How to run a workshop bay board

In short

Learning how to run a workshop bay board starts with showing where each car is, who is responsible and what must happen next. Review the board before work starts, update it whenever work changes, and act on delays before they disrupt the next booking.

Each occupied bay needs an identifiable car and a responsible mechanic.
A blocked job needs a next action, not just a warning.
The board must reflect actual work, not the original plan.

Give every bay a clear purpose on the board

A useful workshop bay board shows the physical position of each car alongside its work status and next decision. Start by matching the board to your actual bay names so nobody has to translate between a screen and the workshop floor. Identify the car clearly enough to distinguish similar vehicles, assign responsibility, and separate an expected finish from a customer promise. A car can occupy a bay while no work is happening, so location alone is not enough.

The Junto bay board shows which car is in which bay, for how long, with estimate and delays, and has a wall-screen mode. Use that shared view to ask practical questions rather than simply admire a tidy schedule. Is the car still being worked on? Does the estimate remain realistic? If a job has stopped, make sure someone owns the next action. A wall screen is useful only when the information behind it stays current.

Run a morning review before filling the bays

Your morning review should reconcile cars already on site with today's bookings, available people and unresolved decisions. Walk the floor before relying on yesterday's final board. A car marked ready may still be occupying a working bay, while an expected parts delivery may not have arrived. Confirm what can genuinely start, what can finish, and which jobs need a customer conversation. Keep the discussion focused on decisions that change the day's work rather than recounting every repair.

In a Georgian workshop handling imported used cars, a booking description may not tell you everything needed to plan the job. Confirm the requested work and any uncertainty about the vehicle before treating its estimated duration as dependable. For a car with an LPG or CNG conversion, clarify the work scope and who can handle it appropriately. Account for actual staff availability rather than assuming every open bay has someone ready to work in it.

Match cars on the floor to their bay positions on the board.
Confirm the responsible mechanic and immediate next step for each active job.
Check whether required parts and customer approvals are actually available.
Review expected finishes against today's incoming bookings.
Assign an owner to every delay, customer call or unresolved decision.

Make status changes part of doing the work

Mechanics keep statuses current when updating the board is part of a work transition, not a separate reporting task saved for later. Agree that starting work, discovering a blocker and completing work each require an update. Work orders have seven statuses: checked in, in progress, waiting for approval, waiting for parts, ready, delivered and cancelled; every change is logged as an event. Use those shared terms consistently so a front-desk colleague does not have to interpret each mechanic's wording.

Mechanics update work from their phones; the front desk sees it at once. Build your routine around that direct handoff rather than asking the receptionist to reconstruct progress from shouted conversations. For example, when a mechanic finds additional work, update the status as the approval request is prepared. In Junto, the customer can review suggested work and its line prices through an SMS link. Do not treat a sent request as permission to begin the extra work.

Spot overruns while you still have choices

You spot overruns by comparing current progress with the estimate and checking what the delay means for the next job. Do not wait until a customer arrives to ask why a car is unfinished. Look for work that has passed its expected finish, cars that have stopped progressing, and bays occupied by jobs waiting on outside decisions. Check again when a significant booking arrives or a blocker appears, not only during the morning meeting.

Suppose a car on a lift needs a part that has not arrived, while another customer is due for work requiring that lift. Ask the mechanic whether moving the first vehicle is safe and practical before changing the sequence. Then decide whether to reassign available work, revise the incoming booking or explain a later finish. In Tbilisi traffic, an unnecessary customer journey is particularly frustrating; communicate a changed plan while the customer can still act on it.

Move from a whiteboard to a wall screen without confusion

Moving to a wall screen works best when you keep familiar bay names but establish one authoritative place for updates. First agree what each status means and who changes it. Place the screen where staff can consult it without interrupting work, and check that the display is readable from the intended viewing position. Demonstrate the routine using a real job, including a delay, rather than showing only an ideal day where every booking finishes as planned.

A common mistake is keeping the whiteboard and digital board running as equal records indefinitely. They soon disagree, and staff choose whichever version suits the conversation. If you need a short transition, identify which record governs decisions and who reconciles discrepancies. Another mistake is letting one receptionist become responsible for every update. Junto works on a computer and on a phone, so the people closest to the work can keep the shared record accurate.

Close the day by resolving tomorrow's uncertainty

Your closing review should leave tomorrow's team with clear carryover jobs, realistic expectations and named follow-up actions. Check every car remaining on site against its actual condition and location. Confirm which customers still need a response, which parts remain outstanding and which finished cars await collection. Keep the distinction between ready and delivered meaningful. A completed repair does not free a bay if the vehicle is still there and cannot yet be moved.

Review a recurring delay as a planning problem before treating it as an individual failure. Repeated waits for approval may mean the customer explanation arrives too late; repeated overruns may mean estimates omit a necessary stage of work. Ask the people doing the job what the board failed to show. For bookings linked to mountain-road travel or preparation for periodic technical inspection, clarify the customer's purpose without promising a completion time the workshop cannot support.

Questions and answers

Should every employee be able to change every job?

Give people responsibility for updates that match their work, while making accountability clear. Junto has staff roles; discuss your access needs when setting up the shop. A shared screen does not mean every person needs the same editing responsibilities.

What should we do when the internet connection fails?

Use a temporary written record of car movements, work transitions and decisions so the team can keep communicating. Once access returns, reconcile those changes before relying on the screen again. Do not assume a digital tool supports offline updates unless that capability has been confirmed.

Should customers be able to see the workshop screen?

Position an internal board with customer privacy in mind, particularly if it displays identifying information. You can explain a customer's own job without exposing other customers' details. In Junto, car owners can follow their repair's status on their phones.

How should we handle jobs that do not need a bay?

Keep their work orders visible to the people responsible without pretending they occupy a physical bay. Agree how your team distinguishes work location from work progress. Otherwise, small tasks can disappear from daily planning even though they still require staff time.

How can a manager oversee more than one branch?

Use consistent bay names within each site and shared definitions for statuses across the business. Keep local responsibility clear so a central manager does not become the only person who can resolve a delay. Junto supports several branches, but each shop still needs its own disciplined daily routine.

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