feedback

With the approaching of summer holiday, this semester finally comes to an end. But i still remember the time when i  wondered if i should choose this cource. because i thought what outcome can you achieve if we just hand around in a workshop and observe the operation and management of a worshop.  we paid Uni the money so i should learn sth from Uni not just waste time on things which we don't care. To be honest, the only reason why i finanlly decided to choose this course is that one of my friends told me it is easy to pass. and also i thought if i plan to set up my own workshop one day this may be  a good oppotunity for me to get all information which will help me for my own one.

Time goes by so fast, suddenly i realise carry out observation and research on a workshop does improve my understanding in managing a workshop. Opening a new workshop is not just a simple matter  with enough money and gets everything up in just a few days; the hardship is where maintaining the workshop in operational state is going to be tough. Advertising, customer attraction, providing good quality of services is going to be a challenge while complying with the rules and regulations established by the government and also taking care of the environment. Supports from families and friends is also important in maintaining the workshop as when managing a workshop there will be lots of obstacles and in failing to conquer the obstacles is going to devastate the workshop operational. and also this is the first time i actually know there is so many other professional organizations related to automotive industry which have been contributing great success to the automotive business.

has it covered

Workshop insurance is definitely one of the most important financial decisions which protect the workshop against loss that may incur during day to day trading. There are a lot of insurance companies in NZ such as Tower, AMI and State etc. To choose the right one will get your business covered as you expect. Takapuna Brakes & Automotive bought the insurance through an insurance broker. Tony told me that buying insurance via an insurance broker is cheaper and it also offers better services. The insurance policy that is used by the workshop includes: property insurance which protects the building, equipment and tool; business income insurance which provides coverage in the event of many perils beyond control such as fire, wind, hail or vandalism that may interrupt the business; equipment breakdown coverage, which protects if the equipment is damaged from power surges, mechanical breakdown, burnout or operator error; bodily injury and property damage liability, for those instances when the employees, products or services cause harm to other people or their property.

advantages

Takapuna Brakes & Automotive has all the necessary skilled labor requirement for the workshop. As a lecturer at Unitec, Tony is required to improve and develop himself with the new technologies available on automotive industry at all the time. The knowledge relating to new technologies, products and process has built him great reputation on problem-solving regarding to electronic problems on vehicles. On the other hand, Unitec has all these advanced equipments used in automotive industry. The skills on how to use them and awareness of them also make Tony equips his workshop with these necessary good equipments. As the master technician, Ray has over 30 years experience on cars and motorbikes. His problem solving and critical thingks skill have been approved a lot of times on the jobs of repair. and also he can accomplish any assigned job quickly and without any mistakes. owing to his advanced skills, the workshop has been building a new customer resources which are not satisfied with the service or repair offered by other workshops.

financial

Takapuna Brakes & Automotive had a two-years of start-up business loan package from the ASB bank, which now has been paid off. During the two years of period the bank will waive off the transaction and administration fees such as manual transaction fee for ATM fees, cheque and deposit fees. But a 6.25% of interest rate was charged by the bank for the loan to the workshop. The workshop accepts Eftpos, cash and credit card payments. However, for credit card transactions, a 3% charge will be laid to the customers. Since most of the customers are Kivi, they prefer using credit card payments. So having the option of credit card payment is very important in this workshop. However, most of the Chinese oriented workshops do not provide this option because of the extra 3% charges for the services. It is a quite easy math, every $100 transaction; $3 has to be charged by the credit cart suppliers. If a workshop has a ability of making $250,000.00 transaction annually, which means $250,000.00×3%=$ 7,500.00 will be lost as the workshop profit. The common practice in New Zealand is that when extra charge has to be laid on credit card transaction, the customers are should be told of this. And also there are a lot of companies charge nothing for credit-card payment.

week 10

I have to admit that Takapuna brakes have the worst ventilation system I have ever seen. One day a car with burning oil problem drove in and operated less than 30 seconds inside the workshop. It took at least half an hour to get the smoke out. And also any car with fuel consumption problem once operated inside the workshop, you would smell the exhaust gas everywhere inside the workshop. And sometimes the gas irritates your eyes and makes you feel headache. As we know when an engine is running, it produces carbon monoxide, a toxic and poisonous gas which when inhaled can cause dizziness, sickness, loss of consciousness and death. There is  only a window around the walls for the working area and it can only be opened on both lower corners which have very limited effect on ventilation.To prevent serious injury or death from carbon monoxide poisoning, the workshop should install exhaust extractor or exhaust baffles. and also the only light sources are the main entrance and the window. The hoist 3 always has enough illumination. However during cloudy weather hoist 2 and 3 are quite dark which is below the minimum of 70% required brightness in the workplace. Therefore lighting equipment has to be used.

waste disposal

Used brake fluid disposal: most brake fluid is made from polyglycol which is water soluble and can be considered hazardous if it has absorbed metals from the brake system. Wasted brake fluid should be only recycled in a container clearly marked to indicate that it is designated for that purpose. It should never be mixed with used engine oil. The waste oil collection container is placed in the workshop. Once the container is full all you need to do is to call the number. The company will arrange a time to come to collect the waste oil for free. used oil filters contain used engine oil that may be hazardous. Before an oil filter is placed into the rubbish bin, it must be drained thoroughly.coolant is a mixture of antifreeze and water. New antifreeze is not considered to be hazardous even though it can cause death if ingested. Used antifreeze may be hazardous due to dissolved metal from the engine and other components of the cooling system. It is a common practice in NZ, used coolant is recycled into the waste oil container. Since conventional ethylene glycol based antifreeze is attractive to pets and animals because its sweet taste. Ethylene glycol is fatal to any animal if swallowed, so any spill should be cleaned quickly. Spend battery disposal: a spend battery must be placed in the designed storage area of the workshop, from where it will be collected and recycled. The lead, sulphuric acid and plastic contained in batteries can cause damage to the environment if not properly disposed of.All the spend batteries are kept on a bench in the workshop waiting for the battery company to come and collect them.

Used tire disposal: used tires are an environmental concern because of the following several reasons:

l  In a landfill, they tend to float up through the other trash and rise to the surface

l  The inside of tires traps and holds rain water, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes

l  Used tires present a fire hazard and when burned create a large amount of black smoke that contaminates the air

For other parts such as alternators and starters they can be sold to the second-hand parts companies for reconditioning.

week 8

I noticed a few times customers were freely walking around the working area sometimes even under the hoists without any warning from the technicians or employer. It is absolutely dangerous and if anything happens to them, the employer has full responsibility for the accident.

Since the door leads to the reception office is very close to the main entrance Sometimes the customers would take the main entrance to go to the office. As the vehicle moves in and out the workshop it will increase the risk to the safety of the customers.

Petrol and diesel containers are mixed together with other fluid containers without any highly flammable warning sign on it. And also other common workshop safety signs are not available in this workshop such as warning signs for the following situation:

good working environment

In every single day, technicians communicate with each other quite a lot. Therefore to keep friendly and happy working environment is absolute important. Because it is quite normal that at times technicians may be required to work together on a task or share specialist equipment between them. Members of staff who disturb or threaten the friendly atmosphere will find it difficult to get the cooperation. At Takapuna brakes you will readily notice that the working environment is so peasant. Greeting to each other is their first thing in the workshop when they start to work. After work, they always say ‘have a good night’ to each other’. Since Tony is good at trouble-shooting related to electrical and electronic problems, and Ray is good at trouble-shooting related to mechanical problems. You can always see them consult to each other to pinpoint some hard-to-find vehicle problems. Since they both are quite funny and like to make jokes, so you can always hear loud laugh cross the workshop. When the workshop is busy, even after the working hour everyone is happy to stay behind until the job is finished.

a typical day on the toos

Using the most suitable tool to carry out a job really saves you a lot of time and makes the job much easier. Ray told me that know how to select the right tool for a job depends on your working experience. That is so true because when I worked as an apprentice the most struggling thing was trying to use all the tools I thought was right to get the job done which was really frustrating.

The above picture was taken at 10am in quite a typical working day. As you can see after a few jobs, the tools and oil containers scattered everywhere on the bench and the trolley. Sometimes you would notice that the technicians are looking for a tool all around in the workshop. The only time to clean the tools and put them away is at the end of the day. However Ray told me it is nerve a good practice to put the tools away after each job because most of the tools are used repeatedly. But in my opinion it is also not a good practice leaving the tools like this. At least the oil containers should always be put back to the fluid supply station for other technician to use as well as avoid oil transfer onto the tools. And for the tools used on the common jobs should also be put on the bench or the trolley in order.

practice

to drive a customer's car to the workshop is really a skilled job. sometimes cars with a low chassis system when driving into the workshop, it has to scratch to the ground. when a customer sees this, it is really bad.

because of this steep entrance, each car has to be driven  in or out very carefully and also it takes more time.

as you can see, the oil and transmission fluid are supplied from here. once you make an agreement with EFI, they will put these tanks and shelf into your workshop for free. but it aslo costs you more. to me this is not a good arrangement at all. first of all, every serive bay has to get fluid from here, why EFI don't just run supply tubes to each hoist which saves time. the other problem. since these tanks are sealed, as the fluid level goes down there is a vacuum produced in the top which makes the fluid runnes out very slowly. it is a nightmare when the fluid level is low. for a 4 liter oil bottle, you have to take at least 2 mins to get it filled up.

and also i noticed one thing which is quite interesting, once it has been raining heavily. the roof on the washroom starts to leak ,  instead of get the roof repaired, they use buckets to catch the rain. sometimes nothing is used, the rain will just runs all over the wahroom. the lucky thing is that the customers barely use the washroom. i guess for themselves, they already get used to it

reception

the reception, whether in a large or small company, is often the point of first contact with new customers. it is very very important therefore to get this bit right. the recption should be manned by pleasant and quilified people. In Tony's workshop, the reception office is right on the corner which is hard to notice for a new customer. sometimes, when the officed door is closed, a customer will come straight to the working area asking for help.

normally, when a customer enters the reception office, Susan will greet to the customer and find out what is the customer's concern, such as service need or vehicle repair. if it is about servcie, Susan will tell the  customer what kind of service contents the workshop provides and also the prices. if the vehicle needs to repair, further questions will be asked to help the technicians determine the particular problem. Susan will records the details on a job card about the customer, the vehicle and the nature of the problem. if the customer is new a record card will be filled out about his/her information as well as the vehicle. most cases, the customer will leave the car in the workshop. once the technicians verify or find problems on the car, they will communicate with Susan about what parts are needed and how much labor is gonna cost for each job. then Susan will find out the prices for genuine parts aslo aftermarket one. after which the customer will be contacted about the repair and also when they can have their car back.

once the agreement is achieved, the job will be assigned to the technicians and Susan will get the parts for the repair.

workshop environment

last week, i have talked about the workshop in the view of how it is set up. this week i would like to think about it from another point of view. why this workshop is sitting here and how does it get the customers, why? if i am gonna set up my own workshop, where am i gonna choose?  after doing some research i come to a conclusion: it is absolutely a perfect place.

it is quite a busy area along with this main road. the main business in this area are motorbikes. there are quite a lot of motorbike dealearships and motorbike workships. and also some large office buidings. the strange thing is in such a busy area, there are only two automotive workshops. the other one only for WOF check.  this can perfectly explain  why there is over 7000 customers information in the computer data when Tony bought this workshop.

at the end of this main road is the entrance to the high way which is just great for doing road test.  at the othe end of this road, is a residential area which is another main customer source. the only disadvantge in this area is that all autoparts supplies are at leat 20 mins away. so sometimes a mechanical has to be sent to get the parts.

week 2

It is not the first time i have been in Tony's workshop. But since now i have a purpose of observing how this workshop is managed, i will stand at different angles such as the boss or the customers to look at it. wish i can come up with some really valuable suggestions to improve the workshop. the reason why i choose this workshop is because it is medium size which is just the right size for those who wants to set up their own garage. the other reason is that since i know Tony very well, i can get a lot of good information from him.

this is the picture of the workshop working area i took from last wed with the permission of Tony's (including the pics below). how to manage to use the hoists is quite important and they have to be inspected during a period of time to ensure they are safe to use.

the left hoist is mainly used for car services, the middle one is mainly used for tire jobs and brake replacement. the right one is mainly used for heavy duty jobs such as transmission or engine repairs.
                                 
                                                              the reception room
when i first came here, i thought it was too small. but as a matter of fact, the customers barely spend their time inside except when they pay the bills. the room on the upstaires is the dining room which is equiped with micro-wave, refrigerator and other things for the employees to have their lunch or teas. the great thing is that this workshop provides some free food such as fruit, biscuit and drinks.

 the most thing i like this wokrshop is that it has a lot of tools which vary from different prices and brands. it really makes a lot of diffrent when you have all the tools you can use.

when i took this picture, one of the employees is cutting the wasted tire for recycling

all kinds of juices for cars are found here, the shelf and three big tanks are freely provide by EIF as long as you buy oil from them. but Tony told me that it is expensive but the same quility with the others. he is considering to choose another brand of oil.

 speical tools and all kinds of engine, transmission flushing fluid and brake cleaners

                             this is the work area for Tony woking on electrical stuff

 look at this, a motorbike lifting. one of the employees is also an expert on motorbikes repair. he used to be a champion on motorbike races in Philippines. he really has a good reputation in this area.

week 1

Professional practice seems more likely designed for students who want to run their own workshops in the future, which is simply the reason why I have chosen this course instead of body system. Since it is an industry based course, we will be required to go to a workshop to observe how it is managed. In my opinion, this is more practical than theoretic, which is just the way I like it. Because I believe the combination of theory and practice is the best way to achieve leaning purpose and also is fun.

It is always interesting to hear the stories that really inspire people. It always gives us hope. I don’t know how hard it is for a gifted or a high-intelligent person to accomplish success or even pass this degree. For most of us, we are just common person; we are struggling in the ways of achieving success. At least I know it is hard for me. Since I decided to take this BAT degree, I have to study very hard. Without any background of knowledge in automotive and also english is not my first language, things are really a challenge. But I do enjoy them and even fail after hard trying, I think it is acceptable.

To help me understand the theory, I have worked as an apprentice in different workshops, such as a BMW dealership or just small to medium sized workshops. They are so different in the ways of managing and doing things. I hope I can learn this course at a different angle. Since I have been doing technology project with Tony, I will choose his workshop as a target.