CWI: Parts Delivery Systems WDC (ENG)

In the parts business we communicate with the marketplace in a variety of methods. With the telephone, with people walking into your store, some customers will send orders by mail, or via a fax, and some use the internet. But the variations of the work don’t stop there: we also have to contend with a variety of “delivery” systems as well. These are not transportation systems. This is a customer service delivery system.

We process sales orders for our customers and we all know that not all customers are created equal. Some customers spend a lot of money with you and deserve to get special treatment. Well, we also have some processes that are cost intensive but also some that are very efficient. These are the customer service delivery systems.

From the customer who does not know the part numbers that they need, to the customer that can order parts from an electronic catalogue on the internet, there are wide ranges of differences. Each of the delivery systems has a different cost component, and that can lead us to provide differentiated services dependent on the delivery system that is chosen by the customer. We explore all aspects of the delivery systems we offer to the market in this important class.

CWI: Parts Absorption WDC (ENG)

Customer loyalty is crucial when it comes to your success in your business. In the midst of managing the parts business for the highest levels of customer loyalty, we often overlook the profitability of the parts business.

The profits provided by the parts business goes to cover the expenses and costs of operating the business. This is the contribution of profit to the business. This is all very straightforward, of course. But where we all clearly understand the contribution of profit to the business, absorption is something that is less clear.

In the 1950s, the model of Absorption was developed as a way of managing profits and expenses in the parts business. This important class offers clarity in the financial aspects of a fiscally healthy parts business, and how it positively impacts the overall strength of the dealership.

CWI: Parts Activity Based Management WDC (ENG)

The use of activity-based management as a management tool, has been relatively recent in our Industry. It was an unintended consequence of the work of Edward Deming, in Japan, and allows dealerships to review activities in a different manner. The use of the sales per employee implies a series of activities and relationships to our work that relies on historical approaches and does not take into account the opportunities to reinvent the operations of the department.

Our business is based on satisfying customer requirements. In order to be able to satisfy these needs we must better utilize technology and information in better and different manners. In many cases organizational transformation, has rarely been done without the attendant review on process effectiveness and market coverage methods.

This program will expose a series of thoughts that will allow the learner to be better able to evaluate the processes and methods in use today. The business world has been inundated with various “new” thinking approaches. This is Industrial Engineering at its’ root which morphed into the Continuous Improvement Movement, to Kaizen, then Six Sigma and finally the 5 S approach today. Each of these approaches is married to financial reporting which allows a more comprehensive review of all we do from an activity-based perspective. You will never regret taking this class.

CWI: Parts Balanced Scorecard WDC (ENG)

In the parts business we communicate with the marketplace in a variety of methods. We deal with various systems, manually and technologically. We have a responsibility to serve and retain customers while at the same time we have to make money for the business. This is a complicated business.

To assist us in managing the business and help us implement our company strategy we use a business tool that is called the “Balanced Scorecard.” The Balanced Scorecard was developed in the 1990s, designed for use in the planning and implementation of a company’s strategy. The scorecard looks at your business from four directions; finance, internal, innovation and customer. From this vantage point the company can develop a strategy as part of their operating plan.  These plans are meant to help a company achieve its goals.  If a plan cannot be agreed upon and effectively executed, a business cannot effectively reach its goals.

In this class, you will learn the ins and outs of this valuable tool, and the costs we pay in our business when we fail to execute our plans for success in our market.

CWI: Parts Basic Finance WDC (ENG)

Before we can be of any value to anyone else we have to be of value to ourselves. That is an old adage, but it still rings true. Ignorance is not knowing what to do. How can we know what to do if we don’t understand basic finance?

Here we will expose and explain all aspects of the operating statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow forecast. These are the three major documents in the world of finance. We will define and describe all of the terms that accountants use. There will be no mystery to basic finance when we are finished. We will explain cost of sales and what it consists of, as well as all of the various expense elements. Personnel Expenses, Operating Expenses, and Fixed Expenses are discussed so that everyone will be able to understand and accept how and why money is spent and how we make it.

The fundamentals of basic finance have been a mystery for too many people for far too long. This class gets past mystery so that the employees, in a parts business will understand the financial impact of each of their decisions.

CWI: Parts Basic Inventory Control WDC (ENG)

Have we completed the transformation of the inventory from being managed by people to being controlled by systems? This program will reintroduce the fundamentals of Inventory Control so that everyone can understand why we have the parts we have, and don’t have the parts we don’t have. In the market today, customers are demanding more service from suppliers, and suppliers are shrinking assets at the same time. That is quite a contradiction and one which is impossible to explain without knowledge of the subject. How do we expect the customer contact personnel to be able to serve customers without understanding Inventory Management? This class solves that problem.

The basics of order point and order quantity theory will be discussed and explained in a style that is simple and clear. Lead times, order costs and carrying charges will be exposed and details given as to their content. The fundamental metrics to employ to maintain control of the performance from the inventory rules in the dealer business system will also be covered.

Finally, the Backorder Analysis function will be described in detail such that the participants can proceed from the webinar to the operation and conduct this analysis to determine what it is that is causing backorders and what they should do about it. The program will provide you with the understanding and tools necessary to manage a parts inventory more effectively.

CWI: Parts Basic Management WDC (ENG)

There are some fundamental truths about people and their work: everyone wants to do a good job, everyone can do more than they think they can, and everyone is fundamentally lazy. In management and leadership we have to deal with people and processes. That is the job. You lead people and you manage the process.

The job of the manager or supervisor starts with the basic job function description and moves on to standards of performance. Everyone has to understand what is expected of them, as well as accepting that what is expected of them is both achievable and important. The various aspects of management as exposed in this powerful class.

In dealing with people, you also will need to be able to communicate with the employees.  In this program, we explore two of the main forms of communications: praise and criticism. This part of interpersonal relations can be improved. These are skills that can be learned by following a simple plan. We discuss this plan in detail, which has many common elements with both praise and criticism to provide you with better ability in working with your employees.

CWI: Technical Communicator CSA (ENG)

With the rapid changes in design and automation of the equipment we become more dependent on our ability to communicate with our customers, suppliers and employees and answer the questions posed to us. This technical communicator also is required to provide training and mentoring to the more junior skill level technicians as well as assist in “on the job” training.

This comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the job function of a technical communicator. In assessing this job function we have taken the skills and knowledge requirements and created an assessment questionnaire. We have used as the foundation for this assessment the pretest and final assessment questions from all of the classes offered for the Service Department as well as the Technician Assessment for a Construction Industry Technician. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive skills assessment, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Parts Warehouse CSA (ENG)

The employees in the parts warehouses have an extremely difficult task. Shipping and Receiving Methods as well as Storage Technology changes have made this a critical job function. The rapid changes have moved this function from being primarily a physical labor job to the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees have become a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers.

This comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the warehouse job functions. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in the parts business and created a job assessment questionnaire. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Parts Office CSA (ENG)

The working men and women in the parts offices have been confronted with equally rapid changes in their methods and processes as we have seen in the technology applied to the equipment we represent. These rapid changes reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. The changes we have faced with the technology within dealer management systems continues to impact on all of the methods and processes in the business.

This comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the office job functions. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in the parts business and created a job assessment questionnaire. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.