Create Repair Steps
Repair steps are the individual work stages that make up a multi-step job. Each step represents a discrete phase of the repair — a named task with an estimated duration, a required technician skill, and an optional completion gate that controls whether the next stage can begin.
BayWise ships with 12 sample repair steps and three sample presets — Body Minor, Body Major, and Mechanical Major — composed from those steps. These are realistic entries seeded to demonstrate how multi-step jobs work. You can use them as-is in production, adjust their durations and skill requirements to match your workshop’s actual times, or create entirely new steps for your own processes.
When to Create a Custom Step
The built-in steps are broad by design. Create a custom step when your workshop performs a distinct work stage that is:
- Named differently in your team’s workflow — if your technicians refer to a process by a specific name (e.g. “Decontamination Wash” or “ADAS Calibration”), name it that way. Matching your team’s language reduces error and speeds up job creation.
- Not represented in the defaults — examples include “ADAS Pre-Scan”, “Ceramic Coating Application”, “EV Battery Diagnostics”, “Corrosion Treatment”, or “Frame Measurement”. These are real stages that consume time and require specific skills; they deserve their own steps.
- Subject to a quality gate — if a stage requires an advisor or manager to formally sign off before the next stage begins, you need a step with a completion tag. The built-in steps do not always carry completion tags by default.
Create steps at the level of individual work stages, not services. “Dent Repair” is a step. “Collision Repair” is a preset that contains multiple steps including Dent Repair, Primer Application, and QC Check. If you are unsure whether something is a step or a preset, err on the side of finer granularity — you can always combine steps into presets later, but you cannot split a step once jobs are using it.
How to Create a Repair Step
Open Catalog Settings
Navigate to Settings → Catalog using the left sidebar. Select the Repair Steps tab. You will see all existing steps — both built-in defaults and any custom steps already created at your location.
Add a New Step
Click Add Repair Step. A panel slides in from the right with the step configuration form.
Enter the Step Name
Type a clear, specific name. Use the terminology your team uses on the floor. Examples: “ADAS Pre-Scan”, “Ceramic Coating Application”, “EV Battery Diagnostics”, “Rust Treatment”, “Frame Measurement”. Avoid generic names like “Step 1” or “Other Work” — these create ambiguity when advisors are selecting steps at job creation time.
Set the Estimated Duration
Enter how long this step typically takes, in minutes. This value drives the scheduler’s time-block calculations and the AI’s bay availability checks. Use a realistic average — not the best-case time or the worst-case time. If the step varies widely, use the median duration and note exceptions in the step name (e.g. “Dent Repair Single Panel — 90 min” vs. “Dent Repair Full Bumper — 180 min”).
Select the Skill Requirement
Choose the technician skill this step requires. BayWise uses this to filter candidates when the AI suggests an assignment, and to validate manual assignments. Select the most specific applicable skill — if the step requires a spray painting specialist, select Spray Painting, not the broader Painting. If the step can be performed by any technician regardless of skill (e.g. “Vehicle Wash”), select General.
Toggle the Completion Tag
The Completion Tag Required toggle controls whether this step must be explicitly signed off before the next step in the sequence can start.
- Toggle off (default): The step is marked complete when the assigned technician updates its status. The job sequence can progress immediately.
- Toggle on: Completing this step raises a sign-off prompt that an advisor or manager must confirm before the next step activates. Use this for quality gates, inspection stages, or any handoff where a second pair of eyes is required.
Examples where completion tags are appropriate: “Prime & Prep” (confirm primer is correctly applied before paint begins), “Dent Repair” (supervisor checks alignment before filler stage), “Final QC” (advisor confirms vehicle is delivery-ready).
Save the Step
Click Save. The step is immediately available for use in presets and for manual addition to individual jobs.
Editing an Existing Step
Click the step name in the Repair Steps list. The same configuration panel opens with the current values pre-filled. Update any field and click Save.
Changes to an existing step — including duration and skill requirement — take effect on new jobs immediately. Jobs currently in progress that include this step retain the configuration that was set when the job was created.
Deleting a Step
Click the step name → click Delete at the bottom of the panel.
Steps that are currently used in one or more presets cannot be deleted. You will see a message listing which presets reference the step. Remove the step from those presets first, then return here to delete it.
Steps used in active or historical jobs are archived rather than permanently deleted. They remain visible in job history but no longer appear in the step selection list for new jobs.
Common Questions
Can I create a step that applies to multiple skill types? No — each step maps to exactly one skill requirement. If a task genuinely requires two skills (e.g. Electrical and Diagnostics), consider whether it should be modelled as two separate steps in sequence, or whether one skill is dominant and the other is incidental.
What happens if I change a step’s estimated duration? The new duration applies to new jobs from that point forward. Existing jobs already have the duration baked into their schedule; they are not automatically updated.
Can I use the same step in multiple presets? Yes. A step is a shared library entry. You can add “Final QC Check” to a Dent & Paint preset, a Full Respray preset, and a Body Major preset independently. Editing the step updates it across all presets.
What is the difference between a completion tag and Auto-Start? They are opposites. A completion tag pauses the sequence and requires manual sign-off before the next step begins. Auto-Start removes the pause and transitions to the next step automatically when the current one is completed. You configure Auto-Start at the preset level, not on the step itself. See Configure Auto-Start Steps for details.
What if a step takes very different times depending on the job? Use duration as a scheduling estimate, not a contract. Set the most common duration on the step. Advisors can override the duration on a per-job basis when creating or editing a specific job.
Is there a limit to how many steps I can create? No hard limit. However, a very large step library becomes difficult to navigate. Aim to keep your custom steps to those your workshop uses regularly — delete or archive steps that were created for one-off jobs.