Feb. 15, 2017—Meineke president Danny Rivera outlined the company’s main technological focuses in 2017 during a teleconference call on Tuesday.
Rivera said telematics and digital inspections were the main motifs of the 2017 Meineke Convention, which was held February 5-8. Themed “One Team. One Dream”, the convention brought together Meineke shop operators across the country for four days of presentations and workshops.
During the teleconference call, Rivera went a little deeper into Meineke’s two main focuses for 2017:
Telematics
Launched in late 2016, Meineke entered the connected car arena with its new device, Revvy. Partnering with T-Mobile, the small product plugs into Meineke customers’ OBD-II ports and allows the customer’s preferred Meineke shop to track a vehicle’s data and arrange for visits whenever that shop detects a repair is necessary.
“I can describe it simply as Fitbit for your car,” Rivera said. “It’s really all about empowering consumers to understand their car better and enjoy their cars more.”
The device also serves as a Wi-Fi hotspot, so all passengers have access to Internet while the car is moving.
In a recent call with Ratchet+Wrench, Rivera said the company is pilot testing Revvy in three different markets, and will work on rolling it out nationwide after the trial research.
Digital Inspections
Just two days ago, Meineke announced a partnership with AutoVitals for its new digital inspection program, eInspection.
With eInspection, when a customer visits Meineke for service, the technician can conduct the courtesy inspection using the eInspection high-tech tool, which is powered by AutoVitals' Smartflow technology. As the inspection is conducted, the technician captures data, photos, video and other metrics of the vehicle's condition and service needs on the eInspection tablet. This information is then sent to the service manager as part of that customer's repair order and inspection report. Technicians can even send short videos that outline the issue.
“Now, as the consumer, you’re kept abreast of what's happening to your car every step of the way,” Rivera said on the teleconference call. “We’re trying to be transparent with the consumers, to show the work we’re recommending and why we’re recommending it.”
Meineke is currently working on training staff and outfitting all facilities to be equipped for the company-wide change.
