An online catalog tool from Vipar Heavy Duty enables fleets to standardize parts purchasing for multiple locations.

In 2007, Steve Womack was looking for a new software system to manage the parts inventory of Service Rock Products. His current system was not keeping pace with the company’s growth. Parts were running out of stock, and complaints were piling up.

“All of the data was put in after the fact,” says Womack, shop supervisor for the Victorville, Calif.-based ready-mix concrete and aggregate producer. “Information was often a week old.”

Service Rock Products operates maintenance shops at 11 of its 18 locations that serve the high desert areas of southern California, Las Vegas and surrounding communities. “I used to get complaints from our mechanics that they didn’t have the parts needed to complete repairs, and operators or plant managers would complain about repair delays or repairs that didn’t get done,” Womack says.

To improve inventory management, the company implemented Kenworth’s PremierCare Connect, a Web-based fleet maintenance system. Today, Womack has live inventory information for each location, and stockouts have been virtually eliminated.

But at what cost? Keeping a healthy supply of spare parts might improve technician productivity and minimize vehicle repair times, but in a strapped-for-cash low-margin business such as trucking, inventory represents precious capital that is not earning a return.

However, by using fleet maintenance software to optimize inventory, fleet managers like Womack are able to both save money and keep assets rolling.

Buying parts

Parts management systems will answer four questions about every item in inventory: where it came from, what it cost, where it is now, and how many are left. To help ensure data entry is accurate and efficient, fleets typically use barcodes and scanners to receive items into inventory and to attach items to repair orders.