VIEW FROM THE REPAIR BENCH I BY STEVE FRANCE Developing Shop SOPs
S tandard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are an essential part of a well-run repair shop. Yet, many shops never complete them because they underestimate the time and effort required causing the project to stall. While it may be tempting to borrow another shop’s SOPs, every business has its own culture and expectations, making it difficult to implement a one-size-fits-all approach. Developing your own SOPs requires a commitment of time and staff involvement, but the investment will pay dividends for years to come through improved consistency and training. Here are three steps to help you cultivate practical and functional SOPs for your shop.
often not the job being requested. This is a great opportunity to teach your staff about what the client is looking for or why the case must be so clean. You’re seeking language to clarify if standards might be different at each level of instrument or client. GET ACCEPTANCE After each session, write down what you’ve learned and ask your techs to review it. This makes the conversations real and forces them to accept something that you can later refer to when cri- tiquing their work. BONUS: A FEW PRO TIPS Here are a few pro tips for making these meetings smoothly. • Having everyone participant’s favorite drink right in front of them is an effective means toward open communication. • Be quiet. You get to nudge this process once in a while after get- ting it started, but don’t force it. • Go slow. This will be a six- month project if you’re flying. Plan to implement this in a solid way for next summer’s repair season. Cultivating SOPs with your staff is essential to your shop consistently producing profitable repairs that bring customers back for more. It takes time, intention- ality and detailed conversations in small bites, but your efforts will return dividends for years to come in ease of training, in- creased productivity and overall shop morale. MI Steve France is a veteran instrument repair tech- nician and educator based in St. George, Utah. He operates Premium Music Products, where he develops Tech-Oil Lubricants and provides advanced training through Repair Masterclass for band and orchestra repair professionals.
PASS IT TO THE LEFT You need all of your techs to agree on the new SOPs. This may be difficult, unless you cultivate an environ- ment where open discussion leads to their expertise training others on your staff. Let’s say your shop has three brass technicians. Choose one instrument from each technician’s com- pleted dent repairs. Ask them to review the quality of their own work. What did they do well? What could they improve upon? Write their answers down. Next, have each tech pass
their instrument to the left. Repeat the process by asking everyone to evaluate what was done well and what could be improved upon. Each tech’s work is first being critiqued by themselves, then by someone else. Everyone’s work is being critiqued at the same time so no one is singled out. If there are disagreements, don’t feel compelled to solve them. Instead, lean in on the discrepancies with deeper questions: Does the repair fit the quality of the instrument?
“Cultivating SOPs with your staff is essential to your shop consistently producing profitable repairs that bring customers back for more.”
What specific aspect of their work are you critiquing? What could have been done to improve the result? If the work is well received, ask how it was accomplished. Take notes on what’s acceptable and what’s not. The last thing you should say during this short (aim for nine-minute) meeting is, “If I have this right, you’re suggesting a possible standard is something like … .” Repeat this process weekly on various topics like solder work, cleaning, polishing and pad adjustments, and soon you’ll have self-created SOPs and buy-in from your techs. STANDARDS BY LEVEL Technicians struggle to understanding why different standards might be applied to a rental instrument than a school or pro instrument. They know everything can be made better and yearn to, but that’s
24 I MUSIC INC. I AUGUST 2026
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