The Garage 277

News 22
ADS gain workshop hours to sell
with ‘powerful’ TechMan system
Garage management
system Tech-
Man has recently
been implemented
by award-winning
independent Audi and VW
specialist ADS Limited,
who’ve seen benefits within
three months.
ADS has long been a renowned
diagnostic specialist
but since taking over day to
day operations from father
Frank in 2012, business owner
Dave Massy has set about
transforming the garage.
Turnover has accelerated
from £150,000 per annum
towards the £1 million mark
thanks to a focus on prestige
vehicles and the roll-out of
additional vehicle services
such as tuning, ECU remapping
and fuel economy enhancement.
Now TechMan is proving to
be the ‘final piece of the jigsaw’
as Dave acknowledges
that, despite always investing
in new tools, staff training
and garage equipment, ADS
has historically ‘fallen short’
on having an effective garage
system.
“Business growth had
made a good management
system essential,” said Dave.
“We wanted to support our
technicians and admin team,
so that we could not only offer
the very best customer
service but also make good
business decisions about
how to improve.”
ADS implemented Tech-
Man in March, after enquiring
in January 2018. The
initial objective was to find
some extra efficiency – to
gain ‘more hours to sell’. The
workshop has already since
seen an immediate uplift in
sold hours thanks to valuable
data on staff utilisation.
“We’ve employed a new
front of house team member
to support the technicians,
operate the workshop
booking system and monitor
technician time on jobs, so
we can seek early customer
authorisation for additional
work where we need to,” said
David.
This change has enabled
ADS to flow more work
through the workshop. Tech-
Man also highlighted a further
bottleneck on minor repair
and service work.
“We’ve just invested in two
new ramps to have capacity
to get straight onto work
generated from vehicle health
checks,” said David. “We’re
now converting more of those
opportunities too.”
TechMan has proved a ‘very
powerful tool’ in helping ADS
identify these areas for improvement,
ensuring business
decisions are based on
facts and evidence.
ADS also use TechMan to
monitor business enquiries,
create a wide range of reminders
around key dates or
advisories of future work and
track parts ordering more effectively,
including returns
and credits.
Technicians struggling to
adapt their previous working
practices have received
one-to-one training support
and have now embraced the
change.
“They noticed jobs running
Mercedes Live
more smoothly, with fewer
delays for parts or customer
authorisation,” said David.
ADS also say that automated
text and email reminders,
used for all customer bookings,
have reduced troublesome
late cancellations and
‘no shows’.
Commenting on the process
itself David said: “I’ll be
honest, we’ve had to implement
some new systems and
it took us a full month to feel
completely confident but the
support team is only a phone
call away and they’ve been
great.
“Although this system took
a little longer to get used to
that we thought it has been
completely worth it.”
To arrange a demonstration
please contact TechMan
on 01604 666720, or visit
www.TechMangms.com.
Now in its’ 15th year, Mercedes-Benz Van Experience
Live is once again welcoming van owners and operators
to Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire, to test the new
Sprinter and X-Class from 21-28 June 2018 (weekdays only).
22 News.indd 1 31/05/2018 11:20