hardware

[Robert a Bamert jr]

Well i've been told that you can est.hardware inventory at about 1% of your total inventory.starting out with that i was able to return some obs. to curtis ind. and start off alittle beter about half of the orginal fig. $ amount from there i set up the hardware at .25 .50 1.00 for nuts washers and bolts this for me anyway has worked out great we turned the hardware inv. around in less than a year my hardware cost me about nothing. And just to be on the safe side ,i also been told you must be carefull about how you list hardware on a r/o you must, in alot of states itemize it out not lump sum it when billing

[jagman]

good point chuck!our shop pays for those
types of things and it seems silly from my
standpoint.We do not charge to our customers
any shop supplies to the ro,i believe in
california you can not do so.I am always
looking for ways we can cut down or control
our expenses.oh yeah,would it be wise to
cost average your nuts and bolts?

[Chuck Hartle]

Jagman,

Averaging your nuts and bolts would be an interesting idea. Especially if your supplier does not have a parts master to easily update your inventory!

I am surprised that the nut and bolt mfgs still even have the master tapes around. We pushed Bowman to understand our need for it and from people in that business I have heard that they made a big mistake by doing this.

Why? Now that you could track your nut and bolt inventory and treat it as an asset you no longer needed the sales person to do the weekly touch n' feel stock order and you really tracked what you used. Before no one wanted to hastle with it and you were glad that he took care of it for you.

Five years ago this would have never even been a subject to discuss unless you were on the service side looking to reduce expenses.

As Mike Nichols has said, "If you can't measure it you can't track it properly." Oh how true with nuts and bolts!

Chuck Hartle'

[kent]

I estimate my hardware inventory every year. My initial figure was provided at my request by my hdwr sales rep. I think it is self defeating to count hdwr. You will spend more money counting it than estimating. Also we use ten part numbers to sell hardware & other small items that we do not have on our computer system. The counterman estimates the value & uses the part number with the corresponding appropriate cost & selling price.

[yourchevy]

our shop charges shop supplies as a percent of labor sales on every repair order. this charge is explained in detail on the back of the customers invoice. nuts and bolts are listed in that explination. while i do support the inventory and sale per item method i do not own the store. therefore, i must set my policies to follow the guidelines set by ownership. the owners invoices state they are included in the shop supplies charge so i do not bill them separately. i wouldnt want a customer or an attorney general asking me why i am billing twice for a single item under seperate cover. i suggest all managers review the backs of customer invoices to see if a section states what a shop supply charge includes if one is levied. most invoices do automatically unless otherwise requested. then bill in accordance with that document.

[sallen1]

Here's what we have been doing...

We inventory and protect (i.e., no supplies outside a locked area) all materials and supplies and assign individual source and part nos. for each. This helps ordering, etc.

When an employee requests a supply item which cannot be charged to a specific RO, it is charged to an RO opened under his/her employee number. These RO's are closed at the end of each month to the appropriate supply-expense accounts (not to the employee, if you were wondering...). This goes for office stuff, too.

What's the effect? 1) The employee makes sure the item goes to an RO (or car deal) and not to his/her RO. 2) Allows management to track supply usage by WHO uses it. 3) Keeps supply usage in computer history for trend analysis.

This has worked well.

Scott

[ridge]

Scott, We have implemented the exact same procedure that you are talking about. It is really working well.
Along these same lines, I would like to take the hardware issue one step further. How do you handle the receipting of misc. parts that do not have factory part #'s such as brake clean, wd-40, various brands of oil, washer fluid, tie straps, roloc discs, keyless remote batteries, light bulbs, hose clamps, orings, sandpaper,caps, shirts, etc. It seems that most of the time the item is not billed out under the same part # that it was receipted under, resulting in negative on hand and generally screwing up your inventory. Any suggestions??

[sallen1]

We assign numbers consistent with what show on the invoices or based on the product description (like: wd-40 has the part-no. wd-40...) except in the case of some apparel items that come from different vendors. We use a common number for those and the person responsible for the pro shop receipts those separately.

All supply items are under one source (brake clean, wd-40, bowman stuff, etc.) and the apparel, pro shop stuff under another. We negotiate contracts with suppliers which gives consistency.

Find a numbering system that makes sence to you and stick to it!

scott