Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 4
FIXED OPS JOURNAL
FOLLOWING CHITTY
Practices of retired Lexus service chief endure among his disciples
T
here's nothing like a fresh look
from an outsider's perspective to
size up a dealership's parts and
service operation.
Take it from Dick Chitty, the Toyota fixed
ops boss who created the formula for service
excellence at Lexus. Although he retired
more than a decade ago, at 73 he's still
watching the industry closely.
A few months back, Chitty dropped me a
note from his home in Ocala, Fla.
DAVE
Unsolicited.
VERSICAL
In it was his four-part process for quickly
dversical@crain.com
assessing the general health and efficiency
Editor
of a fixed ops department.
Fixed Ops Journal
You can see these steps on Page 18. But his
story took on another layer when I asked
him for an example of a "good operation."
He pointed me to Kuni Lexus of Portland, in Oregon, one of the
original Lexus stores.
Ties that bind
Turns out, Chitty and Kuni's service director, Dave VandeLinde, 50,
share some bonds. Both are graduates of auto-service specialist
Pittsburg State University in Kansas, a generation apart.
In the late 1980s, as VandeLinde was leaving school, he had a job
interview with Chitty, who had just been named head of parts and
service for Toyota's new luxury division.
As my colleague Jesse Snyder notes, in the months before the 1989
Lexus launch, Chitty and his team put together a comprehensive
system of parts and service standards for Lexus. The exercise
crystallized Chitty's experience as a field man and laid out the process
in detail so other Lexus factory personnel could duplicate it.
By now, you have probably figured out that Toyota hired VandeLinde.
He spent 23 years at the automaker, in a long list of field positions - in
fixed ops and beyond.
In one role, he oversaw sales operations for Lexus dealerships on the
West Coast. That's where he came to know Kuni Lexus, which hired
him five years ago.
Mix master
The outsider was now an insider, running a department of 85
employees, blending his own ideas with those enduring practices
forged by Chitty as well as Kuni's own traditions (and those of its 2016
buyer, Holman Automotive Group).
One source of pride is the seamlessness between departments. Don't
let VandeLinde hear you referring to "sales" customers or "service"
customers. At Kuni, they're all "guests." No adjectives.
That said, the customer lounge tilts toward service clients. Kuni does
about 150 repair orders a day, and half of those guests wait for the work
to be done.
PAGE 4
JUNE 2017
Dave VandeLinde, the
service director at Kuni
Lexus of Portland, says
he puts Dick Chitty's
principles into practice
through such initiatives
as providing technicians
with free uniforms.
FRITZ LIEDTKE
"Seventy-five or 80 waiters a day put a lot of pressure on an
organization," VandeLinde says.
Freebies range from chocolates to tire fixes. Technicians' uniforms
are provided free, too, unlike at many dealerships. VandeLinde says he
treats his mechanics like athletes - conscious of the toll their work
takes on the body.
Three years ago, he started two employee groups to tackle some
nagging challenges, including those related to processes, growth and
recognition.
Among the initiatives today: an express check-in and check-out
system and flexible schedules for service advisers.
"The more we focus on our own people, the better we do on the guest
side of the business," VandeLinde says.
No surprise, then, that he says he gets his biggest kicks out of seeing
his employees thrive.
Down the road, it would also thrill him to have younger colleagues
look to him as a fixed ops godfather, in the same way he looks up to
folks such as Chitty.
Does he have a chance? Size up the pictures on Pages 18-26 and look
for yourself.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Service Counter
Legal Lane
Web threads
Chitty’s law
Port of call
Richard Truett
Featured film
Wisdom of age
Future techs
Intake, outgo
Feedback
NADA numbers
Top 50
Guest comment
Five Minutes With
Shop Talk
Fixed in Time
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Intro
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Cover2
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Contents
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Editor’s Letter
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 5
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Service Counter
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 7
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Legal Lane
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 9
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 10
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 11
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Web threads
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 13
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 14
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 15
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 16
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 17
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Chitty’s law
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 19
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 20
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 21
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 22
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 23
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 24
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 25
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 26
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 27
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Port of call
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 29
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 30
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Richard Truett
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Featured film
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 33
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Wisdom of age
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 35
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Future techs
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 37
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Intake, outgo
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Feedback
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - NADA numbers
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 41
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Top 50
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Guest comment
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Five Minutes With
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Shop Talk
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Fixed in Time
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Cover3
Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/fixedops_201708
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com