( 9 hoists, 9 mechanics, 3 service writers) We do not have an official policy in place for scheduling work. I've tried different techniques but nothing ever really seems to stick. At the moment we use Mitchells software to take down names and numbers, then we place them on the day in which they will be coming in (we do not take specific times and do our best to have people leave there vehicles all day). Mitchel's scheduler is not very user friendly, its also very poorly designed, but its better than nothing. I would not fall into the "tech trap". Software and apps can seem attractive but usually they are a waste of time. I do not think it matters what you "use" the real secret I believe lies in being disciplined, and organized. If you cant make a scheduling process work with just a phone and paper than your not going to make it happen with an app. (Sometimes I wonder if paper is the way to go). Back to our shop, we typically "eye ball" our days. If you called for an appointment I would look at the day in question and if I see that there are not too many scheduled for that day I go ahead with scheduling you in. This bites us in the butt all the time. I'm wondering as well if anyone has a solid method that is tried and true, simple, uncomplicated, and preferably not done using software.
What I would like to see is a scheduling process done on paper, that breaks down the shops capacity and abilities. Using a formula that determines how many Diagnostics, Brake jobs, A/c repairs we can do Mon-Friday. To make that work we would need to know what kinds of mechanics we have "A-C" What there current work load is and project it out for the week. As you mentioned, there is always the problem of unexpected delays. How do we handle delays?
