Excel. How much do you use it?

[jdpetey]

Just wondering how many folks utilize this tool.

Canned reports from DMS providers are clunky and cumbersome.

Some of the more tenured managers are more likely to utilize excel, but, yet somewhat surprising, maybe not.

We are on CDK and I export whatever RPG report I build and export it to Excel. The usefulness is unlimited.

I have a report that generates every ‘business’ day at 7:00 a.m. called the ‘Daily Inventory Report’ that matches the PHR report to a ‘T’.

I have it include everything in stock and on order, sorted by Bin location. I have it also include State Codes, MNS, Core Value, etc.

It’s my one stop shop for all relevant inventory info.

It can be sorted by whatever you desire.

Do you use it at all? A little? Unfamiliar?

[Parts007]

Just wondering how many folks utilize this tool.

Canned reports from DMS providers are clunky and cumbersome.

Some of the more tenured managers are more likely to utilize excel, but, yet somewhat surprising, maybe not.

We are on CDK and I export whatever RPG report I build and export it to Excel. The usefulness is unlimited.

I have a report that generates every ‘business’ day at 7:00 a.m. called the ‘Daily Inventory Report’ that matches the PHR report to a ‘T’.

I have it include everything in stock and on order, sorted by Bin location. I have it also include State Codes, MNS, Core Value, etc.

It’s my one stop shop for all relevant inventory info.

It can be sorted by whatever you desire.

Do you use it at all? A little? Unfamiliar?

I use Excel all the time and could not do what I do without it. I have taken a few adult-ed courses about Excel. Me and a co-worker (not parts) challenge each other in using Excel to solve problems. While I also use it for inventory functions, attached is an example of my "In stock tires" for the service writers. I omit several columns in their copy to make it look less busy.

[jdpetey]

Now that is impressive. What DMS are you on? How did you get all the tire info into the report? i.e. Mfr Description, speed rating, mileage, etc.?

To the best of my knowledge, in CDK, there is nowhere to either automatically or manually input all that info so that it will output to an exportable worksheet.

Thanks

[PartsPlant81]

Couldn't survive without it as the reporting in FO/Mate (Auto/Mate DMS) is all run with the Excel engine.

One of my vendors was very very good at using the functions and taught me a lot of useful tools over the years and it has helped me immensely in running my return reports, bin checks, sales reports etc.

The best part about it for me is you can always learn something new just playing around with a file of information and try out different tools to learn more about the data.

[Denise Trimble]

Now that is impressive. What DMS are you on? How did you get all the tire info into the report? i.e. Mfr Description, speed rating, mileage, etc.?

To the best of my knowledge, in CDK, there is nowhere to either automatically or manually input all that info so that it will output to an exportable worksheet.

Thanks

It is on the GM Tire Central page in GlobalConnect, under Library>Pricing Information then you can choose to bring it in to your computer as a Excel spreadsheet. This makes it great to be able to customize for your convenience!

[Parts007]

Now that is impressive. What DMS are you on? How did you get all the tire info into the report? i.e. Mfr Description, speed rating, mileage, etc.?

To the best of my knowledge, in CDK, there is nowhere to either automatically or manually input all that info so that it will output to an exportable worksheet.

Thanks

This spreadsheet I built myself with the info from the GM Tire webpage. I do use Reynolds but I typed all this manually. All of Reynolds reports can be converted to Excel also which is a great feature.

[MSInventory]

If you're not using Excel, you are missing out.

I use it all the time for tracking core return credits, damage claims and all sorts of files we use in a parts department.

When I travel to do a physical inventory, I have all my reconciliation data on a flash drive and use excel with that also. It surprises me how many parts managers that don't have access to Excel on their computers because the dealer doesn't want to pay for it. It's plum silly. It seems that most of the attachments inside my emails are reports and such using excel. What do you do then? I've seen some knock-off programs that try to mimic excel, but they can get squirrely.

[CADLOU]

I use excel, but nothing to what some of you use it. My knowledge of it isn't like some of yours. So, I am exploring areas, I never used before. Thanks guys for giving me some ideas on how to use it to make my life better.

[drapp]

I use Excel quite a bit, however, I don't have the skill to build the report shown above. While I have played with Excel and understand some of it, I wish there was an adult education program nearby to learn more.

The "IF" calculation is impressive. I struggle with the "IF" and other more advanced Excel functions.

[MSInventory]

The "IF" gets me also! There is a whole bunch I don't know in Excel. There are several publications out that are helpful. I have an "EXCEL FOR DUMMIES" that I have used somewhat but it's confusing as all get out sometimes. Says a lot about my intelligence!!

Trial and error and getting tips from others has been my best learning tool. Patience helps also