MECHANICAL DIVISION DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

by Tony Newman, AASP-MN Mechanical Division Director

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As a shop owner, I’m always thinking about the next best thing for my shop. What’s the next improvement? Should I make one? Is it necessary? I have a waste oil burner and could use a new holding tank. My scan tool could use an upgrade. Do I need a sandblast cabinet? Would a new alignment machine be useful? All these items could be easily justified and easily implemented into the shop.

But what is the change that would upset and disrupt shop life the most? Shop Management Software (SMS)! Who in their right mind would go and upend every aspect of how their shop operates and turn it upside down and do it on purpose? It would disrupt the front office, the technicians, the accounting, the parts receiving and returning, inventory, scheduling. You name it, and it will change.

I am not going to get into what we changed from or to. After a significant time thinking about the former system’s pros and cons and what a new system could offer, it became abundantly apparent something needed to change. On our wish list were digital inspections, easy ways to convey vehicle needs to the customer, and an easier way to communicate in general with our customers. Most importantly, we wanted the most transparency with our customers as possible. I wanted a cloud-based platform that I could log into from anywhere, better reporting, and accountability from the front office workers to the shop workers.

My old system could handle some of these concerns, but at a cost – literally. There was an added cost to add digital inspections and improve customer communications. The process would have been far less seamless. It was not an easy transition. A lot of front-end work was needed to input continued on page 20

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