DISPATCHER

[KEVIN]

I am contemplating a dispatcher, any cheers or jeers???

[ChrisC]

Being a Dispatcher I guess I like the position.. Ha.

I dispatch in a large single line dealership. I have 20 techs about 4 short of were we need to be for the summer months. We are specialized shop running on ADP ERO. We also have 8 Service Consultants plus one Quick Lube Advisor. At our dealership I have the focus of reviewing every RO and hopefully every line to verify if the advisors has it going to the best skill. I also control prioities and dispatching sequences. There are a 100 other duties I perform under the dispatching hat. As we are set up a Dispatcher is a vital tool.

At least that's what they tell me.. Ha..

[jnewlin]

A dispatcher was great when I was working for a dealer that had 20 techs. It worked smooth and monitoring progress was easier. Now that I work for a dealer less than half that size it just is not needed. It was more efficient with 20 techs

[mark vandersteeg]

we had three svc cons. when we went to ero. it pushed so much work through the shop that we had to triple our front line staff (this was somewhat overdue anyway). things got out of had after awhile due to all consultants having dispatch authorization and techs having too many permissions. ero does most of the dispatching, it can work if everyone using the system understands it well and the service consultants work as a team. we dumped our dispatcher for other reasons and service has become much more efficient. the system still has to be overseen by someone periodically during the day. i believe that if you do more than 60 cars a day, you need to get ero.

[Misky]

If you have a larger shop (15 or more techs) and your techs specialize, I would highly recommend it. Dispatching is also a way to make sure techs are getting properly written orders. I also dispatched at one time. It can be hectic but if you have someone that knows what they are doing and gets along with everyone you'll do just fine.

[JerryM]

We run a "Team" system. 3 teams, 3 advisors. (on our GM crew), The "Team Leaders" (master techs in each team)dispatch the work to the techs under them. This way, each "Team" can best apply the strongest skills within each group.
It seems to work best with our other 2 "Import" teams. They share their time with each other. That way, a "Customer states: Dome lamp inop when raining" gets balanced out with oil changes and services, and all techs put their 2 cents in. Having these guys working together has improved CSI. A tech seems less likely to "blow-off" a problem and truly diagnose it when he is still getting paid by the rest of the team.

[Doug]

We have 5 carlines and 15 techs. Dispatcher position eliminated years ago and I doubt we'll ever go back. Advisors dispatch to their own team of techs and it works well. Advisors know their customers, their techs, their priorities for the day and can switch gears accordingly without having to rely on dispatcher. Our advisors love the control they have over their own work flow. I now view dispatchers as another stumbling block and source of contention. Downsides ? Yes. Our advisors also do repair order closing/invoicing and they are getting maxed out and not spending time with customers that they should. The self-dispatching does take some time, but, overall, the advisors prefer it and it works well for us.

[LRobinett]

We run a group system where each advisor has a team of 5 techs. We currently have 4 advisors and a quicklube advisor. We moved from the dispatch system last spring and will probably never go back. Our system pays the technicians individually (which is what they prefer) and the system provides that each tech gets his own recheck and installs any spec. ordered part ordered. This has helped with csi and production.
The reason we moved from the dispatch system was primarily due to favoritism and efficiency.. our efficiency has increased by 50%.. Our advisors write, dispatch and close all of their ro's.. The key is to allow the system to perform for you by continuing to update it as jobs are sold, etc. Our advisors are getting better at this and it has helped dramatically.
Changing to this style of shop operation has been a great benefit and has allowed us to become more profitable..