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From Idea to Product: Dorman’s Process of Developing Products [AW 178]


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Recorded Live at ASTE 2023, Lester Kovacs, Director of Ideation at Dorman Products, explains Dorman's unique approach to product development, including working closely with technicians, searching through junkyards for challenges, and conducting extensive testing. He also discusses supply chain issues, reaching out to their network for feedback, and upcoming products at Dorman.

Lester Kovacs, Director of Ideation, Dorman Products

Show Notes:

  • Uncovering Technician Challenges (00:04:02) Discussion on how Dorman works with technicians to uncover their challenges and develop solutions.
  • Part Availability and Supply Chain Issues (00:05:31) Conversation about supply chain issues and challenges with part availability for older vehicles.
  • The discovery of a new product category (00:08:31) Discussion about finding a new product category and the process of developing that particular product.
  • The challenge of developing new products (00:11:00) Exploration of the challenges faced in developing new products and the need to work against the clock.
  • Testing and validation of new products (00:12:58) Explanation of the testing and validation process for new products, including material testing, dimensional testing, and trial and test on actual vehicles.
  • The incubator analogy (00:15:54) Discusses the role of the incubator in finding and developing ideas, identifying bottlenecks, and resource decisions.
  • Percentage of ideas that make it (00:16:58) Discusses the percentage of ideas that make it through the validation process and the importance of a tight funnel to meet customer expectations.
  • Lester's career journey (00:18:04) Explores Lester's background, starting from his love for cars as a kid.
  • Changing Habits and Customer Perception (00:23:01) Discussion on the challenge of changing habits in the aftermarket industry and the need to shift customer perception of certain parts.
  • Improving Marketing Strategy and Relaunching Products (00:23:25) Exploration of the relaunch of a product line after initial poor sales, including collaboration with customers and counter professionals to improve marketing and sales strategies.
  • Suggestion for Website Enhancement (00:24:32) A suggestion to add a tab on the website to address why customers are not buying certain products, with testimonials and repair pictures to encourage sales.

Thanks to our Partner, Dorman Products.

Dorman gives people greater freedom to fix vehicles by constantly developing new repair solutions that put owners and technicians first. Take the Dorman Virtual Tour at www.DormanProducts.com/Tour

Connect with the Podcast:

-Join our Insider List: https://remarkableresults.biz/insider

-All books mentioned on our podcasts: https://remarkableresults.biz/books

-Our Classroom page for personal or team learning: https://remarkableresults.biz/classroom

-Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/carm

-The Aftermarket Radio Network: https://aftermarketradionetwork.com

-Special episode collections: https://remarkableresults.biz/collections

 

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Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         0 comments
      Auto shop owners are always looking for ways to improve production levels. They focus their attention on their technicians and require certain expectations of performance in billable labor hours. While technicians must know what is expected of them, they have a limited amount of control over production levels. When all factors are considered, the only thing a well-trained technician has control over is his or her actual efficiency.
      As a review, technician efficiency is the amount of labor time it takes a technician to complete a job compared to the labor time being billed to the customer. Productivity is the time the technician is billing labor hours compared to the time the technician is physically at the shop. The reality is that a technician can be very efficient, but not productive if the technician has a lot of downtime waiting for parts, waiting too long between jobs, or poor workflow systems.
      But let’s go deeper into what affects production in the typical auto repair shop. As a business coach, one of the biggest reasons for low shop production is not charging the correct labor time. Labor for extensive jobs is often not being billed accurately. Rust, seized bolts, and wrong published labor times are just a few reasons for lost labor dollars.
      Another common problem is not understanding how to bill for jobs that require extensive diagnostic testing, and complicated procedures to arrive at the root cause for an onboard computer problem, electrical issue, or drivability issue. These jobs usually take time to analyze, using sophisticated tools, and by the shop’s top technician. Typically, these jobs are billed at a standard menu labor charge, instead of at a higher labor rate. This results in less billed labor hours than the actual labor time spent. The amount of lost labor hours here can cripple a shop’s overall profit.
      Many shop owners do a great job at calculating their labor rate but may not understand what their true effective labor is, which is their labor sales divided by the total labor hours sold. In many cases, I have seen a shop that has a shop labor rate of over $150.00 per hour, but the actual effective labor rate is around $100. Not good.
      Lastly, technician production can suffer when the service advisors are too busy or not motivated to build relationships with customers, which results in a low sales closing ratio. And let’s not forget that to be productive, a shop needs to have the right systems, the right tools and equipment, an extensive information system, and of course, great leadership.
      The bottom line is this; many factors need to be considered when looking to increase production levels. While it does start with the technician, it doesn’t end there. Consider all the factors above when looking for ways to improve your shop’s labor production.
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