Supplements are a come back

June 24, 2014
Mike Anderson suggests three Ts that will help reduce the number of redos your shop has on its estimates.

I sometimes ask shop owners, “What would you do if you had a body tech who fixed 10 cars a week, and six of them came back with a problem?” They usually say they would talk to the technician. And if it happened the next week? Then, they say, they’d fire the tech.

I’ll then ask them, “What if you had a painter who painted 10 cars a week, and had to repaint six of them because of runs, drips or color match?” The shop owners usually say they’d talk with the painter, maybe get him or her some more training. And if the painter continued to have six re-dos for every 10 jobs? That painter would be fired, they usually say.

“So what if that was your estimator,” I ask them, which usually results in a puzzled look.

But what exactly is a supplement? Isn’t it a come-back or a re-do on your estimate? So if you’re writing a supplement on 60 percent or more of your estimates, why aren’t you firing the estimator? You wouldn’t put up with a tech or painter doing that much re-work.

It’s time to stop the madness. We have to look at a supplement as a re-do, a defect, a problem.

Now I’m not saying if a job gets dropped off with an insurer-prepared estimate you shouldn’t submit a supplement. And I know there are times when someone insists they want a estimate while they wait. In those cases, when you’re starting from a ‘visual only’ estimate, there likely will be a supplement.

But once you’ve taken possession of a vehicle, when you can do a complete tear-down, you should be writing a complete work order without the need for any additional supplements.

Think about it: ‘Lean’ is all about eliminating waste, eliminating the things that bring little value or for which you don’t get paid. You don’t get paid to write an estimate. So if you write one or more supplements on top of that, you’re now doing something two or three times for free.

You don’t get paid to order parts. So if you have to go back and place a second or third parts order for a job, you’ve just done something for free multiple times.

So start measuring what percentage of jobs require a supplement (aside from an initial supplement of a visual-only estimate) and the reasons for those supplements. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. I can tell you there are shops that have been able to drop their supplement rate down to 11 percent on non-drivable vehicles, and down to 4 percent on drivable vehicles. That’s eliminating a lot of unpaid estimating and parts ordering re-work and inefficiency.

How are they doing that? They’re using what I call the three Ts.

First T: Thorough disassembly. That means 100 percent tear-down. Not 70 percent, not 90 percent, but 100 percent. Ask why this isn’t happening, and you’ll usually hear an excuse that includes a ‘but.’ “I’d do 100 percent tear-down… but then I’d have to push the car… but it might rain on the car... but whoever reassembles it won’t know how it goes together.”

My dad always used to say, “Anything after the ‘but’ is bulls--t.” Or as my great friend Bruce King would say, “Save the drama for your mama.” We have to do be doing 100 percent tear-down.

Second T: Thorough damage analysis. Use the OEM parts graphics and repair procedures to make sure you’re including all the necessary parts and procedures. Get all your parts price changes upfront. Thorough tear-down doesn’t do you any good if you select the wrong part in your estimating system, or miss one-time-use parts, or leave off necessary procedures.

Third T: Thorough audit. Look the sheet over well to make sure you have the right production date and the right paint code. Make sure you didn’t pick the left side when you meant the right side. Make sure you have good line notes and photos.

If you follow these three Ts, you will see the percentage of jobs with estimate re-dos (called “supplements”) begin to drop. Remember: One tear down, one parts order.

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