We run an independent auto repair shop in Seville with 2 lifts and 3 mechanics. We take in an average of 55 to 70 cars a month. Up until now, we've handled intake using paper work order pads, and tracked parts and labor costs on Excel sheets on the office computer. But as car volume grew and parts prices started fluctuating, figuring out which brand filter went onto which car and pulling up a returning customer's service history started taking up way too much time.
Annual subscriptions for dedicated shop management systems on the market range between 600 and 1,200 EUR. To keep overhead down, our initial plan is to set up a free repair shop software to manage work orders and inventory. We spotted a few open-source options or free tiers with limited features online.
In real day-to-day shop conditions, does free software actually cut it for plate-based customer history, parts inventory tracking, and printing out official work orders? Or will we hit paywalls/limits in three months and get forced right back to Excel?