PARTS MANGER SCHOOL

[turbo59]

it there a parts manager school for chryler/dodge? my dbs is adp. also do adp offer classroom training on their software? i am an asst. parts manager....promoted march 8 2001. my dealer group is building a new dodge store and i want the parts manager job! worked at dodge dealer for 5yrs as lead counterman.

[Coastalboi2]

turbo59 - what is your email address?

[Ted@ADP]

ADP offers training at our data centers across the US and Canada. There is no charge for basic training. Go to dealersuite.com and follow the links to Client Training. You can find the schedules and locations there. ADP also offers on site training; you can contact your support center for details and cost.

Best of luck!

[turbo59]

my email is turbo59@yahoo.com. btw....i am in texas


thanks guys

[eweirick]

Turbo59,

In addition to taking the ADP classes I would highly recommend attending a basic inventory management seminar presented by MNI Management Consultants. I attended my first Mike Nicholes seminar around 1980. What I learned there made it possible for my departments to consistently run at 90% to 93% level of service (pieces). This seminar had the single biggest impact on my pay check of all the different schools I have attended and Ive been to a lot of them over the years.

Once you have a year or two under your belt using basic MNI procedures take their advanced inventory seminar. I attended this seminar in May 2000 and our level of service (pieces) is now at a six-month average of 97.2% (with a minimal dollar increase in inventory). Moving from 93% to 97% LOS doesnt sound like a very big thing but its amazing what an impact it has had on our service department. We implemented the new procedures in June 2000 and our CSI has increased every month since (now the highest in our group). Our service carryovers are at such a low number that we dont even track them anymore. Our service manager credits the largest portion of our CSI increase and the increase in billed service hours to our higher LOS. But here is the best thing. We have 37 technicians and I cant remember the last time one of them complained about our inventory! I now look forward to our monthly service department meetings and no longer wear my bulletproof vest. Email Mike Nicholes at miknik@aol.com and he can supply you with dates and prices for his seminars.

You should also look into taking some basic business and personnel management classes at your local College. Also look into a Microsoft Excel class. Once you have an understanding of Excel take the ADP Reflections class. Its amazing what you can do by downloading ADP into Excel (like trying different price matrixes before plugging it into ADP).

Let me sum this up. Take advantage of every learning opportunity that you can and continue to visit this forum. Ive been in this business for close to 30 years and I consider this forum a continuing education class.

Best of luck.


------------------
Ed Weirick

I just reviewed my post and it sounds like Im an agent for Mike Nicholes. Im not. I work for a dealer group in California. Its just that Ive had so much success in my parts career and a large portion of it is due to the information and techniques I learned from MNI. Id love to see every parts manager reap the rewards I have.

[This message has been edited by eweirick (edited 06-12-2001).]

[turbo59]

hello again,


ted@adp, what does the inventory and invoicing class consist of ? ed, thanks for the advice, i will email mike asap! the sites i was reffered to helped alot. i am taking on more responsibilities everyday...i screwed up the EOS ORDER TODAY...lol. i learned something new from my mistake....it just kills the ego....smiling. i have found good help from the adp reflection function OLI. it has alot to soak in. thanks again for yur advise......

turbo59
somewhere in texas....

[Partsmadesimple]

I've enjoyed reading the posts here over the past several weeks. There are some "excellent questions" and a broad set of expert opinions offering "excellent solutions."

I'm especially impressed with the technical solutions offered from the computer companies - ADP, R&R to be specific. Thanks guys!

I was victimized as a young parts manager by the lack of "solutions" offered by the professional parts training programs. Our dealership was one of the early participants with the MNI program and I'll give credit to Mike N. as the pioneer who defined most of the parts issues in the late 70's and also today. However, that being said - I decided to take a different path with inventory control. A "Simple" path.

The first thing I scrapped was "gross turn & true turn formulas." The second scrap was "fill rates and level of service." Then I scrapped the entire formula and averaging process for measuring my own inventory results.

I created a simple solution to define my inventory based on the shelf mix. Mix is nothing more than parts stocked based on sales history.

Over the years I've heard dealers and parts managers brag about having a fill rate of 90% to 95% (and a little higher) -- but I've never seen one of these inventories first hand.

I've held a number of "Parts made Simple" classes this year in middle Tennessee and Kentucky. In the class, I stress my personal preference of stocking a "60 day supply"; "eliminate the lost sale report"; and "don't use fill rates and turn rates as the ultimate goal.

Your secret weapon is the "Inventory mix."
The mix is nothing more than management by exception -- how many parts in your inventory don't qualify in your mix strategy.

When you have a good mix, all the formulas will fall into place.

99.9% of those who've attended my classes agree!

If you want to test the "fill rate" and "turn rate" approach on this board, just post 2 simple questions:

1. How do I improve my "fill rate?"

2. How do I improve my "turn rate?"

Thanks for reading -

Tim Deel
partsmadesimple@cs.com

[This message has been edited by Partsmadesimple (edited 06-13-2001).]

[Bert]

How do I improve my "fill rate?"

How do I improve my "turn rate?"

Thanks.

[Partsmadesimple]

Thanks for the replies but private emails defeat the purpose of posting on a board.

I knew my post would touch a few nerves, I look forward to reading more responses.

Email only if you have a question or comment that wouldn't be educational for those who read this board.

Thanks - Tim Deel