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Read: Putting it Together:Built for efficiency…and built to lastAuto Body Hawaii’s managers grapple with myriad details in building a new shop
In this three-part series, ABRN follows Auto Body Hawaii through the construction process and reports on the challenges that expansion can sometimes present. This is the second piece in a series of three articles.
It’s time to check in again with Auto Body Hawaii in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and the progress the staff is making on the new shop building.Once the excitement of building a new shop wears off, reality sets in. It’s a huge undertaking. Tiffiny Taylor, who is owner March Taylor’s daughter, can attest to that, as she is overseeing the construction of the shop’s new offices. From selecting new office furniture to decorating the customer waiting area, there are many small details to contend with. “We want the staircase to be an artistic element,” she says of the new space. “We are trying to make the office area non-traditional. But there are three times as many things that we didn’t think about.” Not only are there these loose ends to tie up, but there is also the matter of closing the old shop and selling the building. “I can’t imagine us being comfortable until things settle down,” she says. Up to this point, Auto Body Hawaii has only received offers from competitors to buy their old building. Tiffiny says the family would entertain those offers only as a last resort. “The market is just not that big out here,” she says. “It would confuse some people,” to have another body shop in their old building. Regardless, they have more than a year to examine prospective offers. She expects the new shop to be complete in January, and they are considering keeping the old shop open for a few months after the new shop’s grand opening. Besides the material aspects of opening a new shop, there is the personnel element. This can be just as tricky, if not more so, especially in Hawaii. Tiffiny says they are looking to hire at least three new techs. “It’s so hard to find people out here,” she says. “The majority of industry is tourist-driven and service-oriented, not technical in nature. We have to get people who are passionate about their work and spend gobs of money training them.” One positive aspect of being in Hawaii is the culture. She says the majority of people on the island are second-generation plantation workers who have a great deal of loyalty to their employers. That loyalty also translates into today’s market, where Tiffiny says many of their employees reflect this value, and have worked for the company for a number of years. One employee who has demonstrated his loyalty is Dale Matsumoto, general manager of the facility. He has been with Auto Body Hawaii for 24 years and is also overseeing the production aspects of the construction. He says that the new shop design has “many little things that we think that will make production more efficient,” as opposed to major changes that can create unanticipated problems and/or expenses. For more information about these changes, please refer to the sidebar.
In this three-part series, ABRN follows Auto Body Hawaii through the construction process and reports on the challenges that expansion can sometimes present. This is the second piece in a series of three articles.
It’s time to check in again with Auto Body Hawaii in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and the progress the staff is making on the new shop building.Once the excitement of building a new shop wears off, reality sets in. It’s a huge undertaking. Tiffiny Taylor, who is owner March Taylor’s daughter, can attest to that, as she is overseeing the construction of the shop’s new offices. From selecting new office furniture to decorating the customer waiting area, there are many small details to contend with. “We want the staircase to be an artistic element,” she says of the new space. “We are trying to make the office area non-traditional. But there are three times as many things that we didn’t think about.” Not only are there these loose ends to tie up, but there is also the matter of closing the old shop and selling the building. “I can’t imagine us being comfortable until things settle down,” she says. Up to this point, Auto Body Hawaii has only received offers from competitors to buy their old building. Tiffiny says the family would entertain those offers only as a last resort. “The market is just not that big out here,” she says. “It would confuse some people,” to have another body shop in their old building. Regardless, they have more than a year to examine prospective offers. She expects the new shop to be complete in January, and they are considering keeping the old shop open for a few months after the new shop’s grand opening. Besides the material aspects of opening a new shop, there is the personnel element. This can be just as tricky, if not more so, especially in Hawaii. Tiffiny says they are looking to hire at least three new techs. “It’s so hard to find people out here,” she says. “The majority of industry is tourist-driven and service-oriented, not technical in nature. We have to get people who are passionate about their work and spend gobs of money training them.” One positive aspect of being in Hawaii is the culture. She says the majority of people on the island are second-generation plantation workers who have a great deal of loyalty to their employers. That loyalty also translates into today’s market, where Tiffiny says many of their employees reflect this value, and have worked for the company for a number of years. One employee who has demonstrated his loyalty is Dale Matsumoto, general manager of the facility. He has been with Auto Body Hawaii for 24 years and is also overseeing the production aspects of the construction. He says that the new shop design has “many little things that we think that will make production more efficient,” as opposed to major changes that can create unanticipated problems and/or expenses. For more information about these changes, please refer to the sidebar.
