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By Joe Marconi in Joe's BlogTypically, when productivity suffers, the shop owner or manager directs their attention to the technicians. Are they doing all they can do to maintain high billable hours? Are they as efficient as they can be? Is there time being wasted throughout the technician’s day?
All these reasons factor into production problems, but before we point fingers at the technicians, let’s consider a few other factors.
Are estimates being written properly? Are labor testing and inspections being billed out correctly? Are you charging enough for testing and inspecting, especially for highly specialized electrical, on-board computer issues, and other complex drivability work? Is there a clear workflow process everyone follows that details every step from the write-up to vehicle delivery? Do you track comebacks, and is that affecting production? Is the shop layout not conducive to high production? For example, is it unorganized, where shop tools, technical information, and equipment are not easily accessible to every technician? Are you charging the correct labor rate and allowing for variables such as rust, vehicle age, and the fact that most labor guides are wrong? Also, is there effective communication between the tech and the service advisor to ensure that extra labor time is accounted for and billed to the customer? These are a few of the top reasons for low productivity problems. There are others, but the main point is to look at the entire operation. Productivity is a team effort. Blaming the techs or other staff members does not get to the root cause in most cases.
Maintaining adequate production levels is the responsibility of management to create the processes that will lead to high production while holding everyone accountable.
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By TTP
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By bantar
While at the Ratchet and Wrench Management Conference, I was able to review most of the management software packages available. I have a few observations to share that might be helpful. Each software package has its own pluses and minuses, but, I see some high-level commonalities amongst them.
At a high level, you can separate software packages into two groups based on age. The longer a software package has been available, the more likely that many of its features are highly refined and give you the most controls. The disadvantage of an older software package is that they are too busy keeping their customer base happy with fixes and minor features that they don't have time to take the leap of innovation (e.g. DVI). If the platform is really old and/or they are not charging enough money monthly to have the revenue to hire a good team, they may not be able to completely rewrite their software to utilize newer technology features. For these software packages, you are forced to change vendors to adopt new the new features. On the other hand, if the software package is new, they go straight for the snazzy features and also, try to fix the perceived problems of the legacy software packages. They excel in the basics, but lack the depth of feature functionality that only time brings. Mind you, both types of companies are trying to reach feature parity. New companies need to flush out features, adding complexity and older companies are working to build the snazzy features. Both of these take time.
For the record, I'm using Protractor. I can tell you all of the good and bad of this package. I used my in-depth knowledge of this program to compare it to the newer packages. In other forums, the two main contenders for new appear to be:
TekMetric ShopWare Other New: Shop Monkey AutoLeap Older More Mature Systems: Protractor Mitchell (I didn't look at this one) NapaTracs (I didn't look at this one) Many others not at this show I liked the snazzy new features that I saw in each new package, but quickly recognized that in my daily use, I'm using certain mature features that are not present in the new packages.
Another observation is that each software package somewhat enforces a workflow methodology. You can choose to fight their internal structures (and lose), or go with their model. I noticed a few idiosyncrasies, but, they are all trending towards a seemingly similar workflow. This requires scrutiny when selecting a software package. The new guys are often pushing their "better way" as a solution to the problems of old. For instance, ShopWare had a unique approach to canned jobs that deserves investigation that I didn't notice in other packages.
So, when shopping, make note of the real features that you must have. Don't be fooled by the shiny new outer skin. Balance it with your real needs.
I do see that some of these new contenders are investing much money into development of new features, so over time, they will likely build the feature that you need today. As well, some mature packages are investing in the future.
I will say this loudly. Your software vendor must be charging you healthy monthly fees to have the money necessary to continue to innovate. If you gravitate to the lowest price, features could take longer or never come. Just like us, we must first survive before we can do good work and be able to pay the bills.
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By Joe Marconi
I recently read an article in Auto Success online, a publication for dealerships. It states that there is a market for used tires. I was never a fan of selling used tires. Link to article below.
Your thoughts? Comments?
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By Joe Marconi
Years ago, I had a "No rehire rule." My thinking back then: If someone quits and I rehire them, does that send the right message to the other employees? That they can leave and I would take them back? However, we are in different times.
Employees, especially techs, have left their jobs in recent years, lured away by better pay, in many cases. But, these employees soon realized that a job (a career) is not all about the paycheck.
What would you do if an employee came back to you, asking for re-employment?
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