions Architect for the Vehicle Services Group of Advantage Technical. A former Global Warranty Strategy Manager at Ford, he led the redesign of dealer warranty measurement and introduced an automated prior approval process for major powertrain assemblies—both still in use globally, driving significant savings and reducing dealer workload.
With a broad career spanning corporate, dealership, and teaching roles, Dan is recognized as a 6-Sigma Master Black Belt and trusted analytics leader. His expertise includes warranty cost control, customer and technical support operations, recalls, IT management, auditing, quality, and process improvement. He also holds an MBA from the University of Michigan–Dearborn, specializing in data modeling and optimization.
