Solutions to help reduce and eliminate delays in the repair process. 

In the collision repair industry, time is money. The more efficiently we can repair vehicles, the more profit we earn, though in practice there are many factors that can hinder this ability. Production bottlenecks can occur for numerous reasons, and while some, such as facility design and layout are often obvious and solutions can be readily implemented, others can prove more challenging.

On the process side, most bottlenecks tend to originate long before they become visible, and so a deep dive may be required to determine the root cause and prevent them from happening in the future.

Estimating/repair planning

A major source of origin for production bottlenecks is in the estimating/repair-planning stage. For example, if the estimate and repair plan are not thorough, the result can be delays downstream, where the repair process is disrupted, due to re-analysis of repairs, the need for supplements, back-ordered parts and proper advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) calibrations prior to final reassembly of the vehicle.

That’s why it’s important to have everything in place and ready before the repair begins. Complete damage analysis and repair planning should be done before any parts are ordered and before the vehicle enters production so that all damage can be identified and repairs, parts, materials, processes, manpower, tooling and sublets required to deliver the vehicle are all put in place before the actual repair process begins.

Otherwise, if the collision centre doesn’t have everything on hand and readily available, it will be working on a vehicle that is impossible to deliver on time, and inevitably the repair process will come to a halt due to an oversight in the estimating and repair planning stage.

A range of solutions

While the process in eliminating bottlenecks and delays in the repair process may seem obvious, in practice, it requires implementing a range of solutions to prevent delays in the future. Firstly, the shop needs to actively seek out and recognize where repairs are delayed or stop completely. Secondly, each time this happens, identifying the root cause of the problem is a must. Thirdly, once that root cause has been identified, the shop needs to refine or re-develop its repair processes to prevent the issue from happening again. Fourthly, it’s important that clear expectations are set for staff when it comes to the new or revised process, so they can be properly trained to implement changes in the repair process, and everyone knows exactly what their specific role is without assuming they know.

Finally, once the new process has been created and the staff trained on it, monitoring that process on a consistent basis is essential to determine if the bottleneck has been resolved or minimized.

Never assume

It’s important to understand that in today’s shop environment managers should never make assumptions about their staff’s understanding of shop processes and guidelines. Additionally, in many cases, we’re seeing more administrative burden being placed on estimating staff, which can rob them of the time required for complete damage analysis and investigating original equipment manufacturer (OEM) repair procedures. Couple this with very demanding estimate upload timelines and estimators may feel pressure to upload estimates quickly, sacrificing accuracy. This is why it is so important to develop and maintain robust processes to minimize the risk of such situations developing and impacting cycle and repair time.

Furthermore, given how quickly automotive vehicle technology continues to advance, training is a key ingredient in helping eliminate bottlenecks and must be ongoing to prevent such issues arising in the future. And, when it comes to processes such as ADAS calibration, if the collision centre doesn’t have the capability to perform the work in-house, it must have a strong relationship with a reliable, highly trained facility that knows and understands the process required to complete repairs on a timely, quality and consistent basis.