# Event Highlight: Kwik Fit — The Shop Floor Is Changing as Fast as the Car
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I was in Birmingham with roughly 500 Kwik Fit service managers for a keynote about the rapidly changing future of automotive service. My message could be summarized in one sentence: The shop floor is changing as fast as the car. The automotive industry has always involved technological change, but the nature and speed of that change are increasing dramatically. Electric vehicles bring different drivetrains, different maintenance requirements and different service economics. Connected vehicles generate new data, new diagnostic possibilities and entirely new customer expectations. Software is becoming a much bigger part of the vehicle itself, which means more problems are found through code and data rather than only through traditional mechanical inspection. The result is a rapid acceleration in skills. Yesterday’s technical knowledge has a shorter shelf life. Training can no longer be something that happens occasionally. It increasingly becomes continuous. That is a major issue for any automotive service organization, because strategy ultimately meets reality on the shop floor. A leadership team can understand electrification. A corporate strategy can anticipate connected vehicles. A company can invest in new diagnostic systems. But none of it matters unless frontline managers and technicians understand the change, accept it and know what to do with it. That is why my keynote, “To Be Part Of Tomorrow, Be Part Of The Journey,” focused as much on change and adoption as it did on technology. Innovation is going to invade people’s working lives whether they invite it in or not. The useful question is: What are you going to do with it? For Kwik Fit, the future of automotive service is about new vehicles, new skills, new systems and a new operating mindset. And for the service managers in Birmingham, the challenge was immediate: Do not wait for that future to arrive in your bay. Start becoming part of the journey now. Read the full keynote case study, or explore more event highlights.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/event-highlight-kwik-fit-2024/