DIGI SOCIETY
Digitalization in car repair shop operations
My own career in the automotive industry began in 2005 after graduating as an automotive engineer, when digitalization was already strongly involved in the daily work of the car repair shop and spare parts operations. My own job description has varied with work management and spare parts functions, and my current job title is spare parts equivalent. Already in the early 2000s, the car manufacturer had transferred repair instructions and spare parts catalogues into digital format to their own car brand-specific software, which was installed locally on workstations, and their use did not require an internet connection to work. For example, one car brand had implemented its own software based on Apple’s iMac G3 system, which was already an outdated and slow system compared to PC-based implementations in 2005.
Spare parts orders were also placed directly into the importers’ systems. Before the advent of computers, spare parts orders had been made by fax or telephone to the importer, and the orders had been recorded in notebooks. In this case, car repair shops have needed much more manpower to process data in manual format. The start of my own career took place at a time when the number of employees in the company had already been adjusted to correspond to the increase in efficiency brought about by digitalization.
The increasing complexity of vehicle technologies has required car repair shops to have strong control over digitalization and information retrieval, as automotive technology has taken great leaps forward from the first decade of the 2000s to the present day. Automotive aftermarket software is several decades old for many operators, and internet-based integrations have been developed for them so that the software can meet modern requirements. Of course, sometimes it feels like doing the same thing through integration requires many times more time. Software is updated frequently, which is of course good for continuous improvement and security, but often the challenge of introducing new features is to inform about their deployment. Often, a new function is found by accident or after hearing from a colleague. Nowadays, almost all software requires a working internet connection and when the network connections are down, it may not even be possible to change the engine oil, because the engine oil level must be calibrated through the manufacturer’s internet-based software. At such moments, digitalization shows its downside, but fortunately, events like this are very rare.
The sharing of information and the improvement of efficiency enabled by digitalization make it possible for car repair shops to carry out repairs for several car brands. Of course, software causes costs in the form of various monthly fees, so companies must use discretion when purchasing software to support their core competencies as cost-effectively as possible. Damage repair software administrators have started to develop the use of artificial intelligence in making repair cost calculations, and the introduction of such software will significantly speed up and refine the cost calculation of damage repairs in the future.
Digitalization has contributed to the transformation of the repair shops of several car brands to a way of working in which mechanics take care of the repair process of the car entirely themselves. With the help of easy-to-use software, the mechanic performing the repair can independently book a repair appointment, order spare parts, receive the customer and invoice the work done when it is completed. Mechanics are therefore required to have completely new kinds of digital skills, and the supervisors who support them must also master the advantages and disadvantages of digitalization to enable efficient and smooth work. Previously, almost all repair shops have used a workshop led by a supervisor, in which case the mechanic’s role was only to carry out the repair work on the car.
Risks in open digital society
Fortunately, the EU has woken up to the risks of an open digital society with the help of the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to create uniform data protection legislation in the EU member states.
In the operations of the car dealership, customers’ phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses are processed continuously, so the appropriate processing of this data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Regulation requires care from the employees. Paper documents are scanned into electronic format and physical documents are then delivered for destruction. Of course, the processing of documents transferred to digital format must also comply with the obligations of the GDPR and the controller.
In some cases, data protection can complicate car repair processes. For example, if a tow truck brings a car to the repair shop’s yard outside the workshop’s opening hours without proper contact information, the customer’s information/contact information cannot be found in cases where the customer has set a denial of consent to the disclosure of information in the Traficom register. Anyone can impose a ban on the disclosure of their own data, and I think it is sensible to prevent vehicle theft, for example. If a prohibition on data sharing has not been imposed by Traficom, anyone can find out the address of the user of a car, motorcycle, quad bike or, for example, a trailer.
Chat GPT
I asked Chat GPT what the two biggest challenges are caused by digitalization for a car repair shop. As the first challenge, artificial intelligence highlights the incompatibility of systems and outdated technology. Different car brands require their own diagnostics and spare parts applications, and there are also various customer management, invoicing and work order applications in use. The incompatibility of the above causes manual work phases, which in turn cause delays and errors in different work phases.
Another aspect that Chat GPT highlights is the competence of the staff and their resistance to change. Successful operations in digitalization require a readiness to learn new skills and change working methods. The lack of training and the lack of time to organize them are a challenge to the implementation of these. The employees’ desire to continue in the old ways they have learned also hinders development.
All in all, I think that artificial intelligence was able to highlight essential issues, as the challenges described above become apparent in daily work. In my own work, I find it challenging to use several parallel systems, and I use software from five different car brands daily, which are completely different in terms of operating logic. If all manufacturers will use similar standardized software, daily work would be significantly faster.
Self-evaluation
The importance of GDPR became clearer when doing this blog assignment better than before. The importance of data protection plays an important role in preventing misuse. Even though secret phone numbers and Traficom data sharing bans can sometimes make work more difficult, it is good that we all have the right to decide on what different data controllers collect about us.
Chat GPT is a good tool for generating new ideas and expanding your thinking. Therefore, I intend to use Chat GPT and other artificial intelligence solutions more boldly and extensively in the future. Of course, the answers of artificial intelligence should be viewed critically, as I have come across incorrect answers when asking for detailed information related to the automotive industry.
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