Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 12 to 18 months, you will have noticed that numerous industries are dealing with shortages and issues due to the ongoing global supply chain issues, and the automotive sector is no different. In the automotive sector, parts are key to any repair, but with an acute shortage of components, ranging from semi-conductors to the raw materials that are required to make them, has led to issues that businesses are now having to deal with on a daily basis. An example is a part that would normally take a few days to arrive can now lead to months of waiting or in some cases they are simply unavailable until more can be manufactured. The delays are leading to vehicles either being written off rather than repaired because of two monetary related reasons. The first is the overall cost of the ‘delayed’ repair can end up being more than the car is worth. The second is the overall cost of the loan vehicle for the duration of time it would take the repair to be completed and the potential for the customer to have it for an undetermined amount of time. To combat the supply chain issues, businesses are having to get creative to stop delays leading them to work smarter, not harder. The way this is achieved is by technicians reviewing work ahead of time with the help of 32 AFTERMARKET MAY 2023 TECHNICAL www.aftermarketonline.net SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES: CREATIVITY IS THE ANSWER There is a real need to think outside the box to ensure supply chain issues do not affect key-to-key times on the workshop floor Repairify’s products and services and then ordering in the relevant part. This is because they know that the item will potentially be delayed in transit, so the more lead time they have before the job the better. It also means the technicians can manage the workflow of the workshop, so vehicles waiting for repairs do not need to be sent into storage that in turn will drive up the price of the repair. Moving forward, the supply chain issues will not stop anytime soon, so it is important that businesses think creatively to ensure repairs are completed and the key-to-key times for jobs are not affected, so cars are off the road for the least time possible. BY Martin PinnellBrown, Director, Repairify Innovations
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