Auburn Collision Center mixes ideals, business savvy

Auburn Collision Center ABRN Top Shop collision repair auto body repair During the evaluation of Top Shops entries, ABRN judges were privileged to view photos of a full range of shop designs – everything from clean, utilitarian architecture to frontages that you'd be proud to have on your own home. Perhaps the most interesting of these shots was an aerial photograph – yes, we said aerial photograph – of the roof of Auburn Collision Center in Auburn, Calif.

The shot was taken to show off the solar panels that help power the shop. Obviously, this shop was serious about being green. It also was serious about saving money since those panels help it cut 70 percent off of what would otherwise be a $12,000 to $15,000 monthly electric bill. These facts point to what makes Auburn Collision Center (part of Magnussen's Auburn Toyota) a top shop – namely, its ability to balance progressive ideals with a good dose of practical business thinking.

According to shop manager Johnnie McGillvray, the business decided to use solar panels several years ago when the shop's new building was being planned. "We were putting up a new building and looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact so it just made sense," says McGillvray.

During that same time, the shop also decided to reduce material waste and save on disposal fees by separating and recycling steel, plastic and aluminum parts. It also became a water recycler. A recycling system was added to the building to remove shop contaminants from water before it's released into the sewer system, protecting the local water and health of employees. On a similar environment and business note, during this period, Auburn Collision transitioned to waterborne finishes for the cost savings and environmental benefits.

The shop has utilized this same kind of approach, what McGillvray calls a "balancing act," to help it deal with demands for increased productivity to meet customer and business demand while caring for the well-being of its staff. For example, customers had been asking for more convenient hours, so Auburn Collision began keeping its doors open six days a week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Such a move can be good and bad news for employees – good news because it means more work, but bad news since it also can mean more time away from home and family along with employee burn out.

Auburn is able to address this dilemma because it utilizes "short" work weeks. The shop has abandoned the traditional five-day work week for a 10-hour day, four-day work week.

"We examined our work situation and realized an employee is going to spend, or actually waste, a half hour or 45 minutes every morning getting started on work and a half hour or 45 minutes at the end of every day finishing," says McGillvray. "Multiply that by five days a week and that's a lot of waste for each individual."

By moving to a four-day work week, the shop cut out the extra day of waste and gains more productivity during the four days the employee works. Employees benefit from this scheme since they gain one extra day off each week and by extension an extra 52 days off per year – ultimately giving them more time to spend with their families.

McGillvray says it also has the potential to put more money in their pockets. "They save money on fuel for commuting; they don't have to buy lunch that day. There's a lot of savings for them," he notes.

Plus, there are other benefits. "Every week they have a three-day weekend. They either come in on Monday or Wednesday. When they do, they're fresher and more energized to work," he says. "This business really takes a lot out of people physically. Doing things this way helps preserve employee health and helps them do better work.

"This schedule has been a real motivator. Our employees know they can work hard four days a week for the same money. When they come in now, they're more ready to work hard. They're more productive. That cuts down cycle time."

The shop compensates these revised work hours in a way designed to benefit the staff and business alike. Technicians work on a flat rate so they can set their own pace and make their own paychecks. Estimators work on a base salary but earn team gross and individual gross bonuses. The harder employees are willing to work, the better they and the shop are compensated.

These approaches allow Auburn Collision to better manage its productivity and quality, permitting it to devote more time to other tasks. Responding to local demand, Auburn Collision recently began performing body work on motor homes to go along with convenience services such as paintless dent repair, chip repair and windshield chip repair. The shop also has time to focus on the smallest of service details, such as delivering vehicles at the front doors (giving customers a shorter walk) with the heat or air conditioning on. Once again, Auburn attends to some very human needs with a practical solution that benefits everyone.