In this FixedOps Roundtable hosted by Ted Ings, Repair OnDemand’s President, Randy Kobat, stresses the importance of third-party vendors being true partners in the reconditioning process, given that dealers outsource a significant portion of this work, often with multiple vendors. He identifies common missteps including lack of clear communication, inefficient use of disparate platforms, approval delays leading to "idle time," and misbilling or untimely lump-sum billing that can cause "controller shock" at month-end. Kobat advocates for a singular, flexible platform that all departments and third-party vendors can use to streamline communication and approvals, emphasizing the critical role of early appraisal and diagnostic work to enable a "lean manufacturing approach" to recon.

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