|
Oil changes, tire rotations, monitoring fluid levels, replacing filters. We can all agree this maintenance is vital to car ownership. Skip out on preventative maintenance (PM), and you know customers can be faced with avoidable, yet costly repairs.
What does PM have to do with eco-friendliness? A lot, says Chuck Golden, Green Dealer Support CEO. Regular maintenance helps business owners avoid costly mechanical repairs and lost time, while extending machinery life. Also, the average commercial building can waste 30 percent of its energy use. Get equipment running efficiently, keep it maintained, and you use less power.
“To put it simply,” Golden explains, “preventative maintenance makes business sense and environmental sense. Energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste management — these are all elements of a maintenance and eco-friendly plan.”
Green Dealer Support recently talked with Steve Tinsley, facility manager at McCurley Integrity Dealerships. Tinsley and his three-person crew tackle maintenance at five dealership locations, including Eco-Friendly Retailer McCurley Integrity Subaru.
“For years we made repairs as they arose, pretty much management by brushfire or breakdown,” Tinsley admitted. “Now we take a proactive approach to property, building, and equipment maintenance. We look for problems before they affect production in service and sales, identify potential equipment failures, and perform routine and scheduled maintenance in an effort to minimize interruptions.”
Read on for details on McCurley’s maintenance approach and tips to step up your PM efforts.
Start with a Plan
How do you begin a proactive approach to PM? Tinsley suggests starting with a plan for property inspections. “As the facilities manager, I am charged with inspecting every property once a week,” he said. “Grounds, shops, closets, showrooms, and more. Pretty much everywhere, every week.”
During the inspections, Tinsley notes areas needing attention. He reviews inspection reports with the general managers, and a copy is also e-mailed to the CEO and owners.
Tasks identified during weekly inspections, along with items from a list of ongoing needs, drive the team’s maintenance responsibilities.
Maintenance is Teamwork
Facility management differs from one Subaru store to another. Some, like McCurley, have an associate — and possibly additional staff — dedicated to maintenance. For others, maintenance duties are only one part of a position, such as service manager. Additional maintenance, like HVAC inspections, may be outsourced.
Tinsley heads a four-person maintenance team. He’s joined by one associate that handles scrap iron, tires, shop floors, and trash; and a landscaper who mows, trims, and manages the irrigation system.
The third member of the team, Tinsley calls Mr. Fix-it. “He does all the other work you can imagine that is needed at these properties — equipment maintenance, lighting, plumbing, electrical, emergencies, and much more.”
One unexpected benefit of this PM model — teamwork. Tinsley says the routine inspections and reports have created a team effort that stretches beyond the maintenance staff, with each employee “taking care of our properties and equipment and what our customers see and experience.”
|
