If you manage a reconditioning operation, how you structure the flow of cars through that workflow makes a significant difference in recon's contribution to sales.
The objective here is to get used cars to sale-ready quality status quicker to sell more of your vehicles within the first 30 days you own them (used car experts tell us that window is now closer to 14 days!) Dealers consistently doing so have achieved a recon time-to-line turn of three to five days.
These principles apply to both manually operated and software-based reconditioning. Either system works best where the workflow is structured by well-defined action steps. This article looks at their importance and why.
Oil the Assembly Line
In reconditioning, the idea is to move newly acquired vehicles to sale-ready status through a minimally disrupted continuum – think of an assembly line. There needs to be checks and balances in this process, but too many slow down the line. When the line slows, time to line and the critical metric it supports, speed to sale, stumble.
When your line stumbles, vehicle output dribbles rather than flows. Dribbling outputs create problems for you – increasing your daily per car holding cost depreciation, escalating frustration and contributing
to missed sales opportunities and weakened grosses.
To evaluate these observations, I studied the reconditioning
data of sixty-six dealerships, half reporting fast time-to-line
results, the other thirty-three showing slower times. These
dealerships used reconditioning software. However, these
findings apply equally to manual reconditioning. My
fundamental discoveries are:
The number of steps the dealership has designed into
its manual, or automated recon workflow directly
affects time-to-line speed. Stores that use fewer core
steps rather than many are 74% more likely to achieve
time-to-line outcomes.
Stores using Step Notifications to alert next-in-line
individuals that previous work has been completed meet time-to-line goals 64% of the time.
Dealers not using these notifications miss that goal 83% of the time.
For example, a vehicle repaired and removed from a lift and pushed outside to wait for detail might remain there for hours or days before being asked about. Step Notification use would alert the individual responsible
for the step in the workflow so the next phase could continue uninterrupted.
Best-Practice Steps
Best-Practice workflow steps, in not necessarily this
order, are the optimum number that works well for
most dealerships:
Purchase/Auction
Trade not Cleared
Inspection
Used Car Manager Approval
Service Repair
Parts Hold
Body Shop
Detail
Photos
Sale-Ready or
Wholesale
Detail times are a common bottleneck. My survey revealed that 88% of the slower time to line stores
had high detail times -- 4.7 days per vehicle compared to 1.7 days for faster stores.
Photo time turnaround can be another bottleneck. Few of the sixty-six stores in my study had in their
step line-up a Photos Step. Not having this step put into place seems to be a missed opportunity for time
to line improvement.
Approval Step
One of the most productive relationships a dealership should be enjoying is between the service
department and the used car manager. Here we're talking about an automated process to alert the used
car manager or their proxy when repair estimates are complete to gain work approval quickly.
Automation puts this step on these individuals' phones, texts, or emails for access and approval 24/7.
Fast Approvals here stimulate repair work speed, and the data showed contributed to faster overall
annual output, cars.
Summary
With this information and data from this report, I would have this layout at my store, a three-store
group. Here are my concluding thoughts about workflow efficiency and time-to-line speed:
Have a fast workflow of 10-12 steps, adding any steps needed for loaners, special equipment, or
recall.
Limit the number of critical people engaging with your system to track what is happening and
move the vehicles to make sure units are going through the system correctly and promptly. I
recommend this group be the internal writer, service manager, detail manager, used car techs,
used car manager, and the back parts counter worker.
Step Notifications are in place to make sure that the correct person is moving the unit or taking
care of the unit's needs in that step. This individual can then judge step times and identify who
ensures that the correct person oversees that step in the workflow.
Use Work Item details within the steps to track the cost of units and make sure approved
amounts and declined work are recorded. This practice will stop bills that should not have been
approved. Work Items reduce Internal expenditures and reveal the gross per-copy to the
holding cost per unit.
For detail, have all detailers on flat rate to reinforce the need for productivity and so
management can track hours and hours sold per detail. Now you can accurately identify top
performers and know with accuracy how detailers your workflow requires.
Remove units awaiting parts into detail to eliminate parts-waiting downtime.
Modern reconditioning to meet today's consumer demand, whatever the market, is sound science and
mandatory to be efficient, transparent, and accountable. The system must get cars sale-ready fast to
ensure the dealership meets customer demand efficiently and engagingly.
Dustin Jones is a Performance Manager for reconditioning workflow software company Rapid Recon. In
this capacity, he works directly with dealership managers to improve their reconditioning workflow
efficiency and performance. Jones joined Rapid Recon in 2020 after 14 years in the automotive
aftermarket and in fixed operations with multi-store groups, including Lithia. He holds a Nissan Award of
Excellence in Service Advising.
About Rapid Recon
Reconditioning workflow automation from Rapid Reconis the industry standard in time-to-line inventory turn and speed-to-sale vehicle revenue enhancement for automotive retailers. Benchmarking data based on 13 million vehicles processed uniquely positions Rapid Recon to advise dealers on how to improve their store’s profitability. Used by more than 2,000 dealerships, Rapid Recon ensures the accountability of processes, property, and people. Hence, dealers know answers quickly, find assets anywhere, and sell vehicles promptly to grow dealership profitability. www.rapidrecon.com CALL US: +650-999-0497
