What It Is: A final reminder checklist.
The Inspiration: The “pink sheet” idea originated from the frustration of things being forgotten, Douglas Automotive’s owner Doug McAllister says. In the pace of business, too many simple things weren’t getting completed before the car was returned to the customer. McAllister wanted a simple way to fix the issue.
What It Does: The sheet serves as a final reminder for the service advisors and the technicians at the end of the repair process. First the technician completes the checklist following each repair, before handing the checklist off to the service advisor, who completes his or her portion. In the end, it saves time and energy by eliminating any confusion over what tasks may or may not have been completed and the time it takes to go back to a vehicle to complete a forgotten task. Even the most basic tasks can be missed, McAllister says, and the checklist can remind techs of the simple things like updating milage or topping off the washer fluid reservoir.
How It’s Made: It took less than 15 minutes for McAllister to jot down everything on the list. It can be easily modified if a new item needs to be added to the checklist or another item is no longer relevant. McAllister then prints off a thick pad of checklists at a local printing shop whenever he needs more.
The Cost: The cost of printing each pad isn’t more than a few dollars, McAllister says.
The ROI: The time saved by implementing the checklist alone made the idea worth it. It is a flexible, low-tech solution that can be applied to a number of different shop operations as needed. On top of that, McAllister says he can’t put a number on how many customer relation issues have been prevented because a service advisor or tech made sure to complete the items on the checklist.
