Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

There are very few professional managers in the auto repair trade. This is not to say there are not many people who have had management training. There is however a huge difference in management training and learning a management philosophy.

Most of the training available today is directed at specific issues. For instance how to increase car count, or pay methods that increase production. The problem with this training is it takes a single problem and offers a solution, with no regard for the business as a whole. Also, in order to make it appear effective, it is normally geared to short-term results.

This is understandable, when a manager attends a class, they hope to take what is learned and turn it into additional profit, the sooner the better. Also understandable is, the trainers realize this and their future sales often depend on delivering what is expected. Unfortunately, treating a symptom, without considering the impact to the entire system causes a great deal of problems. Any results are usually short lived and the company is often worse off in a year or so.

As things worsen, the cycle repeats and a new attempt is tried. There is no consistency, no working toward a common long-term aim and the normal result is chaos. Employees in such a company often coin the term BOHICA to describe the results. BOHICA means bend, over, here, it, comes, again. Each new program shares similar promises, all of which are not fulfilled. After a while apathy sets in and the net effect with employees is just go through the motions until this passes.

The Deming philosophy by contrast is all encompassing and can be consistently implemented in every part of the business. For instance leadership point seven. Purchasing of material point four. Removing fear point eight and removing barriers between departments point nine.

Deming taught that every function of management must be consistent with and support the other functions, point one. Marketing must be consistent with training and compensation of employees must be consistent with joy in work and depends on removal of fear. Trying to adopt parts of what Dr. Deming taught and mix it with conflicting practices will not work.

In the past most management in automotive shops has been a mis-mesh of differing approaches, picked up over the years. Without realizing it, this inconsistent approach causes a great deal of the problems in the trade today. A common problem, is the removal of incentive pay without leadership. When production falls rating and ranking of employees is brought in, if it ever ended. The net effect is employees still exhibit the behavior they did with incentives [ratings have the same effect] yet do not produce as well.

Dr. Deming’s philosophy is not just more management training. It is a way for a business to transform itself, an all encompassing, long-term solution. Trying to combine it with conflicting theory or an on-again, off-again approach will never work.

_________________
Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA

[Bud]

The only aspect on this site I find dissapointing is the lack of interest in the Deming forum. But this is where the real knowledge is, the same knowledge that took Japan from a beaten country to a dominant player in the world economy. Surely Deming can earn a average repair shop an extra $100,000 per year.

[Louis Altazan]

[Dave]