What is Automotive Parts Inventory Management (ATM)?
Assets that your company owns. It is essential to ensure the smooth running of your business and its profitability. A shortage of Automotive Parts Inventory Management can cause customers to be frustrated and sales to stop. However, large inventories can cause loss or theft of parts, increase the risk of demand shifts, and hold up capital that could have been invested in other areas. This is not a good situation. These risks can be reduced by managing your parts inventory.
What is inventory management?
Inventory management involves the order, storage and sale of automobile parts. If done correctly, inventory management can reduce stock overages and prevent stock shortages by helping you determine how much stock to order.
Why is inventory management so important?
There’s a lot of reasons why parts inventory management should become a top priority.
Better ordering
You can have better control over parts and stock by having accurate inventory management. Your records will allow you to see historical trends and to make decisions about the best order dates and restocking levels. This will allow your inventory system be able to efficiently notify parts personnel when a piece needs to reorder.
Reduces costs
Inventory management is key to reducing the likelihood of stock shortages. This reduces the risk of your business losing sales because you have less stock or are missing parts. Also, optimizing inventory storage will optimize storage costs as well as labor to keep inventories organized.
Allocation of resource
You can optimize every aspect of your business by keeping accurate records about inventory. This will help you maximize space, capital and profit. Overstock can cause you to store valuable capital and deprive your business of capital that could be better spent elsewhere.
Service scheduling
Maintaining an accurate parts inventory record will allow you to predict the time it will take to repair a customer’s vehicle. It will take only seconds to see if you have what it takes. This will enable your staff to more efficiently schedule service appointments.
Customer satisfaction
Customers who have to wait longer for information about stock availability or are told that part is not in stock can be negative about your company’s reputation. Your inventory records should be kept in order to respond quickly to customer inquiries and fulfill orders quicker. This will increase customer confidence and satisfaction.
Time management
The result of effective inventory tracking is that your staff will spend less time searching for parts and more time focusing on improving your business operations and increasing profits. This includes:
- Parts organization to improve efficiency and accessibility
- Finding ways to lower inventory costs by ordering better
- If you are faced with an emergency situation, make sure to research backup suppliers.
Tips for improving parts inventory management
You don’t have to be complicated in managing your parts inventory for your car. There are many options to improve the management of your parts inventory, including:
Keep your parts organized
It takes less time to stock up on new stock, but it’s worth considering where it will be placed. This can reduce confusion, misplaced parts, shortages, and confusion. Always face the part numbers outwards. If you cannot, write the numbers on either the visible side of your package or on the shelf/bin that stores them.
You can achieve higher accuracy by spending the time to design an efficient inventory organization system and then making sure it is implemented and maintained. You will be more productive and your dealership will run better.
Parts can be returned to their original places
It may seem simple but this is a common problem in dealerships. Parts are often put back in an incorrect location or not at all. It is possible to increase accuracy and decrease the number parts that are lost or misplaced if you have a quick and easy process for handling returned parts.
Personal with good parts
Inventory discrepancies are often caused by staff who cut corners. Staff often assume the amounts received are the same as the ones ordered. Staff speed through receiving to move on to the next task. Similar to this, staff may assume all parts in a bin are identical without checking labels and packaging. Parts are often put back in the wrong spot and should be organized before counting. You can reduce errors by making sure your staff follows through and are well-trained.
Complete regular inventory checks
It is easier to spot problems and errors if your inventory is checked more often. This will make it easier to manage your inventory and improve the quality of your parts.
If you’re unable to inspect your entire stock, concentrate on the fast moving parts, parts that are more vulnerable to error, and high-value parts. You can check your accuracy by checking a few bins daily throughout the year. You can then identify the areas that need extra attention.
Additional Resource:
https://faiauto.com/
https://knaufautomotive.com/
https://www.barrettdistribution.com/automotive-parts