Glen Smith is a new Member of Parliament, and has also joined a new industry: auto sales and service.He is the managing director of Auto Solutions, which was formerly HWP, located on St John’s Road.“Auto Solutions came to life on May 6, and obviously we needed to rebrand what was here — HWP. And it has been rebranded Auto Solutions.“With the rebranding we had to make changes,” and Mr Smith explained that along with that rebranding, they have been training some new employees, tackling renovations of the building, and have completed their new Parts Centre. It has been a multi-million dollar project, Mr Smith confirmed.In staffing Auto Solutions, “We interviewed the HWP staff — they’d all been made redundant at the time of the fire,” he said, referring to a massive fire that burned down the HWP buildings opposite the Auto Solutions premises. “We retained 65 percent, and we’ve got some new people,” he said.The brand new Parts Centre is bright, comfortable, and busy. The desk was humming with customers purchasing parts when The Royal Gazette visited at lunch time yesterday. “It’s our peak time right now — it is very busy,” said Mr Andrews.The Parts Centre came first on the to-do list, because, as Mr Smith put it: “If you don’t have parts, you can’t repair your car.”In addition to providing parts to individuals, they are also now welcoming their competitors from other garages, as well as fleet maintenance garages, among other customers, who need to purchase parts for one of the car brands they sell.Harry Andrews, sales and operations manager, said “We are trying to help our competition. Small garages will be able to look up what they need, and that will decrease the time they spend on getting their parts. We help each other,” he said. “It’s important to have those good relations with small garages.The manager of parts for Auto Solutions is Bill McNiven, who has been in the industry for 25 years. He said: “We have built this specific area with its own entrance for fleet maintenance garages and other customers.They have also increased their hours from 6.20am to 6pm, and on Saturdays they are open from 9am to 1pm.Mr Andrews said: “We open on Saturdays for people who want to do some DIY, change their oil filter, that sort of thing.”Mr Smith added: “We need to turn around the perception of what this business used to be. We have some hurdles to get over — there had been complaints about not being able to get a part.”Maintaining the supply of parts is a big job. Mr Smith explained: “We have nine different brands; that means thousands of line items, and 125,000 widgets in total. That is a challenge.”Keeping track of all those items is a major part of that challenge. “We are investing in a whole new IT system, and it should be implemented in early October. Our clients will be able to jump on line with a password, pull a part from our stock and come in and collect it the next day,” he said.And looking out over a vast warehouse filled with car parts, he said: “We will know exactly where that part is located.”He said: “Our goal is to build up industry standards — the idea is constant improvement.“It is going really well — the facility is improved, we have changed the culture. It’s a positive work environment, people are enjoying coming to work, things run smoothly.”Mr Smith said: “We want to make it an experience where you want to come here — when you used to dread it,” he said. “We are working hard on that.“We have a small staff — just 38 people. We all communicate every day. We eat lunch together every day. So we are changing the culture of the company to the way it should be, as a service provider in this industry — clients’ expectations resolved.“We believe we are upping the experience in Bermuda, so our competitors will have to up their game as well.“It is a change in approach — it’s a great challenge — and it is all about dealing with people; it’s all about service.”Glen Smith is man who walks the walk. “I constantly walk — I don’t have an office. I’m here from 7.15 every morning to 7pm every night.”While the auto industry is new to him “...people are not new to me.” He was formerly in the courier business and has found there are many common threads that run through both businesses, and working with people was one of those threads.A second thread is dealing with overseas affiliates of many kinds. “In Japan, we have found a broker who can receive our parts from all providers, and consolidate them and send them in a container to us monthly.”Mr Andrews added: “We can save on transportation costs, retail prices can come down and we can be more competitive.”The top managers have made it clear they also wanted to improve the facility for the staff as well as the customers. Immediately it is clear that the Auto Solutions property has undergone a face lift with old chain-link fencing now removed, parking improved and the buildings brightened up with a cheerful paint job.Staff now have a lunch area with kitchen amenities including stainless steel appliances, coffee and a soda machine. In addition there is a wide screen television as well as Wi-Fi and PCs available.For the customer, in addition to the Parts Centre, the Showroom and Customer Service Area are currently undergoing renovations, but will be a bright and airy space when it is complete. “Hopefully it will be ready for September,” he said. “Management will be there, in glass offices, so customers can see them, and they are available to have a chat, which is different.“It will be very comfortable, very sleek looking,” he said.Currently cars are sold from a temporary showroom.“What we’ve also done is put cameras through the whole garage; you can see your car being serviced. You will be able to jump on the internet to see that.“It’s opening up, transparency — we have nothing to hide,” he said.Additionally there will be a children’s area with remote control cars and a television with Disney channel playing.The car repair area is as much dependant on technology as it is a wrench and other more traditional tools today. There is a department at Auto Solutions dedicated to that.Among the array of IT diagnostic tools, Auto Solutions are directly linked to one car manufacturer in Japan, who receive the diagnostics of the car in question remotely.Once the car is repaired, it will be ‘detailed’. “We detail all cars that leave here at no charge, so when you come and get your car, it’s totally clean and looks like a brand-new car.”“I firmly believe that we have the right staff and the right ingredients to make it happen.”