Why its important to implement
Vehicle interiors need protection regardless of condition. Covers prevent dirt, dust, grease, sealers, paints and other contaminants from technicians transferring to vehicle surfaces. Without protection, excessive cleaning time or costly part replacement becomes necessary.
Floor Contamination Prevention
Dirt and dust from the shop floor is not carried onto the floors by technician's shoes.
Contamination Consequences
When any of the above issues happen in a shop it can cause excessive time in cleaning or worst case a steering wheel, gear knob, seats or floor mats would need to be replaced free of charge.
Seat Contamination Prevention
Dirt and dust on technician's clothes wont easily transfer to the seats.
Production Manager Responsibility
The production manager is in the best position to either fit these items or ensure they are fitted by staff.
Body Technician Contamination Prevention
Grease, sealers and glues are less likely to be transferred from the hands and clothing of the body technicians.
Protection Standard
No matter what condition the vehicle is in when it arrives, seat, steering wheel, gear selector, handbrake and floor covers should be used. (Most body shops cover seats floor and steering wheel and this is a good place to start). This is an important process for several reasons.
Paint Technician Contamination Prevention
Paint and sealers are less likely to be transferred from the hands and clothing of the paint technicians.
Business Impact
Interior damage requires parts replacement at shop expense. Detailers spend excessive time cleaning contaminants from seats and trims. When shops must apologize for interior damage, their professional image suffers and customer dissatisfaction increases.
Profit Impact
If interior parts need to be replaced due to damage the business will lose profit.
Productivity Impact
If the detailers must spend excessive time cleaning chemicals and dirt from seats and trims.
Customer Satisfaction Impact
If the body shop must apologise to the customer for damaging their interior the professional image of the shop is called into question and will leave the customer dissatisfied.
action steps
Order stock of all vehicle protection items. Production Manager must ensure protection is fitted before vehicles enter the shop. All technicians should verify protection remains in place throughout the repair process. Establish consequences for policy non-compliance.
Policy Enforcement
Strong internal warnings if policy not followed once established.
Ongoing Verification
Each technician at each stage should ensure that the protection items are still in place as the vehicle travels through the repair stages.
Protection Process
Production Manager must ensure vehicle protection is fitted to all vehicles prior to them entering the body shop.
Inventory Management
The business should order stock of all vehicle protection items.
Related tasks
Milestone:
09: Implementing Quality Control Measures