TodallMeasure waiting separately from working
A vehicle can appear “in body” while it is actually waiting for a bracket, supplement approval, technician assignment, or teardown photo. Broad production labels hide these differences. Track the reason work cannot continue so managers solve the constraint instead of chasing the vehicle.
- Waiting for approval
- Waiting for parts
- Waiting for assignment
- Waiting for customer decision
- Ready for the next department
Make parts readiness visible before handoff
Receiving a box is not the same as having every correct part needed for the next operation. Track needed, ordered, received, installed, and returned status at the line level. Let technicians and managers see readiness without calling the parts desk.
Trigger the next action from repair milestones
When teardown finishes, the estimator may need supplement photos and line changes. When parts arrive, a task may need reassignment. When repair or paint completes, quality control and delivery preparation begin. A connected workfile makes those transitions explicit and keeps their history.
Reduce interruption-driven management
If the production board, workfile activity, assignments, due dates, and message history are current, fewer people need to ask for status. That recovered attention is one of the most practical cycle-time gains available to a busy shop.
Use a weekly constraint review
Review repairs that missed their expected stage or due date and classify the delay. Look for repeat patterns rather than blaming individual jobs.
- Which stage accumulated the most waiting?
- Which parts or vendors repeatedly delayed handoffs?
- How long did supplements wait for action?
- Were customer approvals requested with complete information?
- Did delivery paperwork or payments delay completed vehicles?