Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016 - (Page 20)

S020_revised_Fixed Ops.qxp 8/10/2016 10:28 AM Page 1 FIXED OPS JOURNAL PROFIT BUILDER ■ Shopping carts and dollies get techs the parts they need | PAGE 22 | Parts world Randy Irwin talks stock: autonews.com/ irwinvideo AUTOMAT FOR AUTO PARTS ■ Dealership vending machines deliver savings on supplies, tool use DAVID KUSHMA dkushma@autonews.com L PAGE 20 A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 " " ITTLETON, Mass. - The red vending machine near the parts counter at Acton Toyota of Littleton looks as if it could dispense candy bars and bags of chips. Instead, the device is part of a system that allows the service department at the dealership - and others - to monitor and control its distribution of shop supplies, manage technicians' use of expensive tools, enhance the productivity of service and parts employees, eliminate lines at the parts desk and save time and money. "We've seen a drop in expenses. It's cut down on the supplies we have to buy," says Randy Irwin, Acton Toyota's service director. "And we know where our tools are." The system's vendor, Myers Tire Supply, of Akron, Ohio, estimates that its Xpress Vending Program typically saves its dealership customers between $64,000 and $125,000 a year in labor and inventory costs. Myers "makes the investment" in the machines that deliver supplies to technicians, says Taryn Chmielowicz, the company's director of marketing and customer support. "In exchange, we ask the dealer to shift spending on Irwin: System shop supplies and contracks "where sumables [to Myers], as our tools are." well as pay a nominal fee for maintenance and software," she adds. Each of Acton Toyota's 42 service technicians with access to the vending machine punches a personal identification number and a product code number to get needed items. The machine stocks such supplies as cans of shop chemicals and rolls of electrical tape; they drop from their shelves to a tray at the bottom. A chart provides a menu of available supplies. An adjacent locker has compartments for larger items - such as lubricants and boxes of rubber gloves - and costlier supplies, such as a tool that enables technicians to read tire pressure monitoring systems. "It's a fantastic system. It's working better than I expected. I don't have enough good to say about it." MARK BENTLEY, shop foreman, Acton Toyota of Littleton The vending system permits the dealership to track each technician's use of inventory. It notifies Irwin and other managers by email if a special tool is not returned within four hours. It also enables Acton Toyota to reorder supplies automatically from Myers Tire Supply. Irwin says the supplies that the dealership buys from Myers "are priced competitively." Acton Toyota has used the vending machine since the start of the year. Mark Bentley, Acton's shop foreman, says he worked with Myers - which developed the program in partnership with Apex Supply Chain Technologies, of Mason, Ohio - to meet the dealership's specific needs. "It's a fantastic system. It's working better than I expected," Bentley says. "I don't have enough good to say about it." Mike Coffey, Acton Toyota's parts manager, says the system "frees up time for my guys. They're not always stopping and grabbing things." And it has cut waste. Previously technicians "would be able to take as much as they wanted and stash it away, and we'd be out," Coffey says. Myers Tire Supply declined to say how many franchised dealerships use its Xpress system. Chmielowicz notes that the program's customers include six dealerships operated by Performance Automotive Network as well as Richmond Ford in Richmond, Va. For Acton Toyota, Irwin says the vending machine system "seems like a great idea. We hope to expand it." ■ Ursula Zerilli contributed to this report. http://www.autonews.com/irwinvideo

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Service Counter
Legal Lane
Treading confidently
'Tis the season
Profit Builder
Valet service
Richard Truett
OEConnection
Changing oil:
Photo story
Trade-off
Toyota way
Feedback
Lone star
Airbag recall
Forging links
Top 50
5 Minutes With
Shop Talk
Fixed in Time

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016