Mitchell International unveiled its new integrated RepairCenter solution at a press conference at NACE, providing a look at what the company says is an entirely new category of software – a modular "shop workspace" system that includes business, repair and customer service applications in a single solution.
"We truly think this solution will take us and the industry to a whole new level," says Mitchell president and CEO Alex Sun, noting that the company had invested several years of development and more than $20 million to create RepairCenter.
RepairCenter includes more than 30 modules that can be mixed and matched by shops to develop a customized solution. "Customers can buy and use just what they need," Sun says. "RepairCenter also has an easy-to-use interface."
Mitchell also announced it would be offering RepairCenter QuickStart free of charge to the entire collision repair market beginning on Dec. 1. QuickStart includes the RC Statusing module, which provides repair status updates to customers and partners; RC TechAdvisor, including detailed repair procedures for Ford, GM and Chrysler; RC Customer Experience Management, CSI reporting; and RC Estimating Integration, which can automatically generate repair orders from all major estimating systems.
According to Jason Bertellotti, vice president of repair solutions at Mitchell, shops can choose from a menu of options, and download and install the system within minutes. There are five basic packages, from simple to advanced, and each has multiple optional features that can be added as the shop's application needs grow.
"This changes how the market will buy and use software," Bertellotti says. "A shop can install this within five minutes."
Depending on how shops have configured the system, managers and technicians can click on any job in the system and use the tab-based design to access repair information, update the status of the repair, order parts, attach related documents, photos or videos to the repair order, or access customer experience management (CEM) tools.
"The thing I found most valuable was the ease of implementation, the training, and the connectivity to our accounting software," says Joe Coverdill, CFO at Carsmetics, which operates 15 shops in Florida and two in California, and has plans to add franchises in other markets.
According to Coverdill, RepairCenter has provided an easy-to-use, standardized way to manage shop operations and track key performance indicators.
The opportunity-tracking functionality, which allows shops to turn estimates into repair orders within the system, has been especially valuable given that customer pay work is 80 percent of Carsmetics' business. "We have a fast, efficient way to track all of those opportunities as well as our work in process," Coverdill said.
Carsmetics had the system connected its QuickBooks accounting system in a single afternoon, and now automatically downloads all business transactions automatically. "On Monday, I can produce last week's income statement," Coverdill says.
For the repair status updates, shops can set the system up to e-mail customers and direct them to a link on their own Web site to check the status of their vehicle, or they can use a hosted Mitchell Web site to provide the updates.
The repair information module, TechAdvisor, contains OEM repair data, information from UK-based provider Thatcham, mechanical parts and repair data from Mitchell One, and frame dimension measurements taken in-house by Mitchell.
RepairCenter also includes a mobile application that allows shops to update customers on repair status via their iPhones. Managers can use the mobile app to remotely access repair information, or to add photos or videos to the repair order using their phones. The company said it plans to expand the solution to other mobile platforms in the future.
"An owner can actually take a vacation, and use the phone to see what's going on in their shop," Bertellotti says.
For more information, visit www.mitchellrepaircenter.com.
