A technician needs a tool and cannot find it. He asks another tech, who does not know. They ask a third, who does not know either. Now several people are wandering the shop, and you are losing money. All of it could have been avoided with one word: organization.
In episode 117 of Maximum Octane, Reiny Salmen, owner of Loyola Service in Glenview, Illinois, talks about one of the most overlooked topics in auto repair. Reiny turned his shop from a “hot mess” into an efficient operation with accurate inventory and working systems. He shares the before and after, why accountability matters, how organization boosts productivity, practical tools and strategies, and how it supports succession.
What You Will Learn
- Why shop organization is crucial
- An organized auto shop can transform customers’ experience
- Why internal customers must be held accountable
- Why organized auto shops produce more and more efficiently
- Reiny shares organizational strategies and tools
- Are organized auto shops easier to prepare for succession?
Why Shop Organization Is Crucial
Reiny opens with why organization matters so much. Every minute spent searching for tools, parts, or information is a minute not spent producing. Disorganization also creates stress, mistakes, and frustration for the team. The investment Reiny made in organizing Loyola Service paid off in productivity and morale.
The cost of disorganization is easy to underestimate because it arrives in small pieces. A few minutes hunting for a scan tool adapter, a part that was ordered twice because nobody could find the first one, a core that was never returned, a torque wrench that walked off and had to be replaced. None of these feels like a crisis on its own. Added up over a week, across every technician, they represent hours of lost production and real dollars in wasted parts and tools.
Disorganization also wears on people. Technicians who are paid on production feel the frustration personally, and good ones may eventually leave for a shop where they can simply do their work.
Organization Improves the Customer Experience
Around the 6 minute mark, Reiny explains how an organized shop transforms the customer experience. Customers notice a clean, orderly shop. It signals professionalism and attention to detail. Organization also speeds up repairs and reduces errors, which customers feel even if they never see the shop floor.
Former Disney leader Dennis Snow’s principle that “everything speaks” applies here, as he explains in Providing Excellence in Customer Service Before It Was Cool.
Customers form opinions in places owners sometimes overlook: the parking lot, the restroom, the counter, and whatever they can see through the shop door. Clutter in any of those areas raises a quiet question about how carefully their vehicle will be handled. A tidy front counter with clear paperwork, a clean waiting area, and an orderly shop visible beyond it all reinforce the idea that this business pays attention.
Behind the scenes, organization shows up as reliability. Vehicles are ready when promised because parts were tracked, and status updates are accurate because information lives in one place rather than in someone’s memory.
Holding People Accountable
Reiny stresses that employees must be held accountable for keeping systems working. Organization is not a one-time project. Without accountability, tools end up in the wrong places, inventory drifts, and the shop slides back into chaos. Clear expectations and consistent follow-up keep the system alive.
ATI’s Accountability Is Not a Four-Letter Word offers guidance.
Accountability works best when it is specific. “Keep the shop clean” is too vague to enforce. “Return every shared tool to its labeled spot before you clock out” is clear and easy to check. When standards are written down, everyone knows what is expected and leaders can address lapses without it feeling personal.
Consistency matters as much as clarity. If a manager lets missing tools slide for a week and then explodes, the team learns that the rule only applies sometimes. Brief, calm, immediate reminders, along with recognition when areas stay in good shape, keep standards steady without creating tension.
Organized Shops Produce More
Around the 18 minute mark, Reiny explains why organized shops produce more and more efficiently. When every tool has a home, every part is tracked, and every process is clear, technicians spend more time on billable work. That shows up directly in productivity and efficiency metrics. ATI’s Are Your Technicians Efficient AND Productive? explains how to measure the difference.
Productivity in a repair shop depends on how many of a technician’s paid hours turn into billed hours. Every interruption between those two numbers matters: waiting for a part that was misplaced, borrowing a tool from another bay, searching for the right fluid, or tracking down a work order. Organization shrinks those gaps. When parts are staged before a job starts, tools are where they belong, and work orders are complete, technicians can move from one task to the next without stopping.
Organizational Strategies and Tools
Reiny shares specific strategies and tools he used. Many shops draw on the 5S method from lean manufacturing: sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. ATI explains the approach in So You Want to Know About 5S? Reiny also mentions Imperial Supplies, an ATI partner, as a resource for shop organization products.
Practical organization steps:
- Give every shared tool a labeled, visible home.
- Use shadow boards or labeled drawers so missing items are obvious.
- Track inventory with regular counts and clear reorder points.
- Assign ownership of each area to a specific person.
- Schedule a brief daily or weekly reset.
Randy Dean’s decluttering advice in Identifying the Toys We Use More and Discarding the Rest is a helpful first step.
The order of operations matters. Sorting comes first: remove broken tools, obsolete parts, old fluids, and anything that has not been used in a long time. Organizing clutter only creates neater clutter. Once the excess is gone, decide where each remaining item belongs based on how often it is used and who uses it. Frequently used items should be closest to the work.
Standardizing is what makes the system last. Use the same labeling style throughout the shop, keep a simple map of where shared equipment lives, and document reorder points for common supplies. A new hire should be able to find what they need on day one by following the labels.
Organization and Succession
Around the 28 minute mark, Reiny asks whether organized shops are easier to prepare for succession. The answer is yes. A buyer or successor can understand and run an organized shop far more easily than one that depends on the owner’s memory. Documented systems and accurate inventory add value. Tony Mercury discusses succession readiness in Your Exit Plan Isn’t a Back-Burner Task.
The same principle applies to information. A shop where vendor contacts, equipment service records, software logins, inventory counts, and procedures are documented is far easier to hand off, whether to a buyer, a family member, or a manager covering during a vacation. Organization is one of the most practical forms of succession preparation because it reduces how much depends on any single person.
How to Get Started Without Shutting Down the Shop
Owners sometimes put off organizing because it seems to require closing for a week. It does not. A more practical approach is to tackle one zone at a time, such as the parts room, a single shared toolbox, the lubrication area, or the front office.
- Pick one zone and schedule a focused session during a slower part of the week.
- Involve the people who use that area. They know what is needed and will be more likely to maintain a system they helped design.
- Sort, clean, and label before buying any new storage products.
- Take a photo of the finished area and post it as the standard.
- Assign an owner and a short reset routine, then move to the next zone.
Progress in one visible area often builds enthusiasm for the next one.
Common Organization Mistakes
The most common mistake is treating organization as a one-time cleanup. Without routines and ownership, any shop drifts back to disorder within weeks. Another is buying storage before sorting, which locks in the clutter. A third is designing a system without technician input, which leads to labels nobody follows. Finally, some owners focus only on the bays and ignore inventory and paperwork, where disorganization quietly costs money through lost parts, missed cores, and billing errors.
Organization Audit
- How many minutes per day do your techs spend looking for tools or parts?
- When was your last full inventory count?
- Does every area of the shop have an owner?
- Could someone new find what they need without asking?
For more on building systems, listen to Wendy K. Walters in Building Systems to Gain Freedom and Get Better Results.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I organize my auto repair shop?
Start with one area at a time. Remove anything broken, outdated, or unused, then give each remaining tool and supply a clearly labeled home based on how often it is used. Involve the technicians who work in that area, assign someone to own it, and set a short daily or weekly reset. Once one zone is working, move on to the next. Many shops follow the 5S framework to guide this process.
What is 5S in an auto repair shop?
5S is a workplace organization method from lean manufacturing. The steps are sort (remove what you do not need), set in order (give everything a home), shine (clean and inspect), standardize (create consistent rules and labels), and sustain (build habits and accountability to keep it going). In a repair shop, it helps reduce time spent searching for tools and parts, improves safety, and creates a more professional environment.
How does shop organization improve technician productivity?
Technicians are most productive when they can move from one billable task to the next without interruptions. Searching for tools, waiting on misplaced parts, and tracking down incomplete paperwork all eat into billable time. An organized shop with staged parts, labeled tool storage, and clear processes reduces those delays, so more of each paid hour turns into work the shop can bill.
How do I get employees to keep the shop organized?
Make expectations specific and visible, such as labeled spots, posted photos of what an area should look like, and a short end-of-day reset. Assign ownership of each area to a person. Follow up consistently and calmly when standards slip, and recognize people when their areas stay in good shape. Involving the team in designing the system also increases buy-in, because people maintain what they helped build.
How often should a repair shop do an inventory count?
Many shops perform a full count at least once a year, with more frequent cycle counts of high-value or fast-moving items. Regular counts catch shrinkage, misplaced stock, and unreturned cores before they become large losses. Clear reorder points and a consistent process for receiving and returning parts make each count faster and more accurate over time.
Resources and Links From This Episode
Connect With the Guests
- Reiny Salmen: Loyola Service website, Get a hold of Imperial Supplies LLC
