Hi,
After 15 years doing web software development, I have chucked it all in and now run a business preparing 4x4s for off road expeditions (see
Anyway, I am trying see if there is a good PM tool out there for managing our workshops and the projects we undertake. At the moment we deal with the jobs in the order they come in however I really want to be able to get a better handle on things.
I have looked at the traditional garage scheduling/management packages, but none are geared up to deal with the complex project we do.
I suspect MS Project can be used to handle it, however imagine it may be a little overkill.
I have also started to look at some of the Outlook add on PM packages, but am yet to find one suitable.
As a bit of background:-
The average project on a vehicle can take anything from a couple of hours to 100 plus hours.
Some projects are booked to be done on set days (when the owners come down and work with us for a couple of days) so are tricky to re-schedule otherwise the rest can get shuffled around without too many problems although we need to keep owners appraised of completion dates.
Each project can usually be broken down into a number of standard jobs like fitting a bigger fuel tank, upgrading suspension, etc. In most cases we know the average time each job takes which we can use as a guide when planning however we can often hit problems (like rusty bolts breaking) that can turn a two minute job into half an hour or we have to wait a day or two for parts which can make a mess of our schedules.
We currently have a workshop with space for two vehicles
There are up to three of us working in the workshop at any one time.
With some jobs we have some initial work to do, but then have to wait several days before finishing it off - for example removing a gearbox to get it rebuilt and then re-fitting it when it is returned. Usually in these instances we will remove the vehicle from the workshop to free the space.
So, do any of you have any recommendations for a package to help me keep on top of all this.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Julian
After 15 years doing web software development, I have chucked it all in and now run a business preparing 4x4s for off road expeditions (see
Anyway, I am trying see if there is a good PM tool out there for managing our workshops and the projects we undertake. At the moment we deal with the jobs in the order they come in however I really want to be able to get a better handle on things.
I have looked at the traditional garage scheduling/management packages, but none are geared up to deal with the complex project we do.
I suspect MS Project can be used to handle it, however imagine it may be a little overkill.
I have also started to look at some of the Outlook add on PM packages, but am yet to find one suitable.
As a bit of background:-
The average project on a vehicle can take anything from a couple of hours to 100 plus hours.
Some projects are booked to be done on set days (when the owners come down and work with us for a couple of days) so are tricky to re-schedule otherwise the rest can get shuffled around without too many problems although we need to keep owners appraised of completion dates.
Each project can usually be broken down into a number of standard jobs like fitting a bigger fuel tank, upgrading suspension, etc. In most cases we know the average time each job takes which we can use as a guide when planning however we can often hit problems (like rusty bolts breaking) that can turn a two minute job into half an hour or we have to wait a day or two for parts which can make a mess of our schedules.
We currently have a workshop with space for two vehicles
There are up to three of us working in the workshop at any one time.
With some jobs we have some initial work to do, but then have to wait several days before finishing it off - for example removing a gearbox to get it rebuilt and then re-fitting it when it is returned. Usually in these instances we will remove the vehicle from the workshop to free the space.
So, do any of you have any recommendations for a package to help me keep on top of all this.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Julian