A shop management system is more than just a software application used to manage your daily operations, it’s a system consisting of an eclectic mix of tools, processes, and procedures used to help a service business realize success.
Success for an automotive service dealer is not always easy to achieve, but, with the right tools, equipment, drive, and mindset, one can more easily manage challenges standing in the way. In my opinion, success means more than just the financial bottom line, as it resonates back to the core values as to why we are in business.
Managing workflow
We are an important factor in the transportation segment where we help people maintain their mobility and independence. And with the automobile being one of the most complex devices a human will interact with during their lifetime, it is our duty to always stay competently proficient and professional. That means managing staff so that they are maintaining the assets required to bring forward success. Managing workflow indeed is extremely challenging, and there may be several tangents encountered during a repair process.
For instance, a vehicle arrives with a complaint of X. The vehicle is one that fits well with one of your technicians. However, they may be out away at training or maybe off because of sick leave, etc. Wouldn't it be great if you could leverage some of the knowledge that you're out of commission technician has and have him or her share that knowledge with another technician in the shop remotely?
We've had situations where some preliminary analysis was performed on a vehicle before it even reached our facility. Some of that research may include technical service bulletins, industry knowledge, etc. when we find something relevant to the vehicle in question, we can easily attach it to the invoice (digital in this case) where it can be used as a reference for any technicians interacting with this vehicle and complaint.
Now keep in mind that these documents can also serve a purpose later down the road. There may be conditions where you're unable to duplicate a specific complaint on a vehicle resulting in the shop placing the vehicle back into service. If the vehicle returns, a new work order can be generated with a link back to that original ticket containing all the research assets that were used previously. This is a huge time saver, especially if relevant diagnostic and research data was attached. What I’m referring to here is things like a full vehicle diagnostic scan, relevant wiring diagrams, and other complimentary items such as photos and or video.
Case Study
We had a situation recently where we were tasked with performing an analysis on a vehicle for another shop. The vehicle arrived with documentation showing the issues they faced and what had been performed thus far. This vehicle had some strange issues that we were able to research and reach a conclusion about. The wide band fuel control vehicle was reporting Lambda 1 whereas an independent measurement reported 0.84. Further, we determined that the ECU was commanding the B1S1 wide-band sensor’s heater at 100 percent all the time, regardless of what the ECM data stream command was. We advised the shop of our findings (replace ECM and front lambda sensor) and returned the vehicle to them. A few months later the vehicle returned to us after repair stating that the O2 sensor monitor will not complete.
We began our analysis by verifying that our previous recommendations were performed. A new ECM had been installed and properly commissioned and it appeared to have a new B1S1, but that had also been replaced before the vehicle visited us on the first trip. We began analysis and immediately noticed that LTFT was running at about +24 percent but there were no codes. We then proceeded to connect our MoTeC LSU4 to the vehicle to sample the exhaust. What we found was that although the ECM was indicating Lambda 1, we were measuring 0.94.
We concluded that the B1S1 sensor was defective. We were able to pull the video showing the previous results from the first visit and share them with the shop. (Figure 1) We found that they had not replaced the B1S1 along with the ECU as recommended which led to this problem.
Having the hard evidence backed up our findings and went a long way toward smoothing out our relationship. In our shop, we use shop-ware.com and love it.
Training
In my book, an efficient shop with knowledgeable staff possessing up-to-date info is a recipe for success. We subscribe to many services out there that provide us with training opportunities and the ability to keep staff up to date. We use Google calendar which has a tie-in to Slack (an internal messaging application we have all staff members subscribed to and I’ll cover more on this subject soon) that brings these notifications to the forefront for all to see. For example, if we sign up for a webinar, we add it to the training and education calendar in google. As soon as this hits, the Slack API pulls in the notice and lets everyone subscribed to that channel know. Then on training day, the system delivers another reminder so everyone has easy access to log in and view. Another training solution we’re subscribed to is called Today’s Class Technician (.todaysclasstechnician.com). Primarily it’s a smartphone app that feeds a few questions a day to subscribed staff members. To explain how it works in the simplest terms, the app is focused on reinforcing current knowledge and eliminating knowledge deficiencies. The company calls it micro-learning, and I like that.
Cut us some Slack
Speaking of Slack (slack.com), this is a rather versatile application that allows us to manage back-shop operations (Figure 2). For example, we have the “Front Office” channel we use to discuss office issues. Another example is our “Special Tools” channel where technicians can post requests for special tools that may be needed to perform a certain task or any other topics that are appropriate. A final example is that we have a “Social” channel that listens for any social media posts that tag our company name. Another use case is how we use our “Uniform Channel” All employees will report any deficiencies with their uniforms in this channel by snapping an image and a short description of the issue right into the channel. One quick look in that channel can tell a whole story for the account rep who shows up and says, “How are we doing?” Slack is a powerful communications tool and goes a long way in helping us manage our business and it is only limited to your imagination.
Customer relations
We use a program called Broadly to help us manage reviews, send appointment reminders, and operate a chatbot right on our website to capture leads. Since 2017, this program has returned to us a wealth of value. Looking through our Google reviews helps to reinforce this fact. We also use a program called Full Slate for appointment scheduling, which also allows us to embed a self-serve scheduler right on our website. Then, we use a program called MechanicNet that allows us to send our marketing materials, find lost customers, encourage scheduling deferred maintenance, and more. Lastly, we use Google My Business, which is now part of Google Maps. (Figure 3) If you’re not leveraging this free service, I highly encourage you to do so immediately.
Final thoughts
Managing a shop can be a daunting task, but there are many options out there in the way of SaaS (Software as a Service) that can help with reducing the everyday friction we all experience. Check out some of the related SMS links listed in the sidebar when you can.
