Customer Profile:
Parts Manager at Zimmerman Ford
Deb Strait, Parts Manager
Size of Parts Department: 8 employees
Size of Parts Inventory: $504,000
Lines Carried: Ford, BMW, Hyundai and Mitsubishi
Located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Zimmerman Ford, BMW, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi has been family owned and operated for more than 40 years. The dealership serves customers in this city of around 120,000 as well as drawing from surrounding communities. With its wide selection of auto brands, and emphasis on customer service, Zimmerman has been able to attract a wide variety of customers.
Every Parts Manager has a story about how they ended up in the automotive industry. Deb Strait was born into it. Her father was a parts manager, and as a result, Deb has spent her entire working career in the auto industry. She's been the Parts Manager at Zimmerman Ford for five years.
Being a second-generation "parts person" has given Deb a unique perspective. She sees some big differences between the way a parts department ran when her father was in the business and today.
"The number of days you'd have to wait for an ordered part have decreased dramatically," she says. "My dad used to get deliveries once a week."
Strait has also seen a dramatic difference in the use of technology. "When Dad started out, everything was paper and pencil. It was difficult to know what your stocking levels were unless you went back in the warehouse and looked. Orders were done by phone so you hoped the guy on the other end of the line was writing down the part numbers accurately. Those were the 'old days.'"
Strait has also seen significant changes in how things are done during her own 24 year career. For instance, manufacturers are looking more at the service end of the business.
"They're more actively pursuing fleet sales and independent repair shops," she says.
Strait has also seen dealerships making more efficient use of their parts warehouse space. This is especially true at dealerships like Zimmerman, which have a wide variety of new car lines.
"I'm now carrying a wider variety of parts," she says. "But with fewer of each item in stock. If I sell something once every three months, then I continue to stock it. Our goal is to fill orders off-the-shelf but to keep the warehouse 'clean.'"
Strait began using online parts sales services to try to get rid of idle inventory. She wasn't really happy with them until she tried DealerMine.
"It was so easy to use," she says. "It's so easy to list items. You don't get complaint calls from buyers."
Using DealerMine, Strait was quickly able to get rid of thousands of dollars worth of non-moving parts. Now DealerMine is the only independent parts selling service she uses.
"I buy through DealerMine every day, and I sell excess inventory through them once a month. Because DealerMine has helped us reduce our aged inventory and we have such a good turn rate, we qualify for a bonus from Ford." Because of this, Strait says that she doesn't lose money when selling slow moving parts at half price.
"DealerMine helps me keep my inventory clean so I can buy my fast moving parts at half price," she says. "I would recommend them to anybody."