Chapter 20
Gus's Garage

By Jake Snyder

Last month Gus and I talked about how his administrative, paint, final assembly, and detailing operations were able to respond in a Just-in-Time (JIT) manner to daily workload or volume demands. In Gus's Garage, these areas usually do a good job processing work as it arrives with little delay and job pile-up.

As an example, Gus and I observed that Paint and Detail does not have to carry days and days worth of vehicle inventory in order to meet vehicle job quotas.

By contrast, the middle repair operations metal department commonly has a disproportionate amount of WIP jobs compared to other shop areas. Metal department production quotas are measured more by hours produced and technician efficiency instead of the number of customer jobs produced.

Gus definitely feels that he and his son, who assists with production management, are doing too much day-to-day and hour-to-hour problem solving and decision-making.

I agreed with Gus and pointed out to him that Paint and Detail is able to maintain continuous and responsive work-flow (with minimal management involvement). This department maintains consistently smooth work-flow by processing one car at a time and maintaining discipline by consistently repeating the same processing steps, with the same quality standards, and in the same sequence - over and over again.

Toyota Production System (TPS) professionals refer to the quick identification of "out-of spec" job-actions as "error proofing." Error proofing can be applied to either the repair method or job actions and also to resulting job quality. Gus wants to error proof administrative and repair work actions and also job quality.

For TPS, "poke-yoke" is a built-in device which performs 100 percent inspection of work actions and/or desired quality outcomes (i.e. a template installed on a machining tool restricts or quality-assures correct tool placement and also allows no variation in machining methods applied to a manufactured product).

Gus wants work to be quality assured or 'error proofed' as a job moves from one stage of processing to the next. But, because people cannot have templates installed to restrict movement, poke-yoke becomes a combined application of clear and concise procedures and processes (or work standards) fitted with simple "if-then" decision making tools so that technicians and staff are able to automatically, upon receipt of a job (without management advice), select a correct processing method that will achieve desired work action results for the car or paperwork (a specification and/or work-standard).

To assure that job actions are performed according to vehicle repair specifications and operational work-standards an immediate quality inspection is needed when the repair or administrative processing step is completed and readied for hand-off.

Gus and I devised a process quality control or job control system that records hand-off quality inspection results between each department. The idea of having technicians sign-off a work order or QC sheet between hand-offs is not new. Many shop owners have been employing some type of technician sign-off system for years.

There are two basic differences between a 'sign-off' sheet and a job control system. One is that all processing stages for each job (including administrative) require sign-offs and quality checks. Secondly, the results or outcomes of each hand-off quality inspection for every job is recorded and compiled for management review, analysis, and improvement.

We created a job control form that is broken down into multiple processing stages of both Repair Order work actions and job repair work actions.

Gus chose to list general processing steps as the key inspection points listed on his job control form:

• Repair Order & Receiving
• Parts Ordering
• Staging
• Disassembly & Repair
• Sublet & Mechanical
• Structural
• Paint Prep
• Refinishing
• Final Assembly
• Detailing
• Final Quality Check.

Each processing step has a quality inspection check box to record and acknowledge that a processing step has been completed and quality assured. Similarly, a checkbox is used to record and acknowledge that an "acceptance inspection" has been completed after hand-off.

When a job is completed, quality control results from the job control sheet are recorded and compiled for management tracking and analysis.

Job control is an application for fundamental areas and key value-adding processes. It is used to create a system that prevents defects from occurring, and catches defects when they have just occurred to prevent them from continuing through the repair processing system.

Each job control sheet includes a selection of possible defects or failures for personnel to choose from when they identify and record problems.

For administrative or Repair Order quality checks Gus listed:

• Customer authorization signed
• Billing & payments verified
• Insurance authorizations completed
• Customer special requests recorded on work order and repair order.

On the repair side, Gus listed:

• Work order file is complete
• Repairs are defect free
• Rework needed
• Incorrect or missing parts.

Also included on each form is an area to record non-listed defects.

When a defect or problem is discovered by a staff member, Gus or his son must inspect and sign-off on the form that the proper corrective action is taken to resolve the problem.

Longer term, we will designate key technicians in each department as having the QC (Quality Control) authority to sign-off problems and corrective actions.

This process quality control or job control system should not only provide Gus and his staff with feedback on error frequency, but also create a heightened awareness of the usefulness of processing standards and consistent work action performance.

Jake Snyder, creator of the popular Gus’s Garage series, is interested in hearing from shop owners with real-life questions.
E-mail JJ the Remote Pro, Gus’s intrepid consultant.