Do you live in a place where the winters are harsh, and the summers are beautiful and warm? If so, seasonality will impact your collision shop, which is the case for most Canadian shops.<\/p>\n
Having a good severity chart is often one of the most important success factors for improved capacity planning at collision shops.<\/p>\n
Generally, people build their chart based on winter, the high season. But once summer sets in, keen production managers will rightfully wonder if their severity chart needs to be adjusted.<\/p>\n
Not too long ago, the answer would have been a resounding yes. To remain successful, it was necessary to adjust the severity chart, but technology and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought about two major changes that make the severity gaps less significant than one might think.<\/p>\n
First change:<\/strong> weather forecasts are becoming increasingly accurate and are announced earlier and earlier, so schools are closing before the snow even starts to fall. Just a few years ago, the only way to know if schools were closing for the day was by catching the early morning news. Now we can plan.<\/p>\n Second change:<\/strong> telecommuting has become an everyday reality for many industries. This is the gift that the pandemic has left us. If it snows, people will work from home rather than risk commuting.<\/p>\n When a storm is announced on the news, cities will see fewer motorists on the road, which means less unsafe driving and therefore fewer collisions.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong>: things are not the same, it\u2019s a different reality, and the changes needed are more subtle.<\/p>\n Here are examples of job sizes received in 2022 by a collision shop where the winter is harsh.<\/p>\n\n\t\t