Des Moines, Iowa -- -Stew Hansen Dodge City Plus Jeep's parts and service departments work closely together through the use of Nextel walky-talky cell phones, said Parts Manager Mike Hopper and Service Manager Mike Golwitzer.
Hopper and Golwitzer said their departments are intertwined in supplying parts and fixing the vehicles that come in, and they realized that keeping technicians at their workstation has a major effect on productivity. "Our system works," Hopper said. The technician receives the vehicle from the service representative with the work order, he said, and then diagnoses the problem and lists the parts needed for the repair. The technician uses his walky-talky cell phone to call in the parts to the parts department, where the counterperson looks up the parts, checks the availability, and calls the technician back to tell him if he has everything needed for the job, he said.
The technician then calls the service representative and lets him know that the parts are ordered, while the counterperson sends the stock numbers and prices electronically to the work order, and the service representative can call the customer and let him or her know the cost of the repair, Hopper said.
"After the customer has approved the repair, we start the teardown, and the parts are delivered by a parts person to the technician's workstation," Golwitzer said. "This system allows the technician to remain productive at his workstation, often having the vehicle torn down by the time the parts arrive."
The Stew Hansen Dodge City parts department is dedicated to reliability in service, integrity, and delivery that is unparalleled, said Hopper, who recently became parts manager. He said he has more than 29 years of experience with the company. 
The parts department has more than 40,000 part numbers and an inventory of $1 million, he said, adding that all the counter personnel have nine years or more experience. The dealership has 15 employees in the parts department, he said, including the back counter, wholesale counter, phone service personnel, an outside salesperson, and delivery people.
"This is a Chrysler Five Star service center," Golwitzer said. "The people working on the cars, vans, and trucks are ASE Master technicians. We strive to fix the vehicles right the first time because customer satisfaction is our No. 1 goal."
Stew Hansen Dodge City started in 1974 at a downtown location on 4 acres and with 26 employees, Hopper said. The company has grown to be Iowa's largest retail auto dealership and is now the seventh-largest Dodge dealer in the United States, he said. In June 1999, the dealership moved to a new facility at 12103 Hickman Road, he said, noting that the state-of-the-art facility is designed to be customer friendly.
"In June of 2006, the Ken Graff Automotive Group of Salt Lake City, Utah, acquired Stew Hansen Dodge City," Hopper said. "In January of this year, we bought out Bud Mulcahy's Jeep. We have a dealership in Indianola, Iowa, and we also have a used-car facility in downtown Des Moines."
Hopper said the ownership changes have resulted in more tools to spot trends and make changes sooner.
Chrysler has also made a number of changes that are being put to work in the dealership, he said. "Chrysler has come out with a new automatic replenishing system that will be implemented next week at this location," he said. "This will allow the dealership to control its inventory on a daily basis with an order being issued at the close of business each night. The manager can edit it and Chrysler will guarantee sale of the inventory. This way, a manager is working his stock daily and won't have to forecast out 45 to 60 days. "This system works on a 24-hour timetable, and a dealership will have a smoother flow from the depot to the dealers, which will eliminate some of the old nonproductive stock that we have now."
With all the changes in the recent two years, Stew Hansen Dodge City Plus Jeep still is improving and breaking records, Hopper said. The dealer has recently taken on the new 450 and 550 chassis and cab trucks, he said.
Golwitzer said those trucks required an adjustment to the bay doors. "The trucks come with a Cummins or Mercedes diesel," he said. "The new models required special tools, lifts, and other equipment that we have or will have in place to take care of our fleet customers."
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