Parts ordering

[kbomb]

Does anyone else get frustrated sourcing parts from multiple vendors because of lack of comprehensive inventory from one supplier? I estimate we spend an extra hour sometimes per day trying to hunt down parts. We always start with our favorite vendor then start going down the list.

 

Just curious how you guys deal with this problem or if it in fact a problem? Thanks in advance, Scott

[xrac]

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[mmotley]

Luckily not a huge deal for us. Oreilly and Autozone seem to have identical inventories, and it covers 75% of what we need. Napa rarely has something we need if oreilly or autozone doesn't have it. If Oreilly or Autozone don't have it, I almost immediately look to the dealer. Worldpac is next day for us, and usually shows up late in the afternoon, so I've almost completely written them off at this point.

 

Oreilly never gives me any hassle when it comes to warranty or replacement parts, so I really prefer to go with them. Since that means I buy a lot of parts from them, they tend to keep what I need in stock and have really worked out some great deals for me on brakes, wipers, etc...

[Dan Reichow]

Question : Are you doing it all electronic or manually calling. All aftermarket and some Dealers have electronic look ups.

Then you have to be aware just because the vendor does not show the part and or part number it is still out their / need to use other sites find a number then go back in and look at your local vendor.

really not easy especially when their are so many choses in the same model.

[kbomb]

Dan, We are using electronic (nexpart catalog) integration and then calling dealers typically. We will check 7 suppliers (auto plus, advance, autozone, napa, worldpac, parts authority, carquest) then move on to dealerships. We use mitchel for our management software. I understand it's quicker using RO Writer becuase it searches all inventory within 10 seconds but I was wondering if others have found it to really work for them in the real world.

 

I'm curious if there's a need for supplier that checks inventory of all vendors and just orders the part on your behalf? Sometimes I wish my primary supplier would do that homework for me and just mark up the part accordingly so I can use my time more wisely. Thoughts?

[autoguy]

The only thing I've seen out there to check from multiple suppliers at once is RO writer smart ecat. 

[JBockman]

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