No matter what system you have, you will always have those few websites to look at more. When it comes to the business side I want that stuff, until I want to get rid of it. They just kind of get that deer in the headlights look. Most systems are subscription based, and I have asked these owners what happens to you business records when you give that up or change. Designed to help automotive shops increase accuracy and efficiency from diagnosis to completed repair, the industry's most comprehensive repair information.
While they may not be doing individual invoicing, they do enter it as sort of a batch, on a daily or weekly basis. SureTrack adds to the power of ProDemand and ShopKey Pro with an exclusive combination of expert knowledge and detailed parts replacement records, all wrapped in an interactive community. Most every shop owner I know that has one, still has a quick books side that they pay wages and taxes on. I think the one place information management systems fall short on is the business side of things. I have kind of taylors mine to do what I want it to do. You have to kind of set it up in how you do business. Because of that most larger parts stores will offer a break on pricing if you use one.Īgain it is all how you use it. Although most will let you drop parts from electronic cataloging right onto the invoice. I am not sold on any of them for management software. Their commissions are driven about the services they sell, and they want you happy with their product. I would look at the Mitchell system from a Mitchell representative.
Like others have said Mitchell, shop key and some others are the same thing. ProDemand/ShopKey Pro Mobile Multi-functional S button Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) Anti-Virus TSB/Recalls/Campaigns (Verus Edge only) Simplified Printer Installations Windows 7 embedded standard It’s lighter than the D10 Supports Multi-touch for pinch zoom New Docking Station will only support the VERUS.
Like all tools you get it and you get familiar with it and how to use it, and use it the best that you can. I think information systems are just another tool. Will the be good enough 95% of the time yes. Will they all have what you want to look at 100% of the time? No. An entrepreneurial fellow looking to expand his business model to include technical motorbike diagnosis is very quickly dissuaded by the lack of comprehensive data available in a user-friendly, efficient format.Hard to tell if you are using it for personal reasons or a shop setting.Īll in all, they are all good systems. (Good thing Matt's young eyesight was available to me!) If I had circuit descriptions and sub-diagrams like the automotive database programs provide, it'd been done in about 12 minutes flat.
Of that time, 30 minutes was spent tracing circuits on that horrid factory schematic from a PDF file. It took me almost 40 minutes to diagnose Matt's faulty F3 tachometer last week, and he already had all the plastics off and circuits exposed for easy access. I am surprised nothing like this exists for motorcycles, and am betting there's something out there, even if it's just Harley stuff to start with.Ī similar program would make your job SO much easier Alan, and your actual diagnostic times would eventually be cut by over 75%. If this is your first time using ShopKey Pro, your. Both incorporate comprehensive parts and labor guides with integrated OE and after-market parts listings, with warranty times, TSBs, recall information, technical resources, etc. Login to ShopKey Pro Click on Login on the upper left side of the screen and enter your username/password. The other (AllData) uses factory schematics and data straight from the OEMs, with diagrams broken down into sub-systems and sub-sub-systems for really slick pinpoint testing. One of them (Mitchell) creates their own wiring diagrams in a format that allows the user to custom tailor and highlight just the colored circuits he needs to address, and provides proprietory blow-by-blow procedures for most repairs, like Haynes. That's the beauty of the two mainstream services I listed above.