Merlin’s Workshop module was a job management system that integrates with the inventory management system of Merlin POS. It has since become a valuable part of the Cobalt RMS.

Workshop streamlines tasks in service and repair centres, separating the workflows of technicians from salespeople while ensuring data consistency through the integration. The result is a seamless experience for the business and its customers.

Workshop Features

Workshop has five distinct sections: Day Book, Job Card, Warranty, Reports, and Maintenance. Each has its own functions and settings that are customisable according to your business needs. Some of the key features of Workshop are:

• Day Book: Allows users to visually create and maintain appointment bookings and job cards for their customers. You can also view and edit the schedule of your technicians, and see the status and progress of each job. Different colours indicate different types of entries in the Day Book. Users can also generate reports on appointments and referral information.
• Job Card: Allows users to process user-defined job cards for each service job. Job cards pull customer details from Cobalt Sales and product codes from the Cobalt Catalogue in Cobalt Sales, which utilises the make and model of the vehicle to identify parts. (Vehicle information is saved on the customer’s file in Workshop for future reference). Users print the job card with all the relevant information, and convert it to an invoice when the job is completed, meanwhile Cobalt Workshop sends an SMS notification to the customer. The invoice is then integrated into Cobalt Sales for processing.
• Warranty: Warranty: Allows users to manage warranty claim forms for any items covered by warranty, including status tracking and outcome of each claim.
• Reports: This section allows users to generate various reports on any aspect of Workshop, such as job card details, technician performance, service revenue, customer feedback, and more. All reports can be exported in Excel or PDF formats.
• Maintenance: This section allows users to control the reasons, groups, items, types, codes, and comments used throughout the system. Users can also maintain system and workstation parameters, staff (technician) details, and customer vehicle details.

Workshop Benefits

Workshop has many benefits for service and repair centres, such as:

• Automation: Some functions of Workshop require automation, meaning that the first person to start the system each morning will start the automation process. The automation allows Workshop to run processes like print scheduled job cards for that day, including parts that have been entered into the job card and any fitting notes associated with those parts from the catalogue. This save users time and hassle, ensuring they have all the necessary information and materials for each job.
• Integration: Workshop can integrate with other modules in Cobalt RMS, such as Cobalt Sales (including Cobalt Catalogue) and Cobalt Accounting. This streamlines data entry and management by preventing duplication and associated errors. For example, in Workshop users pull customer details from Cobalt Sales and add products or parts from Cobalt Catalogue, then complete the job card, at which point Cobalt RMS will automatically convert it to an invoice and transfer it to Sales for processing and synchronising with financial data in Cobalt Accounting.

Overall, Cobalt Workshop is a powerful tool for managing service and repair centres with ease and efficiency. It gives users the freedom to design and define their own checklists for service quality assurance. Merlin Support remains available at any stage for any client looking to implement this module.

Merlin Software Pty Ltd remains an independently owned, Australian family business that is committed to providing the best software solutions to small businesses. We have grown from a consulting service to a software development and distribution business, but we have never lost sight of our original vision and mission: