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.