RR_v65-3.indd - PPG Industries

More documents

Recommendations

Info

16 CROWNING GLORY Crown Collision Center, in St. Petersburg, Florida, does the sort of business that most collision shop managers only At this dream of. Working out of a 45,000-square-foot main facility Gulf Coast megashop, with 23 technicians and eight painters, Crown processes over seven-figure months will 300 vehicles a month, at an average repair value of $2000. soon be a reality Monthly parts and labor sales exceed $600,000. And that’s running just a single shift per day. So—is Crown’s manager satisfied with her current production standards? “Not in the slightest,” says Jackie Zajac, who has managed Crown Collision Center since June of 2003. “By this time next year, I am certain—absolutely certain—that this center will be producing over a million dollars a month in total sales. And long term, beyond that? Who knows? We intend to beat all the facility utilization benchmarks. I’ll tell you the truth—I really don’t see a ceiling at this point.” So what’s the reason for Jackie Zajac’s enthusiasm? “PPG,” she says. “For this center, the sky’s the limit with PPG.” What makes this story truly amazing is that Jackie Zajac had never worked as a collision center manager prior to joining the Crown Group. For years, Jackie had worked with Crown from the opposite side of the desk, managing the DRP program for Progressive Insurance. But when she was offered the position, she readily took it. Jackie says she made the switch because, “I consider managing the Crown Collision Center the opportunity of a lifetime. This is one fantastic collision shop, and one great opportunity.” 17
Crown Collision Center processes over 300 vehicles a month, at an average repair value of $2,000, working out of a 45,000 square-foot facility with 23 technicians and eight painters. 18 That’s something of an understatement. Crown Collision is part of the Crown Dealerships Group, a family of 11 dealerships selling and servicing 20 car and truck lines, with most of the dealerships located on either side of US 19, adjacent to or near the collision center in St. Petersburg. Plus, as a DRP manager, Jackie knew how attractive such a high-volume facility, accustomed to working to auto manufacturer warranty standards, could be. And with that much of a dealership presence, insurance carriers could be highly confident that Crown would be there for the long run, ready to back their guarantees. Another reason for Jackie’s confidence is PPG Distributor Tim Morrell, who runs Auto Body Express in Tampa. Crown was under contract with another finish supplier when Tim first called on Jackie, but that didn’t stop him from pitching in and helping out. “Tim and PPG were here, in this shop, consulting with me and acting as business partners for two years before I purchased a single drop of paint from them,” Jackie says. “I don’t want to give you the impression that the product was unimportant here, because that’s not the case at all. My painters consistently told me that, for color match, and for cycle time, PPG was absolutely the way to go. And because PPG is a global company, they met the requirements of all our OEM warranty work. So certainly they were attractive, product-wise. But what truly made the difference for me was the attitude; PPG came in here with a partnership solution. And it was not a cookiecutter solution. This is a big business, with unique challenges, so PPG brought in a variety of people, including Dave Mitchum, PPG Business Development Manager, to look at and analyze the various aspects of our business. They came up with not only a plan to help us attain our specific goals, but the systems to help us best implement the plan, such as Throughput Management and innovative production models.” One of PPG’s first suggestions was that Crown adopt Summit management software, to streamline the operation, adopt door-to-door throughput management techniques, and identify potential issues before they can turn into real problems. Summit’s owner, Frank Terlep, flew in and provided a customized IT solution that was specific to the shop’s needs. “It’s a night-and-day difference,” Jackie says. “As a shop manager, I need to know when a car is tracking behind the scheduled delivery date. When a car is late for delivery, you’re past ‘problem’ and well into ‘crisis’— the customer is unhappy because you didn’t keep your word, the insurer is unhappy because there’s an additional rental expense… as a manager, I want to know when the car is going to be late going into paint.” Having such a system in place has changed Jackie’s outlook as a shop manager. “Some managers don’t really manage,” she says. “They put out fires. They spend their time looking at issues and trying to figure out why they arose. But with systems in place to avoid the issues in the first place, I have the opportunity to network with insurers and really leverage our CertifiedFirst ® Network membership. I have the opportunity to meet with and understand the needs of our customers and how we can serve them better. And I can turn what I learn into initiatives that make us more productive and more attractive to all our stakeholders.” One such initiative is Crown Express, a 12,000-square-foot facility just a short walk from Crown Collision, where repairs can be done while the customer waits. “On simple repairs, a logical customer question is, ‘Why do I have to leave the car?’” Jackie says. “And we thought about that, and decided, ‘You don’t.’ By implementing timesaving steps, like pre-painting parts, we can really expedite things. We have a comfortable lounge, food and beverages, and a business center where a customer can check e-mail while they wait. Insurers absolutely love this service because they don’t have to rent a car. And our dealerships love it because, often, while a repair is being done, the customer walks over to one of our showrooms and shops for a new car or truck.” Crown has been working with PPG to take even further advantage of certification and training programs for collision shop personnel at all levels of the business, and to incorporate plans that will help make this already successful business a phenomenal success. And Jackie Zajac is confident of that success. “As far as I’m concerned,” she says with a nod. “The sky really is the limit with PPG.”
Page 1: ��
Page 4 and 5: Inside Line B y J o h n O u t c a l
Page 6 and 7: 8 S H O P C O S T S R I S I N G : T
Page 8 and 9: zer T A K I N G C A R E O F B U S I
Page 12 and 13: Off and Running Sewer Equipment Com
Page 14 and 15: Air Guitar (Up-In-The-) Doing the i
Page 16 and 17: KEEPING CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE Want to
Page 18: PPG Industries Attn: Refinish Group

RR_v65-3.indd - PPG Industries

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?