Precision Coachworks Business Plan — Operations and the Capacity Build
The build from one booth and 16 floor positions to two booths and 38, the workflow behind a 9-day key-to-key cycle, and the equipment it needs.
Operations and the Capacity Build
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- Overview & contents
- i. Important Notice and Basis of Preparation
- 1. Executive Summary
- 2. Market and Structure
- 3. Accreditation and Compliance
- 4. How a Panel Shop Actually Makes Money
- 5. SWOT and Competitive Position
- 6. Operations and the Capacity Build
- 7. Route to Market
- 8. Management and Governance
- 9. Financial Plan
- 10. Break-Even and Debt Service
- 11. Investment Analysis
- 12. Sensitivity and Scenario Analysis
- 13. Risk Analysis
- 14. Implementation Roadmap
- 15. Key Performance Indicators
- 16. Key Assumptions
- 17. Conclusion and Recommendation
- A. Appendix A: Consolidated Financial Summary
- B. Appendix B: Capital and Capacity Schedules
- C. Appendix C: Funding, Debt and Working Capital Schedules
- D. Appendix D: Risk Register
- E. Appendix E: Glossary
- 6.1 The capacity build
- 6.2 Equipment and premises
- 6.3 Workshop flow
6.1 The capacity build
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Spray booths |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Floor positions |
16 |
20 |
32 |
36 |
38 |
|
Positions added in the year |
16 |
4 |
12 |
4 |
2 |
|
Key-to-key cycle time, days |
14.0 |
12.0 |
10.5 |
9.5 |
9.0 |
|
Utilisation |
48% |
66% |
70% |
77% |
81% |
|
Vehicles repaired |
134 |
270 |
523 |
715 |
838 |
|
Average repair value, R |
35 821 |
35 278 |
35 078 |
35 035 |
34 975 |
|
Vehicles per floor position |
8.4 |
13.5 |
16.3 |
19.9 |
22.1 |
6.2 Equipment and premises
|
Item |
R |
Depreciation life |
Note |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Spray booths — 2 heated, filtered, downdraught |
4 600 000 |
12 years |
The single largest capital item; second booth added in Year 3 |
|
Premises fit-out, extraction, bunding and compliance |
1 560 000 |
10 years |
Air emissions, waste handling, fire and effluent compliance |
|
Chassis straightening bench and electronic measuring |
1 380 000 |
12 years |
Required for structural grading and manufacturer approvals |
|
Preparation bays and extraction |
1 150 000 |
10 years |
Prep and flatting stations feeding the booths |
|
Welding — MIG, MAG, resistance spot and aluminium |
820 000 |
8 years |
Manufacturer approvals specify welding equipment and operator certification |
|
Solar, compressed air and backup power |
780 000 |
10 years |
Booth and compressor loads are production-critical |
|
Hand tools, lifting, jigs and workshop equipment |
740 000 |
8 years |
Across 38 floor positions |
|
Paint mixing room, scales and colour matching |
560 000 |
8 years |
Supplier-supported mixing system with spectrophotometer |
|
Accreditation, audits and manufacturer approvals |
420 000 |
3 years |
SAMBRA, Bureau Veritas audit cycle, manufacturer facility requirements |
|
Estimating and management systems |
310 000 |
3 years |
Estimating platform, job tracking, cycle-time reporting |
|
Total equipment, fit-out and accreditation |
12 320 000 |
The first spray booth, chassis bench, welding equipment, paint mixing room and the bulk of the premises fit-out are front-loaded, because a structural repairer must be fully equipped to SAMBRA and manufacturer approval standard from the day it applies. The second booth and the additional prep bays follow in Year 3, once two insurer panel listings are secured. Hand tools and accreditation spend phase across the build as floor positions are commissioned.
6.3 Workshop flow
|
Stage |
What happens |
Cycle-time exposure |
|---|---|---|
|
Intake and estimate |
Vehicle received, documented, photographed; first estimate raised on the estimating platform |
Low, if the estimator is available. This is where the relationship with the assessor starts |
|
Strip and assess |
Vehicle stripped before assessment so hidden damage surfaces in the first estimate |
The single largest source of delay if done in the wrong order. Strip first, assess once |
|
Assessment and authorisation |
Insurer assessor attends or reviews; supplementary work authorised |
High exposure. Supplementary claims raised late add days that the floor position pays for |
|
Parts ordering |
Ordered on authorisation, not on arrival, so lead time runs in parallel with disassembly |
High exposure. Multiple suppliers per marque and a stocked consumables line are the controls |
|
Panel and structural repair |
Chassis bench, measuring, welding to manufacturer method |
Skill-dependent. This is where the qualified trade is genuinely required |
|
Preparation and paint |
Prep bay, flatting, masking, then the booth spray-and-bake cycle |
The booth is the absolute ceiling. Prep bay capacity must feed it without queueing |
|
Assembly and quality control |
Refit, road test, pre-release inspection and sign-off |
Rework caught here is cheaper than a comeback, but it costs a day. Rework caught by the customer costs the relationship |
Three of the seven stages are administrative rather than physical, and they are where most of the recoverable days sit. The estimator role therefore controls cycle time more directly than any technician does, which is why the plan scales estimators to three and treats the appointment as a production decision rather than an office one.