Set a realistic bookable-hours limit, subtract existing commitments and compare the incoming repair on the same basis. Check parts, approvals, space and specialist availability before confirming the booking. Review the plan again when scope or capacity changes.
Separate the three dates
A customer requests a Monday drop-off and asks whether Friday pickup will work. The intake opening answers only the first question. Production also needs an agreed scope, usable parts, available people and the right equipment. A delivery commitment needs those dependencies reviewed together.
- Requested drop-off: when the customer would like to bring the vehicle in.
- Planned start: when the shop expects ready work to enter production.
- Promised delivery: the completion commitment communicated to the customer.
Record each date with its meaning. If a vehicle must arrive before work can start, explain the expected wait. When new damage changes the plan, revisit the delivery commitment and contact the customer instead of assuming an internal calendar change communicates it.
Set an honest limit
Choose a consistent basis for booking hours. Estimated repair labor, technician attendance and elapsed calendar time are different measures. A daily intake allowance expressed in estimated labor hours describes the volume accepted for that date; it does not mean every booked hour will be performed before that day ends.
Use the shop's recent workload to choose a manageable allowance. Review repairs that moved smoothly alongside those that stalled. If large structural repairs consume a constrained specialist or bay, a comfortable total can still hide an impractical mix. Keep those restrictions in the booking review.
Enter known capacity reductions before filling the week: vacations, holidays, equipment outages and outside appointments. Give one person responsibility for the limit and its exceptions. A default that nobody updates quickly becomes a statement of ideal conditions instead of a usable plan.
Compare two days
| Capacity check | Monday | Tuesday |
|---|---|---|
| Bookable allowance | 80 | 64, reduced for an outage |
| Already booked | 54 | 32 |
| Incoming repair | 28 | 28 |
| Total if accepted | 82 | 60 |
| Room after booking | 2 hours over | 4 hours available |
Monday exceeds the limit. Tuesday fits the declared allowance because the reduced capacity was already included. Before accepting Tuesday, the advisor still checks the required parts, approval and specialist slot. Four hours of room is a planning signal, not proof that the repair is ready.
Now suppose the incoming scope grows from 28 to 36 hours before arrival. Tuesday becomes 32 + 36 = 68 hours, four above its 64-hour limit. Revisit the booking, a later opening or the mix of other ready work. Do not keep the old 28-hour assumption simply because the customer already has a date.
The figures illustrate a booking decision, not a staffing target or industry benchmark. Use your own hours basis and constraints. A schedule also needs enough practical flexibility for the interruptions your shop actually encounters; there is no universal reserve percentage.
Review the exceptions
A short daily review should end with an owner and a decision for each exception. Start with new bookings, changed estimates and interruptions that affect the next opening. Then check whether existing repairs will occupy the people, bays or equipment the intake plan assumes will be free.
- Which scheduled repair is still missing a usable part or approval?
- Which scope change alters the hours or required specialist?
- Which hold has a next action, an owner and a review time?
- Which revised plan requires a customer update today?
A supplier ETA is useful context, but readiness requires checking what actually arrived and whether it is usable. The parts management guide covers that handoff. Use the cycle-time guide afterward to investigate where the plan and the actual repair diverged.
How AutoHound helps
AutoHound Schedule compares booked labor hours with daily capacity and supports planning around vacations, holidays, equipment limits and promised deliveries. Online drop-off requests feed into AutoHound for the team to accept or decline. A customer request still needs the shop's booking review.
The Capacity Sold vs Available report compares booked labor hours with daily capacity and marks closed days. The production board keeps promised dates, blockers, assignments and parts signals in view as repairs progress. These views support the decisions above; an hours total alone cannot establish that every dependency is ready.
Shop checklist
- Record the review date, reviewer and planning period.
- State the booking-hours basis and daily allowance.
- List booked hours and the current incoming repair hours.
- Record closures, reduced capacity and the reason for each exception.
- Confirm parts readiness, approvals and remaining dependencies.
- Check bay, equipment, specialist and outside appointment availability.
- Record requested drop-off, planned start and promised delivery separately.
- Assign each unresolved item an owner and next review time.
- Record any revised commitment and the customer update.
All worked examples are illustrative, not customer results or industry benchmarks.