More Efficient Logistics
Mary Anne Watson // ABC Auto Parts & Sales, Inc., Riverdale, IL
AR: How did pandemic conditions impair your business? Mary Anne Watson:At the onset of the pandemic, out of fear many businesses were closed or had very limited hours. Also, people were not driving, so fewer accidents and no need for auto parts. Employees were fearful of the “unknown” of the pandemic. Many staff and customers were afraid. Some staff chose to quit, some took a leave of absence, retail sales initially ground to a halt and business customer volume had a significant drop. Within a short time frame we lost drivers, production techs and support. Customers were afraid to shop in-store and afraid to meet drivers to accept delivery at their shops.
AR: What business alterations did you make to operate? We are an essential business so we were able to remain
open. We always had a cleaning service but became “crazy clean,” with additional deep cleaning processes. We also were able to evaluate the staff for each department and
eliminate unproductive employees. We provided additional PPE for the safety of our employees. We immediately met with all the managers and then the staff to determine what business activities we could actually deliver on. We found that we needed to focus on work flow efficiencies better than we had been. We eliminated low- value labor sensitive part types. We expanded the prepay and pick up later process to eliminate anyone in the showroom waiting for parts. We
cut our hours open for retail customers and implemented an ‘after normal hours’ appointment process for pick up. Small parts to business customers became prepay and delivery was sourced to UPS and FedEx. We found that we were shipping more small parts to both retail and shops outside our normal delivery zones.
AR: How did you get more creative with running your business? We reduced our hours for the general public. We required prepayment on orders to eliminate person-to- person contact. Since parts were prepaid, we utilized UPS
Automotive Recycling
September-October 2021 //55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
