In medical parlance, the service department at Bristol Honda in Tennessee was in critical condition when Shawn Butler was hired last April as fixed ops director — still taking nourishment but ailing nonetheless.
But after roughly six months of intensive care and rehabilitation, the department now is in fine fettle as evidenced by significant increases in critical metrics such as repair orders per day, average revenue per repair order, overall gross and net revenue, combined effective labor rate and fixed absorption rate.
Tightened up protocols and processes — including a drastic reduction in the number of department operation codes — have greatly improved efficiency as well as communication between the parts department, technicians and service advisers. That, in turn, has boosted productivity, which translates into increased revenue and better profitability, Butler says.