BELLS AND WHISTLES

Of course, there's more to running a shop than mastering the basics. Once those are nailed down is when all the bells and whistles — be they computerized tools or advanced equipment — can best be addressed for maximum impact.

Service director Jim Elkins says Transwest Truck/Trailer/RV, a dealer shop in Frederick, CO, has successfully turned to technology to speed up the repair process for its customers and at the same time boost their satisfaction.

“With the state of the economy being what it is,” says Elkins, “we're trying to do more with less but without our customers feeling any difference in our support. “We began using the Decisiv Fleet Portal service-management platform because it takes service-writing from a reactive to a proactive process.”

According to Elkins, the Internet-based system delivers consistent and timely estimates of labor and parts costs for the most common repairs and maintenance operations, which helps reduce labor rates while increasing the productivity of individual techs.

“Once the system has all the data,” he explains, “it presents the users — in this case our shop and the customer — with what needs to be done in real time and in real dollars. The customer can decide what they want done from there.

“Essentially, this portal system lets a lot more information be leveraged a lot more quickly,” says Elkins. He points out that it reduces repair time starting from the write-up yet the data is there as well to ensure the quality of the work performed.

“Using this system,” adds Elkins, “we gain 4% more gross profit on non-warranty repair orders. That lowers my internal costs, even though the system is making us more proactive” [to the customer].

Larry Chaplin, president of Green Bay, WI-based full-service maintenance provider Master Fleet LLC, in 2006 put all three of his shops onto a computerized maintenance system to boost mechanic productivity. “We got touchscreens for our techs as well as bar coding for parts with TMW's TMT system,” he says.

Along with installing computer workstations, Master Fleet rearranged its layout so its newest facility has the parts room located in the center of its side-by-side truck and trailer shops.

Then Master Fleet put in a “sort of self-service parts checkout,” says Chaplin, “making it easy for techs to do the right thing and charge-out each bar-coded part.”

Linda Joy Vinson, fleet maintenance manager for Caledonia Haulers, contends that in “these changing times, computers and software programs are the most important tools in the whole picture.”

The Minnesota-based liquid food-grade hauler, which operates a main shop and has two contracted operations to maintain its fleet of 155 power units and 200 specialized trailers, understands the power of information.

“Without information, tracking and analysis of the information, what do you have? Lost warranty equals lost money. Lost productivity equals lost money. Lost parts equal lost money,” states Vinson.

“Technicians need to use technology to stay sharp and be included in the big picture,” she continues. “Programs like Paccar's ‘Connect System’ do an excellent job of managing repairs, parts and people.”

But Vinson stresses that the fundamentals still apply. “Companies need to implement and stay on top of preventive maintenance programs.”

When it comes to “other shop upgrades, like lifts and pits, comparisons need to be made of money paid and time saved [before making a decision to implement],” she adds. “In these economic times, the payoff may not be worth the expense.”