No more sources of error

No more sources of error

VEHICLE INDUSTRY: The Stradner car dealership in Aller Heiligen near Wildon in southern Styria deals with both agricultural machinery and cars. What is the focus of the offer?
THOMAS STRADNER: We are a family business that is divided into three areas: agricultural technology, cars and plumbing including painting. I myself take care of the passenger car division, my brother Christian looks after the agricultural machinery. Thanks to our broad range, we can respond to the most diverse needs of our customers. Our vehicle workshop services and repairs all common car brands and agricultural machinery, and in recent years we have also developed special know-how for all Tesla models. In addition to handling claims for body damage, repairs to rims and tires, we also offer §57a inspections for cars, agricultural machinery, mopeds, motorcycles and trailers. In addition to our tire trade, there is a large range of equipment for agricultural machinery such as rollers, sprayers, plows, trailers and much more.

They are already running the business in the second generation. What is it like to have your professional and private lives so closely linked?
My brother Christian and I took over the business from our father Johann. Four siblings as well as mother and father are currently working together in the business. Being so close together privately and professionally and working with family is completely natural for us. We are very proud of our cooperation and solidarity.

Her father founded the company and ran it successfully for many years. How did you manage the generational change?
Through working in the company, our father repeatedly gave us responsibility - we learned a lot from that. The change itself worked well because our father expressed his opinions and ideas, but we made and implemented our own decisions. We are very grateful to our father for giving us free rein and supporting us in everything.

How important is digitalization in your company? Is it more of a curse or a blessing?
Of course, changes are always difficult to accept and implement, which is why we try to make our operations more digital as best we can.

What motivated you to take quality assurance measures?
When transferring manual data, errors can happen, and these are also human. Through digital transmission, these errors are minimized and are no longer a source of error. Thanks to our four-eyes principle, reports are checked again and then filed neatly.

Our colleagues from Automotive Services Support supported you with networking the workshop a few weeks ago. What experiences have you been able to gain so far?
We received good support without long waiting times and an answer to every open question. The Automotive Services team is very courteous and helpful.

Would you also recommend the network to other companies? Do you think the effort is worth it?
If everything works and you are used to the system, it makes your work a lot easier because the sources of error are largely minimized.

As part of the networking of your workshop, you also carried out an evaluation of your quality assurance process with regard to §57a together with the Automotive Services team. How did you experience the “Premium Evaluation” and were there any “aha” moments?
The evaluation was very thorough and highlighted a few things that you might not have been aware of. For example, it was quite exciting and helpful to sometimes use the analysis tool myself and observe the behavior of the reviewers.

Have processes and procedures in your company changed due to digital networking and the premium evaluation carried out? How much effort did it take and would you do it again?
The effort was completely justified by the end result. Based on the current status of the reports and the work with the EBV, we would do it again immediately.