Tips for improving bay efficiency using today’s diagnostic and parts ordering software. 

Efficiency becomes the epitome of profit gain and profit loss. In the automotive industry, the cutting and streamlining of efficiency is where productive bays come into effect.

Today we are blessed with ever advancing computer and electronic aids. We are constantly bombarded with updated systems or procedures of diagnosis and repair. With these advancements there will always be obstacles as everyone is not as tech savvy as these machines require us to be.

There will always be learning involved with new systems or procedures that can affect efficiencies due to the fact that diagnosis times are at stake. There will be times technicians are faced with the fact that they have not yet repaired these new technologies in certain vehicles. This is where learning and personal advancements combat the inefficiencies.

Technicians need to learn that computers will be their best friend in the coming years. With the diagnostic tools today, it is easy to see that most are part of an application easily downloaded to any laptop, computer, or tablet.

Textbook for success

Along with these apps there is an abundance of online forums in which technicians write in regarding similar issues or problems that occur with certain repairs. Providing your technicians with one of these hand-held tools or shop desktops allows them to have their own learning tool, becoming a textbook for success.

The inefficiencies only arise when this ‘textbook’ gets taken advantage of and technicians become too reliant on the answers that others provide. There must be a sense of pride in technicians to supply their own right answer. There is always that saying that “you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet” and we face this every day. These forums can turn a repair in the worst direction, causing a loss of labour hours as well as a massive inefficiency in the workplace.

I say this because a technician may read and be led in the wrong direction—and be left even further behind in finding a solution to the repair. Using the online world is a great tool but we must tread cautiously at the results that can be found or the time spent being taken advantage of. More efficiency, more

More efficiency, more money

On the other hand the efficiencies of these technologies can outweigh the inefficiencies if they are not taken advantage of. Becoming more efficient is where money is made and labour hours are gained. With these technologies, it’s the process of forging your technicians—applying the front desk knowledge and parts ordering capabilities. A good example is something as simple as looking up filters for a vehicle. Instead of the dated method of flipping through a

A good example is something as simple as looking up filters for a vehicle. Instead of the dated method of flipping through a catalogue and taking upwards of five minutes, the online parts catalogue can be easily accessed in as many as three or four clicks of a mouse button listing numerous filter types and part numbers. Allowing your technicians to troubleshoot and check something as simple as fluid capacities replaces wasted time spent flipping through catalogues or consuming another technician’s time creating wasted labour.

Technology is our friend and a factor that cannot be neglected as vehicles are constantly advancing. Working with technology only creates streamlining and profitable efficiencies in the workplace.