Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F22

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
At Stevens Creek Volkswagen
in San Jose, Calif., printers
were removed after the service
department went all-digital.
PURGING THE
PAPER TRAIL
After service departments digitized their processes,
printers became obsolete and effi ciency increased
Ken Wysocky
foj@autonews.com
T
he proverbial paper chase is a thing
of the past in the service department
at Stevens Creek Volkswagen in
San Jose, Calif.
After about nine months of planning, the
department went fully paperless in September.
And a month later, after management was
confi dent the system worked,
technicians
gathered and clapped as a forklift carried a
pallet full of printers through the department
and out the building, says Joe Castelino, service
manager.
" It was mind-freeing, " Castelino told Fixed
Ops Journal. " I always thought that if other industries
can do it, why can't we apply the
PAGE 22 DECEMBER 2021
same paperless business model in the
automotive industry and make it easier
to do business?
" All that paperwork made processes
ineffi cient, " he adds. " Time is money. "
Th e store - one of six owned by
American Motors Auto Group - invested
in a cloud-based platform
from Tekion Corp. that digitized nearly
all service processes.
" Everything we used to write up
Castelino: It was
" mind-freeing. "
manually now is digital, including capturing
customer signatures, preparing repair orders,
dispatching repair orders to technicians, parts
procurement by technicians, the repair-authorization
process and invoicing, " Castelino
says.
" Service advisers use their cellphones for
everything and technicians use desktop computers
in their service bays. "
Th e switchover was not anxiety free.
" I was scared to turn off the printers, " he
says. " But I fi gured the worst that could happen
is I'd have to turn them on again. "
Better throughput
One chief benefi t is increased throughput.
Processing cars faster results in quicker turn
rates, which boosts profi tability and effi ciency.
And customers get their vehicles
back faster, which raises customer
service ratings, he says.
" We once processed 20 cars in 18
minutes with just four service advisers, "
Castelino said. " We get repair orders
to technicians within minutes
after they're written. "
Furthermore, the department's 22
technicians used to average roughly
250 hours a month of unapplied time.
Going paperless cut that to 70 hours.
" So I eff ectively picked up one full-time
technician without bringing anyone new on
board, which is huge with the current tech
shortage, " he said.
Going paperless also will save the store
nearly $64,000 annually in paper and ink

Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021

Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - Intro
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F1
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F2
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F3
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F4
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F5
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F6
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F7
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F8
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - RYTEC1
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - RYTEC2
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F9
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F10
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F11
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F12
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F13
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F14
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F15
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F16
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F17
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F18
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F19
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F20
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F21
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F22
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F23
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F24
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F25
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F26
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F27
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F28
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F29
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F30
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F31
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2021 - F32
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