Development, implementation of SOPs may be easier than you think

March 1, 2017
Two of the most significant reasons for having written SOPs are quality and cost control.

Got Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)? If not, there are simple and easy ways to get started towards establishing SOPs in your shop. The issue for some isn’t recognizing the value of SOPs throughout the shop, but rather looking at it as yet another task to squeeze into your day.

Two of the most significant reasons for having written SOPs are quality and cost control. We can maintain a standard of quality by doing the same steps of a repair the same way each time. And we can obviously save costs by reducing re-dos and waste and by streamlining inventory.   

Maybe the best place to start working on SOPs is by not doing the work. There are enough free resources out there and valuable input to be had close by. For the actual SOPs, we can turn to the paint manufacturers and several of the major material manufacturers.

For instance, anyone who has taken the I-CAR PLA03 (Plastic and Composite Repair) course should have been provided a generic SOP with the procedural steps and space to insert the particular brand of repair materials used. (There are other resources provided with several other I-CAR classes as well.)

The local paint jobber may very likely be a great resource for getting started with SOPs. I spoke with Ron Stazzoni, who is the owner of D&R Auto Paint and Supply with three jobbing stores near Omaha, Neb. Ron and his team have built a library of SOPs written as “general guidelines” for his customers. Ron has helped dozens of shops with the creation and implementation of SOPs and has found two pitfalls.

“First, the SOP program needs to be properly introduced and built with team input. If you simply hang a bunch of posters and tell techs to follow them, you’ll get nothing but resistance. To properly build, train and implement SOPs takes a fair amount of time. It’s not going to your jobber and telling them, ‘Get SOPs going in my shop next week!’ While your local jobber may be a great help with this task, SOPs need to be a team effort; getting employees involved will help ensure buy in. There are other benefits to establishing SOPs. One favorite is team building. Bringing staff together and allowing input from every employee can help bring people closer together as a team working towards a common goal. It is important to explain what you are trying to accomplish and why,” he said.

In other words, employee review is a necessity. Input from employees with the mutual understanding of the main objectives — quality and cost control — allows all employees to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. This is a great way to encourage employee involvement and could even foster some teamwork. So by their nature, successful SOPs are unique and customized to each shop or shop group, which allows all employees to have input — and as a result, ownership — of the best procedures to use.

I was at an industry meeting recently and the subject of SOPs came up. A shop manager I spoke to said that he hadn’t even printed out the email full of SOPs he had received from a supplier. Why not give a copy to all your employees, by department or procedure, and ask for their input?  The value of people being involved and the value of showing that management places a value on their input, opinions and experience will help this project go smoother.  

Ron and I further discussed what is next in building SOPs for the shop. Regardless of how effectively SOPs were development and implemented, things will change. New procedures, new products and new vehicle technology will require us to adjust SOPs from time to time. As Ron says, “Secondly, it takes follow up, tweaking, and long-term support from the administrative team. As owners, think of all the policies we’ve all started only to look back a year later and see that it’s completely fallen apart. SOPs are no different. Someone in the shop needs to be designated as the manager of SOPs. Don’t rush it; do constant long-term follow up for success with SOPs.” 

Many successful implementations of SOPs leave some blank space on the pages where notes for future changes can be written or new products added as needed. Often employees will have a tip or suggestion that can help others as they in turn learn and use the SOPs. This allows each SOP to be a building block for future SOPs. The first draft of your SOPs will likely need review and adjusting in a few months; after that you will likely find that a review every six months will keep SOPs up to date. 

Some, if not all, major manufacturers can help provide their own instructions via their Product Data Sheets (PDS), Technical Data Sheets (TDS) or Best Procedures. While I found most of these fairly easy to find on several companies’ websites, some took a few minutes and a little digging per product/procedure. Some of these PDS or TDS sheets are in essence the foundation of an SOP needing just a little personalization. Many of the manufacturers also have full SOPs available, ready to be adjusted with input from your staff.

Now that you have a basic SOP, what do you do with it? Post SOPs in the work area where at a glance they can serve as notes or reminders. Keep these printed/posted versions of the SOP simple — bullet points, pictures and part numbers make them easy to follow for most people.

A secondary step in establishing SOPs is to make sure you have all the needed tools and supplies on hand to follow the SOPs. Inventory needs to be adequate and contain those items (specific grits, sizes, etc.) to follow the SOP. We’ll talk more about ways to keep inventory and ordering simple in a future article.

Again, tap into those free resources: your local jobber and manufacturer representatives. In order to succeed, get your employees involved, seek help from your suppliers and most importantly don’t try to do it all yourself — it can actually be counterproductive.

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Meeting your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) obviously is important to you as a repair or collision shop owner or manager. But do your employees recognize the importance? Download our free whitepaper on Standard Operating Procedures.

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