What is perfection in the paint shop? Is it a clean paint job that does not need time-consuming detailing, or is it a perfect
color match? Is perfection met when the work goes through on time and without costly re-dos or customer delivery delays? Perhaps
you define perfection in the paint shop as getting the work finished using the least amount of materials.
Actually, if refinish quality control required just one dimension, it would be simple to develop a system to guard against
whatever might cause the work to be imperfect. However, paint shops, like many other areas of the collision repair industry,
are so complex that developing processes and procedures to assure perfection is very challenging.
Keeping parts and materials prepared and readily available will help repairs run more smoothly.
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During the manufacture of a new vehicle, each component's size and quality are carefully standardized, and much thought and
development go into establishing procedures to assure that all items meet and maintain that quality standard. In the book
"The Toyota Way," Jeffrey K. Liker explains how the automobile manufacturer uses 14 management principles to produce vehicles
of varied types in different countries for diverse consumers, at one of the lowest per-unit defect rates in the industry.
Similarly, the collision repair industry faces the challenge of delivering a defect-free refinish job each time, although
each collision is different, so each repair is unique. While the goal is the same in every case — to return the vehicle to
its pre-accident condition — one process will not always fit every repair. 
Having all the parts needed for the repair on hand will help technicians finish the repair sooner.
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At first, it may seem that examining principles for quality in vehicle manufacturing in relation to providing a quality collision
repair is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Closer study, however, shows that this may not be true. For example, principle
six in the "Toyota Way" states: "Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment."
The collision repair industry is starting to embrace that principle by following standard operating procedures (SOPs).
By following SOPs in the repair process, quality is improved, and technicians can repair vehicles faster, since many of the
decisions have been made prior to beginning the actual repair. Because the prescribed process is standardized, the types and
amount of material can be kept to a minimum, and be easily ordered and replenished.
A clean shop floor with plenty of space is a vital part of any collision repair facility.
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Another manufacturing principle that is gaining use in the collision repair industry is "lean production." Though often misunderstood
and sometimes poorly implemented, lean production has the potential of significantly improving quality, production and profit
in the collision repair industry.
Many times when managers try to implement lean production into a collision repair shop, they believe that if they just produce
SOPs and have on-time delivery of supplies, parts and materials — then they have fully adopted the lean production principle.
In fact, if the shop's team makes only these superficial changes, the shop will see some improvement in production, profit
and quality — but it's actually just the beginning of lean production.
Keeping shelves neat and orderly makes finding supplies fast and efficient.
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To fully enjoy all the benefits and profit from lean production management, the shop must also undertake other, more difficult
changes. These changes are in both the physical details of the refinish process, and in the more difficult area of employees
adopting the business culture objective of continuous improvement as the standard in refinish procedures.
Physical process considerations include keeping lead-time to a minimum, and making sure all parts, materials, vehicle flow
patterns and personnel are prepared for the repair. When repairing a vehicle, the technician should move to where the vehicle
is, instead of having the vehicle placed in the technician's stall.
