Best Practices for Increasing the Productivity and Efficiency of the Service
Although the technicians at your dealership may appear busy, the actual issue you should be asking is whether or not they are effective and productive at their jobs.
It makes no difference how many hours your technicians put in. What counts is whether or not their efforts help your dealership be profitable. You should pay particular attention to these two factors:
* Technician effectiveness
* Operative effectiveness
The technician’s productivity is determined by dividing the number of hours worked by the number of hours available. On the other hand, efficiency is measured by the time it takes your technicians to finish a job in comparison to the usual time anticipated for that job.
It is reasonable to argue that your dealership will be more profitable the more effective and productive your technicians are.
According to a poll of Ag dealers in North America, 26% of respondents believe that a lack of qualified tech workers will be one of their major concerns in 2022.
It is therefore much more crucial to improve service efficiencies.
Let’s examine how you might increase your dealership’s servicing productivity and efficiency.
1. Plan tasks in advance
Do you schedule job orders throughout the day? The productivity of your technicians may be hindered by this.
Scheduling tasks at the start of each day is a key component of increasing service productivity. This helps professionals fulfill deadlines and guarantees that all work orders have been addressed.
Because they know what is expected of them and you can see how they are using their time, it also helps to hold them accountable and keep them productive.
Using a service scheduling tool to schedule jobs is a smart option because it simplifies the process and offers you access to pertinent information.
2. Track the status of work orders
Regularly tracking project progress is one of the most efficient strategies to keep a lid on service output. How do you go about that? By including walkarounds in your daily to-do list.
Managers do daily walkarounds, as the name implies, with technicians. This promotes constant communication, enables you to spot productivity leaks, and speeds up problem-solving, all of which increase shop efficiency.
Use a walkaround sheet to keep track of your progress so you don’t forget to track certain metrics and can record your findings for future use.
How Plevna Implements Service Management Across Locations and On the Road is the next article to read.
3. Spend money on the proper technologies
It is worrisome to learn that workers lose $5 trillion in productivity each year by working 69 days a year on repetitive chores.
The answer is: spend money on the best dealership management system.
Automating administrative and repetitive chores that don’t increase your revenue is the goal. The ability of technicians to concentrate on important tasks leads to an increase in billable hours, effectiveness, and shop productivity.
For instance, use software to arrange your duties and keep track of all the job orders rather than depending on notes and to-do lists. The work orders can then be accessed and updated centrally by technicians.
This not only saves time but also lessens bottlenecks and enhances customer satisfaction. Dealership management software is undoubtedly an investment in long-term growth, with 86% of consumers prepared to spend extra for a superior customer experience.
4. Implement flat rates
A flat rate is a predetermined cost for work done in a specific amount of time. The technician receives payment at that rate after finishing the job. As a dealer, it is your responsibility to estimate the time needed for a job and set a fixed price for it.
That can be determined by consulting labor manuals, researching industry standards, or establishing your own flat rates based on prior experience.
How does this affect the effectiveness of the technician?
Technicians are encouraged to do the job more quickly and effectively since they are only paid for the time that has been marked. Therefore, if a technician finishes work in 2 hours instead of the required 3 hours, they are paid the flat fee and are free to accept the next job order.
5. Enhance the documentation
Document difficulties account for more than 21% of daily productivity losses.
Many sectors bore the weight of bad documentation requirements, from being unable to locate crucial papers and having to rebuild them to inappropriate name and saving procedures.
Encourage thorough service records. Optimizing service efficiency begins with understanding how your technicians are using their time.
Typical work order paperwork includes:
Name and contact details for the business
Title of a work order
Major dates
the technician’s name
position description
This crucial document provides a detailed breakdown of the work orders and the time required to fulfill each one. It also accounts for the roadblocks and productivity leaks they confront.
These records can be used to pinpoint problems and improve dealership performance.
Need to know more?
Measure the appropriate productivity and efficiency measures before implementing these best practices because, if you can measure it, you can manage it.
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