Lube rack inventory

[flyboy]

I posted this in the service mgrs area, but figured this is probably where I will get my answer.....

I am looking at having to move my "quick lube" area in order to expedite the flow of the main shops work. Lot's of logistics involved in this, that's not the issue.
What I want to do is put a cabinet in the lube area with those oil filters that are the fast selling ones and maybe a couple other items. I know this is not rocket science, but my parts mgr is concerned about inventory control, and rightly so. For those who have done this, can you give me specifics as to how the inventory was controlled, charged out, maybe what happened when there was a shortage etc.

Thanks guys,

Mark

[Doug]

I don't presently do this but have done so in the past with good results.

Works great if the lube guy is near the parts counter or has an intercom. He can draw what he needs out of his cabinet and just calls over to parts: "PF1218 on RO 123456". Bingo, done deal. If there is no easy way to communicate with parts you *will* have problems.....

The inventory needn't be too great....perhaps 20 oil filters is all, thus limiting exposure to much of a financial loss. There will be a "stocking level" for the lube rack cabinet and it is re-stocked every morning.

Keep the lube rack cabinet locked at night and weekends.

It's that simple !

Cheers
Doug

[Robert Button]

I have done this in the past too. The only problem I encountered with it was the fact that after while when filters came up missing and per a prearranged agreement I charged the service department for it. The service manager was not too happy but as long as you have that agreement It shouldnt be a problem.

[Jon]

We currently use a general version of this idea for the whole shop. We don't have a dedicated lube bay so everyone does LOF's. We have 10 tech's and have a small enclosure with a lockable door on the shop side of the technician window at the parts counter. We put two standard metal parts bins inside the enclosure and have put a quantity of every oil filter we stock plus the fastest moving air filter elements, washer solvent, brakleen and grease gun cartridges out on the shelves. Everything is on the honor system, a tech takes what he needs and writes his RO number on the box top or on a slip provided for items without a box top. Everyone involved knows that it is the tech's responsibility to insure that every item taken is accounted for and that shortages will lead to moving all the inventory back inside the parts room proper. We have had very little shrinkage, the occasional item that slips through and isn't caught when the writer closes the RO is billed internal to shop policy as per the understanding with the service manager from day one. We reconcile the shelves every morning, before the techs start, to a list showing the starting quantity of each item on the shelf and compare to the box tops/tickets turned in, it takes about 10 minutes to reconcile and refill the shelf. I conservatively figured several thousand dollars a year in time savings for the techs translating into more real time available to sell plus it sure has improved their mood over waiting in line to get an oil filter ! It was a tough sell to the dealer initially but has worked very well and more than pays for the item or two a week that gets policied.

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[Magpie]

We also have a cabinet in the lube rack, but our inventory process is less involved. When the filters are put into the cabinet they are sold out of inventory manually using a generic "LOF" customer number. The tech doesn't worry about getting the filter charged out; its cost & sale price are included in the charge for motor oil the service advisor posts to the RO (it helps that our carline's filters are all the same price so the advisor doesn't have to choose between multiple GOG codes). After many years of this process, I find that I rarely have to verify what's in the cabinet- these filters don't go anywhere but into customer's cars. I encourage you to set a cabinet up in your shop- the time savings for both the techs and the counterpeople are tremendous. We do over 4,000 quick lubes a year and $80,000 in parts & labor gross.

[Toyotaguy]

We are currently using a system that prebills and pulls all parts for the techs. This is working out really well. My counterman arrives about 1/2 hour before the techs do. All LOF's get pulled before they come in and are waiting for them at there bay. My counterman writes the RO on the Filter box so they know where each filter goes to. It works really well, no techs waiting around and all parts are billed. We tried the honor system here. Well it didn't work out.

Good Luck