Out of control Outside Purchases......

[Richard]

Just got back from my vacation/honeymoon, and while I was gone, my 3 shop counter guys went NUTZ on outside purchases. All parts employees were "empowered" earlier this year, during a low point in CSI, to do whatever it took to get Same-Day service. How do i reel in this out of control situation, WITHOUT destroying my employee's self-confidence, and without taking the "empowerment" away? Any suggestions will be considered.

[MBailey]

Richard,

The first thing I would recommend is to find out why the parts were purchased outside in the first place. Were there true "emergency" situations, or was it just the easy way out. Perhaps your counterpeople don't fully understand the drain in Parts Dept. profitabilty associated with outside purchases. An excellent training tool would be an article written by Gary Naples in the June 1999 issue of "The Parts Manager" that addresses this issue in outstanding detail.

It's interesting that apparently there has not been a problem with OP's until you were gone from the store. Do you authorize OP's when you are there, or is it up to the individual parts person to make the decision to buy outside?

Sounds like more of an awareness issue than a personnel problem. I applaud your willingness to empower your people to do what they feel is needed to achieve the desired results, but they also need to know all of the facts to be effective.

Good luck!

Mark W. Bailey

[gmknutson]

Anything questionable should be gone over after the fact: what lessons did we learn, how could we do it better next time, etc. Empowerment is a continual process on both sides, and part of it is allowing honest mistakes or errors of judgment. This is the tuition we pay in the College of Hard Knocks.
Also, a lost sale should be posted for every outside purchase from non-factory sources to keep the demand picture true.

[Robert a Bamert jr]

HEY, what about limiting the sources you let them purchase from (perhaps your all ready doing that).Empower only your top counterman with the last word on the use of a few more sources than the others.

[RICKPLEM]

PERHAPS SOMETHING FOR YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT IS CHECKING TO BE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PARAMETERS IN PLACE FOR YOUR PHASE IN CRITERIA. I USED TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, BUT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE THAT PROBLEM BY EXPANDING MY PHASE-IN AND PHASE-OUTS. IT HAS GREATLY REDUCED OUR "OS". PLUS WITH RSG, IT HAS ALSO HELPED. ALSO, CHECK EACH PART BEING PICKED UP AND SEE IF YOUR STOCKING LEVELS ARE WORKING. MAYBE YOUR "FULL BIN" SHOULD BE ADJUSTED.