Crazy Special Order System

[verofan]

After several years at ADP dealer with a very organised parts dept (buyout basically)., have just moved to R&R dealer with a parts dept in disarray.

Their special order system is crazy (in my view). They do not use SB,SP,SD, they just 'S' the part and then proceed to write the order details on a piece of paper (not even a special order ticket) !! Not sure where it goes from there, someone else does the ordering.

I am not well versed in Ignite (yet) but it seems to me like it has all the features to allow one to 'roll' special order requests into an order like we did in ADP ??

Actually, I am the only one using Ignite, the rest are all stuck on ERA but the owner is tired of paying for Ignite and it not being utilised (don't blame him) so I think they are in for a rude awakening.

Is anyone else doing it this way in the 21st century?

[Zep33]

LOL - I stopped by a Toyota dealership last year to order something for my own car and they were on R & R and that's how they did it. I couldn't believe watching the guy process my order when he had no idea that I knew exactly how it "should" be done. I was standing at the counter just saying wtf to myself LOL. I ended up getting my part though

[GM-gta]

I find R&R worse that ADP but what they are doing sounds like a cluster ** even a card system would be better.
Yea they should be ordering everything on an invoice, work order or appointment, then at the end of the day in ignite you go into:

Tools, special entry, post individual orders and this screen will show you everything ordered also the code they used when ordering so you can sort what is coming tomorrow, and what is going to be backordered and what can wait that you can stock order.

Also if you don't order properly you cannot run reports to see what is in and for who. Next question is how do they call customers to get them to come back?

[verofan]

Tools, special entry, post individual orders and this screen will show you everything ordered also the code they used when ordering so you can sort what is coming tomorrow, and what is going to be backordered and what can wait that you can stock order.

Also if you don't order properly you cannot run reports to see what is in and for who. Next question is how do they call customers to get them to come back?

So if i am correct, the use of the terms 'post' and 'roll' are the same? When I did try SB, I could see a list of pending orders on that screen. In ADP, we would 'roll' the VOR & STK order lines into their respective orders, (either in PO for VOR's or RA for STK - added to suggested order items), and then in ROD print a listing of the items on each order that we used as a check-in sheet. When checking in the order, any item not present would be highlighted on the check-in sheet and the reason for non receipt investigated. Usual causes: back order or alt. warehouse. The check-in sheet would go back to the warehouse once partially receipted to await the arrival of the outstanding parts. That way every order was tracked until complete. Furthermore, the special order sheets would be kept with each order until checked in. Then one copy on part, one copy to advisor, tech, salesman or whomever. It was a sleek, simple, effective system.

What I have yet to figure out in R&R is how to print the equivalent of that ROD check-in sheet

It appears that R&R has all these order capabilities but my parts dept. does not know how to use them. That's the tip of the iceberg though. I spent several hours yesterday just trying to clear the aisles of stuff so we could move in there. Problem is I am not actually manager. Manager is an older bloke who is counting the years until he can retire and is evidently set in his ways. He needs to be: 'parts manager, emeritus'. Others are just there for a pay cheque. Plus, we are nearing the end of a major renovation project, although I think that has been used as a partial scapegoat for not keeping things organised. I am a British car enthusiast so working at a Jag Land Rover dealer is almost not even work for me, and when it is I work smart not hard.

To answer the question on cust. follow up, I don't yet know exactly how they are doing that as I have been mostly taking wholesale calls and just calling my customers from my notes. My guess: it is rather haphazard!

What I shall be adamant about in due course is ceasing to hand write special order sheets (time wasting, extra work, error prone & lack of reporting). They had not done that for probably 20 years at the old store, at least 15, the time that I was there. It simply defies explanation as to why anyone would not use electronic order sheets & tracking in ADP & R&R in 2015!

[cville1987]

When I took over this store, they were on ADP. They were doing something similar here. Nothing was ever ordered on the ticket, everything was done on a manual special order and then written on a piece of paper. The manager (an old fart) would then decide what to order. There was no tracking or cards or anything. The matrix was through the roof and he wasn't conforming on any level to GM RIM. First thing I did was show them how to order on the tickets. Now we are on Reynolds (not ignite yet) and we use SP and SB on the RO, appointment or counter ticket. I created reports in 6910 that are queued to run at 10 am for each advisor and each counter person. All orders are tied to someone and they have their report of what is in and what isn't. It's a simple, clean way to do it and it works. It's so much faster and cleaner. I would think your counter people would immediately be on board when they see how much easier it is.

[verofan]

I think I discovered today what will sink their current approach.

When checking on an order for a customer by name in Ignite nothing was found. I then looked the part up and searched by part number. Voilà, there was the order. Questioned the parts manager about the discrepancy and was told, one had to seach with an asterisk in front of the name in ERA. Tried that in Ignite - error message! So, if they are forced to use Ignite in due course which I am under the impression they will be, there goes the ability to search by customer! Doubt that will fly, so maybe they will start using SB/SP. We shall see.

Gave up a good asst. manager position at ADP store out of state to come back to this nonsense because of real estate issues, so I am not exactly pleased with the situation.

Had a productive chat with R&R rep and was able to add customer info to special order sheets (pick ticket) and print a fairly good version of the check-in sheet through right click on daily order entry screen so our ADP order tracking & receiving system appears basically workable in R&R.

[verofan]

Perhaps I should have titled this thread insane special order system.

It appears they also have a big problem with special orders not closing out. We had this issue occasionally with ADP and manual SOR's that were sold before being receipted but nothing this bad.

Am I correct in thinking all these SOR's hanging out there in R&R are a consequence of not using SB/SP?

[cville1987]

In Reynolds, when the parts get handed out the SP or SB needs to be changed to S to clear the special order or you can go to 2533 and clear them that way. My guy never changes them to S so our lists get really long. Weekly the advisors will bring me their list that prints every morning marking which ones are finished and need to be cleared. If the original RO closed with an SP then 2533 is the only way to clear it, if it closed with an SB then it creates an -1 ticket. When you pull up the new RO you will get a prompt that this customer has open backorder repair orders, type yes, then your number, then hit R to transfer the part from the -1 ticket to the new ticket, this clears the order. Make sense? If instead of transferring the part like I just described, they just bill the part out on the new ticket, you will need to pull up the old -1 ticket in 2525 and delete it to clear the order and make your quantities show correctly.

[verofan]

In Ignite counter sales screen when one fills the ship quantity it appears to automatically change TC to 'S'.

I tested this on one of the few invoices that I used SB on before being told I couldn't, but the OH qty still shows as 6S.

What he has done is created a manual special order for each order line as far as I can tell. ** Yes, that's what they're doing **

I am trying to build my case here before going to the dealer principal if necessary. This insane special order approach is a deal breaker for me long term.

[LamboThom]

There is a an ADP to Reynolds and Reynolds conversion chart in FREE STUFF.

If its not there, email me and I can send you a copy