Saturday, August 2, 2025

 


 During my time at Auto Service, the Spares team was as crucial as the Tech team in ensuring customer satisfaction and efficient turnaround times. However, my fifteen years of experience interacting with two-wheeler dealerships at Signet Enterprises have revealed a consistent, yet often overlooked, issue: the passive involvement of management in the spare parts department.

This vital department frequently operates without adequate management attention, leading to significant operational and financial inefficiencies. The spare parts department heroes face daily challenges that often go unrecognized.

DEAD STOCK:

A major concern is "dead stock" or "Non-Performing Inventory," often hidden or ignored. This inventory buildup primarily stems from inaccurate demand forecasting, where intuition overrides robust data analysis. The consequences are substantial:

·       Overstocking: This ties up crucial capital in slow-moving or obsolete parts, leading to significant holding costs and asset depreciation.

·       Understocking: This directly results in lost sales opportunities and extended service vehicle turnaround times, negatively impacting customer satisfaction (CSI and NPS).

I've personally witnessed heated arguments between technicians and the spare parts team at issue windows, fueled by customer frustration over unavailable parts and operational bottlenecks.

COORDINATION :

Another significant issue is the lack of inter-departmental coordination. Spare parts departments often operate in silos with limited communication between service and sales teams, leading to cascading problems:

1.       Forecasting and Ordering: Without real-time input from the service dept, ordering becomes reactive rather than proactive.

2.       Turnaround Times (TAT): Delays in procuring parts directly prolong vehicle service, negatively impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty (CSI & NPS).

 While data is available, its analysis is often limited, rendering it ineffective for strategic stock planning. The understanding of how to transform this information into actionable insights is frequently missing.

DIRECTION:

Compounding these issues is the absence of clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Result Areas (KRAs) for spare parts personnel. This lack of accountability and direction intensifies inefficiencies, leading to increased operational costs and poor performance.

SNOWBALLING:

The two-wheeler segment presents unique complexities that further exacerbate these operational challenges:

Explosion of Models, Colors, and Variants: The sheer volume and rapid introduction of new models, color schemes, and variants exponentially increase the complexity of inventory management, making accurate forecasting and spare parts management a daunting task.

Faster Product Cycles: The introduction of every new model or variant means older inventories are prone to obsolescence. While obsolescence timelines may vary, it risks write-offs, impacting profitability. Each new model launch often includes an "Initial spare parts kit," which contributes to non-moving stock; estimates suggest that 55-80% of these kits tend to become Non-Performing Assets.

Seasonality: Two-wheeler service demand is highly seasonal, requiring agile planning that is typically absent. This knowledge gap leads to either excess stock during lean periods or critical shortages during peak seasons.

Space Constraints: Most dealerships are in high-street locations with high real estate costs and severe limitations on available space. The spare parts department often receives the least space allocation, resulting in cramped, inefficient storage and increased handling challenges.

Accessory Management: Managing new vehicle accessories often falls under the spare parts department. However, with new vehicle sales receiving direct management focus, accessory inventory is accentuated, diverting attention and resources away from core spare parts inventory tasks.

 AI INTERVENTION:

While "AI" is a frequent topic of discussion when these points are highlighted, it remains largely an unknown. The more immediate concern is addressing the existing dead stock that is currently gathering dust.

SUPPORT

These "Unsung Heroes" of the Spare Parts dept undeniably remain reserved & implicitly await support. When prodded, they express their helplessness, looking for better enablement & empowerment. This can happen only with the help of experienced Mentors.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Way

Old saying : Where there is a will, There is a way

Now :

Where there is will, it is which way

Where there is no will, Then "Its NOWAY"

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The 3i's

Information, Intuition & Inspiration forms the bed stone for any form of growth


Monday, July 5, 2010

Service : An expense or an investment ?

Expenses are Sprint while investments are marathons.

Expense are meant to be cut down whilst Investments need nurturing.

Most Companies will look at service as an Expense & not as an area of Investment.

Value chain

Loyal Empowered People Create :

Customer Complaint handling -> Customer Satisfaction -> Customer Delight-> Customer Benefit -> CUSTOMER MIND SPACE


Personal centric people Create:

Personal mind space -> Personal benefit -> Personal Delight -> Personal Satisfaction -> Customer Complaint Handling

Stakeholder -vs- Shareholder

Stakeholders : are the people who work & strive to get profits

Share holders : are set of people who invest only to make profits

Shareholder define the value which comes in that cost of Stakeholder's squeeze... that's the paradox

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Tribal Knowledge -vs- Bookish knowledge

Tribal knowledge: It the tacit knowledge gained by doing some thing hands on. It is passed across from generation to generation implicitly. This knowledge gets embedded in the DNA. This forms the foundation or start point for all books.

Books : Are an assimilation of the same Tribal knowledge. They edited & structured explicitly in a presentable manner.

Books lack the "Tacit" behind the knowledge. To learn "Tacit Part", respect people who have tribal knowledge & be willing to work with them to get you DNA corrected.