Two-Man Sets All Day-Every Day

It’s not every day you hear of a company performing two-man sets. And I’m not talking just for large windshield jobs—but even for a Honda Civic, for example. Yet two-man sets are the norm at Anderson Windshield Complete Auto Glass Service in Cornelia, Ga.

“We always have two-man sets in the field or in the shop,” says owner Jim Anderson.

The 26 year-old shop initially tried a few different approaches, but from early on Anderson says the differences between a one- and two-man set were noticeable.

“We didn’t have to keep specific data,” he says. “It was evident that the call backs were almost 100% linked back to the one-man sets.”

Anderson didn’t want to take any chances as his company’s reputation was on the line.

“We decided if there is a call-back—that’s word that gets out even if you stand behind it,” he says. “We went to two-man sets and the first three years we noticed we weren’t getting any callbacks for leaky windshields or wind noise. We can go four to five years without a callback for a leaky windshield.”

How serious is his company about this? Anderson says there are no exceptions to this policy—not even vacation or sick days will cause the company to make a change.

“If that were to happen, we communicate with the customers,” says Anderson. “If it was so bad that it would affect the installs, we would let them know we need to reschedule or they can bring their car to the shop where we always have two installers. We never make an exception.”

They also never bend the rules when it comes to compact vehicles.

“We do it all the time no matter the car,” he says. “What we have discovered is when you have two-man sets you have the two guys on each side and communication is taking place and it’s so much easier. The quality of our work is the reason we decided to stick with it.”

Over the years Anderson discovered another advantage for his shop.

“Here in the deep south there is a lot of value placed on personal relationships,” he says. “When you have two guys working together, one can interact with the customer, while the other is finishing up. We encourage our techs to take those few extra minutes to have a short conversation and let the custom-er ask questions. That has been a huge benefit.”

When the company adopted this philosophy more than 20 years ago, the technology we have now didn’t exist. So did Anderson ever think about switching to two-man installs?

“We have looked at new technology and I have sat down and talked with my four techs, and every one of them likes the two-man sets,” he says. “It has created a healthier work environment as they aren’t out there alone. They can brain-storm when a problem comes up.”You may be thinking, “But how does he find good technicians? Enough to assign two to every install?”

“One employee is my son,” says Anderson. Another has been here 12 years, and another for six. The other two have been here a little less. I have been very blessed.”

—Tara Taffera

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