Significant, radical change always starts with a vision. History’s greatest people have always begun with clarity around their destination. They’ve all understood that envisioning the future clearly is the easiest way to create it.
The future isn’t a matter of fate, although some of us want to believe that. The future is created by us, and it starts with us first envisioning what it looks like. For some of us, that vision is a great place, and for others, maybe not so good. But make no mistake, it’s our responsibility and we create it. So before you start burning incense, how do you see the future? Have you even tried? What do you focus on? What does any of this have to do with lean?
Here’s the connection. The same old way of doing things will get you the same results. If you’re ever going to get better results, you must create a new way. That means you must create ways that have never existed. The only way to materialize these things is to imagine them. They must exist in your mind before they exist in reality.
This begins with a challenge to the way you’ve traditionally thought about things. For example, if I asked you to think of a way to get parts to your shop within, say, 24 hours, you could fairly easily picture in your mind a process that orders the right parts, right away. You could probably see a vendor who’s willing to work hard for your business and do things like have good software available for good counter people and trucks ready and available to quickly ship those parts to your door. Right? That’s pretty simple and not much of a stretch. In fact, I bet almost any of us could create a system like this that would work correctly 75 percent of the time with just a day’s worth of work. The reason it’s fairly simple is that it utilizes existing thinking and technology. It’s just a matter of pulling the same old way together in a new format so that it performs better. But how long can you recreate the same old thing and have it keep getting better? Does the same old thing just max out at some point? Has the same old thing in collision repair maxed out its performance potential?
It is Possible
So let me ask you a different question. What if I said
that I need you to think of a way to get parts to your shop in 15 minutes? My guess is that your first reaction would be, “You’re an idiot” or “It can’t happen.” If something like that is your answer, then I can tell you…you’re right! It can’t happen today, because the technology and capability doesn’t exist. The majority of people will stop right here and never see an improvement or a better way, until maybe someone else creates it and it becomes the standard way. Then it’s not a better way, it’s just the way everybody does it. Nothing special, no advantage. But those who create, those who are most successful, will never say, “It’s not possible.” They’ll just say, “It’s not possible yet.” And then they’ll begin to think about how it might be possible.
So for a moment, think about the question. I need parts in 15 minutes. The question is not, “Can this be done?” but “How can this be done?” Big difference. As I said earlier, envisioning the future is the easiest way to create it.
So here’s an envisioning exercise for you. One of the best ways to see the answer to the question is to start with as many minds as you can muster (there’s strength in numbers). Put everyone in some place that’s quiet and free from distractions. It’s not a bad idea to even turn the lights down. Now, preface the question with this: “Don’t worry about existing technology. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t exist, we can create anything. Don’t worry about how things are done today. We already know that today’s thinking cannot deliver. Don’t worry about cost, the potential cost may not matter. All ideas are good ones. In this exercise, anything is possible, so mention every idea you think of.”
Then, present the question, “How can you do_______.” Ask everyone to start lobbing out ideas. In some cases, it may be easier to start with understanding what you can’t do. So, with the parts in 15 minutes question, “What can’t you do? Well, I’d say you can’t use traditional shipping methods, so maybe eliminate that from the equation. Maybe you could just stock every crash part for all current models. Maybe if you knew on average what was on the road, and statistically what you might see in your shop, you could narrow the list down to a smaller subset to stock.
What if…?
What if cars could automatically order their own parts at the moment of impact? You know, sensors could detect the crash and closely estimate what parts were damaged by things like crash angle, speed and breaking (I’ve heard that this technology already exists). With things like OnStar, the vehicle could send the parts order within seconds back to the closest or original dealer. Maybe that order could be at your shop even before the car gets there?
What if you could make the parts yourself? What if you had a machine that would just stamp out sheet metal on demand? You know, like those 3D modeling machines that can carve out a plastic replica of a shape scanned in from the other side of the world? (I think I’ve seen something about surgeons using this kind of remote 3D modeling to perform surgery from the other side of the world). What other ideas do you have? I bet if you got a group together, you could come up with a dozen ideas, and several might be quickly doable with a small expense. So what’s really important here is the questions you ask. It’s not, “Can we do this?” It’s, “How can we do this?” Once the vision is set, the rest is simple. Just start creating it.
Everything must start at the same point: the need for change. No viable or successful invention has ever come from an area where no need existed. So defining the need comes first. The question for us becomes, “Is there a need for change in this business?” The answer here is yes. I don’t see how anyone can say otherwise.
What Ails our Industry?
So what do we change? What’s
really wrong with it today? I’ll quickly summarize my opinion, which is my starting point for trying to create a better way. In a nutshell:
- Job sizes are too variable to be very consistent in how we operate.
- Information about what’s really wrong with a vehicle isn’t easily understood up-front.
- Production on vehicles constantly starts and stops because of the rediscovery of damage.
- Delays in production cause excess inventory which increases shops’ overhead costs as well as cycle times, rental car costs and customer dissatisfaction.
- The volume of work is unpredictable and inconsistent because of the nature of crashes and driving habits.
- Goals aren’t aligned between insurers and shops, shops and techs, techs and vehicle owners, vehicle owners and shops, and vehicle owners and insurers because:
- Price pressure continually increases from insurers as shops’ operating and overhead costs increase.
- Insurers’ internal goals aren’t aligned. Those who want severity reduction aren’t the same as those who want rental days reduction. Measurements like “severity” or “alternative parts usage” when focused on separately may drive adverse results in other areas. It’s hard to win when the scoring system changes during the game.
– Insurers want fast, quality repairs at cheap prices.
– Shops want fast and quality repairs but can’t deliver them cheaply.
– Shops can and are willing to deliver to the insurer, but in exchange
for volume.
– Insurers can’t deliver the volume without approaching steering.
– Shops want greater production from techs, but techs can only produce more work when shops deliver good jobs they can complete.
– Techs want to be paid well for production, but shops can’t charge more.
– Vehicle owners want the job done right (whatever that might be in their mind), but insurers will only pay based on what policy the insured purchased.
In any case, there are many problems and the list could go on. Some of these problems we’ve created on our own, others have been placed upon us. I’m not here to blame or complain, though. What this article is about is envisioning what the future may look like in our industry. If we’re going to create it, we better first clearly see it in our minds.
A Look at the Future
So here’s my crack at what
collision repair will look like. Right up front, there will be no estimating. None of that wasteful running around between shops to get a sheet that’s wrong anyway. Customers will simply choose an available shop they want to use and take their vehicle there. No appointments, just bring it on in.
Insurers will know exactly which shops have immediate availability to fix cars today and those who don’t. Only available shops will be listed as options for referral. Vehicles will be scanned by pulling through a device that measures the complete body against a correct template. This will be just like a laser measuring system but in full 3D.
Variances will be measured and calculations will be made to determine everything from all parts needed and which parts work to repair vs. replace, frame damage, color match, ability to blend and repair times (or whatever we use as units).
All parts will immediately be located and dispatched to the facility. All this will happen within seconds of pulling through the scanner. Any problems will be known immediately, and those vehicles with unavailable parts will be rescheduled, but those will be very few. Color will immediately and automatically be mixed to an exact match and in the exact quantity.
Vehicles will immediately move from this scanning process, one at a time, directly into a dismantling phase. All removed parts will be scanned and recorded by the invoicing system. Any parts that don’t match the original scan will be corrected and the vendor notified.
Parts will be hung and will move on an overhead track to the area where all new parts arrive. All parts will arrive within one hour. New parts will be matched against damaged ones and be replaced. These new parts immediately move back to the vehicle which is now through its dismantling. Repairs will be made, new parts replaced immediately and the vehicle will move into the painting process.
Painting will happen in an exact sequence until completion and the vehicle will move on to be reassembled. All work will move together, and one at a time. All along the way, the technician team will work together on vehicles, moving to wherever they’re needed. They’ll record their progress along the way into the invoicing system. It will track things like material used, amount of time taken and number of technicians on the job. Images of all work will be automatically recorded for future reference.
When complete, vehicles will move to a cleanup step to be completed. Quality will be verified at each point of production. Corrections to issues will be made in real time, right when they happen, not sent to the parking lot for future correction. The issues will be recorded and used to correct the process that caused them. As completed, a final invoice will be created and sent to insurers for an automatic electronic payment, right on the spot.
The entire process will take five or six hours from drop-off to completion. Larger structural repairs will first be converted into smaller jobs before the above process and will take about three times longer, maybe two days total. All work will move together, one at a time, at a simple and calm pace. There will be no difference in the look or feel of a Monday versus a Friday. Shops will operate at very low stress levels and run at very normal hours of operation. Shops will be very small with very low overhead cost. They’ll only be staffed by a few administrative people.
Shops will compete with each other based on availability. The shops that can move vehicles through faster will be more profitable than those that are slower. These fast shops will also have the highest quality and customer satisfaction. Shops will work closely with manufacturers for proper training as well as damage diagnostics and parts availability. Profit margins will be very high for these repairers, 30 percent or better. The total price to have vehicles repaired will continually become more competitive and affordable.
I could go on and on about what I see. I think there’s even greater potential than this. But I do believe that this is what we’ll see in the near future. I can tell you that a lot of this stuff is already happening, and that which is not is under development.
Reality or a Dream?
Is it possible? Could we really turn most cars around within a day, even without adding any radically new technology? You answer the question. Think about this: If today you put the average car into production, and it had every part, and if every tool was at the technician’s fingertips (they didn’t have to move a foot or stop for anything), and this technician was your best man, how long would it take before he could be done? Let’s say that means repair a 10-inch dent in a door, hang a new fender and hood, and repair some eight-inch gauges in the front cover. The same goes for paint. Put your best tech on the same job. How much time does it take? That’s four panels prime, prep and through the booth with no stopping and everything needed right at his fingertips. If money were no object, say the richest kid in town needed this done by the time his parents got home, could you do it?
Obviously, I’m describing a best case scenario, and this isn’t what really happens every day, with every car, or in shops. But could it happen? If money were no object and you had resources on hand that could build you any technology? If everyone got on the same page, including insurers, with the same objective of finding a better way to do this, where everyone benefited? Could it be done? If you open your mind, you’d have to say that yes, not only could this be done, but a whole lot more could be accomplished. Just go back through history and look at all the stuff that “couldn’t be done.” This is the creative process, the place where entrepreneurs thrive, the place where fortunes are made.
So it’s really about the questions you ask as you begin to improve. Not “Can we do this?” but “How can we do this?” To be the best, you must begin with the objective of achieving something that has never been achieved. If you only shoot for a benchmark someone else has set, then you’re only going to be as good as the best because you’re just copying someone else’s performance. Brand-new ways are only created out of the need for brand-new ways. You’ve got to start with the objective of some ridiculous stretch goal.
No one will ever start thinking about how to create a machine that scans cars and identifies everything wrong with it in 30 seconds, unless there’s a need to do so. So create the need! In some places, the best is a pretty great place, and maybe that’s good enough. But in the collision repair business, do you think that even the best of us out there are really feeling great about things? Even if things are good, some disruptive innovator is going to show up with the desire to do it better than you. It’s just how things evolve.
So begin to imagine the future. What do you think it will look like? Whatever we see clearly in our minds will eventually be created. You can either create it, or live with what someone else has.
Contributing editor John Sweigart is a principal partner in The Body Shop @
(www.thebodyshop-at.com). Along with his business partner, Brad Sullivan, they own and operate collision repair shops inside new car dealerships, as well as consult to the industry. Sweigart has spent 21 years in the collision repair industry and has done everything from being an independent shop owner to a dealership shop manager to a store, regional and, ultimately, national director of operations for Sterling Collision Centers. Both Sweigart and Sullivan have worked closely with former manufacturing executives from Federal-Mogul, Morton Thiokol and Pratt & Whitney in understanding and implementing the principles of the Toyota Production System. You can e-mail Sweigart at [email protected].
