John Borek has developed a reputation for devising unique responses to shop issues during his nearly three decades as a shop owner. So when he couldn’t find a parts cart that he felt met his needs, he built his own.
“I’ve traveled around and seen many shops, but I just couldn’t find the parts cart I wanted,” said Borek, owner of Autocraft Bodywerks in Austin, Texas. “There are a lot out there, but not one that will hold small parts, big parts, headlights, bumper covers. We’d find one that would hold bumper covers, for example, but it wouldn’t hold doors.”
So Borek’s shop built its own parts cart.
“It works for us,” Borek said. “It has two ‘goalposts’ you can put bumper covers on, and rebars and absorbers can go in the rear. It has a drawer and also a dispenser for a box of sandwich baggies. Each one has a dry erase board and a marker chained to it, so you can put the vehicle and tech info with it, and anyone can locate the parts they need.”
Parts continue to be a source of frustration – and much-needed profit – for shops. Borek is not the only shop owner implementing solutions to improve his shop’s performance through more accurate and efficient parts ordering and handling.
Get all parts identified up front
Sometimes parts process improvements result from having a fresh set of eyes look at your shop. Danny Panduro, second-generation owner of J & L Body Shop in Sun Valley, Calif., said a consultant recommendation led him to move his shop’s parts area from the very back of the shop to a more centrally located bay, reducing the time employees have to spend getting parts to their work area.
Panduro also implemented a system for 100 percent teardown of every vehicle at his shop, to ensure all needed parts (and repairs) are documented before a vehicle moves into production. He recently posted a 9-minute YouTube video (abrn.com/Panduro) explaining the process and the reasons behind it.
A key goal, he explains in the video, is to avoid those Friday afternoon parts emergencies when only then does a technician realize he doesn’t have something he needs to put a vehicle back together. In one example in the video, Panduro points out that early in the process the washer fluid nozzles have been removed from a hood that will be blended to ensure they aren’t damaged or lost in the paint department. The mirror and rocker and belt mouldings have been removed from a door that will be blended even before any repair work begins.
“Belt mouldings will break; it happens, and that’s fine, but let’s identify that during the teardown phase so we’re not looking to get that molding or clips on a Friday afternoon,” Panduro says in the video.
He also recommends providing a large, working-height table to allow whoever checks in parts to comfortably compare or “mirror match” the replacement parts to the damaged parts.
The video also explains his shop’s system, which indicates on the parts cart when all parts for that job have been checked in and are ready to go.
“The goal is once we commit ourselves to putting that vehicle into production, it doesn’t stop and just moves through the process,” Panduro said.
Find creative alternatives
Darren Pierse, co-owner of Arizona Collision Specialists in Scottsdale, Ariz., told attendees of a seminar on parts management at an industry event that when he thought about ways to improve touch time at his high-volume two-shop business, his parts department seemed like one place to drive that improvement. Like any shop owner who has tracked the causes for delays or late deliveries of vehicles, Pierse knew the most common causes are parts related. One opportunity for improvement he saw would be an additional parts delivery, essentially overnight, so his shops could hit the ground running with those parts the next morning.
When he spoke with some of the dealerships his company had purchased parts from, he didn’t get the response he’d hoped.
“We didn’t get any response, quite honestly,” he said. “And we’re a decent-sized player in our market.”
So he instead looked to consolidate some of his purchasing power through a multi-line dealer who seemed more receptive to working on the overnight delivery concept. That dealer proposed that in addition to their regular deliveries, all of their dealerships would make a late-in-the-day delivery of the shop’s parts to a central hub; Arizona Collision Specialists would use a third-party to pick up those parts overnight and deliver them to the shop by 6 a.m.
There were some logistics issues to work out. Pierse, for example, didn’t want allow access to the shop overnight when no one was there. Some shop office space with outside access but that could be locked off from the rest of the shop was converted to an overnight drop-off point.
Pierse’s shops have a system so that parts are loaded onto carts in a consistent manner. The estimate is included on the carts in a color-coded pouch (red or green) to indicate whether the cart contains all the needed parts. (Other shops use color coding to indicate to which technician or team the job/cart is assigned.)
Handling clips and fasteners
Will Latuff, manager of the fourth-generation Latuff Brothers collision repair business in St. Paul, Minn., said his shop has a meticulous system related to clips and fasteners during the “blueprinting process.” When the blueprinter disassembles a vehicle, for example, all fasteners are placed in a plastic box with numbered compartments. A fastener box for a front bumper, for example, includes a generic photo of a front bumper, showing that the fasteners in compartment No. 1., for example, are from the top center of the bumper cover, compartment No. 2 has the bolts going into the fenders, etc. This allows whoever is reassembling the vehicle to locate the needed fasteners quickly.
If the blueprinter can’t find necessary replacement fasteners within the shop’s supply, he uses the electronic parts catalog to get the right part number and list price. He also puts a sample of the fastener in a plastic bag marked with a pink X (the shop’s visual cue for “replace”) along with the number that are needed. When those parts arrive, the person mirror-matching the parts can compare them to the sample, ensure the correct number of them arrived, and put them with the rest of the parts for that job.
Looking outside your market
Gary Baugh has some unique parts-related challenges because Baugh Auto Body in Richmond, Va., operates seven days a week. He grew disenchanted with the parts service he received from some local dealerships, and so began driving 100 miles into Northern Virginia to see whether there was a way, despite the traffic on that trip, to get better service from dealers outside his market.
“People ask me why I didn’t just send a parts runner, but I knew that in order to do business outside my backyard that I had to build relationships and trust,” Baugh said. “That’s needed when you’re asking for parts service at odd times of the night and on Saturdays and Sundays.”
The payoff? Some of those parts managers he got to know were willing to bring parts to their home at night for Baugh to pick up, shaving a number of traffic-clogged miles off his parts run. Some dealers gave him nighttime access to a storage area to pick up parts left there for his shop. Others arranged to leave them for him with the dealership sales departments, which are open in the evenings. By clustering his parts purchases, he was able to secure added discounts that help offset his fuel costs.
Baugh said overnight shipping also can enable shops to quickly get parts like mouldings, mirrors or lights from anywhere in the country if they aren’t immediately available from a local dealer.
“I can order a part from a California dealer at 3 p.m. my time and have it at 9 a.m. the next day,” Baugh said. “In some cases, the local dealer told me it would be two days out from the warehouse.”
Help vendors improve
Industry consultant and ABRN columnist Mike Anderson of CollisionAdvice.com said Baugh’s examples demonstrate the need for shop estimators and parts managers to think strategically. Will it pay, for example, to give up some discount in order to get a part more quickly? He recommends meeting with parts managers annually to ask, for example, that they let you know if they can get a part they don’t have from another dealer but at less of a discount than your normally receive. That enables you to make that business decision.
“One of the principles of Toyota’s production system is to respect your suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve,” Anderson said. “Treat your parts vendors like you treat your employees. Challenge them to do better, and help them achieve it.”
More parts quick tips
- Consider asking your parts vendors to deliver complete orders only, unless you request otherwise. This saves in-house processing time, such as dealing with multiple check-ins of deliveries, and multiple invoices for a single job.
- Establish and communicate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for parts delivery drivers, specifying where they are to park, where parts are to be delivered, how they are to check-in the parts with your staff, how they are to check for parts returns, etc.
- Mark all parts using labels (that often can be printed from a management system) that include the repair order number, the vehicle, technician, vendor name and invoice number.
- Prefer to use OEM parts? Check with your dealer about their ability to price-match if a customer’s insurer will only pay for non-OEM.
- Create written SOPs for all the parts processes to ensure consistency and make it easy for someone to fill in when the shop’s parts manager is not there. The SOPs should detail parts ordering; check-in and labeling; how parts carts are to be labeled and stored; and how parts returns and credits are to be handled.
Smarter parts returns
Parts returns are a costly process for shops and vendors. But no matter how much you are able to reduce them, some returns are inevitable. Here are some ways to handle them efficiently:
Submit returns promptly. If you expect vendors to pick up and process your parts returns quickly, it’s only fair to do your part by getting parts returned to them in a timely manner.
Keep potential part returns in good condition. Painted, damaged or dirty parts, and parts that have obviously once been installed can result in delayed, denied or reduced credit. “If you’re sending a part back, think about if it’s in a condition you’d accept if we delivered that part the next time you ordered it,” one parts manager said. “If you wouldn’t accept it as a new part, you can’t expect to get full credit.”
Care for the packaging. The condition of the parts packaging has become every bit as important as the condition of the part. Don’t tear or crush boxes, don’t write on packaging (use removable labels to mark them as needed), and try to keep packaging reasonably free of dirt, dust, tape and paint.
Include some paperwork with returns. Parts vendors say they are amazed at the number of returned parts that arrive with little or no indication of what shop bought them or when. Processing credits for other returns will take priority over these “mystery parts.” So provide the vendor with a copy of the invoice. Alternatively, use a 2-part form to list the purchase order number and the parts being returned, having the parts driver sign the form when they pick up the returns; this will also help you track returns to ensure you get credits due.
