16 / 24
The era of doing what you’ve always done is over.
Data is the new master of business. Just look at the
need auto recycling has for the data in car repair in-
struction or the parts interchange data that is crucial
to the industry. So is the data within your system. The
reports generated by inventory management systems
are helping recyclers make critical salvage acquisition
decisions. Data is identifying what vehicles are desir-
able based on sales and inquiries.
Put your time into reading what your data is telling
you. Use the professionals at
Car-Part.com, Holland-
er, Pinnacle or whatever inventory system you are
using. Ask them “how can I look at my data differently
today?” Engage a consultant to interpret your data
and give advice based on the information. The data in
your system can provide meaningful insight to busi-
ness decisions but only if your data is ready to tell the
story.
Selling cores is data driven.
If you haven’t picked
up on the fact that your competitors are selling core
parts then read my lips “your competitors are selling
more and different parts as cores these days to make
money.” That function is entirely data driven. Engage
one or more core buyers or subscribe to an integrated
core buying/selling system and sell core parts from
your inventory. Simple and straight forward for those
auto recyclers that are not yet doing it there should be
some increased sales realized immediately after you
start. I suspect most recyclers have been selling
cores in innovative ways. Where the chain has a kink
is many recyclers are not
mining information
from
their inventory data to redirect the labor efforts at the
salvage facility. That mean parts pullers for retails
sales and for wholesale (core) sales are both im-
portant jobs. It also means buying salvage with core
sales in mind instead of as an afterthought.
Data quality is a significant factor.
The new norm
is about the quality of data in the system. In my past
career I was a computer analyst at Electronic Data
Systems, Ross Perot’s company. The mantra of com-
puter geeks back then was “garbage in, garbage out.”
A significant portion of a computer programmer’s time
was spent managing clients to put quality data into
the online database to be utilized to provide insight to
the manufacturing company, who was General Mo-
tors. The same can be said for the business of de-
manufacturing automotive parts. The quality of the
inventory process became increasing more important
when the world of commerce became the world of
e-
commerce. More parts in your inventory system
means more opportunity for retails sales or the more
opportunity for a core buyer to select parts. Better
quality description of a part such as accurate damage
codes or uploaded photographs provide an edge over
competitors. The quality of data is directly linked to
the increased opportunity for sales. Time spent en-
hancing data quality is absolutely mandatory now.
Data is the New Master of Business
Page 16
Recyclers News Press