Increase technician productivity with ShopControl

Technician labor is a major expense in all dealer service departments. When labor productivity rises, it increases revenues by allowing the department to work on more vehicles, leading to higher profits.

“The DSI Solutions Web Solutions ShopControl module lets dealers make sure that technicians are both proficient and efficient,” says Vic Watson, chief executive officer with DSI. With the ShopControl module, the service department can maximize the potential billable hours.

ShopControl displays all of the repair orders in the shop and indicates the technician assigned to each one. It provides the repair order number, the cost estimate, promised date and amount billed to date.

A key management feature of ShopControl is the percent completed column. As work progresses on the project, the technician updates the file. This allows the service manager to:
•    Be ready to assign new work to a technician when a repair order is nearing completion.
•    Investigate any roadblocks on jobs that are not progressing.
•    Discuss with the technician any work that took more time than expected.

“With ShopControl, service managers can assign the right technician to a job and reduce downtime,” Watson says.

The technician enters information on the Mobile Tech Time module, which is linked to ShopControl. Mobile Tech Time allows him to view the repair order and update the file with details about the work done to date and percentage completed. If the next job has been assigned, he can look at that information as well. Best of all, the technician can enter the information on any device – his smartphone, a tablet or a computer in the service bay.

“By letting the technicians use their own devices, there is no more waiting in line to use a single computer in the shop,” Watson says.

ShopControl is just one component of DSI’s dealer management software, which helps increase efficiency and profitability.