Whether you operate a small shop or a big shop, someone has to manage all those cars and people out in the shop – you might as well get great at it, right? Seriously, production is where you earn the money the people in the front office sold. Your job is to retain as [...]
One could easily debate that an auto body shop is an unlikely place to see an assembly line, especially when you try to visualize “assembly line” in the traditional sense. However, there are many more similarities between collision repair and the assembly line than you may realize. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line [...]
A common practice I have noticed among hugely successful collision repair shops is that they hold daily production meetings and discuss an accurate delivery list. The list is shared between all members of the team. It is like holding a huddle prior to snapping the ball in a football game. The list represents your [...]
What is Continuous Improvement? Continuous Improvement. Another buzz word? Worthless Lean terminology? I don’t think so. Yes, the term has been used for a couple decades now by Lean gurus and companies like Toyota, but I want to ask you to think of ‘Continuous Improvement’ from a real world, practical, and much-needed perspective. Forget [...]
Most of you readers have heard about Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, or simply Lean. But have you heard about the Theory of Constraints? I know some of you have, but as with Lean, the concept may still be a little unclear. Although there are both commonalities and differences between Lean and TOC, I believe [...]
In the collision repair business, cycle time has become more important than ever. Cycle time is a key performance indicator that affects customer service, profitability, and length of rental. Understanding Little’s Law will give you the knowledge needed to make significant cycle time improvements. Little’s Law was named after MIT Professor, John Little, and [...]
