Problems regarding production, or the need to increase productivity in the body shop, are those for which the body shop manager is most likely to search for technical solutions. Consequently, the answers will often be either build a new shop, add on to the existing facility, improve the layout and design of the space we currently have, add some new, often expensive, equipment, or get a new paint supplier! Addressing production solely from this direction is ignoring the foundation on which profitable production is built.
In order to produce, various resources are necessary, including parts and materials, tools and equipment, a building, technicians, etc. While all of these resources are essential to production, their level of importance can best be illustrated by the Production Pyramid.
EQUIPMENT RESOURCES Having the right tools and equipment to do the job is more important today than at any point in the history of the collision repair business. However, it often seems that we are on a lifelong mission to find the latest and greatest gizmo that will cure all ills. Unfortunately, this often results in that age-old art of throwing money at the problem. There is a tendency to expect the tools and equipment that we buy to fix more production problems than they were ever designed to fix, or are capable of fixing.
FACILITY RESOURCES The facility resources are the buildings within which the collision repair process is accommodated. Over the last decade, we have come to realize that an efficient layout and design is essential to efficient production. But here again, there is often a strong belief that the facilities hold the key to efficient production. Despite spending vast sums of money here at the top end of the Production Pyramid, many dealers have realized that this just isn't the total solution.
MATERIALS RESOURCES The body shop can't fix cars without having the right parts and materials at their disposal. There is no argument about the correlation between having access to the right parts and materials and efficient production. But once again, there is a tendency for the technical issues to overwhelm the decision making process. This is especially true of paint materials that often get blamed for efficiency and profitability shortfalls. The real answers to the majority of production problems are, more often than not, much closer to the foundation of the Production Pyramid.
MANPOWER RESOURCES The manpower resources are the technicians deployed in the production process. Nothing happens without manpower resources. We often attempt to get more production out of them in simply the wrong way. Wrong way # 1 is increasing the size of the carrot on the end of the stick. We must pay competitive wages, but assuming we'll get more if we pay more is, as most experts agree, just not true. Wrong way # 2 is throwing even more money at the resources at the upper end of the pyramid. As important as we have already identified these resources to be, adding more space and spending more on equipment will not necessarily result in increased output from your technicians.
MANAGEMENT RESOURCES The management resources are at the foundation of the Production Pyramid and at the foundation of consistent, profitable production. They relate to the level of organization, administration, discipline, and control applied to the business of fixing cars. As much as we all know such things exist, a lack of knowledge and understanding about the essential management resources often leads to a denial of their importance. Hence, we hang on to the technical issues that reside in the upper floors of the pyramid in the search for answers to production problems.
Here are just some of the areas where management skills must be learned and effectively utilized: cost analysis and a clear understanding of body shop finances, ongoing performance measurement, a clearly defined management philosophy, systems and procedures that apply to the administrative and production management process, and understanding issues relating to the hiring, motivating, and retaining of employees.
Here at the foundation of the pyramid are all the things that will most significantly impact the productivity and profitability of your body shop. Without a clear understanding of the essential management resources, any amount of time, attention, and money that might be invested in all the other resources that make up the Production Pyramid will be watered down at best, or at worst, canceled out.
Brian S. Evison CCRM is the owner and Technical Director of Bemack Planning Services, a California-based consulting company who is the world leader in collision repair facility planning. Brian's company has been retained to provide layout and design, and management consulting services to literally thousands of body shops from coast to coast and all over the world. Brian is a licensed teacher of post-secondary education and is a cofounder and instructor at Masters School of Autobody Management. He is also the owner of Brit Racing, a NASCAR race team, and an avid supporter of his children's soccer activities. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3.