Page 110 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

BEST PRACTICE AWARDS
PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
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SPONSORED BY
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
ESSENDON PANELS
SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES MAKES A BUSINESS RUN SMOOTHLY AND SAFELY WITH GOOD CUSTOMER OUTCOMES.
LEFT: The Essendon Panels team with their party started pack before the 2020 Awards livestream.
fined and the results can be seen from a business point of view high- lighting no staff turnover in the last 48 months.”
This has been achieved by fair employment contracts, employee induction training (includes men- tal health policy) and an Online HR Hub which includes all documenta- tion relevant to an employee’s role, expectations and responsibilities. There’s half yearly employee per- formance reviews providing em- ployees with pay rise and training/ development opportunities and ‘random acts of kindness’ to recog- nise both individual employees and the team.
There’s mentoring from manage- ment for apprentices, staff training and development for customer service and care. Repair methods are sourced via the VACC portal. The company uses an Autel diagnostic scanner for pre and post scans and uses all of the digital
tools provided by AkzoNobel. Everything that can be is done digi-
tally to eliminate paper. There is a strong emphasis on OH&S. The shop has the VACC Green Stamp certification and fo- cusses on recycling from bumper bars to ink cartridges.
The company also prides itself on hav- ing good relationships with work provid- ers such as local dealers and insurers who provide freedom of choice.
W
E WERE VERY IMPRESSED
with the processes put
in place at Essendon Panels when we were given our virtual tour. It’s a small shop and this award has traditionally been awarded to much bigger business-
es – but excellence isn’t sizist. Essendon Panels in Melbourne ticks all the boxes for Operation- al Excellence with detailed, ro- bust systems covering all aspects of the business and a thorough
social media strategy.
Once repairs have been booked the
team contact the client within 24 busi- ness hours of quotation then update them every 48 business hours once the job cycle has begun.
Once a customer’s vehicle is nearing completion, the customer will be contact- ed through various channels and a hand over time will be coordinated and record- ed. Once work has been completed on the vehicle, it then goes through a vigorous quality control process, that includes; physical and photochecklist , vehicle de- tailing, sanitisation and management sign-off. The customer’s vehicle is then delivered outside the workshop in the dedicated pick-up/drop-off zone. Prior to picking up their vehicle ,the customer has access to cashless payment facilities, wi-fi, tea & coffee within the customer service area. When they leave Essendon Panels, the customer will sign a clear- ance certificate and has the opportunity
to provide instant feedback via Survey Monkey message, Google, Facebook or simply face to face. “Essendon Panels prides itself with the seamless and trans- parent processes and procedures that can be digitally accessed by the customer at any point in time,” Febrache says.
There’s personalised feedback within 48 business hours if a compliment is received. With a 4.8 Google rating from 72 reviews we’re thinking they get a lot of these.
There’s also a quarterly newsletter and consistent marketing via Facebook and social media platforms.
Essendon Panels uses I-Bodyshop and Partscheck to ensure a great workflow.
When it comes to staff welfare and de- velopment Essendon is also thorough. Owner Michelle Febrache says: “The im- portance of recognising our staff’s wel- fare is number one within our business model, without our staff, our vision can- not be achieved. Over the years employ- ee recognition processes have been re-