Page 50 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine July-August 2022

Paintshop best practice
50
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2022
GET WITH
THE PROCESS
PPG HAS SEEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT PROCESS COMPLIANCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL REPAIR BUSINESSES.
S
TANDARDISED PROCESSES ARE
the cornerstone of a modern collision repair business but ensuring long-term, across-the- board process compliance is the key
to reaping the rewards.
If you want to continually achieve the
same result, it makes sense to use exactly the same method every time and this is the theory of standardised processes, says John Hristias, PPG’s refinish sales director. “In an ever more competitive market, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) lay the groundwork for how business operates. It sounds relative-
ly simple and it can be but it takes effort and attention to detail in order
to put all the pieces in place. For exam- ple, some repairers only have written processes for some of their process, while in some cases, it’s none. Processes need to be in writing, easily accessible and ful- ly agreed to and understood by the peo- ple meant to use them. We are seeing MSOs spending a lot of time to get SOPs right because they understand the im- portance. Without SOPs and, more im- portantly, compliance to these processes, you can be at the mercy of each individu- al technician and what they may believe is the best for your business”
CREATING STANDARDISED
PROCESSES
“Even if you have definite ideas for each and every process, it pays to get input from your team,” Hristias says. “Get them involved by explaining what you want to achieve and the steps, equip- ment and products involved. Whether it’s the process for greeting each custom-
er, the way parts are ordered and re- ceived or the way detailing is carried out — ask the appropriate team members what they think. They will appreciate it and, because they are dealing with these situations on a daily basis, they of- ten have excellent ideas that can help build better processes. Not only that, giving them an understanding of what each process is meant to achieve and keeping them involved, is a great way to help them take ownership and ensure process compliance.”
It takes effort and
attention to detail in order to put all the pieces in place.
EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE
One of the keys to standardised process- es is effectively delivering the necessary information to the end users, says Greg Tunks, MVP Business Solutions Manag- er. “The idea of a standardised process is to streamline operations but having the information locked in the owner’s head or stuck in a file on a shelf doesn’t help anyone. As well as being written down in detailed form in an easily refer- enced SOP folder, everyone needs to be properly trained so they understand the benefits of the process. From there, staff tend to take ownership of the individual processes and are happy to comply. To reinforce the message, it’s also crucial to have process charts mounted in the ap- propriate areas. They provide a handy, visual reference and reminder. What’s
more, when a new staff member joins, standardised processes make it much easier to induct them into the business.”
PREDICTABLE, REPEATABLE
RESULTS
“Because collision repairs are carried out by humans there will be times when
a