Parts Manager Tour

The illustration below is a form view for a replacement part in Parts Manager. Review the illustration to see what types of data are recorded for each part.

The top green section is identification information. Here you enter item I.D. numbers, cross-reference numbers to Bike'Alog, classification of part, brand of part, description of part, model of part, and manufacturer's ID. The Status cell is for identifying whether the item is new, a call-on-arrival, a special order item, or discontinued.

The pale-yellow section is vendor information. Here, you enter up to four vendors for an item. For each vendor you can enter the vendor's item number and the vendor's price. You select which vendor you want to use, and the item shows up on a printed order just for that vendor, complete with the vendor's parts numbers and the total cost of the order.

The blue section is for your pricing information. Parts Manager shows you what the wholesale is for the vendor you have selected. All you have to enter is the amount of markup you want on an item with that wholesale cost. Then, Parts Manager automatically calculates your profit margin, and the price. You even can enter discount percentages for items and it automatically recalculates the price.

The bright yellow section is inventory information. You enter the maximum and minimum quantities you want to have in stock. Whenever you enter an in-stock amount that is less than the minimum, Parts Manager calculates how many need to be ordered. When your ready, you run a simple report that generates a separate order form for each vendor you have selected. Add a cover sheet to the order form, and you are ready to fax in your order!

Parts Manager has two systems for tracking inventory shortages. You can use either system, or both systems. These systems are a want-list system, and a two-label system.

Parts Manager can create printed want lists. Unlike hand-written want lists, every item you stock appears on the want list, with all the information that can be useful. When a shortage is encountered, you don't write a description of an item down on a blank want list, you simply look it up on the list by the item number, then mark the current stock level on the want list. The want list divides items up by classification, so you don't have to search a huge list every time you want to make an entry. Below is an illustration of one of the want lists (as it appears on your screen, just before printing). The following example is the page for all the ball bearings. The blank column on the right is where the current stock level is recorded, the only thing you ever write by hand when using Parts Manager!

Parts Manager creates labels for your parts bins. There is a simple system shortage-tracking system that can be implemented for many parts that is based on these labels. To use this system, print two of each label. When stocking a bin, bundle the extra label with the minimum stock count, leaving the rest of the stock loose in the bin. When the loose stock is used up and the bundle is broken, your staffer just needs to put the extra label in a designated location. When you see the label, you know the count has fallen below the minimum, so it's time to order. Since the label has the item number on it, you just search by item number in Parts Manager, then revise the in-stock amount and the date the shortage was detected. Below is an example of one of the labels.

The following illustration is the on-screen preview for an order report that Parts Manager has created. This example is an order for Quality (Quality Bicycle Products). Each order includes the vendor's name and the order date. The columns of information on the order are the quantity, the vendor's item number, the brand and manufacturer's item number, the model, an item description, the vendor's price, and the extension of the price at the quantity being ordered. At the bottom, the total cost of the order is shown. After updating Parts Manager with your shortage information from the want-list system or two-label system, just a few clicks of the mouse created this order!

Special order items and call-on-arrival items can be a source of many headaches. One of the biggest headaches is making sure that the customer get's notifed when the item he or she requested has been received. All too often, the item just gets put on the shelf! The form below is a feature in Parts Manager that allows you to add information to any item when it is either a special order or a call-on-arrival item. This form can be printed out so the customer has a record, and when the shipment arrives, Parts Manager can be used to call up any items in the shipment that were special order or call on arrival items. This way, before you even start unpacking the order, you are alerted to these items.

Inventory, particularly of small replacement parts, is a giant headache. Parts Manager can help. You still need to perform a physical count, but once you enter the information into Parts Manager, then a few clicks with your mouse and you will have an inventory report like the one below, complete with inventory subtotals by class of part, and the total value of the entire inventory.

This completes the guided tour, for order information go to Service Manager System order form. Or, to go anywhere else you choose, use one of the links below.