Parts Shortage
Times are tough in the parts department. The supply chain woes the industry has experienced over the last few years continue to plague dealerships in 2022. And it may get worse in the coming months, extending into next year. Kaylee Felio, Sales and Marketing Manager for Parts Edge, joins Corey to talk about what's going on. She explains why the supply chain issues persist and what dealerships can do to retain their customers and their satisfaction scores in the middle of a supply chain crisis.?
The Outlook for Parts & Service Industries in 2022
2021 was a challenging year for industries across the country. It hit the parts and service industries especially hard. Shutdowns ended up delaying everything, especially at an international level. Global suppliers weren't able to get goods shipped out at their normal rates. That meant dealerships and customers were waiting for much longer than normal for shipments of parts.?
The outlook for 2022 is going to be more of the same. Global shutdowns have (for the most part) come to an end, so manufacturers are once again shipping items out. It's now the carriers at the end of the supply chain that are having issues. Many carriers are backed up because there simply aren't enough drivers to go around. The supply chain is now broken in those final miles, between getting parts from the dock to the parts department door. That means parts managers are spending more of their time tracking parts and making claims on a daily basis.
It's not just obscure parts that dealerships are waiting on, either. Dealerships are running out of parts that are so common, no one ever expected them to run low. Who thought air filters would ever be hard to come by?
What Parts Managers Can Do To Mitigate Supply Issues
The broken supply chain isn't an issue that should be solely on the shoulders of the parts manager to overcome. They shouldn't be expected to figure out the supply chain crisis on their own, especially when there is no playbook for a situation like this.?Most parts managers understand how to deal with inventory management and handling the parts once they get to the dealership. But if the parts aren't there, what can they do?
This is when the dealership needs to come together as a whole. As a team, the dealership has to understand what issues every department is facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. To do that, dealerships will need to:?
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What Dealer Principals Can Do to Help
In a recent poll, Parts Edge asked parts managers that if they could have more of anything, what would it be? 39% of those surveyed said that they'd have more staff, and 46% said that they'd have more time. This shows that parts managers are spread too thin, says Kaylee. They aren't just managing inventory anymore. They are dealing with shortages in both their supply chain and in their workforce. Those issues aren't coming to an end anytime soon, either. At the earliest, says Kaylee, it will be the third quarter of this year. But in reality, it's likely to last longer.?
That means tensions are high in dealerships and could remain high without dealer principal intervention. Salespeople are mad at the parts department for back-ordered parts. Parts departments are mad at salespeople for not understanding why they can't get parts any sooner. In a time where dealerships need to be pulling together, dealer principals play a crucial role. To combat growing tensions, they can:
Don't stop there, though. There are a lot of tools and resources out there that can help dealerships overcome supply chain issues. Parts Edge offers online resources and e-books for every aspect of parts management. Plus, they have software and services that can help optimize the department and relieve the heavy burden placed on the parts team during this current supply chain crisis.?
The Takeaway
So what can dealerships and parts managers do to provide a superior level of customer service during this supply chain crisis? Kaylee recommends:?
Want to get more insight from Kaylee on the supply chain crisis? Hit play to listen to the full episode now.
National Fixed Operations Training Director for APCO Holdings, LLC
2 年Kaylee Felio??