noted: “The company regularly rolls out new features, working closely with its customers to offer advanced training and support to ensure garage businesses can meet their goals through the successful implementation of its garage management system. Any bespoke requirements or questions are understood and dealt with by the support team. TechMan’s updated features are in response to requests by workshops and the brand’s solutions are specifically developed to make hectic workshop days more manageable by reducing the amount of admin and serving up the right information required – as well as making the job of car maintenance easier for motorists.” He added: “A team of Success Managers are also on hand to ensure all TechMan users understand how to fully exploit the growing list of impressive tools in the application through additional training and weekly webinars.” For more information, visit: www.techmangms.com Added features There are a range of systems available. Looking at T Cards Online, company founder Phil Heine said: “Everyone in the motor trade industry has come across T Cards at some point. Some love them, some are not so keen. But no-one can deny that having a Go to Board at your fingertips help staff get on with the day-to-day business and assist with customer service. Simple to customize to your requirements, manual T Cards can actively help improve the efficiency of your operation, and now there is an even simpler way to digitalize your process.” He continued: “T Cards Online is designed to be used like the tried and tested boards with all the visual benefits but now with all the added features and analysis tools available digitally. “As the system is so intuitive, benefits are seen immediately as you can start using the software once you have registered for the no-obligation 21-day trial. This includes all our features and our excellent UK-based support team, who provide personal assistance to get you up and running with minimum fuss. Over the past 12 years the development of T Cards Online has been driven by client suggestions with improvements woven into the basic premise of keeping it simple. “We have over 60 years of experience dealing with the motor trade and have helped clients digitize various applications. Several franchise dealer groups use the system to manage bookings and ensure the loading of the workshop is efficient, whilst others simply use it as a workshop control function for the technicians and workshop controller. Others use it for parts control. We have plenty of repair centres making full use of the system, let alone all the independents that don’t want to pay a fortune for software bolt-ons that don’t give them want they want.” On what’s new, Phil said: “There is now a new release which includes an exciting development for planning and the control of workflows. Think of it as an ‘if-this-then-that’, action then consequence. For example, if a card or job is moved to a pre-defined position a consequence or alert is automatically triggered. That consequence could be a clear visual change in colour, an email alert or just a flashing card on the screen. The best part is you decide. One application already being used is to highlight delays when a due date is passed. This shows automatically on the screen so you don’t have to wait for a report or trawl through pages of data.” For more information, visit: https://tcardsdirect.co.uk/ Data According to Ray Dilsons, Managing Director at Garage Hive, reliable data is an essential asset for garages these days: “Data is key for garages that want to maximise performance, boost sales and improve customer retention. With reliable data, garage owners can analyse workflows, pinpoint where efficiencies can be made and implement gains with Garage Hive.” Reducing customer payment bottlenecks is a key factor according to Garage Hive Director Alex Lindley, and a ‘buy now and pay later’ option is now being offered within the system, covering anything up to a value of £3,000: “Offering ‘buy now, pay later’ can help encourage drivers to get essential work done immediately rather than risk delaying it. Household budgets are obviously squeezed so this option makes motoring costs more manageable for many.” For more information, visit: www.garagehive.co.uk Embrace Sometimes, loyalty is the key to getting the most from a system. For example, Melksham Motor Spares is a longtime user of Autopart, MAM Software’s business management system. Alison Cook, Financial Director of Melksham Motor Spares commented: “We have been with MAM now for 25 years and have tried to embrace all the things it has to offer.” The business has also integrated Autocat, stocktake functionality, online seller services modules and business intelligence tool Phocas. Alison continued: “We have watched Autopart evolve over time. The processes for selling are brilliant, Autopart is tailored for the automotive aftermarket and there is so much more MAM are bringing in the future.” Commenting on the Easy AP feature, Alison said: “Every company is striving for a cleaner future and a greener environment. With EasyAP there is no more paperwork and storage as this all goes directly to our servers. EasyAP will take Melksham Motor Spares paper use down to zero and that’s going to be brilliant.” MAM Software Business Development Director Nigel Clemett added: “Melksham Motor Spares have been with MAM for decades and as soon as I heard they were interested in EasyAP I knew it was the product for them. The automation can save so much time and vastly reduce errors and it is one more step companies can take to digitise and go paperless for the future.” For more information, visit: www.mamsoftware.com Below: T Cards system SEPTEMBER 2023 AFTERMARKET 41 www.aftermarketonline.net
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