What is Workshop Wrench?

Workshop Wrench is an Australian-native auto repair shop management platform. It includes a drag-and-drop job board, digital vehicle inspections (DVI), estimates with line-item customer approval, GST-compliant invoicing, owner KPI dashboard, and a B2B Parts Exchange marketplace.

Is Workshop Wrench built for Australian workshops?

Yes. Workshop Wrench is designed specifically for Australian independent auto repair shops — it handles GST invoicing, AUD pricing, and Australian business workflows out of the box.

How much does Workshop Wrench cost?

Plans start from $149/month AUD (ex. GST) for the Starter tier. Growth is $249/month and Scale is $449/month. All plans include unlimited jobs, no per-technician seat fees, and a 14-day free trial.

Can I try Workshop Wrench without signing up?

Yes. The live demo is available immediately at workshopwrench.com.au/demo — no form, no credit card, and no sales call required. You get real credentials to a seeded garage with guided playbooks.

Does Workshop Wrench support digital vehicle inspections (DVI)?

Yes. Workshop Wrench includes a built-in DVI tool that lets technicians complete inspections on any device, attach photos, and share results with customers via the customer portal for instant approval.

What is the Parts Exchange in Workshop Wrench?

Parts Exchange is a B2B parts marketplace built into Workshop Wrench. It lets independent workshops source parts from wreckers, suppliers, and other shops across Australia — reducing procurement time and cost.

Staff academy

Train the hire on their job — not on the owner tour

Name: Workshop Wrench
Brand: Workshop Wrench

Shops lose the first week when everyone sits through an owner demo. These paths are 10–20 minute first wins with screenshot pins, common mistakes, and a Day 0 / 1 / 3 / 7 cadence. Use the seeded demo. Self-serve trial signup is paused.

Request a demo Evaluation playbooks All processes

How adults learn on a shop floor

Education principles we actually use

Borrowed from shop apprenticeship, not corporate LMS theatre. Keep sessions short, role-specific, and on the live board.

Train the job, not the product tour

Owner dashboards do not teach reception how to open a repair order. Each role gets a 15-minute first win on the screens they will touch today.

Do, then name

Adults in a shop learn by completing a real (or demo) job. Name the stage after they have dragged the card — not from a slide.

Shadow, then reverse-shadow

Day 0 they watch one money path. Day 1 they drive while a coach spots. Day 3 they run it alone with a checklist. Day 7 they teach the next hire one step.

Highlight in the UI

Coach marks beat PDFs. If a control matters, point at it on the live screen. Never hide the board behind a 40-page manual.

One money path before feature dump

Customer → vehicle → RO → estimate line → approve → invoice. Until that path is muscle memory, skip KPIs, Process Studio, and integrations.

Role logins from day one

Shared owner passwords train the wrong habits and break audit. Invite the hire as SERVICE_ADVISOR, TECHNICIAN, PARTS, or RECEPTION.

Competence, not attendance

Done means they can complete the checklist without the coach. Time-in-seat is not a metric.

Honesty about stubs

Do not train staff on SMS, Stripe Checkout, or Xero push as if they were live. Label mock / stub / dry-run the same way the product does.

Desktop is a host, not a different product

Electron Shop / Ops / Parts Exchange wrap the same web apps. Train the job in the browser first. Do not treat an unsigned window as a signed installer.

Cadence

Day 0 · 1 · 3 · 7

Same shape for every role. Only the screens change.

Day 0
Watch
Coach runs one complete path for that role. Hire does not touch the keyboard except login.
Day 1
Drive
Hire runs the first-win sequence twice. Coach only interrupts on search-before-create, illegal board moves, or skipped auth.
Day 3
Alone + checklist
Competence list without the coach standing over the shoulder. Gaps become tomorrow’s 15-minute drill — not a new feature tour.
Day 7
Teach one step
Hire shows the next person (or the owner) one stage. Teaching is the retention test.

Choose a role

First-win paths

Each path is a 10–20 minute sequence with screenshot pins. Maps onto the eight UserRole values — we do not invent extra logins.

Day 0 · front of house

Reception first win — the board only works if intake is clean

The desk is where car count is won or lost. Teach search, customer, vehicle, and “open the job” before any other screen.

First win: Find or create a customer, attach a vehicle, open an RO that appears in New.
Time: 12–15 min
Maps to: P02 · RECEPTION or SERVICE_ADVISOR

If you skip this: New desk staff type jobs as free text, duplicate customers, and never put the car on the board — then the floor asks “where is that Mazda?”

Reception / front desk · first win

Highlight each control as you train

Click a step or a numbered pin. The spotlight is educational — live demo captures, not a marketing mockup.

Step 1 of 4 · click a pin or use arrow keys

Customers.

Customer and vehicle history in one place — full service record, deferred work, and contact details without digging through old job cards.

Look here · 1. Global search — name, phone, rego, RO #. Always search before create.

First week

Reception / front desk — Day 0 to Day 7

Keep the same cadence. Swap the screens, not the method.

Day 0
Watch one intake
Coach runs search → customer → RO. Hire only observes.
Open process →
Day 1
Drive intake
Hire runs two walk-ins. Coach spots search-before-create.
Open process →
Day 3
Check-in + tablet
Booked job → check-in → ATR on the counter tablet.
Open process →
Day 7
Release desk
Ready cars, release checklist, keys — no silent “they took it”.
Open process →

Done when

Competence checklist

Can find a returning customer by phone or rego
Can create customer + vehicle without prompting
Can open an RO that appears on the board
Does not share the owner login

Coach script

Say these out loud

Ask: “Did you search?” before any create.
Show a duplicate customer and why SMS would hit the wrong number.
End the session only when the New column shows their RO.

Front desk intake Online booking → check-in Customer portal Matching playbook

What goes wrong

Training failure modes

These show up in every independent shop that "did a demo once".

Failure	Symptom	Fix
Everyone trained as the owner	Techs live on the dashboard; reception never finds search	Role path below. Hide owner KPIs from the first tech session.
Feature dump before first RO	Hire remembers settings, forgets intake	First win is a customer + vehicle + RO in under 15 minutes.
PDF instead of board	Staff cannot find the button they read about	Walk the annotated screenshot, then the live demo with pins.
Illegal stage jumps as “training speedrun”	Coach skips AWAITING_AUTH; floor later fights domain rules	Domain-legal transitions only. Illegal moves are the lesson.
Shared login forever	No labour attribution, no RBAC, audit noise	Invite on Day 0. Owner login is not a shop account.

FAQ

Training Workshop Wrench without a consultant week

Do we need a separate LMS?

No. Role first-wins plus the in-app Day-0 checklist and product tour are the training system. Process Studio (roadmap) may add shop-authored SOP overlays later — it is not a live LMS.

Should every hire sit through the owner demo?

No. That is the most common failure. Technicians start on My Day. Reception starts on search. Owners set rates and invite the team.

Can we train on the public demo?

Yes. Request a signed access desk. Use the seeded garage. Do not put real customer PII in the shared demo.

Is self-serve trial signup available for a private sandbox?

Public self-serve trial is paused. Request a demo. Local/dev stacks still use [email protected].

Run the first win on the seeded garage

Request the access desk, pick the role login, and walk the pins on a real board — not a pitch deck.

Reception first win — the board only works if intake is clean

The desk is where car count is won or lost. Teach search, customer, vehicle, and “open the job” before any other screen.

First win

Find or create a customer, attach a vehicle, open an RO that appears in New.

Time

12–15 min

Maps to

P02 · RECEPTION or SERVICE_ADVISOR

If you skip this: New desk staff type jobs as free text, duplicate customers, and never put the car on the board — then the floor asks “where is that Mazda?”

Failure

Symptom

Fix

Everyone trained as the owner

Techs live on the dashboard; reception never finds search

Role path below. Hide owner KPIs from the first tech session.

Feature dump before first RO

Hire remembers settings, forgets intake

First win is a customer + vehicle + RO in under 15 minutes.

PDF instead of board

Staff cannot find the button they read about

Walk the annotated screenshot, then the live demo with pins.

Illegal stage jumps as “training speedrun”

Coach skips AWAITING_AUTH; floor later fights domain rules

Domain-legal transitions only. Illegal moves are the lesson.

Shared login forever

No labour attribution, no RBAC, audit noise

Invite on Day 0. Owner login is not a shop account.

Train the hire on their job — not on the owner tour

Education principles we actually use

Train the job, not the product tour

Do, then name

Shadow, then reverse-shadow

Highlight in the UI

One money path before feature dump

Role logins from day one

Competence, not attendance

Honesty about stubs

Desktop is a host, not a different product

Day 0 · 1 · 3 · 7

First-win paths

Reception first win — the board only works if intake is clean

Highlight each control as you train

Search first

Create only when missing

Open the repair order

Hand off the concern

Reception / front desk — Day 0 to Day 7

Competence checklist

Say these out loud

Training failure modes

Training Workshop Wrench without a consultant week

Run the first win on the seeded garage

Train the hire on their job — not on the owner tour

Education principles we actually use

Train the job, not the product tour

Do, then name

Shadow, then reverse-shadow

Highlight in the UI

One money path before feature dump

Role logins from day one

Competence, not attendance

Honesty about stubs

Desktop is a host, not a different product

Day 0 · 1 · 3 · 7

First-win paths

Reception first win — the board only works if intake is clean

Highlight each control as you train

Search first

Create only when missing

Open the repair order

Hand off the concern

Reception / front desk — Day 0 to Day 7

Competence checklist

Say these out loud

Training failure modes

Training Workshop Wrench without a consultant week

Run the first win on the seeded garage