Meet Fullbay Next: One Platform to Rule Your Shop

Fullbay Next is here. Are you ready?

If you run a mobile repair shop or one-person operation, the answer might be yes, you are. 

Fullbay Next is launching first for the smallest shops — the folks who might be answering the phone, writing an estimate, chasing down a part, and turning wrenches…all at the same time. Or at least in the same hour. These are the folks with the least time and the fewest extra hands, and Fullbay Next is built to take some of that admin off their plates and help them stay focused on the repair.

And that’s just the beginning. We’re working closely with early users, expanding what Fullbay Next can do, and building out support for larger and more complex shops as the platform grows. 

OK, Fullbay, you might be saying, but what’s IN Fullbay Next? 

It has 1,489 visual effects shots. Tens of thousands of pieces of armor, weapons, and costumes. 80,000 tiny skulls from the City of the Dead—oh, wait, excuse us, that’s not Fullbay Next. That’s some of the production background for The Return of the King.

So what does Fullbay Next have that Lord of the Rings does not?

We’re so glad you asked.

What Is Fullbay Next? 

Fullbay Next is what happens when you combine decades of commercial repair experience, top software developers, and more than a decade spent working alongside thousands of heavy-duty shops and ask, “What should shop management software look like for the next decade?”

The answer is Fullbay Next: everything we’ve learned about making life easier in the shop, reimagined for the future of heavy-duty repair. 

It’s fast. It’s mobile-responsive. It’s AI-native. It takes the busywork even the best-run shops and fleets deal with and replaces it with automation, so the team can focus on doing more of the actual repair. 

OK, Fullbay, you might be saying, that’s what it IS. But what’s IN IT?

Honestly, there are so many new features jammed into this baby that we’re not sure where to start. But here are our top five:

• Wrench Mode. A focused view of the vehicle you’re working on that gives you just the repair information with none of the clutter. Perfect for a technician.
• Repair Center. Gives you a bird’s-eye view of active work, canned jobs, and archived repairs so you can see what’s in the pipeline and what might be stuck. It also displays all the information about what’s in progress in the shop in one place, so you can take a look at a job, add what it needs, and keep moving — no more bouncing between different screens. Oh…and did we mention it has a kanban board?
• Shop Overview dashboard. What’s going on in your shop? Find out in the dashboard. Revenue invoiced, open invoices, hours billed, vendors you owe, and other elements are all right in front of you. 
• Core handling. Lots of folks asked for this one: the core information follows the part throughout its life cycle, so your team can see exactly which core belongs to which replacement part. There are no separate core items throwing off inventory counts or phantom credits floating around. 
• AI-native. Fullbay Next is AI-native, and we’re putting the bots to work to help you focus on your repairs. The photo and image scan analyzes a receipt, part, or component, identifies what’s going on, and adds it to a work order or the unit record. You can also use Fullbay AI to convert spoken words to notes (allowing you to take notes verbally, if that’s your jam) as well as clean up those notes so they’re ready for a customer to check them out. And if you need a little help answering calls during busy times or when you’re off the clock…well, Fullbay’s AI receptionist, Claudia, is standing by to help. 
• Light and dark mode. Do your eyes ache from the internal brightness of standard webpages? Switch on dark mode and let them relax.

OK, that was six features. It was our top six. 

Why It’s The Best Thing For Your Shop Since The Extended Editions 

If we had to choose one word to encapsulate Fullbay Next, it would be FAST. 

Fullbay Next can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. 

(Editor’s Note: Wrong franchise reference, Suz…and also wrong way to use parsec.)

Sadly, she’s right: I don’t actually know what a parsec is. But I do know some of the biggest ways Fullbay Next will save you, the enterprising shop owner, some time: 

Keep everything on one screen. 

A little clicking around between screens is inevitable, right? No more. Boromir can open up the Repair Center and see exactly where each job is in the process. He doesn’t need to run a report or open a job one at a time.

Let the machines do some heavy lifting.

AI has been kind of a buzzword in the industry, but Fullbay Next makes it happen. Here’s what a shop powered by Fullbay AI can do:

• Diagnose problems faster.
• Build work orders faster.
• Turn rough tech notes into clean write-ups.
• Cut down on repetitive data entry.
• Spot priority repairs sooner.

Let Claudia answer the phone.

Fullbay’s AI receptionist — we call her Claudia — is an absolute lifesaver for a busy shop. Can’t answer a call because you’re working on a truck pulled over on the highway? Let Claudia handle it. Don’t have someone to cover phone hours over the weekend or after 6 PM? Let Claudia handle it. You can set her up with basic information about your shop (like hours open and services provided) and she’ll chat with customers, collect their name, phone number, and vehicle information, and then notify you through email so you can follow up. 

If you’ve ever lost work because someone couldn’t get hold of you immediately, Claudia will be…what’s the word again? A game-changer. 

Get moving…fast.

You only need to configure a few settings before you’re off to the races (er, the repairs), and our new, streamlined onboarding experience means you’ll get the hang of this fabulous platform quickly. 

How To Get Your Hands On Fullbay Next 

And now we have come to the eternal question: why didn’t they just use the eagles to drop the ring into Mount Doom?

Oh. Um. Well.

If you’re a mobile repair shop, or a very small (like one-person) operation, then you can get Fullbay Next right freakin’ now. 

But Fullbay, we hear you saying, I have 500 trucks, 100 technicians, two hobbits, and I want my shop and fleet on Fullbay Next! How do I get there?!

We started with smaller shops because that’s how you build something big: from the foundation up. You don’t start a skyscraper on the 50th floor. You dig down, lay the foundation, and build upward. Fullbay Next has its first few floors in place, and we’re continuing to add capabilities as we work toward larger, more complex shops. But the foundation was designed from the beginning to support something bigger than Orthanc and Barad-dûr combined. 

(Yes, we’re nerds. How could you tell?) 

Seriously, as this article goes to press, we’re working on scaling Fullbay Next so it will be ready for larger shops and fleets. Stay tuned. And hey, if you’re a small shop and you’re now curious about Fullbay Next, why not give our free demo a whirl? It’s more fun than second breakfast.