Service Department Efficiency Gains through Repair Options
Service Department Efficiency Gains through Repair Options
Guest writer Ron Wilson continues his series with “Service Department Efficiency Gains Through Repair Options.”
Four-part series relating to Repair Options offerings:
- Expand Product Support Offerings with Repair Options
- Parts Department Efficiency Gains through Repair Options
- Service Department Efficiency Gains through Repair Options
- Who should Set Pricing for Repair Options Rebuilds?
This is the third in a four-part series relating to Expand Product Support Offerings with Repair Options.
The first article outlined the overall advantages Repair Options provides the customer and the dealership. The second article outlined how Parts Kits used in Repair Options can be a benefit to Parts Department of a dealership.
The Service Department can benefit from the utilization of Repair Options due mostly to efficiency gains in labor hours utilized in building a component. The hours utilized in building a component include:
- Prepping a component to be disassembled
- Disassembling of the component
- Inspection and preparing a quote to the customer (including parts, labor & misc.)
- Waiting for the approval from the customer to go ahead with the quote provided
- Ordering and returning of parts and cores
- Assembly, test and adjust of the rebuilt component.
Based on the list above the key element is to reduce the number of labor hours relating to non-wrench time, while providing a quality rebuild within a specific timeframe. Pauses during the rebuild process adds to inefficiencies, delays in completing the rebuild timely, and can contribute to quality issues.
Repair options addresses several of the above items by providing:
- An agreed upon level of rebuild with the customer before the rebuild begins based on the defined Repair Options as discussed in the first article. For example, the customer agrees to a Level 2 rebuild which includes Level one and subcomponents such as water pump/turbo/oil pump along with a detailed inspection and recommendations. The only need to gain additional approval from the customer is if an issue is identified that is outside of the defined scope.
- Repair options will have a parts list already prepared and can be ordered using a “Paper Parts Kit” or a “Parts Kit”. Review the previous article on Parts Kits and their purpose. There is very little time needed to look up parts and the parts will be delivered to the shop bay in a manner to streamline the rebuild process.
- Based on the parts kit developed using the 100% parts usage, the only parts to be returned will be the cores.
As can be seen using repair options can streamline the overall rebuild process. The customer pre-approved the level of rebuild, Parts Department has the parts kits delivered to the shop bay, and the technician focuses on the rebuild.
This is a Win-Win for the customer, the Parts and Service Departments, and for the overall dealership.