AAMI/AP&P Autobody Repairer of the Year Regional Winner (Large Shop) ACT & NSW
Awards 2004 AAMI
Scientific Motor Body Works
With 65 employees, Michael and Daniel Zammit's Scientific Motor Body Works is one of the biggest shops in Australia. It repairs between 60 and 80 cars a week at its Wattle Street location where it has been for the past 20 years.
But Scientific is soon to grow even bigger. In six months it will open an additional shop of 4000 square metres in the Sydney suburb of Matraville where it will concentrate on repairing mass market cars. The Wattle Street facility will continue with its prestige work. Scientific is a factory approved repairer for BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Volvo, Peugeot and Saab. It has strong ties to most insurance companies and is an NRMA silver PSR. The company believes in co-operating with insurers rather than fighting with them.
This is an impressive shop from any point of view. Its spacious reception and office building is highly sophisticated, with elegant appointments and a fully equipped staff gymnasium.
The workshop is organised into two distinct areas: disassembly/panel beating and prep/painting. Cars flow from one to the other without doubling back. Rather than using a computer based management system, Daniel Zammit, Michael's son and the company's general manager, has developed a progress book which goes into every car to be repaired, and records each process as is in completed. This also doubles as a reference for a profit share system.
Panel beating and alignment runs 15 Autorobots and three alignment benches as well as several floor systems.
The Glasurit supplied paint shop runs two overlapping shifts plus Saturday morning, and keeps six BBB booths busy. The painters are there to paint: prepping is done by support teams. In fact, teams are important at Scientific. Technicians work in threes, with one senior one experienced and one apprentice member. Team leaders meet with management once a month to discuss efficiency issues. There is also a barbecue once a month to encourage staff cohesion.
There is very little sub-letting. The company does in-house glass and plastic repairs.
Staff training is high on the agenda. The Zammits believe in continually increasing skill levels. They currently have 12 apprentices on staff.
HOLMES COMMENT
Mick Zammit has been around for a long time but is still keen to grow and try new techniques. Obviously Daniel is encouraging his father to go the next level ? but it is interesting to hear them talk of doing it by going back to basics. That means giving the customers ? that is insurers and owners ? what they want. They rely on their people rather than management systems.