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by Jay Perry
21 April, 2009
Business Efficiency
Between the Tasks
Efficiencies and responsibility in the workplace are the ownership’s duty. Look at an interesting study from the University of Michigan that has quantified the efficiency of business. It found that the tasks associated with a job could be performed in 60% of the time available to perform those tasks.
That means that as businesses on average, we are 60% efficient. I think that is about right. We have long used this as a benchmark to improve upon. It’s not the tasks that are the inefficiency source—it’s the time in between the tasks.
Simple things like regulated break-times can add efficiency. We have found out that many people know about ‘Morning Release Meetings’ but not many actually hold them. Recently I was speaking to a small group of shop owners and surveyed the audience. Out of the 15 shops represented, not one was holding daily meetings. In our practice we have seen improvements to productivity (efficiency) through holding these types of meetings. Some of our clients hold them in the evening so as to get a ‘running start’ on the next day by being prepared with their lists of plans when they come in at start time.
Another question I posed was “How many went over the details of the Work Order with the techs?” No one. How do you expect the techs to perform when they haven’t got a very clear view of what you expect? They will not perform at expected (and necessary) levels. In the pressure filled world of collision repair, you’re shooting yourself in the foot with the typical approach to the daily operations of the shop. If you want better than typical results, you will have to do better than typical.
One of the simplest methods to bring higher efficiencies to an organization is clean-up physically. That means the shop, office and the individual work stations. Everything should have a place and be in its place. Many shops have everything labeled. This may look like ‘over-kill’ however it is not. It is simply another one of the small things that add up to big change. It is not rocket science, yet consistently I see owners and management ignore these very basics of good business.
This is where the responsibility comes in. I know that owners will crab about the workforce. Yet do they take the time to layout the expectations of what they want of their people? Most of the time the answer is “No”. All production workers will get off track if you let them. Here is an example. I owned a shop and had a hard time getting the crew to keep the shop in the fashion I knew was possible and the resultant benefits to having a well organized, clean shop. After taking them on a ‘field-trip’ to another shop that had the organization and cleanliness I desired, our guys put it together. I turned that ownership over to a new owner a year later. The same crew was there when I went back to visit. The shop had deteriorated back to a disorganized dirty shop. Why? Because the new leader did not take the responsibility of guiding his crew in maintaining an efficient environment. You must stay on top of these circumstances and create the work-world you want by constantly showing your people what you want, rewarding when they deliver and correct them when they get off track. That’s your responsibility as owner/management.
So whether you’re looking at a physical mess that you don’t like or a slack attitude as reflected in extended lunches, smoke-breaks and lack of enthusiasm for the job, reeducate, refresh or remove. Show’em who’s driving!
Jay Perry is Founder & CEO of Automotive Business Consultants, a firm dedicated to the enhancement of automotive based business performance. He can be reached by email at jayperry@a-b-c-inc.com
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