Six Sigmafy
Most dealers have room for improvement when it comes to efficiency. Slalom Shop Boats and Yachts (Ranked 6 in 2006) and Clark Marine (Ranked 31 in 2006) took different paths through the same process to improve service turnaround times.
Clark read and employed philosophies from a series of books on Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma in an effort to dramatically decrease the amount of time boats are in for service.
The most significant of those efforts, however, is the company’s attempts to improve the actual time spent on performing a complete service in relation to the amount of lead time it takes to do so. Brown has created a chart that documents incremental increases in its efficiency rating noting scores that are “considered acceptable,” a season average for the ramp-up period, a 2006 goal, and an ideal rating that he asks simply, “How do we get there?”
Slalom Shop used Six Sigma Black Belt Rick Hersey of GE Capital Solutions to teach its service department how to cut the waste from its processes.
“With the new process,” explains Slalom Shop Owner Darrell Wilson, “we believe we can reduce the time in and out for customers in-season from the industry standard 2-3 weeks down to 3-5 days, and, in many cases, 1 day.”
No matter how it’s done, shortening the service time wait, without sacrificing quality, will always make for happier customers.
- To explore more Service Department Best Practices, click here.
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