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Automotive industry insights, tips, and guides

Parts Manager's Checklist for Handling a Key Technician Resignation

A key technician resignation requires immediate action on three fronts: secure critical knowledge before they leave, adjust parts ordering and inventory to matc...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Recruiting and Keeping A-Level Technicians

A parts manager who wants to keep A-level technicians needs to: stock parts accurately and on-time to minimize their downtime, communicate transparently about j...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Running a Monthly Service Advisor One-On-One

A parts manager's monthly one-on-one with a service advisor should cover four core areas: parts availability metrics (fill rate, special-order turn-times), comm...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Closing the Gap on Service Absorption

A parts manager closes the gap on service absorption by tracking which parts are installed without corresponding labor sales, reconciling parts usage against bi...

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Parts Manager's Checklist for Raising Effective Labor Rate Without Losing Customers

Raising your effective labor rate requires three simultaneous moves: transparently documenting what each technician actually produces (hours per RO), adjusting ...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Improving Hours-Per-RO in the Service Drive

Improving hours-per-RO starts with the parts department working backward from your technician schedule and labor targets, then building a systematic checklist t...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Following Up on a Delayed Parts ETA

A parts manager's follow-up checklist for delayed ETAs should verify the supplier's revised timeline, confirm the customer's current vehicle status, flag any do...

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Parts Manager's Daily Ordering Cutoff Checklist: Set Times, Track Compliance, Hit Deadlines

A parts manager's daily ordering cutoff is the hard deadline after which orders don't ship until the next business day. Set this based on your supplier's proces...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Coordinating With the Body Shop on Parts Orders

A parts manager coordinating with the body shop on parts orders needs to verify the damage assessment upfront, confirm part numbers against the estimate, establ...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Improving Fill Rate on the First Shelf Pull

A parts manager improves first-shelf fill rate by tracking demand patterns, monitoring stock levels daily, optimizing bin locations for fast-movers, and trainin...

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The Parts Manager's Checklist for Running a Parts Inventory Audit

A parts inventory audit is a complete physical count and reconciliation of your parts stock against your DMS records to catch discrepancies, identify shrinkage,...

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Parts Manager's Checklist for Setting a Parts Markup Matrix

A parts markup matrix is a tiered pricing structure that applies different profit margins to parts based on cost tier, category, or customer type. To set one co...

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