Do you own a diesel repair shop? Are you struggling to keep all your operations, technicians, and jobs organized? Maybe it’s time you employ a maintenance repair software solution to help keep track of things. Jacob Findlay of Fullbay shares his insight on a cloud-based solution that brings traditional pen and paper operations to the digital age.
MWS: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KEEP MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS EFFICIENT AND ORGANIZED?
Findlay: Keeping maintenance operations efficient and organized is essential for fleets and independent repair shops, because not doing so means lost revenue. For a fleet, your equipment is what generates your revenue—and if it’s out of commission for longer than necessary or you have unexpected downtime, that’s money you won’t get back. For a repair shop, the maintenance of fleets is your livelihood, and if you’re inefficient or disorganized, your business will suffer tremendously.
MWS: WHAT IS FULLBAY AND HOW DOES IT HELP WITH SOME OF THESE ISSUES?
Findlay: Fullbay is the leading heavy-duty repair shop management platform. It empowers independent repair shops, mobile repair techs, or private fleets with a maintenance operation to receive repair requests, invoice customers, and everything in between. At its core, Fullbay brings the traditional approach of handling maintenance on pen and paper into the digital age. You can track preventive maintenance to prevent unexpected downtime, optimize efficiencies across every aspect of the business, use a standardized workflow to prevent lost revenue, manage your inventory, track invoices, and more.
MWS: WHAT KIND OF SHOP CAN BENEFIT MOST FROM FULLBAY’S SYSTEM?
Findlay: We focus on business-to-business repair. If you’re in the business of repairing commercial vehicles, Fullbay can help. Fullbay is designed to scale with your business—we have single-person mobile operations and multiple location chains. Shops using Fullbay repair everything from Class 1-8 vehicles to farm equipment, heavy machinery, and more.
MWS: FROM THE MANAGERS TO THE TECHNICIANS TO THE CUSTOMER, EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON. WHY IS TRANSPARENCY SO IMPORTANT?
Findlay: Transparency is important for different reasons. On the management side, you need visibility across the entire shop—if your inventory is a black hole, then you’re likely losing money without even realizing it. Fullbay gives you easy reporting that surfaces any inefficiencies so they can be resolved quickly.
On the technician side, transparency into things like efficiency or utilization can create a tighter level of trust within the business. Techs can see exactly how they’re performing and how their peers are doing without guessing about where they stand.
Lastly, for customers, transparency can make the difference between whether they do business with you or the shop across the street. Understanding exactly what’s going on with their units, how long a repair will take, what the cost will be, when the next PM is due, and other vital details can create a strong relationship that will lead to more business.
MWS: HOW DOES FULLBAY’S MOBILE SERVICE WORK AND WHAT KINDS OF VEHICLES/CUSTOMERS ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE THOSE BENEFITS?
Findlay: The Fullbay software works on any device with an internet connection—whether it’s a brick and mortar shop or a mobile truck on the side of the road. Many of our customers are mobile-only businesses or shops that have a mobile arm, and Fullbay provides the same benefits no matter where the work is done.
The types of equipment can vary greatly, but Fullbay was designed with heavy-duty in mind. Rather than try to create a one-size-fits-all platform, we’re committed to a purpose-built shop management system that serves this essential workforce. Too often we found other tools lacked the right setup for a heavy-duty operation or included irrelevant features, so we’ve built Fullbay to be the best solution for this market.
MWS: ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS?
Findlay: When we launched Fullbay, we set out to not just build software, but also create a community for the heavy-duty repair industry. We’re fortunate to be able to help these businesses run a more efficient and profitable operation each and every day. On top of that, we support the community via our Fullbay Cares initiative by donating to charitable organizations that are near and dear to the hearts of our customers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Jacob Findlay is the co-founder and CEO of Fullbay. A CPA by trade, he graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and ran the financial teams at CareFX, a medical records startup, and WebPT, the leading electronic medical record software solution for physical therapists. Find out more, visit www.fullbay.com.
