Processes & use cases
Every shop process — staged, reasoned, and demoable
Software only pays for itself when it encodes how workshops actually make money. Below is the full set of primary use cases: who acts, why each stage exists, real demo screenshots, and what is Live vs Partial in the multi-tenant demo today.
23 use cases · real demo screenshots · honest Live / Partial status
Vehicle lifecycle
Complete vehicle service lifecycle
The Automotive Workshop Operating System (AWOS) maps every customer moment from first contact to retention — so software follows how workshops actually earn margin.
- 01
Lead
Phone, web, walk-in, or fleet enquiry captured as a real person + vehicle need.
- 02
Customer
First-class CRM record — not free text on a paper job card.
- 03
Vehicle
Rego, VIN, history, and ownership linked so the next visit is faster.
- 04
Booking
Slot, service type, and capacity intent before the bay is blocked.
- 05
Check-in
Booking becomes a repair order; board WIP starts counting.
- 06
Inspect
DVI findings with severity create evidence, not opinions.
- 07
Estimate
Priced lines for recommended work — ARO lives or dies here.
- 08
Approve
Line-level authorisation; variations cannot silently expand scope.
- 09
Parts
Reserve, order, receive — bays stop becoming parking lots for missing parts.
- 10
Labour
Clock time on the job so efficiency is coached, not guessed.
- 11
Produce
Repair with domain-enforced stage transitions and blockers visible.
- 12
Invoice
GST tax invoice from approved lines — money path, not a second spreadsheet.
- 13
Pay
Record payment / pay-link path; AR and cash visibility for owners.
- 14
Release
Vehicle out with history written for the next service conversation.
- 15
Retain
Follow-up, deferred work recovery, and next-service reminders.
Use case library
Primary SaaS flows with step sequences
Each card opens a full stage sequence: action, why it exists, surface, outcome, and a live demo capture where available.
Service advisor · front of house
LiveFront desk intake
Every delayed or messy intake creates rework: wrong vehicle, missing phone number, or an RO that never hits the board. Intake is where car count and data quality are either protected or destroyed.
Capacity · CX · car count
LiveOnline booking → check-in
Missed calls and voicemail are silent car-count killers. A public book URL (and optional iframe) captures intent when the shop is under a car — then check-in converts the appointment into board WIP.
Workshop manager · floor control
LiveJob board dispatch
WIP only improves when stages mean the same thing to advisors, techs, and owners. Domain-enforced transitions stop “just move it to ready” shortcuts that hide missing parts or unapproved work.
Technician · trust · ARO
LiveDigital vehicle inspection (DVI)
Photo-backed (and structured) findings raise approval rates and cut “I didn’t authorise that” disputes. The system must connect inspection → estimate → customer decision without retyping.
Authorisation · margin protection
LiveEstimate & line-level approval
Shops lose money two ways: unapproved work that becomes write-offs, and weak ARO because recommended work was never decided. Line state is the control plane.
Parts · purchasing · throughput
LiveParts reserve & purchasing
Authorised work without parts is fake progress. Reserve on approve, raise POs, and receive goods so stage AWAITING_PARTS means something operationally true.
Technician · efficiency
LiveTechnician My Day & labour
Techs should spend cognitive load on diagnosis and repair — not hunting the same screens advisors use for AR. My Day + timers + DVI keep the floor fast.
Money path · cash
LiveInvoice, payment & AR
Re-keying approved work into a separate invoicing tool is how lines get lost and disputes start. Operational invoices should birth from authorised scope; books of record stay in Xero/MYOB — export is Dry-run today with a gated live push path, not Connected theatre.
Owner · profit theory
LiveOwner KPIs & attention
Thin-margin independents die on invisible waste: unapproved work, idle bays, unbilled labour, late AR. Dashboards only help when formulas are honest and tied to board reality.
Customer experience
LiveCustomer portal approve
Customers will not create another password to approve brakes. Token links deliver line decisions, audit trails, and faster bay release.
PLG · time-to-value
LiveShop onboarding (Day 0)
Software that needs a consultant to open a job will lose independents. Day 0 should create a tenant, an owner, a bay, and a path to the board — then deepen configuration.
Evaluation · trust
LiveMulti-role demo accounts
Buyers regret tools that look great in an owner demo and collapse for technicians. Seeded multi-role accounts make evaluation honest.
Money · CX · AR
PartialText-to-pay collection path
US leaders package text-to-pay tightly. Workshop Wrench ships payment records and pay URLs on invoices, portal pay path, and Stripe Checkout that is Stub without keys and live when configured — never Connected theatre by default.
ARO · retention
PartialDeferred work recovery
Every declined line is either lost forever or a scheduled conversation. Workshop Wrench keeps deferred work attached to the vehicle and customer — so advisors recover ARO instead of hunting sticky notes.
Groups · Scale
Live+Multi-location HQ view
Independent groups need HQ visibility: open jobs, AR, and stock movement between locations. Workshop Wrench ships multi-location KPIs and stock transfer when locations are seeded — honest Live+ depth, not a full franchise ERP.
Parts · multi-loc
LiveInter-location stock transfer
Missing parts park cars. When another location has stock, a transfer beats a rush order. Workshop Wrench records inter-location transfers against on-hand quantities.
B2B · Partial
PartialFleet accounts (B2B)
Fleet customers need purchase-order rules and threshold checks before work expands. Workshop Wrench ships fleet account fields and check APIs/UI as a Partial shell — not a branded fleet portal or insurer network.
Admin · Partial
PartialWarranty claims tracking
Warranty work needs status and history even when insurers are still email-driven. Workshop Wrench provides a warranty claims entity and UI as a Partial shell — not a live insurer integration.
Bookings · Live
LiveCalendar ICS export
Advisors live in calendar apps. Workshop Wrench exports bookings as ICS so diary visibility extends beyond the app — Live export, not a claim of full Google two-way sync.
Tech · PWA · Live+
Live+Offline DVI photo queue
Technicians still need evidence when the network blips. Workshop Wrench queues DVI finding media offline (IndexedDB) and syncs when connectivity returns — Live+ depth, not a claim of full offline ERP.
Switch · Partial
PartialImport & migration path
Migration is the hidden cost of shop software. Workshop Wrench provides an import path for operational data — Partial honesty: design-partner quality, not a certified MechanicDesk/Shopmonkey one-click claim.
Process Studio · Partial
PartialProcess rules simulation
Process Studio direction: templates, rules, and simulate-first automation so shops encode SOPs without silent financial side effects. Status is Partial — simulate exists; full authoring durability still expands.
Trust · meta process
LiveIntegrations honesty checklist
Logo walls lie. This process teaches how Workshop Wrench labels integrations — matching API catalog truth — so evaluation is fair against MechanicDesk, Workshop Software, Shopmonkey, and Tekmetric packaging.
Operating model
Why process pages exist on a marketing site
Buyers do not purchase feature grids — they purchase fewer missed cars, higher ARO, faster bay turns, and cleaner cash collection. Documenting every use case with rationale and stages makes evaluation honest, improves SEO topical depth, and keeps product, e2e, and marketing on the same spine (15 lifecycle stages).
- • Product implements domain transitions — marketing explains the why.
- • SEO landings target search phrases — processes teach the workflow.
- • Demo credentials let buyers run the same sequences without a sales deck.
SEO keyword landings
Search-term pages that link back here
Dedicated landings for high-intent phrases — each points into the matching process for depth.