Marinucci: Tidying up pays dividends in any service department

Regularly tidying up a service department makes dollars and sense for everyone in a tire dealership or service shop. Here's why the plan benefits both the boss and technicians.

As long as I can remember, many service professionals have not placed a priority on periodic clean-ups throughout a service department. They have argued against tidying up because the bays are supposedly the technicians' nest — don't disturb the nest.

Other owners and managers have argued that great cooks may have messy kitchens. Therefore, top techs are entitled to messy work stations.

Some bosses have insisted that speed always equals success; speedily performed jobs are the most profitable ones. Therefore, any time "wasted" on neatness diminishes overall profitability.

Make no mistake about it, maintaining and repairing vehicles can be a dirty business. But that said, service bays and work areas need not look like scrap piles.

Experience has taught me several realities about the appearance of service departments.

For one thing, consumers eventually see the bays. The overwhelming odds are that tidy work areas will impress more customers favorably, more often.

Favorable impressions are part of meeting and exceeding consumers' expectations. In turn, positive impressions help boost repeat business — that's good business sense.

Don't overlook the caliber of clientèle you're trying to attract to your service shop or tire dealership. Consider the value of the vehicles these motorists own.

Likely, these car owners have an image of a worthy service facility — one that's commensurate with them and the vehicles they drive. I sincerely doubt that this image entails dirt, scrap and old parts smothering work stations.

Experience also suggests that tidying up is a matter of do it now or do it later. For example, some techs allow a variety of junk and scrap to accumulate on and under a workbench. They treat proper scrap disposal as if it's an hour instead of a few minutes.

Eventually, these techs will need all the work space they can muster to accommodate a major repair — there are components and hardware everywhere.

So, when the tech least expects to or wants to, he has to clear his bench and work station in order to handle this repair. Besides costing the tech time, it often puts him in a foul mood for the upcoming tasks.

Neater work areas also equate to erring on the side of safety. You see, some workers allow scrap to accumulate around their work stations — especially on the floor. Left unchecked, this debris may become as hazardous as a slippery floor because workers may trip over it and injure themselves.

Obviously, an injured tech may miss work altogether. Or, he may come back to work but his productivity may suffer because he's suffering — enduring pain caused by that fall.

In turn, diminished productivity reduces the service department's profitability. So, do you see how neatness eventually translates into dollars and sense here?

Believe it or not, tidying up a work area also may save money on valuable tools. I have done my share of cleaning up workbenches and the area below them. Readers may be surprised by the hundreds of dollars' worth of hand tools I have discovered among this debris. It could take a messy tech some time to unearth these things.

Another cost-effective neatness step is routinely inspecting floor drains and checking under toolboxes for errant hand tools. Check the prices of professional-grade hand tools and you'll appreciate why every tool is a precious commodity.

Last but not least, I realize that managers want to maximize all the time a tech spends in the bays. However, routine clean-up and organization are both valuable and necessary, too.

Try budgeting some time daily for tidy up and build that time into your labor rates. To me, it's a legitimate expense — not to mention a sound investment.