How to design a vehicle workshop layout that’s optimised for efficiency

By Josh West

Most good workshops are obsessed with efficiency: investing in modern tech and the newest upgrades to cut down on their costs and the time spent on their services.

But too often, we see workshops with all the latest kit — and a clunky workshop layout that hasn’t been updated in years.

It’s easy to ignore, especially when making changes can cause disruption. But the way you design a workshop layout can have a huge effect on your throughput and efficiency.

Here’s what you need to think about if you’re giving your shop floor a rework:

 

Aim for a one-way flow

Depending on your premises, it won’t always be possible to get this perfect. But the closer you can get to a single-direction flow, the better.

In most cases, that means aiming for a ‘C-shape’ (or ‘U-shape’) structure with your workstations, where vehicles can move through every workstation they need without changing direction.

If a vehicle ever has to turn around or reverse (or worse: make a three-point turn), that’s a loss in efficiency. So if you have the space to avoid it, a one-way flow should be a top priority.

 

Allow extra space

For most workshop layouts, this is a tough one to balance — every premises wants to make full use of all the space it has.

It might seem more efficient to squeeze value from every last inch of your shop floor. But in some cases, leaving extra space is actually more efficient. By designing a workshop layout with a buffer of extra space, your vehicles can:

  • Travel faster from station to station
  • Make turnings without excessive precautions
  • Position, park, and exit workstations with confidence
  • Pass by other vehicles and equipment with less worry
  • Spend less time waiting for crossover traffic or pedestrians.

And as a bonus, this extra space is great for future-proofing your workshop:

As you expand the range of vehicles you service, you’ll be able to accommodate longer and wider vehicles more easily, without having to rearrange your layout.
RS Recovery installs Totalkare equipment for workshop refit

Think in clusters

Most checks and repairs don’t happen in isolation. So it makes sense to group related jobs and stations together in your workshop layout — to minimise travel time across the shop floor.

That means thinking about the proximity of:

  • Closely related jobs — such as placing tyre changers close to wheel balancers
  • Services that affect each other — like the need for wheel alignment after replacing suspension parts
  • Shared equipment — such as placing a hydraulic press between a bodywork station and a wheel-servicing station.

 

Separate fast and slow jobs

As well as grouping services by equipment, you can also think about the time they take.

For basic services with a fast turnaround (like oil changes or emissions testing), you can place these workstations early in the flow, with an extra lane that leads them straight to the exit.

When vehicles only need a quick tune-up, they can go straight to what they need — and get straight out. They spend less time travelling through the workshop or getting in the way of other vehicles, and you can fast-track a higher number of these vehicles to improve your throughput.

For longer services (like bodywork or mechanical repairs), you can place these stations deeper inside your workshop layout. Because these vehicles are spending more time in the shop, it doesn’t hurt your efficiency as much if you send them on a more complex journey.

 

Think about stacking services

Moving vehicles through your workshop can be one of the biggest drains on your time and efficiency. So wherever you can, it makes sense to build all-in-one workstations that can handle multiple jobs in one position.

That could mean looking at:

As well as minimising the movement and repositioning of vehicles, these multi-use workstations also save you space — keeping other parts of your shop floor free for other services (or additional traffic lanes).

 

Make use of your outdoor space

Anything that can reduce congestion and traffic is a plus. And while lots of workshops have a serviceable outdoor area, not every workshop is putting it to good use.

It could be as simple as creating an initial ‘staging area’ outside of your shop entrance. As new vehicles arrive, your teams can conduct an early inspection while the vehicle’s outside, before directing it to the workstations it needs.

For some workshops, it makes sense to create an entire workstation in an outdoor space. That could mean a lifting station that doubles as a wash bay (with a set of wash bay mobile column lifts). Or it could mean a fixed outdoor installation — like a compact pit with a brake tester and play detection.

By creating new workstations outside of your shop floor, you’re taking the pressure off your indoor operation (both in terms of space, and the traffic of moving vehicles).

 

Plan for the future now

If you’re going through the effort of optimising a new workshop layout, it can be tempting to take it the extreme: packing equipment and workstations into every square foot.

But if you don’t want to keep redesigning your layout every six months, it’s worth thinking now about your plans for the future:

As your workshop expands into new services and vehicles, your current layout won’t always be the best fit.

So as well as optimising for your current efficiency, it’s worth thinking about the long term. That means thinking about:

  • Upcoming legislation and new vehicle testing
  • The volume (and indoor traffic) of vehicles as your business grows
  • The types of vehicles you hope to be servicing (and their shapes and sizes)
  • The equipment you have that’s due an upgrade soon (and what that looks like).

With an eye on the future as you design your current workshop layout, you’ll be able to minimise disruption in the months and years ahead — keeping your efficiency high as your workshop adapts and grows.