Bays, mechanics and time off: the end of double-booking

Monday, 10am: two cars are waiting for the same lift. The mechanic booked for the second one has been on holiday since Thursday, but nobody checked the diary. A paper calendar shows you what you wrote in it — not what you forgot to write.

Every bay is a resource, not a column

In Garageflow you set up the workshop as it actually is: lifts, bays, parking spots for cars waiting on parts. Each bay has its own working hours, lunch break and assigned technicians. When you book a job you pick the bay and the crew — and the system already knows who can work where.

Conflicts are caught before the booking, not after

On every booking, Garageflow checks four things at once: is the bay free at that time? Do the chosen mechanics have another job in the same slot? Is anyone on approved leave? Is the shop closed for a holiday? If there's a conflict you see it before confirming — not on Monday morning with the customer at the gate. And if you just need a free slot, the system suggests only times that are genuinely open.

One job, several mechanics, one honest duration

Big jobs aren't one-person jobs: you can assign several mechanics to the same job, and the conflict check accounts for each of them individually. Duration comes from the time slot, but you can override it manually when you know that engine needs a full day, not three hours — so the calendar reflects reality, not the first guess.

Time off and maintenance block the calendar by themselves

A mechanic requests leave in the app — vacation, sick, personal, full days or just a few hours. The moment you approve it, that window is blocked in the calendar. Same for lift maintenance: schedule it and the bay becomes unavailable for exactly that window, with recurrence for periodic inspections. Bank holidays are set once and repeat yearly.

See how loaded the team is, per day and per person

Day and week views show the jobs on every bay and each technician's utilisation: scheduled hours against the day's capacity. You see at a glance who's overloaded on Tuesday and who has room on Thursday — and you can move a job before it turns into a promise you can't keep.

Waiting cars don't block the lift

A job has states the calendar understands: in progress, waiting for parts, ready for pickup. The car waiting on a part sits in a parking spot, not on the lift — and the freed-up lift takes the next job. The difference between a workshop that's ‘full’ and one that produces is often exactly that: what's on the lifts versus what's merely waiting.

And the customer finds out the car is ready by notification — not by calling every two hours.

Double-booking doesn't go away with more attention. It goes away when the calendar refuses to accept it.