The team system
Overview
The team system is a concept or process that involves the service department. Basically the shop is divided into two teams made up of six technicians. Vehicles are assigned to each team based on the VIN. The last digit determines which team is assigned to that vehicle. Techs are paid on total team hours produced. The tranny tech and trim tech are "independents", as we are not busy enough to justify two techs at these positions.
Team Contents
Each team consists of a Team Captain, four licensed technicians and an apprentice. The service advisors and parts personnel are not assigned to a team. The Team Captain acts as distributor of work and completes the pay portion of the local ticket. The time tickets are verified by the Service Manager daily. Each work order is reviewed and signed by the service manager before going to the office for final processing. Each tech has high experience in a number of fields eg. EEC, A/C, front end, etc.. The composition of each team is designed to ensure all possible repairs will be handled by an expert. The techs are able to cross-train to gain experience in all aspects, thus creating a better working environment.
Vehicle Process
Each vehicle is assigned to a team based on the VIN. When a vehicle arrives from the factory, the PDI is performed by the assigned team. Each subsequent visit by the vehicle is performed by the same team. Used vehicle trade-ins or auction purchases are assigned to the team based on the VIN. Safety and all subsequent visits are assigned to the same team. Visiting service customers are assigned to a team based on VIN. Again all subsequent visits are assigned to the same team. Occasionally a customer may request to have a specific team look after his vehicle. This happens rarely and usually when the customer has two vehicles serviced at Meadowvale Ford and wants to keep both vehicles with the same team. In this case we note the change on his customer file.
Customer Process
When a customer arrives at the dealership he/she goes to their assigned Service Advisor. The customer name is retrieved from the database with all necessary info on screen with regards to name, address, vehicle info, etc.. The work order is written, signed and distributed to the Team Captain with the keys tagged. The customer is advised as to when the vehicle will be ready and is encouraged to speak with the Team Captain if warranted. Upon completion of the repairs the customers goes to the cash office to retrieve his/her keys. Should a more in-depth explanation of the work performed be required, the team captain and/or advisor will speak with the customer and manager.
Technician Process
The work orders are forwarded to the team captain after the write-up. The captain reviews the work order and either assigns it to a tech, test drives the vehicle or puts it in the rack to be completed later. The captain will sort the work orders and prioritize them according to promised completion times, technician availability and expertise levels. The technicians repair the vehicle and return the work order to the captain. The captain completes the time ticket and submits the hard copy to the service advisor who closes the w/o and advises the customer. The captain keeps a team time ticket plus an individual tech time ticket (for warranty) and submits them daily to the service manager. The service manager then completes a daily production summary and pay plan worksheet per team upon review of the work orders. As with most shops, comebacks are charged back, but in our case the entire team is charged back. The group and peer dynamics come into play to ensure that comebacks are minimized and that all repairs are complete and timely.
Advantages
The advantages of the system far outweigh the disadvantages. Our customers enjoy the feeling that their vehicle is looked after by the same group of techs for every visit. The team gets to know the vehicle and the customer better while the customer gets to know the team better. It is likened to the corner garage, where the customer has faith in the local guy.
Economies or synergies are developed by the team system - eg. when a car need to be pushed in, the team will cooperate to bring the vehicle in efficiently. Should a vehicle repair diagnostic be difficult the entire team could brainstorm a solution. A benefit to this process is improved fixed-right-first-visit ratio. When a customer has a four-hour repair and only two hours to spare, it is possible for us to put two or three technicians on a job to meet the time constraints.
