Operations
Job intake, garage scheduling, stock, appointments and documentation.
An introduction
Garage operations are not decided at the lift but at goods-in. Whatever is not captured cleanly there in five minutes — symptom, history, approval limit, how to reach the customer — costs half an hour on the phone later, and at worst a vehicle standing still because nobody is allowed to make a decision.
The second factor is planning, and it almost always fails on the same assumption: that jobs take as long as they are supposed to. Variation is the normal case, not the exception — two vehicles of the same model are two different jobs the moment one bolt is seized. A day without buffer is therefore not a full day but a fragile one.
Then there are stock and documentation: which parts are worth holding, when to reorder, and what has to be recorded against a job so that it is still explicable in two years. The articles in this section deal with each of these points separately — with an eye on what actually tips a working day over.
Loan vehicles: does running your own courtesy car pay
A loan car makes standing time plannable and costs money on idle days too. The cost calculation, the insurance questi...
From the paper slip to the digital job card: what really changes
It is not the paper slip that costs time, it is the copying out. Which transfers arise in a garage, which really disa...
Stock: what belongs on the shelf and what does not
Every part on the shelf is tied-up money. What is worth stocking, how the two-bin system works without software, and...
The final check: the last five minutes on a job
Rework costs the hour twice. Which points belong on every final check, how it runs in a one-person garage, and why th...
Booking a vehicle in: the ten minutes that decide the job
Booking in decides whether the job holds up later. What belongs on the form, what you record on the vehicle, and how...
Parts procurement: why vehicles wait on the lift
Standing time is created on the phone, not at the supplier. Which details you need when the appointment is made, and...
When the customer does not turn up: no-shows in the garage
An hour on the lift cannot be put in stock. What a no-show costs, which reminder prevents it, and when a cancellation...
Capacity planning: how many hours you can actually give away
A calendar shows free slots, not free hours. How to work out the sellable time in your week, plan a buffer that holds...