Young kids have an insatiable need to know. So does your staff. People rarely verbalize their why questions, but the need to know is there, veiled behind silent assent, uncertain acceptance and missed opportunity.
In recent history, the best example of a system designed for the why is the onboard diagnostic system (OBD). The standardization of the OBD, originating in the late ’60s and OBD II in the late ’90s, was designed to help reduce emissions, control fuel injectors and provide sophisticated system monitoring and problem diagnostics — the why answers.
Imagine trying to diagnose part failures before OBD II. I don’t have to imagine because when I was at Hewlett-Packard, my engineers created the Ford Service Bay Diagnostic System or SBDS. It went worldwide to get warranty and production problems under control.
I have also been intimately involved with another breakthrough automotive technology for more than 13 years designed to bring chaos under control — reconditioning workflow software.
Unlike the universally standard OBD, not all recon software systems today have been designed from the ground up for the why and how of issues you face throughout the reconditioning process.
The most significant flaw is their inability to connect what you expect. If recon performance isn’t delivering the outcome you want, why isn’t it? Extensive historical data libraries from thousands of dealerships’ reconditioning experiences rooted in their core design would answer these questions.
Only a system like this designed from the ground up can truly provide users and their managers with the why and how to remedy delays, control recon costs and identify performance drifts before they can turn into avalanches of lost time, money and sales.
Lacking libraries of deep historical data from which to design instructive intelligence, imitators are merely unthinking copies. We did not make this mistake when we developed reconditioning workflow software in 2010. We started with the users of our software and designed the capability to diagnose the why from their input. You cannot reverse-engineer this. It must be architected from the start to one OBD-like key performance indicator: time-to-line (T2L).
Recon software featuring designed in why intelligence means every individual involved in used car reconditioning and management — including variable operations — is connected by this T2L DNA. When this DNA is integral to how the system operates, the why becomes apparent, so a resolution can quickly deliver trustparency, continuous improvement and unparalleled reconditioning performance and value.
Like which airline to fly, you have choices today regarding reconditioning software. Unless your choice can deliver T2L diagnostic whys, your decision may simply lead to more confusion. Look carefully at any choice before you make your decision.
