Help me organize my shop please

[Toolhorder]

Been a member here awhile. Almost embarrassed to ask but I ended up leasing a shop in 2016 and left the dealership. Things started off slow then ramped up and I ended up getting really busy in the spring-fall of 17 and just barely got freed up about 2 weeks ago. While it was busy I worked almost 7 days a week and after hours to keep up with the work flow and ignored anything except basic trash emptying and cleaning.
If I post pics of my current shop state would anyone like to help me figure out the best way to make it efficient and cleaner?

 

[apollo11]

sure, people will definitely chime in

 

[4v shane]

Dont feel bad! I'm literally in the same boat. I have owned my own shop since 09 moved into my newest location and trying my hardest to make it 100 percent organized with no clutter with everything having a home. I'm in for ideas as well!

 

[Finky198]

I’ve been a co-owner now for 5 years in change. and well it’s been nothing, but change 99% of the time it’s in the right direction... These past few months we’ve really worked on getting more organized, by building/repurposing storage, rehabbing a storage trailer.... it’s been crazy to say the least, but we have some major projects that have been finished or are almost completed. Which will make a massive dent in our to do list and let me move onto the fun stuff.

This should be a great thread. Sub’d for more

 

[RWorth]

Just a suggestion, you should each start your own thread to keep confusion down. Then tell us where you are , what your shop does, what your major problems are, and post pix.

 

[apollo11]

We need pics and a diagram

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

No sweat asking about this.. its why we all troll here.. lol

There is a thread.. and I've lost it... by a guy who has been building his (albeit home) garage/shop.. and I've picked up a ton of tips for storage, organization, etc. from it. Hopefully someone else who sees this knows what I am speaking of and turns you on to it... Its super helpful..

Good luck....

 

[Toolhorder]

Just a suggestion, you should each start your own thread to keep confusion down. Then tell us where you are , what your shop does, what your major problems are, and post pix.

I'm in Montana, my shop is specializes in import repair but I do everything including tires, major problems are lack of organizing skill because I'm a one man show so I'm spread thin. Hoping the slow down gives me time to regroup. I'll post pics in a minute don't make fun it's rough.
Edit: I'll take a short video and post the link

 

[Toolhorder]

 

[bepjrfan]

Definitely need more wall storage, way too much stuff on the floor! Pics would also be better than a video, gives people a better opportunity to point out improvements instead of referring to a video.

 

[ez-duzit]

Definitely need more wall storage, way too much stuff on the floor! Pics would also be better than a video, gives people a better opportunity to point out improvements instead of referring to a video.

This. Post some photos.

I'd pickup another heavy duty shelf unit to store the **** on the floor. Perhaps some way to utilize the high wall space.

 

[vavet]

I watched my first three episodes of Garage Rehab a couple nights ago. Those folks have the opposite problem of you - not enough business, but the lack of organization is similar. The key is in recognizing that it's not right and it can be better.

Here's what I see in your shop - a bunch of things without a home. Storage systems are expensive and it seems crazy to spend money on such things when you could be buying a new tool. Its about more than that though. It's about establishing the state of mind of working in an organized way. Once things are organized, it's easier to keep them organized. It's harder to just set something down and walk away from it. Important things get a home. There are no piles of parts. If it's not important enough to get a home, then it's not important enough to keep. You're paying rent on every square foot so make every square foot work for you.

It looks like that bay is plenty wide enough to accommodate a car and storage units on both sides. You would not be reducing efficiency or increasing tripping tendencies if you had more storage.
Cabinets look better, but shelves are easier to access and it's easier to find things.

Have a cabinet/shelf for oil filters, another for bottled oil, another for infrequently used tools (radiator pressure tester, tie rod tool, etc). Do not try to fill every square inch of shelf space at first by combining categories of things that are not alike. They will fill themselves. It's one thing to have gallons of coolant below the quarts of oil in the same cabinet. It's completely different to have the air filters under the brake caliper wind-back tool.

What is the rest of the shop? Is there an office, reception, waiting area? Is this the only bay? It looks deep enough for 2 cars, but videos can be misleading. Can you work on 2 cars at a time - one on a lift for brakes, the other getting an alternator on the ground?

What kind of clientele do you have? What are their habits? Do they drop off the car on their way to work and pick up on their way home? Do they wait for it?

Congrats on getting a successful shop going. Too many competent techs can't do it because they lack the marketing or business savvy to make it work. I'd imagine your early customers must've been happy and spread the word to their friends and neighbors.

 

[Toolhorder]

I watched my first three episodes of Garage Rehab a couple nights ago. Those folks have the opposite problem of you - not enough business, but the lack of organization is similar. The key is in recognizing that it's not right and it can be better.

Here's what I see in your shop - a bunch of things without a home. Storage systems are expensive and it seems crazy to spend money on such things when you could be buying a new tool. Its about more than that though. It's about establishing the state of mind of working in an organized way. Once things are organized, it's easier to keep them organized. It's harder to just set something down and walk away from it. Important things get a home. There are no piles of parts. If it's not important enough to get a home, then it's not important enough to keep. You're paying rent on every square foot so make every square foot work for you.

It looks like that bay is plenty wide enough to accommodate a car and storage units on both sides. You would not be reducing efficiency or increasing tripping tendencies if you had more storage.
Cabinets look better, but shelves are easier to access and it's easier to find things.

Have a cabinet/shelf for oil filters, another for bottled oil, another for infrequently used tools (radiator pressure tester, tie rod tool, etc). Do not try to fill every square inch of shelf space at first by combining categories of things that are not alike. They will fill themselves. It's one thing to have gallons of coolant below the quarts of oil in the same cabinet. It's completely different to have the air filters under the brake caliper wind-back tool.

What is the rest of the shop? Is there an office, reception, waiting area? Is this the only bay? It looks deep enough for 2 cars, but videos can be misleading. Can you work on 2 cars at a time - one on a lift for brakes, the other getting an alternator on the ground?

What kind of clientele do you have? What are their habits? Do they drop off the car on their way to work and pick up on their way home? Do they wait for it?

Congrats on getting a successful shop going. Too many competent techs can't do it because they lack the marketing or business savvy to make it work. I'd imagine your early customers must've been happy and spread the word to their friends and neighbors.

I have another side exactly like the first on the other side of the wall to the right of the lift. I have an office to the left. Video actually starts me walking from the office into shop. I'm too embarassed to show the office. It's a mess. and the other side is storage for cars and tires/misc. I want to add a second lift to that side for longer term projects and get an A/C machine in here in the spring.
The last paragraph is very true. I'm not good at the business side. I'm learning everyday and by doing it wrong which sometimes is the best teacher. I got a subscription for a shop management system to help with writing ROs and it will help me be a little faster, create a database for customers, look at metrics monthly and figure out if I need to tweak here and there. The main thing now is cleaning up this shop and making it more efficient.
I used to have my tire machines on the other side but moving them to the left wall of the lift makes it much faster doing tires. I'm a tire rack installer so I get a bit of tire business from them. I'm planning on welding up a tire rack in spring to sell off a lot of used all seasons I have stored.
There is a table in front of the lift I welded metal caster brackets to the bottom and added casters so I can move it around to free up space. It's also going to double as a table I can use to drop engine/transmissions out of the bottom of newer cars with the subframe. Way easier that way.
Right now I have the bigger teal box to the right side of the lift against the wall and the black box needs to be cleaned off and I got to move it somewhere. Not sure where it's kinda a spare box with some specialized tools mixed in.
There is a metal cabinet full of chemicals/tubes of sealant/misc. stuff I wanted to mount on the wall to free up space too. Not sure where though.

 

[pepi]

Need to start somewhere, do the chemicals/tubes of sealant/misc. stuff. Probably will open up space and give you another idea. Question are these supplies used in both bays, if yes. Consider storing them in an area close to the entrances, on same wall. Stuff the compressor in a corner

You're working on a giant puzzle. You mentioned a tire changer was moved to make it easier to operate. Sounds like it is where it needs to be. Use the same logic with all the machines.

The layout will start to make more sense as you move along. And that's ok, might need to change or shift something, that will work in your favor in the end/

I could not visualize a plan for my stuff, what fits a plan may not fit reality. Roam was not bilt is a day, and organizing you shop is not going to get done in a day.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Keep it simple. Consider floorspace at ALL times. EVERYTHING off the floor unless it's too heavy. Just keep adding shelves. All parts (big & small) go into LABELED containers and onto a shelf.

 

[apollo11]

Buy commercial shelving
Move EVERYTHING out that can be moved
Install shelves, go as high as possible
Think about your workflow
Fill shelves
Move tools back in

you need to start from scratch.

pics of other side?

 

[shortykorte]

Congrats on your own business. First advice is remember that now you’re a business owner first, auto tech second. No matter how great your skills are, not getting a handle on the business side will cause tremendous stress.

What would I do with layout.
1. Get two large trash cans. Use them faithfully and empty daily. Would you want to eat in a restaurant or get an operation in a place that is full of trash?
2. Move tire machine as close to bay door as possible. Allows people to bring tires up easily and allows you to keep eye on the front of business.
3. As others, good storage, be it cabinets and/or shelves. Be consistent with shelves, look and size. These can be purchased or built & painted. Product can be on shelves, rags and other shop supplies behind closed cabinets doors.
4. A good solid bench in front of primary lift.
5. Pegboard above bench or beside it with popular tools needed for oil changes, fan/hose r&r, etc.
6. Keep like work functions close to each other.
7. Don’t let customer work stack up preventing you to maintain business tasks and orderliness of lobby/shop. First impressions.

Below is a drawing of our 2 bay Texaco station. Since a lot of work was done outside (at bay doors, parking area or at pumps) we kept the more popular things (tire, batteries/testing, tune ups) up front.
Drive on lift bay was primarily for oil changes. Other bay was primarily brakes & major tire changes/rotation. Would do major repairs in this bay on occasion.

Besides working in family Texaco, I was a one man pawnshop for 5 years so know the hours needed to get the administrative stuff done. My brother had a shop for awhile. He’d talk in detail to customers instead of working on cars and would have to stay late getting work done. Wife wasn’t happy but didn’t help with business task. Brother went back to being an employee elsewhere.

 

[Bessy]

I agree with Shorty's message of being a business owner first, tech/mech second, and given I'm primarily a small business owner, and only a hobbyist in a workshop setting, I am going to give you a bit of a business inspired perspective. I will say, if you want to talk more about the business side of things, feel free to shoot me a PM, as I am in the business management business.

First, if you can, answer me the following questions:
1) Do you have any sort of lobby/waiting space?
2) Do you have any specific retail/product sales that you conduct as part of your business? How are those products currently advertised/displayed for your customers?
3) Are you familiar with basic day to day reconciliation, bookkeeping, general business administrative activities?

Onto Organization...
I'll try my best not to duplicate what others have said.

Start with a floor plan of your entire space. measure it out and be sure to plot out the position of stationary (completely immobile objects like lifts and walls) objects that you must work around. Work it out on paper or more ideally CAD software like Sketchup.

Keep your work-space clean, and start with the office. If you are going to continue to work as a one man show for the time being, get your office in shape so that you can maximize your productivity when you are in there. Good habits within the office will begin to spill into the shop as you progress. In addition, DO NOT let grease/shop grime into your office.

Take a good look at your business from the street. Ask family members/friends to drive by or stop and do the same, as they will notice things you don't. Make sure that your clients' first impression (street view) is appealing, clean and well kept. It speaks to the work you do.

Minimize the number of times that clients are in the shop bay, as well as the area to which they are permitted. This is to say, if you are not willing to move the tire machine to the bay door due to it disrupting your workflow, have a cart ready that you can un/load tires for clients right by the door. Better yet, have two.

Throw up a coat of paint while you are working on the shop. White is good in terms of light reflection, but it shows dirt, so keep that in mind. Give the walls a good cleaning and make it look appealing to people.

Tool carts:
Again, I'm just a hobbyist, but keep a tool cart that is set up with the tools you need for specific repeat jobs. You're a TireRack guy, so have a tool cart that is set up with a dedicated set of tools for doing tires. Don't let those tools walk away from that cart. Have another cart for stuff that you take from your main box if you are doing other work near the lift, and maybe a cart for diagnostic tools if you do much of that type of work. Actually if you have the ability, and the volume to warrant it, consider setting up a single bay specifically for those quick in'n'out jobs like tire swaps and whatnot and hiring a second mech to take care of that work while you focus on running the business itself and doing other more intricate or labour intensive work, or vice versa, take over the lighter jobs yourself to free up your time for running the business.

 

[Bruce Amacker]

1. Line the shop with narrow pallet racking- like 24-40" max. This will cost you $500-2K used but more than double your current storage space. Uprights should be a few feet shorter than your ceiling. Put a line of racking about 3' up for bench or storage, and another line of racking about 7' up, put your compressor and rarely used tools on it like all of that iron by your man door. I have flo lights under the 7' shining on the 3' areas, it makes great HD workbench area.

2. If you have room to build a mezzanine, do that also with a set of steps leading up. It looks like the area to the left of your lift is too small to use as a flat bay and should be two level storage. That area would be perfect for that, you could build it in a weekend easily. Parts on shelves, tooling, etc. up there.

You have a ton of space you're not utilizing, I could see you doubling/tripling your effective storage space easily for a couple of grand. I had 3 mezzanines at my last shop (that I sold), two had stairs and one had an overhead crane (1/4 ton used, I think I paid $100) on a rail. I used that to hoist up engine cranes, engine stand, dollies, and other 200-400lb stuff that isn't used every day. If you have a towmotor, all the better, but it's not needed. Even if this is a rental building the pallet racking will go with you.

 

[Toolhorder]

1. Line the shop with narrow pallet racking- like 24-40" max. This will cost you $500-2K used but more than double your current storage space. Uprights should be a few feet shorter than your ceiling. Put a line of racking about 3' up for bench or storage, and another line of racking about 7' up, put your compressor and rarely used tools on it like all of that iron by your man door. I have flo lights under the 7' shining on the 3' areas, it makes great HD workbench area.

2. If you have room to build a mezzanine, do that also with a set of steps leading up. It looks like the area to the left of your lift is too small to use as a flat bay and should be two level storage. That area would be perfect for that, you could build it in a weekend easily. Parts on shelves, tooling, etc. up there.

You have a ton of space you're not utilizing, I could see you doubling/tripling your effective storage space easily for a couple of grand. I had 3 mezzanines at my last shop (that I sold), two had stairs and one had an overhead crane (1/4 ton used, I think I paid $100) on a rail. I used that to hoist up engine cranes, engine stand, dollies, and other 200-400lb stuff that isn't used every day. If you have a towmotor, all the better, but it's not needed. Even if this is a rental building the pallet racking will go with you.

Have any pictures of this?

 

[apollo11]

use racking to build the mezzanine too.

just for a reference,

you'll want to customize it for your shop.

 

[Bruce Amacker]

Currently I have a hobby shop, the first pic is the half with the lift, there's a larger workshop area that does not have pallet racking. The "Non Load Bearing Deck" sign is a joke, that platform is built to hold tons. The second and third pics are friend's shops. The last 3 pics are of my old shop (I sold 14 years ago), you can see the pallet racking in the background. The compressor, flywheel grinder and heavy stuff is all off the ground.

 

[Toolhorder]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I'm slowly cleaning currently and trying to clear space. The second side of my shop has upstairs storage maybe I can put a lot of my stuff there to help max space.

 

[MarlynOC]

Some sort of dumb waiter from second story to move supplies easily.

 

[4 Ever-Fish N]

I think some of these guys are naturally organized, like Bessy. Getting organized thru the help of many of these suggestions is one thing. Staying organized throughout your day to day business is another thing. I personally think "being organized" is part of ones mental make up. I am not an organized person and recognized it many years ago. I'm sure if a person tries hard enough, they can become better organized but it may be a constant struggle if you're like me. Do any of you agree? Regardless, I hope you will get some good info to help you get organized.

 

[pelletman]

I think some of these guys are naturally organized, like Bessy. Getting organized thru the help of many of these suggestions is one thing. Staying organized throughout your day to day business is another thing. I personally think "being organized" is part of ones mental make up. I am not an organized person and recognized it many years ago. I'm sure if a person tries hard enough, they can become better organized but it may be a constant struggle if you're like me. Do any of you agree? Regardless, I hope you will get some good info to help you get organized.

I totally agree with this. You CAN make yourself better though, and laying out shelves and cabinets well is extremely helpful