Dealers were asked what changes they made in the last 3 years to improve the operations and profitability of their parts departments. Their responses were nearly as varied as the number of dealers who participated in the survey. Here’s a sampling of how dealers have changed their parts businesses.
- “Single parts manufacturer ordering for large orders.”
- “Central ordering and route trucks.”
- “Order process — using business system to generate customer orders.”
- “More staff made things move faster.”
- “We are using a parts on site program. This stocks parts at the customer’s shop. We also work very closely between departments and between locations, to be as efficient as possible.”
- “Hired a parts manager who isn’t married to the inventory. If it doesn’t sell, he gets rid of it one way or another.”
- “Created internal parts reference guides instead of relying on OEM parts lookup tools.”
- “We established goals.”
- “We added personnel to supply parts to the service techs.”
- “Hired new parts director to oversee all locations.”
- “Centralized stock ordering as well as daily ordering into one location.”
- “Better surplus return utilization, centralized trucking (eliminated parts route trucks), improved training, better utilization of stock orders with discounts and free freight.”
- “Getting rid of old inventory and watching inventories closer.”
- “New LED lighting for a brighter look, cheaper to operate. More AFS training so more people are trained and able to offer it, individual work areas so everyone has their own desk to maintain.”
- “Min./max. set up cycle counts, carried less inventory, better merchandising on the floor.”
- “Higher turns, fewer purchases, reduced zero sales.”
- “We are ordering a lot more on term orders, to get the best price. We are also negotiating better return policies with different vendors.”
- “Adding freight charges and direct ship charges.”
- “No discounting to customers or the sales department.”
- “Expanded bulk oil and DEF sales.”
- “Made a personnel change and moved our philosophy to a teamwork environment.”
- “More focus on workshop products, brought attachments into department, stocking more A&I and aftermarket parts to offer better/best for customers.”
- “Suggestive selling and making courtesy calls on customers.”
Additional Coverage
