Digital Dealer - May 2019 - 16

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: F ixe d Oper at i ons

By Ed Kovalchick
CEO & Founder,
Net Profit Inc.

The Tales of a
Parts Pro...
Not much is written
about the travails or
the contributions of parts
counter personnel. These
suppliers of necessities are
in fact integral to getting any
type of maintenance or
repair performed in the
shop. What they provide
makes or breaks almost any
job based on availability,
discovery speed, application knowledge, and
delivery promptness.
Quality counter soldiers are
worth their weight in gold,
and often they save jobs
and reputations with no
fanfare.
A few years ago, I wrote
a column related to these
supplier assistants and the
quandaries they too often
find themselves in. Based
on some recent experiences I have had with some
parts department rodeos,
I thought it appropriate
to again present it to my
friends and readers.
ISSUES WITH TISSUES

If you've never worked
in a parts department, you
have no idea how many
predicaments, quandaries,
impasses, and dilemmas
get thrust on these counter
cowpokes each day. Superficially, the seemingly inane
task of taking a parts request, letting the computer
do the work, then retrieving
the part from a shelf seems
16

M AY 2 0 1 9

so simple. But there are issues which even a Ph.D. in
theory, plus a double major
in philosophy, would wrestle
with; and yet, our industry
expects simple liberal arts
bachelor-degreed minions
to quickly respond and
figure out proper answers.
Sinful I say.
Super tech Lefty saunters
to the parts counter with a
request, "Gimme six spark

Moonshine say anything to
anyone, and who and what
should that be? Keep in
mind, Moonshine is buried
with other requests and the
parts and service manager
relationship isn't exactly hitten' on all cylinders. Should
Moonshine calculate that
Lefty had a new spark plug
left over from another job
(you know the one, where
the plug is impossible to

WHAT THEY IN
FACT PROVIDE MAKES
OR BREAKS ALMOST
ANY JOB BASED ON
AVAILABILITY, DISCOVERY
SPEED, APPLICATION
KNOWLEDGE, AND
DELIVERY PROMPTNESS."
plugs for that three-liter
buggy over there, Moonshine." The dutiful counter
person checks out the appropriate part number and
proceeds to the bin to find
only five available - stupid
computer count. He meanders back and declares,
"There's only five of 'em
Lefty. I reckon one get et."
(Slight laugh here)
"Hell, that's enough
Shine, just gimme them."
Now, here's the question:
How many spark plugs
does Moonshine bill out?
Here's a second point: Does

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

get to)? Does that make all
OK?
What would you do if your
name was Moonshine?
OR THIS

New tech Shorty requests
a water pump and timing
belt for a common model.
Moonshine knows that
cam seals always go with
the job on this particular
vehicle, but Shorty didn't
say anything about them.
What action, if any, should
Moonshine take? What
if Moonshine tells Shorty
about the seals and he just
laughs and leaves without

them? Should Moonshine
jump over the counter and
chase Shorty down for a
flogging?
OR THIS

A breathless wrencher
named Snappy bounces
off the parts counter and
proclaims loudly, "I need
a muffler bearing bad for
that Cumquat Sedan I'm
fixin'. I need it now Moon."
Moonshine checks and
finds the department is
fresh out of them. "Sorry
Snap-man, we're fresh out
of them. Quirky got the last
one earlier today - got it ordered - will be here morrow
most likely." Snappy lowers
his shoulders and marches
away. "Forgetaboutit," he
yells out. "Ain't got nothin'
in there."
Now, one has to wonder
how badly Snappy needed
the dang part, and whether
the customer was going
to get an inferior repair
because the muffler bearing
wasn't available? What
should Moonshine do?
Does he have any responsibility here? Can he make it
to Heaven (there is debate
here on capitalization of
Heaven - I'm capitalizing
just to be safe) if he ignores
this situation? Will the IRS
investigate him too?
AN IDEA

There are many circumstances just like the oddball-but-real ones described
above. Chances are few
managers hear about them
and underlying decisions are
made on the fly - good, bad,
or indifferent. Rather than
allow these questionable
situations to keep happening, how about this novel
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