SHOP: Warrensburg Collision LOCATION: Warrensburg, Mo. OWNER: Charlie Lund
SIZE: 13,400 square feet STAFF: 19 (four front office, 10 in the back of the shop, 1 shop manager, 1 X-ray estimator, 1 parts person) AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 104 ANNUAL REVENUE: $3 million (projected)
1. Reconfiguring the Business
Casey Lund, manager of Warrensburg Collision located in Warrensburg, Mo., has managed his father’s (Charlie) shop since 2006. Lund will take over the business in a year, but as a shop manager, he’s already changed different aspects of Warrensburg Collision.
Changes that Lund has made include removing repair bays on one side of the shop. He did this to reduce the number of cars in inventory.
Lund is down to five bays and he only has one paint booth. His shop still manages to pull in a projected $3 million in annual revenue. Additionally, he says that Warrensburg has experienced explosive growth compared to 10 years ago. Lund’s goal is to reach a $5 million shop revenue by 2020 or 2021.
After removing bays, Lund reconfigured the shop floor to be broken up into different zones. Currently, there are three bays that focus on body work and there are multiple techs assigned to each. Two other bays focus on vehicle reassembly and there is only one spray booth.
2. Lean in the Shop
In 2011, after a training event with PPG’s Green Belt courses, Lund began to implement lean practices in the shop.
Another thing he implemented were production meetings. Every morning, a different person leads the meeting and gives the team a two-minute tutorial on something, which doesn’t necessarily have to be industry related. According to Lund, these tutorials could be as simple as downloading a calendar app or teaching the team a new aspect of the shop’s management system.
3. Streamlining the Repair Process
There are three production/scheduling boards: sales, production and a shop floor scoreboard. Each one allows the Warrensburg team to keep track of vehicles moving through the repair process and shop floor.
Lund’s team relies on collaboration, vehicle mapping and a pull system to know what to repair and where vehicles are in the process. The pull system relies on a basic principle: As vehicles move through the repair process, they are pulled forward and leave the stall empty. This serves as a visual cue for the team.
4. Connecting with the Community
Warrensburg Collision prides itself on its community involvement. The shop is the official collision center of the university’s athletics department and official sponsor of the university.
The shop sponsored the university’s recent homecoming game. At the game, the shop sets up a tent and has giveaways on deck such as koozies, T-shirts and other Warrensburg swag. The shop got a golf cart branded with its logo to display at university football games.
