Parts sales, both online and physical, increased as more businesses had time for projects while on furlough. Diffi- culties in getting replacement parts from vehicle manufac- turers increased parts sales for recyclers and the option of delivery services increased opportunities for sales, as well. Many recyclers put staff on furlough and maintained or increased productivity with fewer staff working. It is sad for those staff that have been made redundant as a result, but overall costs have been reduced, efficiency maintained or increased and sales improved! Post-COVID, there is an increased awareness of the need for training to advance staff knowledge as the need grows to retain trusted, valued and important staff mem- bers becomes increasingly important. But challenges remain in the scheduling of training with businesses run- ning much leaner. There is limited additional capacity to take three or four staff members out of the operations for even a day to facilitate training and, in some cases, as we take the training to the customer, they have limited space to host the session. We also have to think creatively about how to deliver the training in a socially-distanced manner.
AR: How has your consulting business been impacted? As an operation we were well-versed with working at
home, having done this for over 20 years. We have seen the benefit of increased video conference calls which reduces the need to travel and saves considerable time. The pandemic normalized this kind of communications,
Upside from Canada
Dalbert Livingstone // Vice President, Island Auto Supply and President, Automotive Recyclers of Canada, Winsloe, PEI, Canada
AR: How did COVID effect your business? Dalbert Livingstone:During the early stages in March 2020 with no cars on the road, and people staying home for a few weeks it got very slow. Our week volume was equivalent to a day’s volume pre-COVID. As things got moving, we realized we were running with too many employees. We had to downsize with lay-offs for about a month, but when it came time to re-hire, we didn’t bring back everyone. We learned we can do the same amount of work with less bodies. It probably helped that the upper- level management were doing the work for a period of time and found inefficiencies. We are fully open and opera- tional, and have been for some time with very limited cases of COVID-19 locally.
AR: How did you get more creative with running your business? Some departments are very hard to replace – sales, for example. This department takes a long time to train, and the sales team develops a lot of connections with expe- rience. Instead of laying one off, we had a meeting and
54// September-October 2021
where before it was difficult to initiate. Initially the quality of these calls was poor, but the various platforms have really upped their game and we rarely encounter prob- lems with this type of system now. One of the benefits of forward planning was all our work-based computers are hard wired into the network so we don’t rely on wi-fi which does suffer drop-outs. Yet post-COVID, we are really looking forward to meeting to enjoy a drink or a meal face to face. Zoom calls are great, but there is also a need to meet up occasionally and break bread together. For our business, one positive aspect of the pandemic restrictions were the significant reductions in the costs of doing business. Travel is one of our biggest outlays, so completing virtual training brings in revenue without the additional costs and, looking forward, we will exercise much more control over travel arrangements and costs so we keep this as low as possible in the future. This is a significant benefit to the bottom line, but also to our team who will not be traveling as much or spending significant time away from home. We will never go back to how life was pre-COVID – too much has changed. As a business we have learned and grown, our standards have gotten higher, our practices have been adapted, the services we offer to our clients have increased and our team is busier than ever. I have always loved what I do, but I also enjoy more time doing life with my family, as well!
they agreed to each take one day off per week, allowing us to lose the wage cost of an employee, but not lose a key member of the team.
AR: What changes resulting from the pandemic have you kept or eliminated?
The curb side pickup
was eliminated. It was not popular and most people didn’t choose to do business that way. You can still buy online, but you pick up in store.
AR: In what ways did the pandemic help your business? It has created shortages in supply chains which has increased our revenues. Not only in volume, but we have been increasing prices as market demand climbs.
AR: How have your employees been affected for the better? In the production departments, increases still come from more production, but the sales team are seeing benefits as their numbers climb in both volume and dollar amounts.
Automotive Recycling
BOOST OR BUST?
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