As an independent repair shop business owner, your large equipment buys and higher price tag tools for the shop likely involve a fair amount of research before you sign off on the purchase.
When making these decisions, how do you build a case for buying a particular tool or piece of equipment? While cost is a considerable factor, making that buying decision goes much deeper than “How many times do I need to use “X” to get my investment back?”
In addition, you likely gather feedback from your technicians, shop managers, service managers and/or other employees in the shop who will be using the product. The evaluation will involve comparison shopping to review all of the options available in that particular tool category. Not to mention, testimonials and user feedback can go a long way in making a sound decision.
You also want to be sure you’re making a long-term investment in your shop’s future. Will this equipment last five year? 10 years, or longer? Is it upgradeable or updatable, or does it have capabilities to retrofit particular accessories for adjustments in the future? (Think tire changers, RRR machines, scan tools, etc.)
For newer tool technologies on the market, some of these tool categories are just emerging for the aftermarket.
When you’re looking to the future, it’s also important to understand there are some products that haven’t been on the market for long – but they’ll still be a value to your techs.
Evaluating the need and value of these products can be challenging, which is why it’s crucial to stay up-to-date on changing vehicle technologies, and how those will affect the products developed due to these industry changes.
So, what is on the horizon for new products you may be tooling up for soon?
This month, Contributing Editor Barry Hoyland provides readers with an in-depth look at the different tool technologies recently introduced to the aftermarket. He covers everything from the traditional and more familiar scan tools and lab scopes, to digital inspection tools, telematics and tools for calibrating advanced driver assist systems (ADAS).
Just like the changes in refrigerants, the adoption of some of these technologies may take years before you see them. Others – like scan tools and lab scopes – are in your shop already. It’s just a matter of making sure you’re using those products to their fullest potential.
To read more about these new tool technologies in this month’s Tool Briefing, “How to integrate new tool technologies into your shop,” turn to page 68. And, as always, check out other new tools available now in the New Products section, starting on page xx.
