Fixed Ops Magazine - 2022 Vol19 03 - 44

MAKE IT VISUAL
Does everyone in your shop know what the goals are
and how you are doing? I suggest keeping it simple -
too many metrics can dilute your focus. Focusing on
two metrics, the number of jobs completed by promised
time and technician efficiency, gets everyone focused
on customer satisfaction and shop optimization. Measuring
and posting these numbers where they are visible
drives results. Don't overthink it here. A whiteboard
or digital display is all you need.
WHAT IS THE TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED
BY SERVICE ADVISORS
Do you know how far your service advisors travel in a
day? By using a pedometer or most smart phones, you
can capture the distance they travel in a typical day. Multiplying
total steps times 2.5 feet per step gives you a
total distance. If you then divide this distance by 3 MPH
(5280 feet) you will have the amount of time your S.A.s
spend walking into the shop to get job status, chase
parts, and other activities. Add in some time to shoot
the breeze on sports, time lost due to technician interruptions,
and other distractions and you have a good
picture of your potential improvement opportunity. Reducing
distance traveled through digital data capture
and job status frees your service advisors to focus on
customer satisfaction.
WHAT ARE THE JOB DELAYS DUE
TO WAIT TIMES
A common metric for measuring technician efficiency
is book time / clock time. While this is a good metric,
it does not provide the needed information to identify
and fix the issues impacting efficiency. Measuring time
delays due to waiting for parts, customer approval, or
other areas that put a job on hold can be accomplished
by having someone watch or by capturing this information
electronically. With this information, you will know
where to focus for improvement. Drilling down to decrease
the time to get parts to techs, decrease the time
to get information to and from S.A.s for R.O. approvals,
and to ensure you don't have backlogs at key equipment
can post shop throughput.
What's important is to benchmark where you are along
with what good and great look like. You can get this information
from a NADA 20 group or for multi-site dealerships.
Benchmark across your locations. Our teams
are competitive. Letting them know where they stand
will help them focus on getting better.
Focusing on areas that add value to your customers
as well as improvements that eliminate waste are standard
practice in most manufacturing environments. The
principles contained in the Toyota Production System
and replicated globally can significantly impact fixed
operations productivity.
If we're honest, our industry
has trailed many others in analyzing and implementing
these proven best practices. Going forward, shops that
are more efficient will attract and retain the best technicians
and service advisors, deliver higher customer satisfaction,
and be more profitable.
Can you afford not to embrace these lean manufacturing
principles?
Marcus Aman is the
founder of Bayley Service
Intelligence, a technology
that captures 12
critical data points in
automotive fixed operations.
This information
eliminates bottlenecks,
allowing service staff to
work more efficiently.
Marcus was previously an award-winning fixed operations
director for one of the nation's largest dealership
groups. Find Marcus at www.coatsgarage.com/
coats-bayley-service-intelligence
44
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Fixed Ops Magazine - 2022 Vol19 03

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