Common sense production improvements put money in your pocket.

 

There is always room to improve production!  Sometimes there are demands for improvements, because of complaints from customers, or a DRP insurer, or even from your own screaming bottom line.  There is a lot of discussion in the industry about lean and efficient processes in body shops.  A lot of it makes sense, but some of it may seem like convoluted jargon.  We help define production improvement concepts that meet the requirements of individual body shops in a manner that makes common sense.

The very first step is to analyze how things are currently being handled.  The next step is to differentiate between what is working and what needs improving.  Once that is accomplished, we can prioritize changes by comparing the cost and effort required to make a change vs. the actual benefit received.  Sometimes small inexpensive changes can make a big difference.

The critical area for improvement in body shops is always with cycle time.  Having consistent and efficient ways of doing things can produce a radical improvement.  We can help body shops drastically improve cycle time by assisting in the following production areas:

• Analyze your current shop operation and provide a report.
• Develop an improved production program with the steps necessary to achieve financial benefit.
• Assist with new body shop design, or provide a workflow analysis of an existing facility, with recommendations for improvements.
• Develop correct and efficient routines for each department (written SOPs).
• Provide training workshops to help employees grasp and buy into new ways of doing things that will benefit everyone involved.  Specific topics for our workshops include scheduling, blueprinting, SOP improvement, and quality control.
• Analyze your shop’s computer and management software to determine how to use or enhance them to the best advantage for your business.