- There are no "office hours." If you get the sudden and uncontrollable urge to order parts at 3 AM (or even a more civilized hour), the system is already up and running. Except for a scheduled Bi-weekly maintenance shutdown, DIAL never closes, never goes home on weekends, never takes a vacation.
- There's no need to wait on hold for your salesman if he happens to be working with another customer when you call. No follow-up or return calls are necessary.
- This is a real-time environment you know immediately whether the parts is in, costs, what it looks like (more on that in a bit) and how soon you can have it.
- DIAL is not an e-mail ordering system. There is no need to wait for a return e-mail confirmation to acknowledge that your order has been received. When an order is placed using DIAL, it enters WORLDPAC's ordering system immediately, just as it would if the order had been placed by telephone.
How It Works
After speaking with Steve
Sharp and Matt Johnson at WORLDPAC, they suggested I visit Euro-Car
Service, Inc., in Norton Ohio, to see how the DIAL system operates.
Euro-Car is a long-time WORLDPAC customer, and they've been using DIAL
almost exclusively for their WORLDPAC orders for over a year. I spoke
briefly with Tom Demrovsky at Euro-Car to get his impressions of DIAL,
then Tom turned me loose on the shop computer to explore the inner workings
of the DIAL software. I promised no techno-babble, so I'll keep it brief.
If my words don't do the job, the accompanying screen-captures should
show how DIAL works.
Looking up parts using DIAL follows a very natural process. After connecting to the Internet via your Internet Service Provider and launching the DIAL software, the next step is to select the vehicle. All available years, makes and models (including chassis and engine information) are displayed. The software directs you through several screens, asking it ncessary questions to eliminate any model-to-model or year-to-year differences in parts applications.
The DIAL software next displays major vehicle systems, allowing a search for parts within those systems. If you are unsure where to start looking for a particular part, type in a description of the part in the appropriate box, and the software will locate it for you . For our example, I decided to look for Honda ignition parts. When I reached the point of deciding which ignition parts I was interested in, I chose a distributor cap. The brand, description, list and wholesale prices, order status and truck dispatch time information appeared in real time. Up-to-the -minute parts availability information is also displayed.
Some vehicles came with various versions of particular parts, depending on just when and where they were built. This can lead to parts-ordering errors if you don't have accurate information or answer the questions correctly to narrow it down. The DIAL software includes many digital images that can be very helpful to make a positive visual identification of a particular part. WORLDPAC is constantly adding new images to their parts listings, which should help reduce the number of wrong parts accidentally ordered by their customers.
In addition to using the WORLDPAC DIAL program for parts ordering, Tom mentioned that he also found it very handy as an inventory, cataloging and pricing tool. Rather than looking up a part number for a vehicle using conventional methods, Tom used DIAL software to find the part. After that, it's a simple matter to go to his own parts shelves to see whether he already had that part in stock. If not, he can quote a price to the customer, place a DIAL order before 7 PM Eastern time and still have it the next morning. That's not quite instant gratification, but it's pretty close.
The Buyers Guide is another useful DIAL feature. When you've finished looking up a particular part, the Buyers Guide will tell you all vehicle applications using that part number. This can be useful information when it comes time to make stock orders or to identity a part that's been gathering dust on the shelf in your shop's parts department.
I didn't order any parts during my test run on Euro-Car's computer, although I made Tom sweat for a minute when I told him about the complete engine overhaul kit for my Volkswagen that I'd accidentally clicked on. Tom's normal procedure is to add parts to his current DIAL order during the course of the work day. At the same time he can check pricing and availability information to pass on to his customers. If there's a particular part he wants to "lock in" early in the day, he can place the order for that part immediately. Otherwise, the entire order is compiled during the day, then transmitted to WORLDPAC via the Internet before the 7PM Eastern time cutoff.
Tom's DIAL software keeps a running record of all previous orders, including information on what was ordered and when it was shipped. This information can be helpful for spotting ordering patterns and for making decisions on which parts are popular enough to keep on the shelf.
Future Plans
Software changes will allow further improvements in the DIAL user interface
(they're up to version 2.0). However, when you're using DIAL, you are
tied directly into the WORLDPAC ordering computer, so other changes
to the service take immediate effect. There's no need to wait for the
next software update to see these improvements. One of the most visible
changes is the increase in the number of online part illustrations,
As mentioned earlier this can be a big help when it comes time to order
a new or unfamiliar part.
Additional plans call for an interface between DIAL and existing shop management software. This should allow for sharing of information between DIAL's parts pricing information and your invoicing software, for example.
WORLDPAC also plans to link to vehicle maintenance schedules. This will help you and your customers make maintenance decisions, based on the manufactures recommendations.
And finally, WORLDPAC plans to offer service information to all WORLDPAC customers via the WORLDPAC website.
WORLDPAC plans to continue adding features to DIAL. Company spokesmen emphasize that WORLDPAC telephone-based parts ordering and customer service will continue to be an important element of it's selling strategy. As such DIAL must be considered "another tool in the toolbox" that gives WORLDPAC's sales associates the flexibility to provide an even higher level of personalized customer service to WORLDPAC customers.
By Karl
Seyfert
Import Service Magazine
(October, 1999)