Now more than ever customer understanding of what good looks like is prevalent and accordingly manufacturer standards requirements are tighter than ever and increasing.  Customer visibility of the workshop environment is also increasing with the use of technology and poor workshop standards are no longer acceptable to many when paying a premium for services.

It is also fair to say that there is a Technician labour pool shortage which means more important than ever that environment they work in drives a sense of pride and is a safe environment to work in.  It is also arguable that the workshop areas of the business are often last to be invested in – front of house most often the focus area – and as such the task of meeting the required standards becomes a big one.

Created an assessment that covered all areas of the Aftersales Department to prioritise tasks and provide focus to the management teams. Used this as a basis for understanding issues and sharing results with key stakeholders.  Created a deployment that enabled the department to apply the 5S (or 6S if safety a concern) methods to implement change.  First elements of this were coaching the dealer on why 5/6S is important, what you can hope to achieve before commencing the action.

Worked closely with the department to implement the standards – in the pilot for example worked to identify useful from useless (sort) deep clean bays (shine), bay set up (set), standardise (agree standards with management and team members and roll these out to all, ensure all areas at the same standard (front of house, back of house, wash bays and parts) and coach team on maintaining the improvements (sustain).  Used the diagnostic tool to identify areas of the department that we at risk from a safety perspective and worked to create a plan to reduce risk (safety).

Results include a fully refreshed department resulting in increased customer experience, enhanced staff engagement and morale and reduced risks from a safety point of view. Programme used as a platform for introduction of standards.