We have a problem that I am sure that 99% of other shops have. It is especially severe when we are reconditioning our own trucks for resale. The problem is that all jobs take as long as the technician wants them to take so when the truck is completed we basically trade dollars and the technician is the only one that is making good money.
We tried instituting a system that showed in writing how long we expected each repair to take and then the technician was supposed to fill in the actual time that it took. Nobody will or has filled it in because they don't want to look themselves in the mirror.
We try to run our shop with a positive attitude but something needs to change. I would absolutely love to institute a flat rate system but I don't see that working in our industry because there is not enough repititous work as there is in the automotive field plus the application factor can add big time to how long it takes to complete a repair.
Does anybody have any ideas how we can reward a technician for completing a series of repairs (reconditioning) in an agreed upon amount of time? Should there be a penalty for going over on time? What do you do about unforseen repairs or hidden damage that add time?
There are alot of issues facing our industry and this is one of the major ones. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.