Strong stock management is the key to success in the Australian Auto Repair Industry. Having a strong stock management process should put your Workshop in a position to leverage future growth. With that being said, many mechanical Workshop’s make mistakes during the stock management process that both increases your Workshops costs and risks customer loss.
Here are 5 Common Mechanic Stock Management Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them.
1. Doing Stock Take Manually
By far the biggest mistake a mechanical workshop can make is doing stock take manually. Many Workshops still find themselves using spreadsheets or even paper systems to complete weekly stock take tasks. The problem with doing stock take manually is it’s extremely time-consuming and it carries a high risk of error. Making even the slightest mistake during stock take can cost your Workshop thousands and take hours to fix!
To streamline stock take, Mechanical Workshops need to automate the process. Using a Workshop Management Software like Workshop Mate, stock numbers automatically update as you buy and sell. One of the biggest advantages of using a Workshop Management Software is it automatically compiles up-to-date stock reports that you can easily export for review. In the click of a button mechanics can export a report and make strategic businesses decisions that move the shop forward into the future.
Related Article: The Most Time-Consuming Tasks for Mechanics in 2022.
2. Ordering Parts in Bulk
Yes, buying in bulk does offer many incentives especially the price. However, in the Auto repair industry, buying in bulk is increasingly risky and could significantly hurt your shops cashflow. The biggest risk of buying parts in bulk is you are under pressure to sell them quickly to maximise cashflow. If you don’t sell parts quick enough, you will be running at a loss until they finally sell.
To reduce the risk of experiencing cashflow issues, Workshops MUST strategically plan and forecast parts ordering. Understand your Workshops demand and only order the appropriate parts needed.
Related Article: Expenses Workshops Can Reduce Easily in 2022.
3. No Parts Forecasting
To put it simply, if your Workshop doesn’t forecast parts ordering, you could be losing thousands every month. How would you know how many parts sell in a particular time? How would you know how often you need to order more parts? you wouldn’t…
The biggest issue with not forecasting parts ordering is your shop can end up with too many or too little parts. You may have parts sit around for long periods of time and run at a loss or worse you may have to turn a customer away due to you not having the right part for their car. Either way your Workshop loses.
To avoid having this issue your Workshop MUST forecast parts ordering. Collect your business data and understand your sales cycle. Know how much of a particular part sells in a weekly/monthly basis and order appropriately based on your data.
Using a Workshop Management Software like Workshop Mate, up-to-date stock reports are automatically complied in the background as you trade. The benefit of this is your shop can quickly identify part sales trends and make strategic parts ordering decisions based on accurate business data. The better your Workshop forecasts ordering, the better position you will be in, it’s that simple.
Related Article: 5 Ways Automotive Workshops Can Increase Cashflow in 2022.
4. No Reporting
Reporting is by far the most important part of the stock take process. Many Workshops don’t implement the right reporting systems which often results in increased costs and in-accurate stock take.
If your Workshop wants to have strong stock take you need to have the right reporting procedure in place. Your mechanics should know how to report on part numbers, report on sales cycles and know what parts need to be ordered and at what time. The stronger your reporting is, the better your stock management will be.
Related Article: Tasks You Can Automate Using a Workshop Management Software.
5. Untrained Staff
Your Mechanics are so important to the stock take process. One of the reasons why many Workshops experience issues throughout the stock take process is because of untrained staff. When untrained staff complete stock take common errors often occur which set your workshop back thousands.
Before you allocate a mechanic to stock take it’s so important that they have been trained correctly and understand how to complete the job. The more training your mechanics have on stock take, the less likely they are to make costly mistakes.
Related Article: How Australian Workshops Can Minimise the Impacts of a Staff Shortage.
Final Word,
Strong Stock take is so important in the Australian Auto Repair Industry. A strong stock take will minimise costs and put your workshop in a healthy position for future growth. The 5 Mistakes presented are common in the Auto repair industry and can be easily avoided through the solutions presented.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To read more articles like this visit the Workshop Mate latest news page here.
About Workshop Mate
Workshop Mate by Jeal is an Australian, Web-based, Workshop Management Software that simplifies and automates the daily tasks of running a mechanical Workshop. Using innovative technologies, Workshop Mate removes common frustrations experienced at the Workshop – opening your doors for future growth.
Workshop Mate features include Job Management, Stock Management, Quotes, Invoicing, Integrated Accounting, Barcoding, Customer Bookings, Service History, Job Allocation and more – in the one central, easy-to-use application.
Never tried Workshop Mate? Give Workshop Mate a try today for free! Click the button below to start your 14-day free trial.