Parts inventories make up a significant investment for dealerships. If managed incorrectly, they pose a considerable loss for your business. Using a Dealership Management Software (DMS) platform, dealerships save money on an annual basis. Not one, but several vendor price files containing thousands of parts are uploaded to your dealership’s database. Then just select the desired part at your quoted price file rate.
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Where do the price files come from?
An average dealership uses multiple wholesale distributors and vendors. This is to manage parts and service departments’ multi-faceted needs. Periodically vendors supply dealers like you with updated part catalog files. Your parts vendor sends you an email with a catalog attached. These catalogs go to dealerships around the country. In general, the supported file format for these catalogs is Excel and CSV.
How often are the price files sent?
Most wholesale distributors offer updated price files quarterly, biannually or annually. Request the files from your vendor in a digital file. Once you receive it, email it to your DMS. Then, ask them to upload it to refresh your part prices in your database. When researching for a new DMS, it’s a good idea to inquire about price file uploads. Some, not all, DMS companies charge for each upload.
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In addition to the data file, support staff needs to know if part, price, cost and retail prices are also updated in the current inventory. The support staff also needs to know if the dealership has multiple locations. In such instances, the parts in all locations must be updated as well. The contents of the catalog and data vary from company to company. In most cases, manipulation of the data requires the use of Microsoft Excel.
How do parts departments function?
Parts departments function “internally” as a service center for vehicles they purchased. Their intent is to fix and sell the vehicle or add new parts as a customer requests. They also perform a function “externally” for customers. They do this for customers who schedule their vehicles for maintenance, or as a parts store for a counter purchase.
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Functionality in some DMS tools also offers “Purchase Orders” interfacing directly with your parts vendor, such as Keller Marine Distributor. Order these parts through your DMS tool by adding them throughout your workday or week. Once the file is loaded and ready, it is sent automatically through an Application Programming Interface (API). This is a feature that DMS businesses use so ordering is seamless.
Vendors
NTP-Stag, Inc, Arrow Distributing, and Keller Marine are a few brand names used in the RV Industry. In the trailer industry, well-known suppliers are Redneck Trailer Supplies and TextTrail Trailer. Both industries also use local Walmart Stores, auto stores and Amazon.
According to a 2020 Statista.com article:
“This statistic represents the parts inventory value per dealership in the United States from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, the average parts inventory per dealership was valued at around 390,960 U.S. dollars. Between 2014 and 2017, this value increased by nearly 63,000 U.S. dollars.”
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If you are sufficiently familiar with the required fields EverLogic uses in uploading parts, and proficient in using Excel, end users may upload price files on their own. We recommend you read the how-to procedure for the supplier file in question and understand prior to the upload. Alternatively, most end users forward the file to Support@EverLogic.com for processing.
