Why is Inventory Management Required for the Aftermarket?

To fulfill the automobile industry's essential needs, they need an inventory management system. The aftermarket is known as the second market for auto parts, and inventory software helps the auto parts industry ensure that they have the right stock when they need it. A good inventory management system means they will not have unnecessary parts in stock that will never be used.

Here we have mentioned why aftermarket auto parts need inventory management.

Record all the data.

You need to keep a record of all the data related to maintenance and repair, orders, and delivery. To provide the best services, you must understand what you have, how much it costs, where it is, what you are using, and what you have on order.

For an automobile company, it is important to record the information on the parts used. Also, they need information related to the vehicle's year, make, model, engine, and the number of miles or engine hours.

Accurate record

It is crucial to keep an accurate record of your progress. For that, you need a regular base inventory count. Also, you need to count the quantity on hand and the quantity to match what is on the shelf plus open purchase orders. Also, the part numbers or names need to have current bin locations. The costs need to be correct according to the parts. With the help of it, you can count the fast-selling parts or stock parts.

Minimum inventory level

The company should have a proactive plan to deal with the critical situation on hand during good times or bad.

This minimal stock level will help you fix the day's issues, which lead to more productivity and great uptime for vehicles. Work with your distribution partners to determine your critical parts requirements and the bare minimum you should have. The inventory needs to be customized to your in-service vehicles.

Review timely

Set-it-and-forget-it is not a good approach when it comes to inventory management. Initially, it may be time-consuming to set up the database that allows managing inventory, but once it is in place, then it becomes simple. So you need to review it every quarter to look for exceptions and irregularities. Also, you need to have inventory data of the parts that are not walking out the door.

Forecast and make an estimation.

A few years back, it was possible to examine the data captured from repair and maintenance and spot breakdown trends. Today artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to look beyond the trends to forecasting and estimation to know which part is required based on more variables.

"AI and machine learning allow us to take different variables into account and come up with better predictions about what parts they need and by what time they need them."

That is only one component of the variable information about the parts shortages in the analysis. That can make decisions about whether they want to collect a part (if possible), look for alternative sources for the part, or consider a different replacement part than what is usually used.

Conclusion

We hope these five points are good enough to convince you why you need an inventory management system for aftermarket auto parts. It is not just software; it also helps the business to reach a new level. It also allows for reduced manual work and is a cost-effective choice for any business.