SEPPTOOLS

Digital management of special tools in car workshops is the business of SEPPTOOLS, whose cloud product SEPP.One is built for motor trade businesses and contract workshops. The product was developed together with mechanics, parts managers and service managers, the company says, and it has been helping workshops since 2006 to cut the time spent searching for special tools, reduce the cost of lost and defective tools and grow sales over time.

Finding a tool even while it is in use

The core of SEPP.One is a digital record of where each special tool is kept. Every storage place is recorded, so a tool can be found quickly even when it is in use somewhere else in the workshop. The company says every action on a tool is documented, so a workshop can see when an item was last in use and by whom.

Preloaded tool data for supported manufacturers

For the manufacturers it supports, the company says the special tools are already stored in the system with images, and that the data is kept up to date. A workshop therefore does not need to catalogue every item from scratch before it can start using the software.

Preparing for ISO audits and repairs

Two functions focus on audits and repairs. The first is a target-actual comparison, which checks a workshop's inventory against the country-specific minimum standards set by car manufacturers and shows, within seconds, which tools are missing before the next ISO inspection date. The second is a colleague function, which shows nearby workshops that hold a tool a repair needs, so the workshop can start the next step with one click. The company says its graphical evaluation of all activity also helps managers identify the resource drains that waste money.

Roles, repair orders and maintenance

Access is controlled through three predefined user roles, which the company says let a manager match each employee to the functions suited to their competence. Tools can be grouped into a repair order and scheduled for planned workshop dates, and staff can be alerted when an overdue job has not started.

Maintenance modules automate the planning of checks, calibration and upkeep. Test results are recorded to build a complete maintenance and repair history for each tool, reminder emails are sent so that inspection dates are not missed, and invoices, test reports, manuals and certificates can be stored against each special tool and reached from anywhere.

Finding unused and faulty tools

The system also shows which tools have not been used for more than a year, where the resource drains sit and which tools are most often found faulty. The company says the aim is to reduce capital tied up in idle equipment and the search times that waste time in daily workshop life.