Arkley & Lang Smash Repairs is located one-hour north of Sydney at Gosford. Don has had Planning Plus for nearly four years. When we first started with Don, he was running two panel beaters and two painters so a relatively small sized body shop. Gavin sat down with Don to find out what difference Planning Plus has made to fixing more cars faster for his business.
Could you share with us your experience with Planning Plus and how it came to be implemented into your body shop?
Don Sr went on holidays and his son Don Jr was helping him in the office at the time and made the business decision on his behalf. He was in a bit of trouble when Don first came back as Don thought he was managing things quite comfortably and going alright, but it’s proven over time, that it has probably been one of the best things that they have ever done.
What a great story – you go on holidays and your son makes a business initiative to say – Dad is away, I am going to do this!
We are four years down the track. What improvements has the product delivered to your business? What measurable improvements could you share with our clients and prospects that Planning Plus has done for this business.
Workflow is a lot smoother, volumes are a lot higher and it just ironed out all the creases. Reduction in cycle time, improved efficiencies, and a greater experience for the customer. Work providers are happy as the increased volume is getting them more work done.
What are some of the advantages that came from the software? What changes did that make for you personally? And what changes did it make for the guys on the shop floor, your customers, and your work providers?
Before implementing Planning Plus it was all paper, there were white boards and you would walk around the shop to check on things. People were constantly coming up and asking questions about what they had to do next. Once the system came in to play, they could walk up to the board and see their next task, they could see how long they had to do it and they could see their following tasks. It has made things a lot easier and freed Don up a hell of a lot. It has given him a lot more time to concentrate on the things that he needs to concentrate on rather than what is going on out in the shop.
How did the staff take to the new program?
It is the same as any new technology, it is not favourable at the start, but since it has been three or four years now, they have taken to it like a duck to water. They come in and clock on and know what they have got to do, and they go and do it.
Does it matter if you are there or not there?
Don says he can be there less! Everything is there from parts to sublets. Everything is scheduled and the work just flows. It is because of this that cycle times are down, production has gone up, volume has gone up. So now at the end of the day, it is all good.
Our motto at Planning Plus is Fix More Cars Faster, so for a relatively small size shop was that the outcome?
Definitely! Our volumes increased, and our cycle times are down. Customers are happy.
We have just heard from Don, the principal business owner here at Arkley & Lang Smash Repairs at West Gosford. It just goes to show that whilst you might be a relatively small body shop and you feel that you can get by with just managing the stuff that’s coming from your neck top computer, just by Don’s son, Don Jr going ahead and making that change while his dad wasn’t there and taking a gamble proved to Don that he could get things out of his neck top computer. He can actually run a business with a bit less stress and it is easier to manage. If you are sitting on the fence, take a lesson from Don’s book. Sometimes you have got to take that leap of faith and step into it. If we can reduce some of your stress, allowing you to fix more cars faster, it has no option, but to increase your gross profit, which ultimately flows through to your net profit.
Maybe it is time to jump off that fence and jump into Planning Plus. We are here to help; we know all about systems and processes and we are about your success.
Thank you to Don for joining us, it has been great to catch up. It is 2020. This has been our second case study for the year. Our first case study was on 80 cars and we have brought it right back to grass roots level with a case study on one of our smaller shops to see the benefits of the system to them.
Catch you next time on Planning Plus Software.