The takeaway here is that not buying an available (but a higher-priced) part or not wanting to pay shipping costs to get the part right away to team needs to tire repair, behind your rear counter and vehicles down recon. This delay costs the dealer hundreds of dollars in unnec- moving is a essary holding costs and other lost time-to-line benefits. Cars that take to sell. wrong counterperson, one without keep techs busy " save money " can end up slowing longer to get sale-ready and longer What the service the ability to think through the ensimply because their labor is cheap, can wind up being quite expensive. I have heard people say, " This guy's cheap. " My reply would be, " He's problem-solving not cheap. You might not pay him procurement manager. If you have a person who prefers to very much, but he costs you a ton. " sit quietly looking up parts and fill- I should be very clear that I am not suggesting that deal- ing orders in a chair alone all day, then wholesale parts ers strike aftermarket and recycled options from their is the place for him. You can teach anyone to look up reconditioning process. I am suggesting that the coun- catalogued parts. But you need more internal initiative terperson needs to be trained to determine which part than that for your internal (or rear) counterperson. It is is least expensive in the overall process - or at least not a " one-size-fits-all " position. give all options based on parts, price and availability. The right person is someone who will take a paper- YOUR PEOPLE If you are going to charge your internal departments retail for parts, then staff accordingly. The days of the " black and white " parts business are over. Throwing the JANUARY FEBRUARY 2021 || FIXED OPS MAGAZINE clip and make a widget out of it. The parts procurement person should have an outside-the-box thinking style - the knack to solve a need with an alternative to what seems to be the apparent answer. 45