Do you think the reason for high productivity and beating the labor time is due to becoming very proficient in a particular area and skill set? As in your business model?
In the "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" world that I operated in, over the years it became more challenging to beat the time. For example: A tech's first car for the day is a Check Engine light problem on a Buick, then an ABS issue on a Lexus, and then a climate control problem on a Volvo. To be proficient in this environment is challenging, at best.
Thoughts, comments?
I agree with you, in too many markets it is very hard for a shop to specialize. In fact, in my town there are no strictly transmission shops anymore. The only one that even advertises "transmissions" is a general repair shop that started off as a transmission only shop and then had to expand their services. We have 3 "import specialty" shops and only one is truly import only with another having a very high percentage being "European" imports and the 3rd is now pretty much a G/R shop. In Northern Michigan Subarus are a big deal and there is a Subaru only shop but as for single make or "sister" makes like Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, etc. there are none. All others are G/R shops because that is all the local market will support.
Even when the customer goes to the dealer sometimes that level of specialization isn't enough to solve their problem. Sometimes "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" comes in handy too. I had a Lexus RX come in for a "lack of power" complaint. They had taken it to two different independent repair shops and "the dealer" (I think it was actually a Toyota dealer) and no one could figure it out. It would sometimes bog down and have no power taking off and when you were coming to a stop it would sometimes act like the brakes went out. Those were the customer's explanations. I think most experienced techs will have a very good idea of the root problem. I am a one man shop and I shuttled the customer and her attendant to a nearby coffee shop in the customer vehicle. I pretty much knew the cause before we got to the coffee shop. This was a Lexus but most of the "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shops have encountered the GM trucks and their false ABS activation issues. A review of the WSS signals just like with the GM trucks proved that one of the front WSSs was slow to start a signal and early to drop to zero thus confirming the lack of power was traction control and the "brakes go out" feeling was the ABS activating. Why the dealer didn't figure it out is beyond me, but I had the entire diagnosis completed with two test drives and a brief inspection on the hoist. The customer thought I was a genius because I figured out what 3 other shops could not. All because I am a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop.
But you are 100% correct that as a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop, I am often not as productive as I could be if I dealt with just a few highly repetitive jobs. But that is the state of the local economy, too few opportunities to specialize and survive.
Raising Labor Rates and Prices May Not Achieve Profitability
in Joe's Blog
A blog by Joe Marconi in AutoShopOwner Team
Posted
I agree with you, in too many markets it is very hard for a shop to specialize. In fact, in my town there are no strictly transmission shops anymore. The only one that even advertises "transmissions" is a general repair shop that started off as a transmission only shop and then had to expand their services. We have 3 "import specialty" shops and only one is truly import only with another having a very high percentage being "European" imports and the 3rd is now pretty much a G/R shop. In Northern Michigan Subarus are a big deal and there is a Subaru only shop but as for single make or "sister" makes like Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, etc. there are none. All others are G/R shops because that is all the local market will support.
Even when the customer goes to the dealer sometimes that level of specialization isn't enough to solve their problem. Sometimes "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" comes in handy too. I had a Lexus RX come in for a "lack of power" complaint. They had taken it to two different independent repair shops and "the dealer" (I think it was actually a Toyota dealer) and no one could figure it out. It would sometimes bog down and have no power taking off and when you were coming to a stop it would sometimes act like the brakes went out. Those were the customer's explanations. I think most experienced techs will have a very good idea of the root problem. I am a one man shop and I shuttled the customer and her attendant to a nearby coffee shop in the customer vehicle. I pretty much knew the cause before we got to the coffee shop. This was a Lexus but most of the "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shops have encountered the GM trucks and their false ABS activation issues. A review of the WSS signals just like with the GM trucks proved that one of the front WSSs was slow to start a signal and early to drop to zero thus confirming the lack of power was traction control and the "brakes go out" feeling was the ABS activating. Why the dealer didn't figure it out is beyond me, but I had the entire diagnosis completed with two test drives and a brief inspection on the hoist. The customer thought I was a genius because I figured out what 3 other shops could not. All because I am a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop.
But you are 100% correct that as a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop, I am often not as productive as I could be if I dealt with just a few highly repetitive jobs. But that is the state of the local economy, too few opportunities to specialize and survive.