One of the most profitable parts of an auto dealership is its service center. Well-maintained, efficient automotive service centers have the potential to improve dealerships’ images and customer loyalty through consistent customer satisfaction. They also have the potential to improve overall employee satisfaction and retention of skilled service professionals. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to keep automotive service centers efficient and well-maintained. We know that a huge part of positive automotive service center experiences for both customers and service professionals is the organization and cleanliness, safety and operational efficiency of the center, which is why we’re offering tips for how to buy workstations that will help you achieve these goals.
Efficiency
Operational efficiency and the reduction in service times that results can play a large part in overall customer satisfaction. The right workspace can help you optimize your operational efficiency by reducing part retrieval time, giving service professionals easy access to all of the tools and materials they need, and cutting down on wasted space. Since every service center’s operation is different, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for workstations to maximize efficiency, which makes customizability of workstations incredibly important.
Consider purchasing a workstation that can be tailored directly to your center’s needs. Take, for example, the automotive center workstations sold by Lista International. With over 100 options for workstation size alone, you can be sure to find a workstation that fits your center, your needs and all of your tools. Other considerations besides total workstation size include size and number of drawers, trays and shelves, workbench and toolbox top materials, trash disposal space, integration of power and data access, and so much more. All of these options, when utilized properly, can lead to a decrease in wasted time and space. Taking advantage of modularity in workstation design is the best way to reach your center’s optimum operational efficiency.
Take time before you purchase a new workstation to work with your cabinet vendor and service professionals to map out where tools and parts will be stored. Finding easily accessible, organized spaces to store high-traffic tools and parts, placing seldom-used or oversized items in designated areas where they won’t be in the way of efficient operation, and giving your technicians the flexibility they need to work on computers, consult manuals, and bring tools to within arm’s reach of a vehicle being worked on, are just some of the major benefits to modular, customized workstations.
Safety and Security
One important subset of designing a customizable, modular workstation to your facility’s needs is including features for safety and security. Safety of your service professionals and security of your products and tools can be achieved through simple modifications to a basic workstation design.
Taking again an example from Lista International, simple technology can make a huge difference in technician safety. Mobile toolboxes and carts that have drawers that stay locked during transport, that allow only one drawer to be fully extended at a time to reduce the risk of tipping, and that are all-over rated to the appropriate weight for the tools and parts you store in them may seem like small considerations, but they can make the difference in keeping service professionals safe.
Similarly, seemingly minor technologies that increase security can be game-changing for your facility. Whether you determine what parts of your workstation will need to be secure before installing it and designing the station accordingly, or retrofit an existing workstation, solutions like replaceable core locks, keyed-alike and master-key locks, and keyless keypad locks will keep your important items both secure when needed and easily accessible to appropriate personnel.
Organization and Cleanliness
Finally, when you’re thinking about purchasing a workstation for an automotive service center, ensuring that workspaces can stay clean and that they can consistently look tidy and organized is important, especially for technician comfort.
When it comes to cleanliness, having an understanding of the demands of your facility and sharing that information with your cabinet vendor is important. For example, if you need to place a workstation in an area where the floors need to be cleaned frequently, then installing work bays and cabinets with stationary raised bases with leveling or cabinets on casters may provide a better solution than work bays or cabinets that rest directly on the floor. Similarly, think about choosing the correct material for the tops of your work bays and cabinets based on your cleaning needs, and ensure that backsplashes are present where necessary.
In order to prevent other concerns about cleanliness, be sure that your workstation has the correct type and number of trash storage areas, and that sinks are available for technicians in areas where they typically need them.
Finally, good organization and a general sense of tidiness can lead to improved satisfaction on the part of your service professionals. Things like in-drawer organizers and thorough labeling add to workspace organization can also improve efficiency. As another example, cart garages allow rolling carts to be stowed away from work areas when not in use, reducing clutter in high-traffic areas. When there is “a place for everything and everything in its place,” as the old saying goes, workstations become tidier, technicians feel more comfortable in their workspace, and efficiency improves.
These are just some of the things to consider when getting ready to purchase new work bays for automotive service centers. Talking with your cabinet vendor about your goals and needs can help you to make the most of workstation purchases.
Information provided by: Lista International