John Sweigart, Author at BodyShop Business
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Eliminating Waste for a Lean Body Shop

Why do we all spend ridiculous sums of cash to create low cost? Until all parties involved in the collision repair process start looking at the value stream together, we’ll never realize the potential of what we can provide for the customer and for our organizations.

Building a Kaizen Engine

As more and more people in our industry turn to lean solutions for their businesses, I feel a stronger urge to point out the vast difference between how lean is practiced today and what it’s original intent was.   

Don’t Get Lured into the Hype About SOPs

You might think creating standard operating
procedures (SOPs) to standardize work is a good thing until you realize that no improvement is going on. Only once the need exists to find a better way to work will a work standard actually be used as an effective tool by employees.

Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement

The concern about creating a kaizen culture is always the same: “I don’t think my people will tolerate this level of change.” But failed change usually results from failed management, not people’s unwillingness to change. Create a culture they can thrive in, and you’ll soon be on the path of continuous improvement.

Tracking Lean Performance and Productivity

Most businesses track performance with accounting system financials. But body shops aren’t typical businesses. For us, the key number to know is the amount of resources required to produce a specific amount of value.

Know Body Shop’s Problems to Start Lean Transformation

Is someone trying to sell you slick lean “tools” before you’ve identified your shop’s problems? Fall into this trap and you may be very disappointed by the outcome.

Developing a Lean Body Shop Business Model

Figuring out what problem you’re trying to solve in your shop is the first step toward creating a clear picture of where you want your organization to go.

LEAN & MEANER: Know Your Next Move

“Learn by doing” doesn’t mean “learn lean.” It means “learn how to create the future,” and know which way to go next. And the key to that is to paint a clear picture of your future.

LEAN & MEANER: Building a Lean Front Office

You’ll find that the greatest opportunity for eliminating waste in the collision repair business exists not on the shop floor but rather up front in the office. Here’s how to do it.

LEAN & MEANER: Think Throughput

Developing a throughput mind is essential to successfully becoming lean, increasing the speed of your process and widening the gap between costs
and sales.

Overcoming Resistance to Change in a Lean Environment

With change comes resistance and pushback. But here are some ways, when implementing lean, to get everyone to trust that what you’re
doing is a better way.

No Magic Here

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: There’s no one magic answer to how to ‘do’ lean, and no right way to do anything. Start by understanding what you need to improve and the rest will follow.