Established in 1932, Rihm Kenworth in Coon Rapids, MN, is a 92-year-old, family owned and operated fourth-generation business. Boasting seven dealerships across the Midwest, it is also the only 100% woman-owned Kenworth truck dealer in the U.S., helping to pave the way for women in trucking.
Rihm Kenworth Body Shop & Collision Center
Coon Rapids, MN
651-236-6080
www.rihmkenworth.com/truckbodyshop
Facebook: @RihmKenworth
Instagram: @rihmkenworth
Twitter: @RihmKenworth
LinkedIn: @rihm-kenworth
YouTube: @rihmkenworth
Company At A Glance...
Type: Truck Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 11
In Business Since: 1932
Number of Locations: One
Production Space: 15,000 square feet (body shop)
Randy Johansson has been managing the dealership’s body shop for four years, but he has a long history in the industry.
“I worked part-time in a friend’s shop when I was in high school,” said Johansson. “So that’s where the bug bit me. And I’ve been in it ever since — first as a technician, then, for the past 26 years, as a manager.”
When it comes to local competition for Rihm Kenworth’s body shop, Johansson said between independent shops and a couple of dealership groups, the Twin Cities Metro Area provides some “pretty stiff competition” for truck repairs.
Shop manager Randy Johansson says the 3M™ RepairStack™ has greatly increased efficiency in the shop.
To be successful in that market, Johansson said his shop focuses on performing fast, thorough repairs. “We concentrate on quality and reducing downtime. We know that truckers aren’t making any money with their truck in our shop, so our goal is to get them back on the road as quickly as possible. And we make sure it’s a quality repair so they don’t end up going to somebody else to fix something that we should have repaired correctly the first time,” said Johansson.
Of course, running a body shop for heavy trucks means managing a huge amount of inventory, and when Johansson came to the Rihm Kenworth shop, he knew they needed to increase efficiency in this area.
“We were looking for help with inventory control — cost management, security, ease of ordering — those kinds of things. I’ve known and used 3M products forever in this industry, so working with them was the obvious choice for me,” said Johansson.
The shop decided to go all in with 3M™ RepairStack™ Performance Solutions, including both hardware and software. After making the commitment, the 3M team came to Rihm Kenworth to help with installation, implementation and training. That process included a thorough assessment of the products the shop was carrying.
“They were here for several days and [3M rep] John Phillips helped us streamline everything. We were carrying so much unnecessary inventory. We went from about 500 SKUs to around 150. It’s astonishing how much businesses waste because they have money tied up in unnecessary inventory,” said Johansson.
After two years of using 3M™ RepairStack™, Johansson said it has transformed inventory management for the business.
Located in Coon Rapids, MN, the Rihm Kenworth body shop focuses on fast, quality repairs.“We have the complete system, including the cabinets to keep things organized. We have minimums and maximums set up on our ordering system so that when a product gets to a certain level, it automatically generates an order. All we have to do is provide a purchase order number and it’s sent off to our jobber, and the next day we see our product. It saves hours of time managing inventory,” he said.
Johannson added that even the organization and placement of the 3M cabinets has helped improve the whole workflow of the shop.
“One of the changes we made was locating the cabinets in the center of the shop so the techs aren’t wasting time walking across the shop for materials,” he said. “And everything is organized and easy to find in the cabinet so materials can be quickly identified.”
When Johansson first decided to implement the 3M™ RepairStack™ system, he said he had some pushback from employees. But once they experienced the product, there was a fast turnaround.
“To say there was resistance is an understatement — they were used to doing things in a certain way and nobody likes change,” he said. “But it didn’t even take a month for everyone to get on board. For the techs, it’s the ease, organization and the central location of the product that they appreciate.”
Johansson said the 3M onboarding process set the business up for success with RepairStack™, but he noted the support didn’t stop there. “The support from 3M has always been awesome. I can call someone at any time, and I usually hear back from them within the hour,” he said.
On the whole, Johansson sees 3M™ RepairStack™ as a critical business asset that has increased productivity and drastically reduced the amount of time he spends on inventory management.
“Managing inventory used to take hours — now, I can just hit a couple of buttons and I have my inventory value at my fingertips. Our orders are done automatically, there’s less time involved, and it makes everything so much more efficient,” he concluded.
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To read more auto body shop profiles from the October 2024 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
