EDITOR'S NOTE: While written for automotive dealerships, we feel this article from Lista International offers suggestions repair shops of any size can implement in their business.
As auto dealerships seek to improve profitability in parts and service departments, they are looking for ways to improve efficiency and increase productivity by reducing service time, labor and resource costs. Among the most attractive options out there for achieving these lofty aims is using high density storage to track inventory and reduce transaction time, making the most of existing storage space, and configuring more efficient technician service areas. Follow these simple tips and efficiency is guaranteed to climb!
Use high density parts storage
Efficient parts storage is critical for overall operational efficiency. Consider replacing fixed shelves with a high density storage system – it uses less space and makes it easier to track inventory. Store the highest volume parts where they can be accessed easily and quickly to reduce transaction time. Did you know that replacing existing storage shelves with high density storage units can reduce a parts department’s footprint by as much as 50 percent, while increasing the number of parts stored?
Then sit back and watch how this simple step reduces foot traffic and movement to the back room to locate parts. The end result is a reduction in average transaction time, allowing both service department and walk-in customers to be processed more quickly and efficiently. A side benefit is that storing your best sellers in high density drawers also gives parts personnel a visual inventory, which leads to better inventory control.
Take the example of Ahearn Equipment, Inc., a busy outdoor equipment dealership located in central Massachusetts, which had tripled in size and run out of space to stock the inventory it needs to support the rapidly increasing number of lines it carries. In addition to being cramped for space, the existing shelf storage system was extremely inefficient and unorganized. The shelves were 36 inches wide by 12 inches deep and spaced about 12 inches apart vertically, leaving a tremendous amount of space between the top of the bin and the shelf above it.
Ahearn was trying to become more efficient at finding parts and reducing its lost sale numbers due to missing parts while also reducing its parts department square footage. The company replaced 300 existing storage shelves with 14 new high density drawer storage units supplied by Lista International, allowing them to reduce their parts department footprint by 50 percent, while increasing the number of parts stored. The freed up space allowed Ahearn to expand display and showroom space to accommodate their continually expanding inventory, without adding new buildings.
Make the most of your storage areas
So you’ve purchased a high density drawer storage system – now make sure you make the most of it. Start by working with your cabinet vendor to do an exhaustive physical inventory, measuring the space available, and preparing layouts showing where all items will be placed. This will tell you how much existing storage is used, and how much space can be gained from new storage.
What’s the most important factor for promoting efficiency? Make sure the correct size parts are stored in the correct sized drawers. Removing fixed shelves spaced 10 to 15 inches apart removes a considerable amount of air. One rule of thumb is that three to five sections of shelving (about 9-15 linear feet) can be condensed down to a single eye-level cabinet measuring about 28 inches by 28 inches. Another way of looking at it is that shelving 18 inches deep and 84 inches tall is underutilized and uses no more than 50 percent of its capacity, and sometimes as low as 30 percent. Using the complete cubic storage capacity of each drawer allows the parts department to store the correct parts in the correct drawers.
Keeping in mind that some parts are simply not conducive to storing in drawers, especially items that turn over too fast or are big and bulky, some shelving or a bulk rack is still necessary. But, since you have the storage of the most popular parts right next to the parts counter, parts not sold frequently can be stored in a back corner, away from high traffic areas.
Consider storing parts in the high density storage cabinet by type. For example, automobile dealerships should keep all the spark plugs together, as well as fuel filters, primer bulbs, pulleys, spindles, and springs. Once labels have been affixed to the drawers and bins, anyone can locate a part more easily by visually finding it among like parts. Because 75-80 percent of all fast-moving parts can be stored in this effective way at the parts counter, retrieval time is significantly lowered.
Consider organizing multiple manufacturers with similar parts together for easy cross referencing. When customers come in looking for parts, the parts clerk can open up the drawer that has a particular part, from a variety of manufacturers, stored in one place. They can select the correct one without having to rely on a time consuming parts look up function.
One last tip – Use a drawer organization system that allows you to easily divide space into compartments for separation of individual parts. The best systems allow easy identification of compartment contents, including bar code labeling.
Efficiencies achieved by high density cabinet storage systems organized this way can even reduce parts department staffing needs, greatly improving the return on investment for the new storage system.
Consider integrated service bay technician toolboxes and workbenches
Automobile service departments are increasingly considered important profit centers, so service bays need to look good, get the job done efficiently, and project a professional image that helps capture and retain both customers and skilled personnel.
Consider installing a custom-configured combination integrated automotive workbench and technician toolbox rather than the standard wall-based system, which can require hours of labor and plenty of expensive manpower. Floor-based systems can be unloaded and positioned and set-up is complete. What’s more, the benches can be easily moved or repositioned at any time, which isn’t practical with wall-mounted units.
This modern trend towards a clean, standardized service area is really picking up steam and Lista has greatly increased its automotive service product offerings over the past few years in response to the trend. Providing technicians with overhead storage, as well as giving them cabinets for manuals and hose reel cabinets for fluids, is one of the bigger changes and enhancements added recently.
An example of how this promotes efficiency is Fargo, North Dakota-based Gateway Automotive, which reconfigured its existing Nissan Hyundai service facility to improve efficiency and productivity as well as add capacity, using integrated workbench and technician toolboxes supplied by Lista.
The technician toolbox they selected has three double-wide drawers on top and seven drawers underneath. This gave the technicians the ability to store all their tools in one cabinet. The double-wide drawers provide fast and easy tool selection of the most commonly used tools, and the lower drawers keeps more specialized or lesser used tools available and organized. They have the ability to store long tools like torque wrenches and pry bars in these drawers, as well as complete socket and wrench sets.
All the doors can be closed and secured with stored items hidden from view. Also, all utilities run behind the cabinets, including air, power, and oil lubrication lines. With the new set up, each technician has a bench, hose reel cabinet, and companion storage tool cabinet, where the upper areas can be used to store items like cordless tool chargers that can be plugged into a power strip located in the upper cabinet.
Of course all this is easier said than done, and a great deal of planning goes in to each one of these seemingly simple solutions. Work closely with your vendor to make the best use of every square inch of valuable square footage devoted to storage, promote your service department’s professionalism, and increase technicians’ efficiency and productivity.
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