LATERAL SUPPORT--TEAMS

[JERRYC]

LOOKING FOR SOME INFO ON DEALERSHIPS WITH TEAMS OR LATERAL SUPPORT-- HOW HAS THIS WORKED FOR YOU. I CAN SEE SOME DEFINITE ADVANTAGES TO THIS TYPE OF ORGANIZATION. SUCH AS TRAINING NEW TECHS & BETTER QUALITY OF REPAIRS..ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[Michael White]

We had 4 lateral suppport groups and the concept and cost savings is good. However, the problems we experienced were related to communiction between team leaders and advisors, but mostly related to "subletting" jobs from one team to another because I could not get each team to have 100% parity. the quality of work was good. You have to be careful to make sure the team leaders do no suck up all the juice. We have a larger shop now and would require 6-7 teams. i would not do it in our dealerhsip because of technicianian parity issues. We were a ATCON store.The are good poeple
Mike White

[Tomm]

Any Advanced Production System requires daily performance monitoring. Lead technician dispatching allows your ASM's to spend more time with your customers. Additionally, by breaking your service department into smaller units, you should improve production scheduling and quality control. As a responsible service manager you should track technician productivity daily. If your team leaders are sucking up all of the gravy you've made the wrong choice. Team Leaders don't need to be your best technicians. They do need to understand the big picture and have integrity and the respect of their team members. Team Leaders are managers. As such they should be included in management decisions concerning your shop. Set individual production objectives for each member of your groups. Hold you team leaders accountable for achieving their team's production and customer satisfaction objectives. ASM's are accountable for writing enough work to support the group and providing outstanding customer service.
Properly managed, Lateral Support Groups or Teams will give you a productivity boost without brick & mortar.
Don't fear change. There are hundreds of companies that are extinct because they did.
Go for it!
Ps. I don't work for ATcon.

[sallen1]

On the topic of teams, etc.

Question: Do each of your teams have a separate set of equipment such as brake lathes, tire balancers, lube/fluid dispensers, etc.?

I've thought alot about teams but cannot get around the idea that each team will want to use the brake lathes at the same time. While not too expensive, I could get more lathes: But how about tune-up scopes, front end alignment rack, trans o/h tables...

Maybe I'm overlooking something..

scott

[sallen1]

On the topic of teams, etc.

Question: Do each of your teams have a separate set of equipment such as brake lathes, tire balancers, lube/fluid dispensers, etc.?

I've thought alot about teams but cannot get around the idea that each team will want to use the brake lathes at the same time. While not too expensive, I could get more lathes: But how about tune-up scopes, front end alignment rack, trans o/h tables...

Maybe I'm overlooking something..

scott

[Mike Davis]

Jerry:

We have been on lateral support groups in the past at our store for about two years. The problems that it created for us was accountability, lead tech getting work dispatched and blamed ASM promise time, ASM blames lead tech for missing their promise time etc. Also the techs had a hard time believing that the lead tech wasn't taking most the gravy and accused him of unfair dispatch and that relationship wasn't great. We stuck with the lateral support for almost two years and I have to say that it was better than the general dispatch and having several advisors scheduling for all the techs. The solution that we settled on was switching to simple support groups with the ASM dispatching their work to all group members. The ASM's like it much better and the techs seem to believe that dispatch is fairer in this environment.




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Mike

[MCLARK]

We have been on latteral support for over 2 years now.It has work well for us,we get more work done and our CSI is and has been about our market areas score for over 2years straight. We have 4 groups made up off 4-5 techs, each group having their own consultant. We also have a driveway manager to help out with those little problems that pop up. The key is of course is your group leaders they have to be held accountable for their groups production,hours they work,etc... the group leaders need to be avaialbe to talk to the customers when need be or to go on road test with the customers..
It works for us,but may not be for all

[David S]

Sallen:

To answer your question, you may want to seriously consider additional equipment in the name of efficiency and productivity. If you were to calculate the cost of wasted time waiting for and retrieving tools and equipment you might be surprised how easily it is to justify many items. On the other hand there are situations where the benefits do not justify the costs. (The alignment rack being a perfect example for most stores.)
In reality whether you have teams or a conventional shop you still have the same issue. If 2 techs are in need of the same piece of equipment it will make no difference if they are on a team or not. One of them will still be waiting.

To address some of the other issues relating to Advanced Production Systems, I must agree with Tomm. You do need to carefully consider who will be the team leaders. You do need someone that has some natural management qualities, not necessarily the guy that answers all the technical questions or produces the most hours. Plus, do you really want to burden your top producer with additional responsibilities? (Unless he is the best choice.)

To help insure that work is fairly distributed you can post daily production of each individual in view of the entire shop. (Peer pressure can be a strong motivator.)

My personal feeling on Advanced Production is that nothing beats Teams. In my experience teams are easier to manage. Production is higher. The quality of work performed is superior. And the team environment is conducive to learning. Technicians are more likely to spend time helping with a difficult diagnosis or working with an apprentice technician.

David S.

[zekensted]

Is "lateral support" just another name for teams?

How small of a shop can teams be used? We have 2 advisors, 4 master techs, and as service manager, I also dispatch. I have thought about 2 tech to 1 advisor. But, waiters could be a problem if the advisors only 2 guys. And, if the one advisors sells alot, then suddenly he cant take anyone in for days. Using all 4 guys as one team seems to be the answer, but one advisor cant write 15-20 a day and do correct follow through.

Actually, we seem too big for just one advisor, but too small for two and a dispatcher.

[Mike Vogel]

A lot of Toyota stores use "true" teams where the tech hours are split evenly by the team members. Each team has a team leader. We try to balance the rest of the techs on the team based on experience. We usually run 3-4 techs per advisor but have also run 6-8 tech super teams with 2 advisors. Productivity stays high using the C & D Techs to do the maintenance and light repairs.Quality of work/fixed right stays high because you have your most experienced A & B techs working on "problem/diagnostic" cars. There is very little if any complaining going on since the techs get a piece of every job produced by the team.
The team system has working great for me for the last 20 years!