Tips for hiring a detailer

There is a lot of discussion around using in-house and external detailers, particularly in the current situation when finding detailers to employ is problematic. What is the difference between the two of them and more specifically what are the advantages and disadvantages of both? The following information will hopefully give some guidance between the perceived advantages and disadvantages for a business, be that a startup or pre-existing business.

Note: some of the disadvantages are based also on the use of the Vertex BD software while also identifying the benefits of using the Vertex BD software. Those items will be noted with a (BD) after the item.

The biggest difference between an in-house detailer and an external detailer is that an in-house detailer is directly employed by the business that manufactures the product. An in- house detailer does not mean that they cannot work externally i.e., from home, it simply means that they are an employee of the company. The external detailer is one that is not a direct employee of the company, but they are subcontracted to undertake the works required of a detailer. The external detailer is generally from two different areas:

• They are a local company within the area (state or country) that your business operates from, or
• They are an overseas firm supplying a detailing service to multiple companies from multiple countries worldwide.

In-House Detailers

Having an in-house detailer has a lot of advantages and some disadvantages. Following is a list of things you can take into consideration when setting up an in-house detailing team, or to just simply understand the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

• Having an in-house detailer means it is easier to directly communicate with them for anything, be that project or department related. – When the detailer works in-house, it is much easier to ask questions and get support associated with the project.
• An in-house detailer is able to deal directly with your clients as an employee of the business. – You do not need to worry about running all communication through another person within your business. The communication between the detailer and client can be direct without any concern that the information or clients’ contact details will be leaked to others.
• An in-house detailer is able to address any issues directly with the factory or site should they arise post-detailing process without the need to filter their issues through a third person. – When using an external detailer, all correspondence should feed through one point of contact (POC). This means that any questions that arise need to be filtered by this POC or someone within the detailing department needs to address the issue.

• As a business you are able to work with an in-house detailer to help them complete projects on tight timelines and problem-solve any issues that may arise. – If a project is urgent or running a little behind schedule then it is far easier to manage the situation with an in-house detailer as opposed to communicating with an external detailer who may be in a different time zone and may have other commitments.
• The in-house detailer can communicate much easier with other staff from within the business as they can do this face to face. – Potential issues can be identified sooner and resolved.
• Having an in-house detailer means that they work the same hours as the rest of your staff allowing easy access for other staff should questions arise or assistance or advice be needed. – Sometimes if you are using an external detailer, they are located in a different time zone. This time zone difference can sometimes mean delays in responses when trying to communicate.
• Sometimes your in-house detailer can also double as your estimator until the task of detailing becomes an all-day task. – This will have its own benefits as well if you are looking to ensure that your estimated price matches your completed project costs. If the in-house detailer has estimated the project, then they will also know what to include and what not to include in the detailing of the project.
• In-house detailer can improve your detailing and manufacturing processes by customizing the design software at the same time when doing detailing work. (BD)

Disadvantages

There are only a few disadvantages that really come to mind to having an in-house detailer, most of these are more to do with the difficulty in finding a detailer. As a startup you are often looking for not just a detailer but a person who can also create processes that help your business grow. Maybe someone who can double hat and also estimate for the business.

• For startups the cost of a detailer can be inhibiting. – A good detailer or detailer with experience in the field (timber or steel) can be an expensive cost for a startup. Not having a good detailer can be catastrophic.
• It is very difficult to find a good detailer that can detail and manage a startup department. – For a startup business experience is key when it comes to detailers as not only would you like the person to be able to detail but to also document and define the process associated with the detailing department.
• If your detailer is away for extended periods of time or the detailer leaves the business permanently, you need to be able to have someone that can step into their position. – If you have a small business and operation this can be a problem and may mean that you need to have another person who is capable of doing the task or you use an external detailer if the period is for an extended period of time.

External detailers

As stated previously, there are a couple of different types of external detailers. Within the market there are generally detailers who:

• provide detailing services within the state / country that your business operates, and
• provide detailing services from overseas.

These detailers can be experienced in the LGS industry but not familiar with the software you are using, or they are proficient in the software but don’t opereate in the same state or country as your business. All of this needs to be taken into consideration when engaging an external detailer and all of these have their advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

Using an external detailer:

• means that if you have insufficient work to employ a fulltime detailer, you can reduce expenses over the course of a month by only paying for the hours needed. External Australian detailers or detailing companies are likely to be a lot more expensive per hour comparing to an overseas detailer.
• enables you to turn their work on and off. – As your work load increases you can use the external detailer to increase your capabilities. If you already have an in-house detailer or if your work load decreases then you can cease using the external detailer.
• can free up your in-house detailers to do the more complicated projects. – If you have an in-house detailer, you can use them for the more complicated projects and utilize an external detailer to do the easier projects. This allows you to get work done faster ensuring that the factory is kept busy while the larger project is being designed by the in-house detailer.

Alternatively, using an external detailer allows your staff who may be less experienced to work on the simple projects while the experienced external detailer works on more difficult projects. This gives more flexibility to pick up more complicated works with potentially higher margins if done correctly.

If the firm you are using is large enough then you may be able to increase your manufacturing capability to match their ability to supply you with detailing.  This will give you the ability to increase your profit which could then enable you to employ an in-house detailer to do the works in the long run.

Disadvantages

There appears to be more disadvantages to employing an external detailer than there is to having an in-house detailer.

An external detailer:

• may not necessarily know the product that you are manufacturing and therefore what they are designed for. – There are a lot of different profiles with different engineering capabilities that are used differently by manufacturers globally. Unless your business has established some clear documentation on how your product should be designed, fabricated and installed then in some cases an external detailer will not understand the cost implications of their design and potentially cost you more in the long run.
• may not know the industry expectations or construction methodologies when detailing projects if they are either in another state or in another country. – In some cases, overseas detailers might not have the industry experience to be able to produce the works you require.
• may not carry any responsibility for errors or short falls in design that cost your business money in fabrication or on site. – It is important that you identify where the point of ownership for error changes from the detailer to you as the fabricator.

Other things to consider:

• Sometimes the preparation involved in supplying all of the relevant information to the external detailer for the job you are going to assign to them almost takes longer than doing the detailing in-house. – The preparation of the documentation such as the plans, the builders’ instructions, your instructions and other relevant information sometimes ties up a staff member longer than it would if the job was being detailed in-house.
• The difference in time zones between your business location and the external detailer may be problematic, especially when a quick response is required. – When it comes to quick turn arounds for projects sometimes a time difference can be problematic. If a question is raised by the detailer, then depending on location the response may not be sent until the next business day thus loosing valuable time for both parties involved.
• If you are getting the detailing done through a firm that has a number of detailers working for them, then you may find that you will not always have the same detailer and thus continuity of works may be problematic. – Ensuring that you have the same person or team working on your projects is important. This will give you peace of mind that the quality of the works will be the same on all occasions.
• Contractors sometimes would use incompatible BD custom environment, or worse version, resulting in costly delay. This should be something the hiring person should double check before sub-contracting jobs. (BD)

The best way to overcome the disadvantages of an external detailer is to ensure that all of your requirements are clearly set out in company documents. Make sure to outline all expectations and design requirements.

It is never a good idea to share your license and activation code with the external subcontractor that is working for you. Some external detailers / companies will suggest that by using your license you will benefit as they can reduce the cost because they do not have to carry the cost of a license. This seems feasible but the reality is that once they have your license code, they can use it whenever they want and for whatever they want. They may claim to other clients of theirs that they have a license and charge them accordingly while all along they are using another client’s license. (BD)

Another point of concern is what will happen if you and the external detailer part ways. With the external detailer potentially using your license code to operate the software, you run the very real risk that they continue to utilise your licence post the termination of your agreement. This situation could be problematic and would result in a need to arrange another license activation code reissued to you and have the old code deactivated. (BD)

As you can see there are a number of advantages and disadvantages for why a business would have in-house detailers and when and why a business would utilize external detailing services. It is not for us to tell you in which direction you should head but rather to help you identify some of the possible traps associated with both situations. We hope that this information will assist your business in its decision-making process in relation to in-house detailers versus external detailers.