How a sloppy shop leads to increased comebacks, low profits and a decrease in customer satisfaction

[Joe Marconi]

Legendary College basketball coach John Wooden, would always preach to his players that it’s the details of the game that matters most. That worrying about the score was futile if the execution and the details of the game were not performed with consistency and to the best of everyone’s abilities. In other words, the score will take care of itself and the wins will come if every detail of the game is consistently executed properly.

 

In the shop environment, only worrying about getting the car done, without performing all the steps properly will lead to an eventual breakdown in your workflow system. It will lead to higher comebacks, lower profits and poor customer satisfaction.

 

To have a properly working workflow system, that minimizes comebacks, improves overall quality and improves customer satisfaction, requires paying attention to the details of the workflow process in a consistent manner.

 

Is the customer write up process done properly each time? Are the technicians following the workflow process and every checklist done properly every time? Are the technicians short-cutting the process in an attempt to book hours? And, perhaps the main killer of the shop environment and workflow: a sloppy shop.

 

Yes, a sloppy shop leads to a breakdown in the system. Disorder in the shop equals disorder in the workflow, which equals increased comebacks, increased chances of people getting hurt, unhappy customers and lower profits. Time is wasted finding tools and equipment. People tend not to care enough about the condition of the customer’s car because the shop does not put an emphasis on neatness and order in the shop. Cars will leave with grease marks, dirty floor mats and job details forgotten.

 

The first step in any process is the shop environment and that means shop organization. You cannot have an efficient workflow until you have shop order. Everyone must be held accountable for keeping order. And it starts with the tech’s work space.

 

Want to improve production, profits and customer satisfaction? Pay attention to the details, focus on quality, create a well-defined workflow process and maintain order in the shop.

[alfredauto]

Amen brother. This is a current issue with the snow, we clean the floor 10 minutes later its a sandy slushy mess. The workflow suffers when we are working in a mud puddle.

[bstewart]

Amen brother. This is a current issue with the snow, we clean the floor 10 minutes later its a sandy slushy mess. The workflow suffers when we are working in a mud puddle.

At the Kenworth dealership I currently work at, we have a bay cleaning fee built into every work order.

Every bay gets the floor swept, pressure washed and squeegied after every truck leaves, no matter the size of the job.

Granted, this is for heavy duty, not automotive.

Maybe a small fee ($5 or 10?) could be built into the job supplies on each work order to pay for a tech to clean the bay after each car is pulled out?