Parts Responsibility

[jonhiker]

Re: Parts Responsibility

we recently went though a software upgrade, during which the parts module experienced many technical difficulties. the system was not always writing off parts used on a call or transferred. that was 2 months ago, and the problems are still showing up. my suggestion was to do a no- fault inventory and just get everything straightened out..... that didn't fly.

[sturmtrooper]

Re: Parts Responsibility

As far as financial responsibility for parts some dealerships have had this policy for 20+ years. As for legality, absolutely legal. But I would wonder about their stock control and service reporting to go to that extreme, they must have had a serious shortage problem across their whole organization. We quarterly inventory car stock and shortages up to a few hundred dollars are just written off as we all forget to write down a feed roller or other part from time to time. When it starts adding up to thousands we take a closer look. A number of years ago we hired a tech and only a couple of months into his tenure, he was on a call that needed a part we did not have in stock. The next day he shows up in the office not only with the part needed, but thousands of dollars of other parts for that model. When we questioned him on where he got all these parts he nonchalantly stated they were from PM's not fully completed or requested parts that he found he did not need and just put them in his garage! Needless to say he did not last long with us and we contacted his former employer and returned the parts to them at our expense. In this case it seems they have used the sledge hammer to swat the fly.

Some states outright forbid this. Others regulate it and some don't give a damn at all. Given the cost of copier parts and the fact that I doubt most of us make a high wage you'd be hard pressed to garnish much without dipping below fed minimum wage which is definitely illegal.

Personally if someone is so dumb they are costing you money then fire them. If you really feel the need to be repaid then take them to court over it. Taking money out of peoples paychecks just because you think you are owed is sleazy.

[fixthecopier]

Re: Parts Responsibility

Inventory is signed out by hand. Each tech has a sign out sheet. The parts person does the signing.

Problem 1...not paying attention and signing out to the wrong person.

Inventory is transfered in the system by ladies who type in data from tickets.

problem 2... human error when typing.

I believe if the techs are to be held accountable, the company must have a flawless system. Also as I stated before, in a system where I am expected to pay for missing parts, I should get money when the company makes a mistake and I find it.

This happened 10 or more years ago.
Inventory was always bad, really bad. I always had the worst, based on the number of calls I did. I tried real hard to keep up with my stuff so I would have a great inventory. I am standing beside the managers desk when she hands me my list of missing stuff. I just know I have a low number. I look at the first page, then the second then the third. Total missing was a little over $10,000. My mouth dropped open in disbelief. I wadded up the list and dropped it in the trashcan beside her desk while stating , "There is no fucking way I am missing $10,000 worth of shit!", and walked off. Nothing more was said. I was able to get away with it back then. Would get in trouble today.

For those of you who think I should have been fired, let me give an example of what I saw. The first missing item was 10 HP cartridges at a cost of $225 each. They had been special ordered for one of my customers. They were still in company stores. When I pointed this out, I was told that if the list said I was missing 10, then we must have had 20 to start with. "Bullshit, show me the invoice where you bought 20." The issue was dropped, because we only bought 10. This kind of bad bookkeeping is not my problem.

The most recent inventory, I was missing less than $100.

[qbert69]

Re: Parts Responsibility

We don't have a large business and we try to estimate what the problem is, get the correct part and fix it.

PERSONALLY, if I take a part out of a stock bin at the office, it gets installed on the machine....if I don't install it, it goes right back into the inventory bin at the office!....simple! If we have to order a part, we put down two on the order list...one for the customer and one for stock. SIMPLE!....the problem is when techs don't write down the shit they use or slip it into their car inventory and not put another one on the order list to have in the shop.



PS--I used to work for Radio Shack!...while I was there (back in my college days) I remember when they transitioned from a list count sheet to a barcode scan method...I'll take the barcode scan method ANY day!!!....and even nowadays, with smartphones barcode scanning capability, there is absolutely no reason not to have software and maintain good inventory control!

[fixthecopier]

Re: Parts Responsibility

I would love to have bar code scanners. I admit to being at fault sometimes. My shop is at fault more than I. When they show you a list of missing that is 2 or 3 thousand dollars, and then the girls go through the books and find half or more of it, there is too much human error. My manager likes to have control. When I get stuff she takes the ticket and writes the number on it. She signs it out in the book, writes it on the ticket and does the transfer in the computer. Still we come up short. It is much better than it used to be. My shop will fly in a woman who used to work for us until her husband got moved to another base. Her sister took her place and we fly Dawn in twice a year rather than hire a temp who knows nothing about it.

[NeoMatrix]

Re: Parts Responsibility

PS--I used to work for Radio Shack!...while I was there (back in my college days) I remember when they transitioned from a list count sheet to a barcode scan method...I'll take the barcode scan method ANY day!!!....and even nowadays, with smartphones barcode scanning capability, there is absolutely no reason not to have software and maintain good inventory control!

Re: Parts/inventory barcode scanner :

Hopefully my next software programming project. Barcode scanners are reasonably cheap.


There's never enough time to get every thing done......

[subaro]

Re: Parts Responsibility

We don't have a large business and we try to estimate what the problem is, get the correct part and fix it.

PERSONALLY, if I take a part out of a stock bin at the office, it gets installed on the machine....if I don't install it, it goes right back into the inventory bin at the office!....simple! If we have to order a part, we put down two on the order list...one for the customer and one for stock. SIMPLE!....the problem is when techs don't write down the shit they use or slip it into their car inventory and not put another one on the order list to have in the shop.



PS--I used to work for Radio Shack!...while I was there (back in my college days) I remember when they transitioned from a list count sheet to a barcode scan method...I'll take the barcode scan method ANY day!!!....and even nowadays, with smartphones barcode scanning capability, there is absolutely no reason not to have software and maintain good inventory control!

Large outfits has dedicated parts person or persons . They are responsible for distributing and restocking the tech car stock. Acutally the software does the restocking notice and the parts person just sends out the parts when the tech stock level is needed. This is for the most common parts. If a tech needs a part, he sends the request via the call software from his smart phone and it is immediately sent to the parts person. This works very well for us and field transfers from one tech to another is done from the call software. If you don't want to get bogged down and spend wasted time tracking inventory, then you have to invest in a decent call system. small operations will not have that option as it can be an expensive overhead.
some of our techs don't see the office for years and parts are shipped out to them. Once a year at inventory stock count, tech car stock are counted and balanced with the system. All techs have scanners, but i don't think any one uses them. The tech puts in the last four digits or so in the search option and the parts shows up and he can see how much he has in his stock. The software does the math when the tech input what he uses in a call ticket and so everthing is updated by the software. When a tech uses a part from his stock, it is mandatory for him to put it in the call software.
The only person to mess up your carstock is the parts person as only very few people has rights to change options there. A good system can save you a lot of headaches.
Besides, a company AND TECHS can get good feedback on how a machine is performing, by checking the history on the call software. Managers need these information to make rational decisions on updating, upgrading, or accounts on a whole. As the saying goes, if you cannot keep up in the race, you get left behind.
Before this system, we had a dbase program written by one of our IT guys and it worked well, but it was DOS based and lots of keyboard commands. That had to go as the query and feedbacks was a long process.

[qbert69]

Re: Parts Responsibility

Large outfits has dedicated parts person or persons . They are responsible for distributing and restocking the tech car stock. Acutally the software does the restocking notice and the parts person just sends out the parts when the tech stock level is needed. This is for the most common parts. If a tech needs a part, he sends the request via the call software from his smart phone and it is immediately sent to the parts person. This works very well for us and field transfers from one tech to another is done from the call software. If you don't want to get bogged down and spend wasted time tracking inventory, then you have to invest in a decent call system. small operations will not have that option as it can be an expensive overhead.
some of our techs don't see the office for years and parts are shipped out to them. Once a year at inventory stock count, tech car stock are counted and balanced with the system. All techs have scanners, but i don't think any one uses them. The tech puts in the last four digits or so in the search option and the parts shows up and he can see how much he has in his stock. The software does the math when the tech input what he uses in a call ticket and so everthing is updated by the software. When a tech uses a part from his stock, it is mandatory for him to put it in the call software.
The only person to mess up your carstock is the parts person as only very few people has rights to change options there. A good system can save you a lot of headaches.
Besides, a company AND TECHS can get good feedback on how a machine is performing, by checking the history on the call software. Managers need these information to make rational decisions on updating, upgrading, or accounts on a whole. As the saying goes, if you cannot keep up in the race, you get left behind.
Before this system, we had a dbase program written by one of our IT guys and it worked well, but it was DOS based and lots of keyboard commands. That had to go as the query and feedbacks was a long process.

You must be referring to the e-automate software!...Our owner is looking to move to it so they can more accurately run P&L reports overall and for each individual machine!

[subaro]

Re: Parts Responsibility

You must be referring to the e-automate software!...Our owner is looking to move to it so they can more accurately run P&L reports overall and for each individual machine!

Yes e-automate. we have been using this for 4yrs now and from an end user like myself, it does the basic things a tech would want to get through his day. I have read other here use it and they can provide some more detailed info and like or dislike. I hear it is pricey and the more functions you want added you have to pay the licence fee ect.

[Gar the pilot]

Re: Parts Responsibility

In Oregon it's against State law to charge a tech for missing anything. You can wright-up or replace a tech but you can't charge them $. I think when you get too thin on parts and clients are down for more than 1/2 day you start loosing clients.
Back-up lease-returned & trade-in machines help with keeping 1 of everything aval as long as the back-up machine is repaired each time a part is "Borrowed". We sell a lot of lease-returned (Used) copiers so getting a High Milage parts back-up is a low cost to us.
The running tech ( 5-8 calls per day) does a lot to keep people happy but that prevents tech's from spending a lot of time on carstock. Of course the newer stuff is unitized to the point of carring a lower stock. For me, most of the new stuff is "marry maids" time,.. dust and clean and let them run.