Hoffman Car Wash & Jiffy Lube
Managing the COVID-19 shutdown and reopening
Hoffman Car Wash & Jiffy Lube provides superior car wash and oil change services. The company operates 22 Hoffman Car Washes and 9 Jiffy Lube locations in the Albany, Saratoga, Clifton Park, Queensbury, Hudson, Kingston and Binghamton, NY areas.
COVID-19 caused a substantial reduction in customers, revenues, and profits for the year. Most employees were either furloughed or had their hours reduced. On the other hand, COVID-19 also drove many positive operational changes that provide a safer work environment for its employees and customers.
The Governor declared the car wash side of the business non-essential and all stores were closed for several weeks. The Jiffy Lube business was essential and allowed to operate, with proper safety measures in place. However, the stay at home order drastically limited travel. While these stores operated, there were new restrictions and the need for automotive services was so small they operated at significantly reduced capacity.
Fortunately for Hoffman Car Wash & Jiffy Lube, the company transitioned many aspects of the business to operate paperlessly prior to COVID-19. This put the company is in a great position to support remote workers. Some office employees were already operating remotely when necessary. Within 2 days of the stay at home order, the information technology group had all remote office workers setup to work from home full time. Most accounting, finance, marketing, customer service, human resources, sales, and information technology functions are now being performed remotely.
Document management is the primary tool used when working remotely. Remote workers (with proper access rights) can access just about any document used in the company including contracts, invoices, bank records, vehicle info etc. Remote workers also have document scanners and can put documents into the system, such as invoices, and electronically send these documents to others for review and approval. The accounting and payroll systems are also accessible remotely.
Hoffman/Jiffy Lube started minimizing paper several years ago by using the eBizDocs document management solution. The main goal was to improve efficiency and reduce costs. At the time, no one envisioned supporting remote workers like they are today. However, the system’s inherent ability of being able to access any document without going to a file cabinet made it very easy to have workers remain productive remotely. Since the COVID-19 shutdown, mail is scanned into the system and routed to the appropriate user. According to Tracy Braun, Chief Financial Officer, Hoffman/Jiffy Lube, “Since we use the same document management software at home and the office, there was no learning a different system. The workflow feature is especially helpful for working remotely because the system routes documents to the next user. This keeps our internal processes moving and consistent.”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Braun has two recommendations.
- If you do not already have one, put a document management system in place. This will make working remotely much easier and improve the overall efficiency of the business.
- Discover and implement new ways to serve your customers without contact. We made several changes to support providing our services without requiring any contact between our customers and employees. This protects everyone and speeds up the entire process.
Hoffman/Jiffy Lube is not holding back implementing any new innovations till after the pandemic. The company immediately put new methods and technology in place to help today and into the future. For example, they added self-serve kiosks so all locations offer contactless payment. They also paused their Unlimited Members’ account billing till they are ready to resume washing. Finally, they are committed to the customer and employ’s safety and peace-of-mind and are following all CDC guidelines, including routine disinfecting, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
About eBizDocs
eBizDocs is a premier digital transformation provider focused on helping you put INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. Offerings include paper and microfilm conversion, content capture and document management solutions, scanner sales and service, and process consultation. eBizDocs is SOC2 Type II certified and serves private and public-sector organizations. The company is also a preferred source contractor for NYS entities. To learn how eBizDocs can help transform your operation, visit eBizDocs.com
