The automotive aftermarket industry is no stranger to change, as technicians must adapt constantly to new components and technology in vehicles. Shop management hasn’t changed nearly as rapidly, however, leaving owners with no choice but to piece together the tools needed to run a profitable, successful repair shop. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Shop4D gives shop owners of independent and franchise repair shops a complete, self-learning set of tools for the first time, said the company.

The Shop4D shop management system integrates every aspect of the repair into a single tool, allowing AI to learn from every inspection, advisement and communication, and proactively show the owner how to run the shop more efficiently and more effectively, said the company.

Built with a philosophy of “no training necessary,” Shop4D uses intuitive tools from the first moment a vehicle arrives at the shop, where the camera on a tablet or cell phone reads the VIN and starts the check-in process. By the time the vehicle is dispatched, the technician already has access to recall and Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) information, and AI is working to diagnose the vehicle from the second the ticket is started. As the tech is doing an inspection, patent-pending Shop4D will source parts and begin to build the invoice.

AI is integrated in far more than the inspection process. Shop4D has incorporated and built AI into every aspect of the business, including:

• point of sale (POS)
• digital vehicle inspections
• customer communication and marketing
• parts ordering
• labor guides
• training
• credit card processing
• management and measurement

“The shop is as busy as ever, but it doesn’t feel chaotic. Each team member has the information they need right when they need it, which lets them efficiently make a diagnosis, source parts, complete an invoice, communicate with the customer, or any other task they are doing,” said Chris Morgan, manager of Keller Bros. Auto Repair in Littleton, Colo. “Since we began using Shop4D, our techs spend more time fixing vehicles and less time looking up information, diagnosing, inspecting and filling out forms. The advisors help customers instead of being buried in the process of putting together an estimate and trying to source parts. And, because it’s protecting the shop’s profits automatically while saving time in every part of the process, my job has become a snap.”

The Shop4D enterprise software management tool doesn’t require any installation – it can be used on a shop’s existing devices (tablet, smart phone, laptop or computer). The Shop4D team has made switching seamless by securely importing a shop’s entire history into the cloud-based system. Once a shop has switched to Shop4D, they’re connected to an AI that is constantly learning from each shop on Shop4D. Every repair makes the program smarter for all Shop4D clients, meaning techs, advisors and owners are already experienced with new customers, vehicles or marketing because AI has already learned from their history and the history of every other shop on the program.

More information about Shop4D is available at shop4d.com. Set up a demo to learn how to turn any repair shop into a shop of the future, today.