Detail Shop Computer Program... if you want one read here

2

2k2blackWRX

New member
My Final Project for one of my Classes is to create any program I want it has to be innovative and difficult enough.



I had the idea of creating a Program that could be used at detailing shops for a customer database, reserve cars, check in cars ect ect...



What would you guys look for in a program like this? I want your ideas because if I do go with this I will probably be needing someone to test this program as well.



What would you want in a program to help run your shop?



Oh and if I finish this and you guys like it, whoever helps me in this thread would get the program for free.



This is going to be a complete working program, not just a project so your input is needed.



thanks



Bryan
 
i'm not a total pro but I would be willing to help at least it will be able to chart the times i clean my subbie..





patrick



PS I love your black subbie...
 
Ok guys... I have posted that I need ideas for my program on another car forum too... so hopefully someone has a need for this so I can make it.



I was thking of the following Functions:



Reservation

Check-In/Out for Cars

Customer Database

Contract

Bill

Scheduling

Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Yearly Finance Reports



I could even add in supplies and more but I want an outside view.



Oh and holland, I don't even have pice of my subie up but im guessing you got it from the name
 
Well I think it's a good idea and I was expecting that if we ever get big enough then we would have one made.



First of all ease of use is going to be the highest priority. I would rather have a program that is simple and easy to use rather then one that can do all kinds of stuff but takes a class to learn how to use.



Domino's pizza has a system that works very well that could be a good starting point for this program. When someone calls in the customer information is brought up by their phone number. From there you can look at their order history and input their current order. Could do the exact same thing for detailing schedule.



I think having a calendar view would be a good default page. You could view the current day and then a brief summary of the things going on for the next 7 days.



We are mobile so it would be nice if you could print out the information to give to the person doing the detail as well as have a link to the printable mapquest page for directions.



If you deceide to create this program and would like my help then I can think about it some more and work with you a little on layout and specific information I would want. Just let me know.
 
a) Ease of tying into a POS system

b) Ability to add photos of customers' vehicles when they come into the shop as well as email the customer updates on their vehicle.

c) Ability to tie into remote credit card readers

d) Detailing Chemical Inventory

e) Reservations

f) Reminders and Emails for promotions

g) Ability to remotely access the software from a web interface so that the owner can see the day's totals, number of customers, services, etc.



.....that's all I can think of for the moment. If I have any more ideas, I'll post them here.
 
My bad That was tacos STI but it was black.... I know the name from the thread over there from the wax pusher... at least he has good stuff.
 
g) Ability to remotely access the software from a web interface so that the owner can see the day's totals, number of customers, services, etc.
Click to expand...



I like this idea as well so employees can check the web to find out when they are working and what they are doing on a given day.
 
Make it available for laptops and that it can include many features we all use on forums!
 
-A simple GUI.



-Password protection on customer/sensitive data areas within the application.



-Ability to export figures to at least Excel.



-An option for the mobile guy that would allow for easy recording of milage put on ones work vehicle from home address to appointment address etc.



. . .to add a few. How exciting! Thanks for thinking of the detailer!!!
 
Thanks for the Ideas guys!



I will look into them and look into what I have the ability to do and see what I can come up with. I have been here for a couple years but I never got into heavy posting because I am always busy but I did detail professionaly for the past 2 summers.



If anyone has anymore Ideas you can post them, I will probably be doing my writeup tommorow night. If I don't include your idea its probably for one of 2 reasons. First might be that I have decided on enough features to keep me busy enough making the program on time. The second would be that I think that in my timeframe your feature might be too difficult for me to implement.



If after I make the program people use it and want more features I might be inclined to continue to come out with more releases possibly at a minimal charge depending on the amount of time I put in. Most likely I will not charge unless you guys think the program is good enough that I should charge for it.



I will check back in tommorow to see what other ideas have come up, Hoping to get some input from NY Detailer and anyone running a large scale shop.



If anyone wants to donate any forms, check in sheets or anything that they currently use that they think would be relevant to the program that would be great.



Thanks



Bryan
 
On Last Note... My Final Project is due May 3rd so by that date there will be a working product of what I am working on.



What happens past then will be determined by whether I have an internship this summer, how busy I am and whether you guys want more out of the program.
 
If you're going to have employees you will need to be able to track and schedule them as well.

You will want to capture taxes, environmental fees, disposal fees, and of course all your overhead and fixed costs. The devil is in the details (no pun intended), so be sure you have a place to record every expense. Catagorize them for tax purposes.



Here's the key: You can put all kinds of data into a database, but at that point it's just that - data. Not very useful untill you can turn it into information. If you have 20 pieces of data per record be sure you can find that record 20 different ways. I hate it when you can't find what you're looking for in a database. As someone already mentioned pictures is vital for bragging and protection. Make sure you have room for "comments" as well as all the structured data.



Good luck...!
 
just wanted to let you guys know I have NOT abandoned this thread and it will be alive and kiicking and probably getting a lot longer as the month goes by but as you can guess I have other classes too and I am currently busy with those.



pending approval from my teacher I will be doing this application and once I start it I will rely on you guys to help me out. I will outline what the first release will be and start working on it probably next week. So don't worry anyone it is coming and this seems like it will be a new program to the detailing world as I havn't seen one of these before. Remember though, I am 1 person not a team of people working on this so it will not be the quality you would get from a team of developers whose sole job is to develop programs.



i will make every strive to have this program serve as many purposes as possible. I hope you guys are excited for this because I am excited to work on it.



Thanks



Bryan
 
Data Base with a history of what products are used on each car.

Also a include a data base of detailing times for different type cars. This will aid in scheduling. Suburban full detail 8 hours. Explorer 6 Hours
 
STBear said:
Data Base with a history of what products are used on each car.

Also a include a data base of detailing times for different type cars. This will aid in scheduling. Suburban full detail 8 hours. Explorer 6 Hours
Click to expand...



I will make notes of what should be in each database, remember as there is more information added to the databases then we will have more tables and more joins. Pretty much makes it more complex for me.



I doub't i will include a DB of how long I think it will take to complete each car as that would take forever and my times will be different. What i will try to do is either allow you to go through the types of cars and add times for the types of details or have a history for each customer and thier specific car to know how long each detail took.



More later on this week
 
The greatest obstacle that you have to overcome is what program are you going to use to drive it? I posted on here a couple of times in the past to people inquiring about such software that I was willing to develop a MS Access solution but very few people have Access and I don't have the Developer's edition to make the database standalone without an actual copy of Access on the user's computer so I never proceeded. It could be a sellable program though if you could keep cost down to <$150 U.S..



Installation is also a big concern. It will have to be a very automated installation routine to capture all of the support files needed. For instance my company recently upgraded to Access 2003 from 2000. I have a built in calendar in one of my databases that utilizes two dll's. In A2003, Microsoft combined those 2 dll's into one and now I've got to create a patch program for computers getting upgraded or redo the calendar utility in A2003, which won't work on the A2K computers until they get switched over.



Being in Holland and using, I assume, foreign marketed software could be an issue as well.



I've been into database development for about five years and have built some very large and complex databases with a lot of unique features so if you run into anything feel free to ask.



Oh, one more thing. Everyone uses different screen resolutions so integrate a form resizer or develop in a 640 X 480 res or you'll have forms that are not completely visable to some users. I fought with this issue for quite a while before I found a solution and it still isn't what I would choose for a distributed application.
 
This is my first post on these forums. Was lurking and found your post today. I manage a detail/bodyshop here in New Brunswick, Canada and love the idea you're planning. Everyone here should be giving your any support or suggestions they can! Everyone has given you many good ideas, the only other one that i can think of is, if you haven't already. Have the employees in the system each with they're own designated number, so that when a job is completed and at the time of invoicing you can designate who worked on what vehicle and performed what job. This can help in solving any problems if the customer is unhappy with things and generally lets you look back and see who's been doing what. Productivity can be hard to discover in detailing as no one job is ever the same. I have 20+ employees and it can be hard to keep track. Is the program going to have w/o printing capabilities? so that when a vehicle is inputed that the job can be printed for the detailers to put their times, job done, etc? Sorry for the story, I'm just very interested in seeing this go very well for yourself. Thanks for listening.



Wornick Price

Cumming's AutoIndulgence
 
If you need help Graphic wise let me know.



It would also be good to store all past clients be able to mass e-mail them with promotions/newletters. Have a check list for condiction of the car when entering the shop. Employees who aregoing/have worked on that car.
 
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