{"id":236,"date":"2026-04-21T09:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.way.com\/repairtech\/blog\/?p=236"},"modified":"2026-04-21T10:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:26:12","slug":"how-to-digitize-shop-floor-management-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.way.com\/repairtech\/blog\/how-to-digitize-shop-floor-management-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"How to digitize shop floor management systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you own or run an auto repair shop, you know the signs of\u00a0a bad day.\u00a0Your\u00a0techs have finished their jobs and\u00a0are just\u00a0hanging around waiting\u00a0for their next assignment.\u00a0When customers call to check on their repair\u00a0status,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0put on hold because the service advisor\u00a0has to\u00a0jog out to the bay to find\u00a0out\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening.\u00a0A repair order\u00a0got messed up after the wrong part arrived\u00a0because someone misread the tech\u2019s\u00a0handwriting.\u00a0The worst part\u00a0is that\u00a0none\u00a0of these happened because no\u00a0one\u00a0cared.\u00a0They happened because the\u00a0clipboard, paper, and whiteboard\u00a0system\u00a0is\u00a0flawed.\u00a0This is\u00a0all\u00a0easily fixable, though.\u00a0All you need to do is\u00a0digitize\u00a0your shop floor management\u00a0system.\u00a0This guide will walk you through everything you\u00a0need to know to get started.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0losing by sticking with paper<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The loss incurred on a shop floor that sticks to manual processes may not always show up as a single number, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re so easy to miss. But think about it like this. You run a shop with 6 technicians. On average, each of them loses 20 minutes a day because of a lack of coordination. This includes issues like waiting for work to be assigned, trying to track down parts status, or searching for a service advisor. That\u2019s two billable hours you lose each day from each technician. If you\u2019re billing $120\/hour, that\u2019s $240 you\u2019re losing in a day and $60,000 lost in a year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paper inspection forms make it even worse. Imagine your technician finds a worn tie rod end and writes it on a paper form. The service advisor then reads it and has to explain the issue to the customer over the phone with absolutely no visuals to help, and hopes for a green light from them. Now consider the same scenario, but with photos or short videos that they can share with the customer. Now your customer can see the issues clearly, and the odds of them giving the go-ahead improve drastically. Shops that use digital vehicle inspection (DVI) tools report a <\/span>20% increase in\u00a0average repair order\u00a0(ARO) values<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0first month.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What to look for in\u00a0a\u00a0digital\u00a0auto\u00a0shop floor\u00a0management system<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Not all shop\u00a0management\u00a0software is built equal; some may offer just the essentials,\u00a0while others\u00a0come\u00a0with all sorts of bells and whistles.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0up to you to decide whether the shop management system solves the specific problems that are costing you time and money.\u00a0Here are some\u00a0basics that any shop management software worth considering should cover:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n