Why Your Shop Needs An Auto Parts Inventory System

As the parts manager of a service center, you should understand the importance of maintaining an accurate parts inventory. When your parts inventory is comprehensive and up-to-date, it can contribute to ease of operation in many different ways. Understanding the role that your inventory can play will help you to appreciate why it's worth the effort. Here's a look at what you need to know.

Simplifies Repair Scheduling

If you have a repair shop on site and your parts inventory supplies that operation, an accurate inventory is essential for repair scheduling. When you can tell at a moment's notice what parts you do and do not have in stock, and when other parts have been ordered or are due to arrive, you can more accurately schedule repairs. This reduces the chances of having a customer's car sit in your lot for days at a time waiting on a part that you didn't know you were out of.

Improves Customer Satisfaction

Whether it's a customer calling in about a repair or someone coming to buy a part, having real-time inventory visibility is a critical component of customer satisfaction. When you can tell that customer at a glance whether or not you have the part that they are looking for, they will be more likely to come to you when they need future parts or repairs. If you're trying to position your business as the go-to source for auto parts and repairs in your area, accurate and accessible inventory records are essential.

Reduces Unnecessary Expenses

Few things can be as frustrating as discovering that you already have five of the part that you just ordered. Not only does this leave you with extra inventory sitting on the shelf, but that is money that you could have easily put to better use somewhere else. If you had a reliable inventory system, you wouldn't have mistakenly ordered that part assuming that you didn't have any in stock. You would have been able to see that you already had five of them, even if they weren't where they are supposed to be.

Uncovers Potential Theft

A reliable inventory system is a great way to uncover potential employee theft issues. For example, if your inventory shows that you have four of a specific part but your technician can't find them and they aren't on the shelf, that's a key indication that they may have been stolen. Without an inventory system, you would have no way to know that there were parts there that are unaccounted for. You may just mistakenly assume that you didn't have any, to begin with, because you didn't have a tracking system to tell.

Talk with an auto parts inventory specialist today to help you implement the right platform for your shop. 

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