The Digital Workflow is a management solution for the processes, procedures, and events that happen daily within a shop. The key use is to improve shop efficiency and increase AROs.
Table of Contents
- Key Benefits
- Product Features
- Workflow Step Configuration and Features
- Navigating through the Workflow
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Articles
Key Benefits
- Shop Owner - Ability to track employee hours, declined jobs, ordered parts, and many other KPI’s with just a browser
- Advisor - Accessibility to delegate work with automation, seamless communication with staff and motorists, and better management of customer expectations
- Technician - Boost focus on fixing vehicles as jobs that are ready for work to be performed are displayed automatically on the tablet
- Motorist - Consistent service and enhanced trust by tracking service history, vehicle information, appointment reminders and updates plus educational information concerning the motorist's vehicle
Product Features
- Configure Workflow Steps
- Provide your customers with consistent quality controlled service
- Labor Inventory Management
- Monitor the shops productivity with the labor inventory management tool and multiple technician progress tracking methods provided
- Task Management
- A systematic accountability tracker that works to keep everyone up to date with their assigned tasks
Workflow Step Configuration and Features
Navigate to the System Settings
1. Select the "Workflow" tab
2. Click on the "Workflow Steps" section
3. Choose the "Workflow Steps" tab
General Functionality
- Controls the Display name and order of the Workflow Step
- Defines visibility of the RO on both the TVP and the Tech's Idle Screen on their tablet
- Exclude certain workflow steps from being a part of the aggregated yet-to-be-completed hours
- ie: "Waiting for Parts"
- Auto-approve jobs once the RO is moved to that specific workflow step
- Auto-approve any new jobs that are added to the RO in that specific workflow step
- Defines the name and position of the workflow step
- Provides additional helpful information concerning the workflow step
Default Workflow Steps
The below picture delineates the default steps provided. All the default steps (including "Waiting for Parts") need to be in this standard order. Any manually created steps can be added in initially or in between the default steps standard order.
How to Use Each Workflow Step
Waiting for Drop Off: Estimates (if configured) in the PoS and Appointments for today will appear in this column.
Waiting for Inspect: Once an estimate has been converted to a repair order or a repair order is created in your PoS the vehicle will automatically appear in this step.
- TVP: Assign the technician
- Tablet: Technician completes the inspection and any initial work assigned and sends a Smart Alert on the Inspection labor line once done with the inspection. The tech should make no further changes to the inspection unless instructed to by the service advisor.
- TVP: Receive alert and task that the inspection/initial diagnosis is complete. Browse the inspection first and if anything is missing send it back to the tech for completion. If all looks good, move the vehicle to the Creating Estimate step.
Creating Estimate: You must move the vehicle to the “Creating Estimate” step to freeze the work order in AutoVitals while building the estimate in your PoS
- TVP: Review and Edit the Inspection
- TVP: Click the Send to SmartFlow Add-on button if using two-way integration to aid in your estimate building process
- TVP: Build out the estimate in your POS
- TVP: Move the vehicle to the Waiting for Approval step
- Tablet: Technician continues working on any incomplete initial work the vehicle came in for
Waiting for Approval
- TVP: Email/text the inspection to the customer
- TVP: Countdown timer on the Vehicle Tile and task remind you to call the customer 20 minutes after you sent the inspection if they have not called you already. This allows the customer time to review the findings and be ready to make a buying decision when they call you rather than feeling sales pressure when you call them immediately.
- POS: Once approval is received make any adjustments to the work order in the PoS and order parts
- TVP: Move the vehicle to Waiting for Parts
- Tablet: Technician continues working on any incomplete initial work the vehicle came in for
Parts Ordered/On Hold
- TVP: Set a special marker countdown timer for when the parts are expected to arrive
- TVP: Once parts arrive and additional jobs are ready to be completed move the vehicle to Waiting for Work Finished
- Tablet: The technician continues working on any incomplete initial work the vehicle came in for or N.A.
Waiting for Work Finished
- TVP/Tablet: By default, all additional jobs are assigned to the default technician, unless this workflow step is not set for “Automatic Job Approval”.
Note: If you want to make dispatching decisions again (and not assign the work to the same technician), you should not make this step automatically approve jobs in the workflow settings. In this case, you get a task to assign any unassigned jobs once the vehicle is moved to this workflow step.
- Tablet: Tech will receive an alert of new work to be completed
- Tablet: Once completed, the tech will submit the vehicle
- TVP: Receive alert and task that the work order is complete
- TVP: Review Work and make any adjustments to the work order in the PoS
- TVP: Move vehicle to waiting for Pickup
Waiting for Pickup
- TVP: Notify the customer that their vehicle is ready for pickup
- TVP: Once the customer comes in to pick up their vehicle, use the “Next” button on the vehicle tile or CRM next visit tab to review the visit and schedule the next visit or set the expectations for what they will see on their service reminder.
NOTE: Many of the notifications to the customer can be automated so that once you move the vehicle into a new workflow step, an email or text is sent to the customer. For example, the customer can automatically receive the inspection report when moving into Waiting for Approval or a pickup notification when moving into Waiting for Pickup.
How-to Add a New Workflow Step
- Click Add New Workflow Step
- Name the Workflow
- Fill out and mark off any other necessary settings
- Fill out and mark off any other necessary settings
NOTE: The tablet display is to make the RO visible on the Idle screen. This does not affect the visibility of the RO on the Active Screen.
Navigating through the Workflow
The Workflow View
Easily monitor each RO through the workflow steps to ensure consistent quality controlled service is provided to every motorist.
The gray bar on the bottom left of the tile indicates which technician the RO is assigned to.
Drag and Drop to reassign the technician.
The Tech View
Track each individual technicians progress on all RO's assigned to them and supervise their overall completed billed hours as well as the shop's.
The gray bar on the bottom left of the tile indicates the workflow step the RO is in.
Click to change the workflow step from the drop down menu.
- This column contains RO's that do not have a technician assigned to them 
- This column contains RO's that have all assigned work completed by the technician that was assigned 
- Tech specific chat 
- The technicians labor inventory management log and activity status bar
The TVP Tile
- RO Number 
- Key Tay (Can be configured in settings or edited manually on TVP)
- Service Advisors initials 
- Drag and drop pad 
- Vehicle Info 
- Motorist Communication 
- Appointment Actions
- Motorist Name
- Promised time vehicle would be returned
- Motorists Research Time
- Countdown timer for Service Advisor to reach out to Motorists -
- Smart Marker 
- Number of completed inspection topics
- Vehicle specific message alert
- Orange clipboard icon indicates that a technician has an RO open and in progress
- Number of jobs completed / Number of jobs assigned to that specific technician
- Finished billed hours / Total billed hours
- Vehicle specific chat 
- Collapse / Expand tile
- Total number of jobs on the RO
The TVP Header
- Menu
- Page "View"
- Shop Name / Column Configuration Template
- Shop Labor Inventory Management
- Clocks out ALL technicians to ensure accurate punch times for end of business day
- The Conversation Center
- Task Manager
- Add new vehicle
- Collapse / Expand tiles
- The Search Tool
- The TVP Settings
- Help Mode
- Logout
Frequently Asked Questions
- I moved my tile to "Waiting for Parts" and it's supposed to go to the "Not Active" tech column; why is the tile not moving?
- The technician still may need to complete any authorized job still on the RO or still may need to submit the inspection sheet for the vehicle. If the RO is still active on the Technician's tablet the RO tile will not move to the "Not Active" tech column.
- Why can I not configure the workflow settings? / Why do I not have a workflow page?
- Why am I unable to update the gray bar in the bottom left hand side of the RO tile?
- This feature is only available with the Smartflow.X product package.
- In what case would you recommend a shop exclude hours?
- In the event you want to exclude all hours from jobs that are still pending and may not be ready for the tech to work on at the current time.
- ie: Waiting for Parts
- In the event you want to exclude all hours from jobs that are still pending and may not be ready for the tech to work on at the current time.
- How do I manually approve a job?
- Click the check box next to the appropriate tab in the RO
- Go to the appropriate tab in the RO and individually approve jobs
Related Articles
How to Navigate to Shop Settings
How to Use Smart Markers on TVP.X
Customer Communication on TVP.X
The Today’s Vehicle Page (TVP) Settings
Using the Search Tool to Streamline Shop Productivity