Executing OEM Certification Quality on The Shop Floor

Featured in ABRN - May 2021

The general goals of an OEM Certification Program are to deliver consistent crash-worthy repairs as intended by the OEM, while delivering an exceptional customer experience that results in customer brand loyalty. Within these standards, I have held many conversations with OEM’s and shop operators on how to consistently do this on the shop floor.

As a shop operator you invest in certification programs, you focus on education, you tool up the shop, you research the repair, you build a repair plan, you even send around a QC checklist, but are you confident in the final product you are delivering each and every time?

Quality in this industry has largely been a buzz word. I don’t know any shops that come out and say they do not do quality work. Quality needs to be real. It needs to be verified, validated and documented on the shop floor within the repair process. A post repair audit, as many shops do before the vehicle is delivered, does not allow you to see what was done during the various repair stages in the shop. Taking an in-process approach is important for all repairs but is heightened within an OEM Certification program. By being a member of these programs, you are setting yourself apart and attesting that you have the expertise to do that repair properly, even when you are dealing with other stakeholders such as insurers. You as the shop operator are responsible for how that repair was completed. So, what kind of visibility do you have?

I have seen many shops deal with issues because a technician took it upon themselves to make decisions inconsistent with the repair plan. I have also seen shops that I would consider great shops unknowingly let something slip by within the hurry of daily activity. In these cases when reputation, money and safety are on the line none of the stakeholders in that repair win.

Depending solely on OEM program resources may not get the result you wish. Common practice in many programs is the random audit of repairs. The issue is auditing perhaps 5% of the repairs completed each year does not provide a sample large enough to be confident in a quality process.

It is time for this industry to move past a paper quality control checklist that focuses on just a few key standard operating procedures (SOPs). The future is real time mobile communication of OEM repair procedures, auditing both by repair order line item and shop SOPs and the in-process verification, validation and documentation of the repair.

The great news is technology is moving this way. The ability to connect the various data streams and enable use on the shop floor via mobile devices makes this type of quality management and measurement possible.

Other benefits exist around continuous improvement. If you can identify the common failures and the way they were resolved you can begin to focus on the needed training, tooling and coaching to prevent them from happening. This can lead to better labor optimization. In our research we have found that internal redoes related to quality represent up to a 20% constraint in labor production. This means if you are a shop doing $2,000,000 annually in revenue, with available work you could be missing out on $40,000 in additional sales. This happens because the average rectify time of a redo is 1.25 clock hours. Those hours are spent redoing work that you have previously billed so you miss out on the new billing hours you would have generated with the technician efficiency added. This happens more often than many realize. To clarify here are some common quality failures to consider.

•  Paint Related – color, dirt, runs, appearance
• Body Work – filler, gaps, function, welds
• Mechanical – fault codes, alignment, windows, lights
• Parts Defects – wrong, damaged, missing
• Detail and Delivery – dirt dust, compound, trash water spots

It’s time to carefully consider the quality process within your shop as it increases in importance to your business optimization and your ability to meet expectations of stakeholders like OEM’s.

Bringing a broad background, immense knowledge and robust experience along with the ability to communicate to stakeholders in their language, Ted is well known for his creativity and willingness to invest in others. Raised in the collision industry, he painted his first car, a 1964 Pontiac, at age 11. Winning 9 skills competition medals during high school and technical college he left his mark on the Skills USA (VICA) record book. After earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo, he joined Sherwin-Williams as a distribution representative for our ACME brand. Over a career that has spanned almost 28 years he has held multiple leadership roles including, National Accounts, ASM, Regional Manager, Director of Sales and Director of Marketing. He currently serves as Global Director of Business Services with responsibilities for our added value and business education programs both internally and externally.