Littleton, Colo.—In an effort to streamline its wholesale parts operations among its 16 metro Denver dealerships, AutoNation’s Denver market, which does business as Go, centralized its wholesale operations to a single Parts Center in July.
The Go Parts Center is located at the group’s Courtesy Ford dealership on South Broadway.
“The parts center is designed to be a one-stop shop,” said Tim Cooley, AutoNation’s Denver regional fixed-operations director.
Mechanical and collision repair shop personnel can now order nine makes of parts under a single account, said Berry Gay, Go Courtesy Ford parts manager and Go Parts Center director.
“It increases exposure for all of our brands in the wholesale market,” Berry Gay said, adding that the center also improves logistical efforts. Since there are several nameplates with two locations, the order can be dispatched to the one closest to where the part is to be delivered, he said.
With multiple locations, repair shops were setting up an account with each store, causing them to compete against each other, Berry Gay said. “Sixteen different stores doing 16 different things made it tough,” he said. “We now have one team and one goal.”
Shop owners benefit by having a single number to call and a single statement for all their Go purchases, he said.
The eight Go Parts Center employees have access to each dealership’s parts inventory via their ADP system.
Each of the parts center employees previously worked at Go dealerships, and several specialize in particular nameplates, Berry Gay said, adding that they’re also cross-training on other makes.
When considering how to structure the centralized wholesale parts center, Cooley said they studied how AutoNation’s southeastern region dealerships, known as AutoWay, set up their wholesale parts center in Tampa, Fla., that has 40 employees and has been operating for more than a decade.
Unlike AutoWay, Cooley said he chose to leave inventory in each dealership to avoid the overhead and expense of an offsite warehouse.
Although the Go Parts Center just opened, there are plans to partner with other AutoNation stores across the country to offer parts for all makes and all models, Cooley said.
“There will eventually be a nationwide rollout in 12 to 24 months,” Cooley said. “We’ll be able to source parts for every franchise by utilizing virtual inventory.”
