The integrated repair process should be tightly connected to the technician’s activities. Each stage of the repair process should be recognized as being ready to start, in progress or complete. Automated visibility of these statuses should be provided by the Auto Repair Shop Management software. Following are primary points in the repair process as related to the technician:
- Inspection – When the vehicle is pulled into the shop – the first thing that should be done is the inspection. This can identify any additional needed repairs and if there’s a diagnosis required the inspection may result in the cause of the symptom being identified.
- Diagnosis – As with the inspection any required diagnosis should be performed early in the process. The objective is to get the information on any additional repairs needed to the service advisor so they can obtain approval from the customer and any needed parts can be purchased as soon as possible.
- Repair – The repair work needed should be started when the inspection and diagnosis steps are complete. The technician can start on the initial repairs requested by the customer. If things go well the additional repairs identified in the inspection/diagnosis steps will be approved and the parts will be delivered and those repairs can be worked on without any lag time between.
