MOT Juice takes a look at the new MOT seasonal rush and how garages can balance out the workload throughout the year.
MOT business owners the country over have been grappling with how to manage the new annual MOT demand curve. This Covid-19 MOT extension hangover has set a trend that will likely linger for the foreseeable future, with some predicting it will persist for more than five years. Instead of complaining about its challenges, let’s look at working out effective ways of managing business resources to accommodate the changing needs in our industry.
Covid-19 has thrown many old habits and routines into disarray, from working patterns to social lives to social health responsibility. As the dust settles from the original storm of the pandemic, collectively, we are evolving and emerging new routines and structures to take their place. As the country returns to mass events and foreign travel, the MOT demand curve is still significantly impacted. Our industry must create new workflows and routines to deal with this new normal.
The six-month MOT extension during the first 2020 national lockdown has created a steep increase in demand at this time of year, with peak demand occurring during the winter months followed by a much quieter period over the summer. This feast and famine cycle in the MOT bays differs significantly from the steady demand we have been used to and presents challenges regarding effective resource allocation.
Garage owners are still responsible for maintaining a fixed staffing quota throughout the year, despite the significantly changeable workflow volume from season to season. The last thing they want is their testers sitting around twiddling their thumbs for half the year, waiting on the silly season to kick in. Since convincing customers to get MOTs earlier than required is neither realistic nor desirable, we need to look within the business for ways to balance out workflow internally.
Mitigating the change in demand
For savvy business owners, strategic resource allocation has become key in effectively mitigating the new MOT demand curve. Fulfilling business obligations to the DVSA and ensuring the garage is running safely and to a high standard is an excellent mission for the quieter season. Some things we can do during the quieter season are:
- Ensure our testers complete their DVSA-mandated training and annual assessment before the busy season and the March deadline. MOT Juice launched its 2022-23 mock exam system early this year to help testers prepare early for their annual assessments.
- Ensure all business DVSA compliance is spot-on. The MOT Juice compliance suite helps with QC checks, calibrations, Test Quality information reviews, invoice cross checking, site manager training, test logs reviews, facilities audits and more to ensure complete DVSA compliance.
- Carry out any equipment maintenance and fine-tuning of resources.
- Encourage staff to use holiday entitlement as much as possible during the quieter season.
- Train sufficient staff to conduct MOT testing when the busy season kicks in
Even taking our best efforts to mitigate the effects of the changed demand curve in these ways, we are still likely to face some unique challenges within our business. The best tool available to us in managing demand is information and awareness. Forecasts for MOT demand specific to our area can help us devise effective plans to steady the business throughout the changing seasons.
National MOT forecasting
As you can see from the map of the UK, changes in demand for MOTs compared to typical values varies significantly from area to area. The vast majority of postal towns are forecast to experience higher demand than typical values for October. The general trend in all areas is that we will see an increase in demand month on month as we move through the season.
The primary anomaly in this data is the considerably lower-than-typical demand forecast for the central London area. The Central London area shows a significant decrease from the pre-pandemic averages for the time of year. This Central London anomaly could be a knock-on effect of the well-documented Covid-19 mass exodus out of the capital.
What you can do
Knowing the forecasted data ahead of time can help us manage this period of higher demand most effectively. By looking at our typical demand, we can realistically forecast the percentage of increased demand we can reasonably cater to, given our staffing and environmental restrictions. This critical metric will help us inform our scheduling and control our diary while allowing time for necessary MOT repairs. Some other things we can do to manage the season of higher demand more effectively are:
- Stop discounting MOTs
- Extend opening hours
- Encourage overtime, whether paid or in exchange for extra time off during the quiet season
- Increase the speed of productive test times whilst ensuring you can prove to the DVSA that standards are not suffering
- Discourage while-you-wait MOTs: having all the cars on-site allows you to run your workshop more efficiently
If your workshop is in an area expecting increased MOT demand, MOT Juice is here to help you. We have designed our compliance and training system to save you time and effort in running your VTS, managing your testers and helping your team to take responsibility for fulfilling their DVSA obligations. Like you, the MOT Juice team are testers who work the bays. Your needs are our needs, and we’ve modelled the MOT Juice system to meet these needs in the simplest possible way.
