AutoMate add to saved quotes

[Porkchop]

B964, Deepest Sympathies.

Hey Zep. You Sound like I did 8+ years ago when we went from R&R to Automate. After the GM Termination, I Thankfully was hired by my current employer that has Reynolds.

You mean to tell me they still do not have a Core Inventory Value Report (2222) ??! I'm Surprised!! HeeHee!!

How bout ordering the same part number for different customers on the same order? (Recall Parts) Did they ever resolve that?

I recently threw away all the information I had regarding improprieties from Automate. After being away from Automate for 4 years now I hope they have addressed there many shortcomings.

I must admit I liked F/O Mate better than Reynolds Report Generator.

[Zep33]

Ordered a direct ship seat cover that's backordered. Spent 17 minutes on phone with GM to open a SPAC case. After that, I went back into the RO to put the SPAC case # in the comment section.

Well, you can't go to the comment screen unless you bill out a part. So I added a gallon of coolant just so I could get there. Put my SPAC case # in, saved the RO, went back in to the RO and deleted the part.

The comment I typed also disappeared when the part was deleted.

So I call AutoMate to find out if there's another way to do this - short answer - no. Only way to keep the comment there is to leave the part there, the part that doesn't belong there to begin with.

Guy at AutoMate said I'm the only one to ever call in an ask that - Are you kidding? How could that have been possibly overlooked when they created this abomination?

I've wanted to put comments in ROs after the fact before but this time, I really needed to and the fact that it can't be simply done is inexcusable as far as I'm concerned.

There are so many simple, basic functions that just don't exist with this that I will never get used to using this

[SirRon]

I don't have Automate but have you tried billing out the part again and putting the original part to 0 quantity. Then add the note to the "new" part.

[Zep33]

an SOR part on automate doesn't even show on the RO as a part until it's received. You can press an F key to see the parts SOR'd but it's not on the RO as a billed part. I could actually cancel the SOR, bill the part out like it's here, letting it go to -1, and then add the note, but I don't really like to bill parts out that are on backorder with no ETA. It would look to service like it is here when it's not.

I did end up finding a place to put it - there's a note field for customer info but that note will stay there forever until it's deleted - not just for that particular RO.

[PartsPlant81]

Not saying it will happen overnight; but if you let someone in fixed ops training at Auto/Mate know about this they may be able to fix it eventually. They are constantly doing updates to fix things like this. We've been on it for a couple of years now and after awhile you just learn to live with what you have...

[SamBeroz]

Hi Zep33, I'm a software development manager at Auto/Mate. Sorry that the transition to Auto/Mate has been causing you pain. We are actively working on a complete rewrite of our parts system. An early version is currently being shown this weekend at NADA. We are still looking for input to make sure that the new system will meet users needs. Please PM me if you have a list of things you'd like to see in the new version or if you'd would be interested in being a pilot site for it when it's ready. Thanks - Sam

[Zep33]

Cool - thanks Sam.

Here are a few things to start:

Calling support: Must give full name and explain problem to receptionist before getting transferred. Let us ask for department we want without having to explain the issue twice to 2 different people. I know our customers don't want to do that when calling us either. If I call and ask for someone in parts, just transfer me there. Don't ask me why.

Arriving the order – no visibility of SOR on the RO until order is arrived or receipted. Have to go back in after receipting and arrive it again or the referral parts will have no visibility or attachment to repair order. Parts come in over several days on an order. Have to constantly keep an order on arrived status so employees will know who the part is for. Horrible system.

All parts charged out on an RO should be seen immediately upon going into the RO. Having to press F2 to view that parts already charged out seems kind of backwards and leads to issues of things getting billed twice or not at all.

The line a part is being charged out on should be mandatory and no be able to skip through it.

Service dept should be forced to assign a customer # to a customer - common sense

Ability to add a comment to an RO at any time (as long as RO is open of course)

Parts with cores should present a question – charge core or not. The fact this was overlooked is pathetic.

Cannot track sales throughout the day as things are happening.

Service lane indicator for GM dealers needs to be visible somewhere besides the order screen. At that point, it’s really too late to do much about it.

F1 to get back to main menu at times takes 20-30 seconds or longer to actually get there. Issue is only moving backwards – never going forward.

If a part turns out to be wrong and needs to be removed from RO, it is necessary to cancel the SOR on it or it will always be attached to that customer. Option to remove it should be presented while deleting the part from the RO.

The parts order screen (for GM) lets you sort and pull the SORs by priority type but the RO itself never asks what priority the part should be ordered as.


These are just some things off the top of my head. I admit some are quite minor while others just leave users shaking their heads.

[SamBeroz]

We've already built some of those items into the new system and are looking over the others. I believe the service lane indicator is visible throughout but you may need to know what to look for. The delay on the F1 key sounds like a time out, what screen are you trying to go back from? The SOR process has a 3 character Order Priority Code (OPC) that may meet your needs. If you PM me your contact info, I can have someone on our Fixed Ops support team give you a call. Thanks - Sam

[Zep33]

GM's codes are 4 characters

Which leads me to another one - in the SOR maintenance screen, where you are typing in the ctrl # to place the order, there is only a spot for 4 characters.

For example, I always use the date so todays order will be 0126. If the need arises to place another order, I like to use 0126A, 0126B, etc... Automate will not allow that so I manually order the parts using the Ctrl# of my choosing. Please expand the charater box to allow this

And one more thing, when manually receipting parts, why can we only do one part a time and have to type 3 or 4 different buttons before getting to the next part. So cumbersome and irritating

F4 to get there
type part #
ESC and then F3 if you've never had the part before
F3 for no order #
hit enter twice to to get to the qty.
press ESC (ESC to continue - who thought of that?)

all that to receipt one part.

Why is there not just a part # / qty screen you can just go down and do them all at once?

I know the answer - put all the parts on a CTRL #/PO and you won't have to do any of that.



And now I've thought of yet another:

I may be mistaken, but my trainer said the system does not use MIN/MAX when generating orders. If it truly does not, then why is it there?
We are also a SAAB dealer so I have to do manual stock orders. I have added parts that I want always on hand by setting both MIN/MAX to 1 and the parts never ordered themselves.

[SamBeroz]

Both MIN / MAX fields are respected by the automatic ordering process, but the parts have to be normal stock parts. Setting them on non-stock parts has no effect. As for the screen flow, that will be addressed as part of the new system. - Sam