STOP WASTING TIME

If you've not noticed, times have changed, and continue to do so very rapidly. Expectations to produce — at a revolutionary pace without errors — have never been higher. And this pressure comes not only from work providers, but vehicle owners, too. For anyone in typical metro markets in the top 100, this trend is not slowing down. So what to do?

The topic of this article is not what to do to avoid or try to stop the changes taking place. This article will focus on how the old phrase "cheaper, faster and better" is again becoming a focus of many to make a better mousetrap. Many will argue you can't have all three; you must pick only two. However, that has not proven true with "breakthrough" strategies and improvements in process.

The problem as a consultant or presenter in a seminar is how to get you to slow down long enough to see the opportunities that are there and how to address them. These opportunities take commitment by everyone in the organization. They cannot be dictated by management, but management must lead and be committed to the coming improvements.

Also to just tell everyone to "reduce your cycle time" would be like telling your child to just improve their grades in school. There are probably several thousand possibilities that will affect that outcome. The one absolute rule is that to change output (results), you must change input — or at least how you process it.

Einstein once said, "Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." If you want to make significant improvements, you must change something.

Understanding cycle time

Cycle time can be measured between any two given operations, events or activities that take place in any business. These can be administrative, pre-production, production or post-production. They can include "waste" or what the Japanese refers to as "mu da" (mud) that simply adds no value to the product (vehicle) while in for the repairs. We will look at these types of improvements later.

Now and in the future cycle times will be provided to insurers through the dates that are uploaded via estimating systems. This will occur once estimating providers elect to follow Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) standards and they all include them in the extracts (and we remember to fill them in). Then more relevant and consistent measurements will become tracked, such as the date of arrival to the day of departure (keys to keys). However, again there may be many events within this measurement over which we do not have control. Tracking, for instance, from authorization and on lot to delivery is a more relevant statistic for us, but parts delays, weekends and holidays all are often beyond our control.

Improving cycle times begins with tracking areas not only required by the estimating systems, but also more within your operation. Without details we are often back to improving our child's grades without providing adequate instructions.

Many progressive facilities today track a number of event points such as DOL, Date of Arrival, Date of Authorization, Date Started, Date Repairs Completed, Date of Delivery and of course, The Date of Full Payment. This is a beginning to what we will be able to consistently analyze in the future. Additional areas may include Start Disassembly and Blueprint to Ready of Dispatch; Metal Work Beginning to Paint Department Receiving; Paint Prep to Spray Booth Begins; and Booth Cycle Begins through Detailing, just to mention a few. You can analyze any process if you can determine a measurement method.

Where to begin

To begin, look at your operation as a series of interrelated events that affect each other and the amount of total time the job takes to begin the process and then to deliver or end the process. For each major event, you may have a system you use to perform within the event. These can be technology-based and/or people-based. These often are included in your written standard operating procedures (SOPs). All steps to complete a job are not actually "hands on vehicle" work by a technician. The systems are not only designed to include production steps, but vehicle acceptance (authorizations and approvals), pre-production (parts ordering, receiving, part verification and storage), and post production (delivery and file closing), plus many more.

Then, once your systems are identified and your processes within each system are identified, it's time to go even deeper to identify each task within each process and each activity within each task. Sound very detailed? It is. And that's why there's no book you can just buy with all of this done for you.

Is it really possible or practical to decide to take on this mammoth process? The answer is absolutely, "Yes," but make sure you understand it is a journey and not a destination. You most likely will never get it all done, but the benefits you can realize at the higher levels of systems and processes can produce huge improvements.

In many articles I have written this begins the process of continuous improvements — the Kaizen way. The change of your organization needs to focus on how you can make something better tomorrow than it is today, rather than how you can simply get through each day and go home. That is the most effective beginning to reducing cycle time.

As a framework, you may want to check out a program called The Q-Manager at www.qasidirect.com. This program has identified the key system and processes for specifically the collision repair industry. It uses the ISO9000:2000 Quality Standard to establish the basis for each system and process. It is simply the framework that guides you on where to begin and what you should be working toward.

The easy improvement most overlook

Very often when an owner or manager begins to look for cycle time improvements, they look for a magic wand or hope someone will hand them the solution. Having worked for quite a number of years on these areas with shops worldwide, the most common mistake made is that they want to change everything from the management level by "ordering" or making new policies. This is always a struggle and, while it may be the only solution at times, it very seldom works without significant staffing turnover.

If you want to get serious, explore the Japanese System of 5 S's and put things in a proper place well maintained. These basic changes can make monster improvements to reduce cycle time and improve quality. Incidentally, this is where "quality" is often misunderstood. Quality is not just the finished product, it includes the quality of the whole process. If you work to improve the process, quality will improve.

Improvement areas

Improvements come from four basic areas:

• Environment
• Technology
• Process Management
• Human Resources

Environment

This area includes shop layout, equipment position, facility and equipment maintenance, and even temperature control. Doing what is often referred to as a "spaghetti chart" can show movement a technician must make to get supplies, parts, tools and equipment in order to complete a job. Reviewing this chart and acting on "suggestions" can reduce a great deal of wasted time that costs everyone.

Environmental changes also include making sure equipment is functioning properly and is well maintained. Do you have a complete maintenance schedule for every piece of equipment/ tool you have? Even if you do have such a schedule on file, do you follow it or wait until something breaks before you take action? This costs you much more than performing simple preventive maintenance procedures that can extend equipment life and assure save you from unexpected breakdowns at peak times.

Finally, consider temperature control to be an essential part of top production. Extreme heat or cold affects production, which will affect cycle times. Whether you have problems with extreme heat, cold or both, these issues can be almost entirely eliminated.

Technology

This area includes the products you use, electronic systems and equipment choices. Vehicle technology is changing rapidly and so are repair needs. You need to continue to listen for what is out there to improve production and weigh its cost to its benefits. This may mean changing from one product line to another within a system. It may be that one has a better product as well in another brand.

Technology can go a long way toward improving shop communication and, as a result, you'll have fewer vehicles that require tasks to be redone or to have tasks performed later, at inappropriate times in the repair cycle. There's no question such hassles disrupt the process and kill cycle time.

Each spray booth has a set cycle time that is required to get a vehicle's metal temperature to the required temperature for a set time. An environmental improvement may include a newer clear that bakes in a shorter time than an older one, but the technology improvement would include a higher burner unit that can accelerate the temperature cycle and cut a standard cure time in half. Moving to infrared or even ultraviolet cure units can again reduce time wasted during drying/curing. Unfortunately I often see these new units only used when a tech forgot to refinish a door jamb and the customer is waiting in the lobby!

Process Management

In this area-documented process, operation management, communication, quality controls, scheduling and supplier chain relationships are all included. Do you have a standard way to perform key systems within your company? What about the processes, tasks and activities? This is what's referred to as the "journey" since having all this is not an achievable goal with how the changes are taking place.

How are the parts received and verified? Are they properly marked and stored for easy and accurate access when needed? Does the paint prep team have a vehicle in the booth ready to spray every morning before the painter/sprayer arrives? Was there one last thing painted at night as well? Are parts painted complete and with other vehicles to maximize each baking cycle? Is roll-on primer used when appropriate?

Again, there are hundreds of what I refer to as "quick fixes" to look at, each reducing wasted time. What about the most obvious one of them all — multiple shifts. McDonalds was once only open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Our shops are closed more than they're open each year. Any change in this wasted time when no activity is taking place will dramatically improve cycle time, if properly implemented.

Is your repair operation working to improve communication and miscommunication? If a technician needs help on a specific vehicle, how does it get handled? Hopefully not by having the tech leave his work area and find someone. Go to a Sam's Club this week and watch how a cashier gets help — it's simple, but very effective.

Quality controls in your operation will reduce the wastes normally in internal redo or work stoppages that result from incomplete actions or inaccuracies earlier in the process. Why do technicians often have two or more work bays? Because a prior process not performed completely stops production and they move to another job while the problems are resolved. Anything you do to reduce this will reduce cycle time.

Finally in this area, working with the supply chain to get what is necessary to make improvements is another key change to old ways of thinking. However, the current supply chain must improve as well. When and how parts and supplies are to be delivered, checked and stored should include the vendors.

This is typically not how most vendors think at this time, but in manufacturing the Japanese were masters. This is so untapped at this time, any change in this area provides great improvements within the process.

Human Resources

This area includes your employee skills, employee culture, incentives, pay plans, accountability, employee evaluations, staffing ratios, and product, process and equipment training.

How often do you perform job evaluations to all employees? Once a year? Never? Once you decide you wish to release them? Establishing clear objectives and goals is important to everyone — this is not the same as giving one an assignment or work order and putting a completion date of expectation.

An entire book can be written about this area alone, and many have been written, so I'll not be able to cover this in any detail, but having a staff that is properly trained to perform the job as effectively, efficiently and safely as possible, requires training. There is no way around it, and it pays while improving process — reducing cycle times.

Profitability Analysis

Does this get you thinking? What about two vehicles per day? Of course you must have the work volume in your collision repair facility to do it, but why are progressive facilities looking to gain relationships at minimal costs? This is another topic of discussion and I welcome your thoughts on this.

Every minute you save in process can translate to reducing cycle time. You just have to take the time to recognize it. n