Ever hear the phrase “Can’t see the forest through the trees”?  If you’re like most people, you have heard, or said this before.

In today’s business environment, one must strive to maximize every marketing opportunity in order to achieve “next level” results.  Remember that small improvements lead to larger improvements, so let’s look at one area of your Parts operation that is likely a gold mine waiting to be tapped: Special Ordered Parts.

Take this simple test.  Have your Parts Manager run a report based on the parts that are on hand and flagged as Special Ordered Parts.  This can be done in several ways depending on your inventory set up or dealer software arrangement.  (We recommend having a bin called SOP in your dealer software package to make this and other functions of your operation flow better.)  You can also run aging reports based on part numbers with no hits (or bins) in most software environments.  You will likely be surprised by both the value, and aging of your stock that is stuck in the SOP bin (Unless this “test” is a regular inspection made by your parts team).

In most Dealerships, Special Ordered Parts is an area of friction between Parts and Service.  The parts department very frequently feels that the Service Department places special orders for these parts on behalf of customers and that these special orders end up aging on their shelves.  Aged parts turn into obsolescence and wasted time and dollars.  The Parts team does what they can by sending out post cards, and maybe even calling customers to try to move these parts. But all too often, this meets with little success.

It’s time to arrest this behavior and make special order parts work for you.  Special Ordered Parts and its all too usual stagnant nature isn’t an industry specific problem. This IS a behavior that can be changed.

We'll discuss solution strategies in next week's article.

For more information on streamlining your operation, contact us about our In-Dealership consultations.