CR Auto Scheduler^® – Production – Algorithm Powered Auto Body Shop Scheduling Software

Top 10 Reasons to Eliminate the “X”.

1. Cycle Time is lengthened.
   • The “X” causes too many vehicles to be dropped off for repairs early in the week.  As a result, some vehicles sit untouched for one, two, or more days.  These days add to the cycle time of those vehicles.
2. Vehicles are delivered late.
   • As a result of vehicles sitting untouched, fewer vehicles are delivered in a timely fashion to customers.
3. Production employees are used ineffectively.
   • This pattern of work frequently results in slow periods in the refinish and detail departments early in the week.  During the middle and end of the week these departments may be working overtime to catch up.
4. The facility’s capacity is reduced.
   • As previously discussed, the “X” causes vehicles that are not being worked upon to be on-site.  In many cases, these vehicles would also have the necessary parts on site to repair the vehicle.  These excess vehicles and parts reduce the capacity of the facility.
5. The quality of repairs suffers.
   • In many shops suffering through the “X”, the number of vehicles being returned to customers on Friday may be 2, 3, or more times greater than any other day of the week.  This places tremendous stress upon the ability of the collision center to refinish, reassemble, detail and perform quality control on the vehicles.  As a result, short cuts are taken and items are missed.
6. Customer satisfaction levels drop.
   • A customer’s satisfaction level is unduly influenced by things they can observe such as good color match, cleanliness of the vehicle, promises kept, and on time delivery.  Due to the rush at the end of the week to deliver large numbers of vehicles these are the very items most likely to suffer in the repairs.
7. Non-production employees are used ineffectively.
   • The vehicles on site that are not being worked on have paperwork and customers that need to be kept up-to-date.  The missing of delivery dates requires contacting the customers to explain the cause of delay and to reschedule the delivery.  The poor customer satisfaction may require the collision center to attempt to recover with the customer.  Each of these tasks unnecessarily requires time of the non-production staff which could otherwise be spent more productively.
8. Stress levels increase.
   • When Friday ends, often later than the set closing time, nearly everyone is exhausted.  Towards the end of the week when the “X” is in play, it is common for arguments to arise between employees as everyone’s patience runs thin from having to do too much in the available time.
9. Rental vehicle expenses increase.
   • On the surface, this seems not to make sense.  After all, one of the main reasons for the “X”, according to the collision centers using it, is to minimize rental expense.  However, the longer cycle times and inability to deliver vehicles on-time actually increase the rental expense when the “X” is present.
10. Profits decrease.
    • The poor utilization of the facility and the employees limits the sales that can be produced.  The unneeded parts on hand result in greater loss or damaged costs.  Overtime costs for the detail department and perhaps the refinish department are incurred late in the week when they had free time early in the week.  The reduction in quality produced increases the costs associated with re-dos and customer recovery.  And, as previously stated, rental costs increase.  Collectively, these factors lessen the profits that can be achieved by a collision repair center.

Provides the most accurate and comprehensive scheduling capabilities available for use in collision repair centers.

CR Auto Scheduler^® – Production allows you to get the “X” out of your business!

By eliminating the rush of work into your business early in the week and the rush of work out of your business at the end of the week, CR Auto Scheduler^® – Production allows you to better utilize your existing capacity… building, equipment, and staffing. Vehicles are turned around more rapidly, quality is not sacrificed during ‘rush’ times, delivery dates are met, customer satisfaction levels improve, and costs are reduced!

For information call toll free (877) COLLISION (265-5474).

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Provides the most accurate and comprehensive scheduling capabilities available for use in collision repair centers.

CAPABILITIES
Schedules utilizing your capacity without overwhelming your shop			•	•
Balances vehicle inflow and outflow			•	•
Balances the mix of work from small jobs through heavy hits			•	•
Provides scheduling options for each estimate			•	•
Manages the sales process on unclosed estimates			•	•
Measures closing ratio by estimator			•	•
Allows simultaneous users on networked workstations in a single facility			•
Considers payment source when scheduling			•	•
‘Intelligence’ that learns and results in improved scheduling			•	•
Measures cycle times and supplement size by facility, payment source and size of job			•	•
Allows for load leveling across multiple stores				•
Allows simultaneous users on networked workstations in multiple facilities				•

CRASWatch^TM:

• Using EMS files generated by the major estimating systems in the industry, CORE populates CR Auto Scheduler^® – Production with customer, vehicle, and estimate repair information and eliminates the need for this data to be entered manually.
• CORE is currently made available to users of CR Auto Scheduler^® – Production at no additional charge.