AkzoNobel Automotive & Aerospace Coatings (A&AC) North America recently hosted an area-wide training seminar entitled “The Role of the Repair Planner,” at AkzoNobel’s Canadian headquarters in Etobicoke, Ontario. Three half-day sessions, which were held Nov. 14–15, were specifically designed to educate body shop customers on the proper implementation of repair planning, a foundational component of the Process Centered Environment (PCE) business model.
More than 50 area collision centers, body shops, distributors and AkzoNobel employees attended the sessions to better understand the repair planning concept. The seminar was facilitated by Bob DuBreuil, A&AC’s senior services sonsultant, and Peter Facinek, owner of Kelowna Performance Collision (KPC) in Kelowna, B.C., ̶ one of the first body shops in Canada to embrace and implement PCE practices, and who now hosts AkzoNobel’s PCE Bootcamp training events in Canada.
The duo took turns presenting the following key aspects of repair planning:
- The primary role of the shop’s repair planner is to manage the “continuous flow” of vehicles in production, as well as those in the buffer inventory each week, through “balanced scheduling.”
- Balanced scheduling is a shop’s pre-determined daily capacity, based on a targeted mix of vehicles and allotted hours per day. This rule aims at eliminating the common practice of overbooking repairs early in the week, while leaving production “holes” later in the week.
- As a rule, shops should only schedule in 70-75 percent of daily capacity in order to leave room for spontaneous dealer and tow drop-offs.
- Other repair planner responsibilities were discussed including the creation of blueprinting / mapping of vehicles, ensuring quality verification, conducting “pitch meetings,” and maintaining PCE’s “5S” principles.
In addition, KPC’s Facinek walked attendees through an interactive discussion of his own shop’s experiences in utilizing the repair planning process, as well as other personal examples of how PCE has dramatically improved his overall productivity and profitability.
The PCE program was developed in 2008 by AkzoNobel to help its collision repair customers optimize shop activities through process improvements. Based on principles drawn from tried-and-tested methodologies including lean production, six sigma, and theory of constraints, PCE delivers a practical approach designed to support continuous improvement. At its core, PCE helps shops increase customer satisfaction, reduce waste in the repair process and ensure sustainable profitability through 10 key building blocks.
According to Michel Guerette, AkzoNobel’s market services manager – Canada, the seminar was a huge success.
“We were extremely pleased at the overwhelming interest in the seminar, as well as the enthusiastic and appreciative feedback from participants. The information presented was comprehensive and ‘real-world’ in its approach. We believe our customers’ determination to enhance their knowledge and drive continuous improvement in their businesses, is proof of their long-term commitment to PCE practices.”
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