Though he’s now production manager at Morrie's West Bend Honda in Wisconsin, Alex Hess originally started washing cars in the wash bay. When a lube tech position became available, he seized the opportunity to prove himself.
“About six weeks into being a tech, I remember Honda was having issues with their transmissions. On my days off, I took on the challenge of rebuilding one ... it took me two days to finish the job, which was longer than expected. But I quickly moved up the ranks, and the rest is history. If I hadn’t taken that leap, who knows where I’d be today?”
Part of the process of moving up the ranks involved figuring out his workflow and finding out how to better service the vehicles that came into the shop each day. Like most techs, Hess started from scratch.
“When I started out, I had very basic tools like everyone else,” he says. “One of the first things I noticed was how many veteran techs didn’t even have some of the basics — they were borrowing tools, stuff that would make the job easier, all around the shop. I never wanted to be that guy.”
Building a solution
Watching senior technicians constantly running between boxes and bays looking for a specific tool drove the point home for Hess. Even though he was starting at essentially zero, he made a plan.
“Back then, I didn’t have a car payment. I drove a beater, had no house or kids, and figured instead of spending money like my friends were, I’d invest in my future. So, I started buying tools — $200 a week with one tool truck, $100 with another — for two years straight. My goal was to never walk onto the truck without buying something.”
Hess’ investment paid off, and as his supply of tools grew, so did his abilities and efficiency. He didn’t always walk off a truck with a life-changing purchase, but even the mistakes turned into valuable lessons on their own.
“Looking back, I wish I’d talked more with the senior techs and asked them, ‘What’s something you only use once or twice a year but that saves you time when you need it?’” Hess explains. “Because I bought a lot of tools thinking I’d use them and didn’t or found better options later.”
Protecting your investment
Of course, constantly buying tools meant needing a place to put them. When Hess started as a tech, the shop had built-in boxes that never really impressed. He maintained a sizeable box with lockers and a hutch that got the job done before Snap-on's Rock ‘n’ Roll Truck pulled up one day with a jaw-dropper.
“I saw a white EPIQ on the Rock 'n' Roll Truck, and I was hooked. White seemed like a terrible idea for a mechanic, but it looked so clean and classy,” he remembers. “My [last] box was a silver vein hammer finish, so it didn’t show fingerprints or dirt. But I couldn’t stop thinking about that white EPIQ. It just looked so classy, and I loved the way that the drawers pulled.”
After trading in his old box for the EPIQ, he never looked back. Even after looking at other boxes and manufacturers, he felt that there was only one that met his needs.
"What makes it a little bit different than what else is on the market is that there's some toolboxes where you put your tall sockets in your deep drawer and they don't fit in there, and then some [drawers] are too deep,” Hess says. “The Snap-on top drawer and deeper drawers are the perfect height for your deeper sockets and your power tools. It doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of wasted space in there."
While there’s only so much you can do to protect the exterior of your toolbox, Hess knew he wanted to keep the stainless steel top as flawless as he could – especially given how quickly dings, scratches, and smudges can accumulate in a shop environment. The day it was delivered, he got a local glass company to cut him a piece of LEXAN that went over the top.
“I don’t remember how old my toolbox is now, it’s got to be 10 or 12 years old, but that stainless top is still in mint condition,” he says. “It still has all the original light reflection that makes the hutch brighter. I can stick important service bulletins or any kind of paperwork underneath it.”
A working setup
His mobile setup nowadays consists of two SideKIQ carts and two KRSC101 workstations that he acquired unexpectedly at the same time, but his main setup is just as optimized.
“What's unique about my setup is that it's a corner cubicle setup. Most guys run it in a straight line, and I love the look of that, it's definitely got the wow factor, but the reason I went with a corner configuration is because it's easier for me to access all of my tools,” Hess says. “I can be doing my work orders on one of my screens, and if I need a tool that isn't in the box that I'm using, I literally just turn around and it's right there. I don't have to walk 10 to 15 steps down to get to whatever I need."
With his ever-growing collection of tools, Hess quickly learned just how important it was to make optimal use of every inch of space available. Foam organizers are a viable option for some setups, although Hess vastly prefers the more modular Toolgrid system for his needs.
“Organization, I feel, is really important because as you grow, toolbox space comes at a premium. How are you going to store your pliers? Are you standing them upright, are you storing them flat?" Hess shares. "That Toolgrid was one of the best organizational investments that I've had."
The daily driver
One SideKIQ has been optimized for his day-to-day work, giving him access to nearly everything he typically needs while remaining easily mobile for moving in and out of the shop.
“I have slots and dots panels on both sides, so I hang all my power tools,” he says. “On one side, I have a vacuum, a jump pack, and a shelf. On the other side, I would probably say 80 to 90 percent of my daily use tools are in there, so if I need to work on another rack in the shop or I need to work in the parking lot across the way, I can do most of my work out of that cart, and I feel like that's a huge advantage."
The advantages of a purposeful, organized setup don’t just extend to the work you’re doing on a vehicle. Of course, looks aren’t everything, and the tech using the tools matters more than where they’re stored, but the reality is that your setup reflects who you are as a professional to the outside world.
“When somebody walks in and sees a box of that size ... it's like instant validation,” he explains. “You can see it's clean, it's organized, and that I take pride in my work."
Of course, Hess doesn't do all of this work for his pride or even for himself. Every investment and drop of sweat spent on his career is for his daughter.
"At the end of the day, I do it all for my daughter Charleigh," Hess explains. "She has a pretty good collection of pink tools, hard to say if she will follow in my footsteps, but she loves helping me work on different things at the house and shop. It's a life skill, no matter what, I hope she maintains the interest."
