Build your paint department revenues by cutting costs, according to Search Auto Parts.
In 2011, O’Rielly Collision Center, in Tucson, Ariz., was named ABRN’s Top Shop of the year. In the previous two years, the shop was named in the top 10 of the best shop’s in the country. What finally put it over the top?
Along with nailing every measurable contest area, O’Rielly’s initiated some new programs and, significantly, continued honing an ongoing effort to make its paint department more efficient. A year earlier, O’Rielly worked with its paint vendor to implement a system that measures painter productivity based on product inventory use instead of labor hours. O’Rielly made the move after the vendor had insisted this method provided more accurate measurements of productivity and actual costs. By examining and comparing product use, the shop and its painters received a clearer picture of the paint department’s costs and painter performance.
Manager Brian Guerrero reported that the system not only saved money, it allowed his shop to improve its paint services and motivated his paint staff to upgrade their performance since they were able to better evaluate their work.
