May 2019

BY Andy Savva T o thrive in today’s competitive aftersales sector businesses, the need to operate more efficiently, effectively and profitably has never been more apparent. Developing problem solvers, increasing labour productively, improving quality and reducing waste are essential factors if you are to succeed. Increasing competition, rising customer expectations, and of course increasing technology are all squeezing already thin margins, while changing competition regulations in Europe bring an uncertain mix of threats and opportunities. Due to increasing product quality and reliability, today’s cars need fewer services (routine maintenance visits) and less service time at each visit. This means that, to maintain workshop viability, garages have to service and repair more cars each day. This has knock-on effects, such as the need for larger car parks and more admin staff to handle the extra number of jobs. To tackle these challenges, you need to adopt a continuous improvement strategy. There are several such strategies and methods to achieve these goals, however I want to focus on two most commonly adopted continuous improvement methodologies that I used in my previous business, Brunswick Garage, and continually use today to help other garage businesses. Plan-Do-Check-Act Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, more commonly known as PDCA cycle, was developed by Walter Shewhart as a continuous improvement process that can supplement the statistical quality control methodology. The PDCA cycle was, however, popularised by W. Edwards Deming who introduced it to Japan after World War II and is commonly referred to as the Deming cycle. As the name suggests, PDCA is a four-step process: In the plan stage you establish what you want to accomplish and also establish the metrics and measurement system that can help you verify whether you have been able to accomplish what you set out for. In the do stage you carry out or ‘do’ what you have planned. This is the step where the actual work happens. In the check phase you compare using the measurement system that you have put in place, how you are progressing towards meeting your accomplishment and analyse any deviations. In the act phase deviations are analysed and solutions implemented to ensure they do not happen again in the future and the gains are standardized. This is also the phase where a debrief or lessons learned exercise is carried out. PDCA cycle is one of the oldest forms of continuous improvement methodology and almost all of today’s improvement methodologies. Kaizen 5S/Gemba Kaizen Kaizen is a term that was coined by Masaki Imai who founded the Kaizen Institute. The Kaizen Institute still holds the copyright to the term ‘Kaizen’ and ‘Gemba Kaizen’. Kaizen is an everyday Japanese word often translated into English as ‘improvement’. Kaizen is actually made up from two words. The first being ‘Kai’ or to change continuously’ and the second, ‘zen’ meaning ‘to improve’ or ‘to get better’. Therefore, a more complete understanding of the word Kaizen would be to continually make changes to get better. ‘Gemba’ means ‘real place’ – the place where real action occurs. Japanese use the word Gemba in their daily speech. Whenever an earthquake occurs in Japan the TV reporters at the scene refer to themselves as ‘reporting from the Gemba’. So, for our purpose, we would classify our reception, workshop, car parks etc. as our Gembas. 5S Kaizen is an improvement method that brings together these tools and techniques into a unified whole with 5S forming the base that links all other methods together. For many who have heard of 5S before you may be forgiven for regarding it only as a simple housekeeping exercise. Indeed, when some people first learn of the 5S method they find it hard to understand its power and strength as an improvement tool. In other words, 5S Kaizen allows us to change our whole method of working and develop a culture focused on continuous improvement. It can contribute towards: 14 AFTERMARKET MAY 2019 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net THE ART OF SELF IMPROVEMENT All roads lead east according to Andy, as he points towards some strategies that will help you improve your business