HD Repair Forum attracted heavy-duty repair shop owners, managers and others to Frisco, Texas, for two days of talking shop. Sessions included a look at industry statistics through PPG's AdjustRite software, exploring franchising opportunities, looking at new technologies and more.
On Wednesday afternoon, attendees broke out into individual sessions that focused on, among other things, growing profits and growing the business.
John Ascheman, senior application engineer with 3M's automotive aftermarket division, took aim at shop supplies. Ascheman has a background in both collision and claims adjustment, giving him perspective from both sides of the process.
By tracking the shop supplies used on each repair, Ascheman says shops can not only deliver better files and recoup more costs, they can better manage their inventory, controlling expenditures and, ultimately, repair times.
"The goal for inventory management is to reduce the workload of inventory management," he says. "You can use the information from those systems to forecast what you're going to need for the future. You can't measure what you don't track and you can't track what you don't measure."
Ascheman says effective inventory management creates more control. With the right system in place, shop owners and managers can see what was removed, when it was removed, who removed it, where it was removed from and why it was removed.
"Just having an eye on it can increase those profits as well and reduce those costs," Ascheman says. "You have less product on hand that you don't need. You can start having more money on hand."
