Service Manager Pat Baumann said he uses R.O. Writer Shop Management System to help manage the day-to-day operations of the shop, which makes ordering parts simple.

"I'm able to do everything electronically, check everyone's inventory, order the part, and load it on the ticket all with a few clicks of the mouse," Baumann said.  "We knew the tools were there; we have just taken the time to find out which ones we need.

"R.O. Writer allows me to pull up a ticket, request the part that I'm looking for, and at the same time check all of my suppliers' inventory to tell me if they have it and what my cost is," Baumann said. "If I have five different suppliers that I buy Moog suspension parts from, I can check all of them at once to see who has that part and what I can buy it for.

"The option in the R.O. Writer, that is the parts catalog, is called Smart eCat, which is run through Activant, our parts and labor guide that we use," he said.  "We switched to this tool because we are trying to streamline everything and work more efficiently."

R.O. Writer also helps manage the payroll by allowing the employees to clock in and out through the system, he added. 

 
"We have a couple of suppliers that handle taking care of the inventory on the mechanical side, but with the price competition because of the Smart eCat program, there really is no need to stock a lot of parts," said Baumann, who has worked for several new car dealerships over the 26 years.

 
"Just the vendors realizing that we shop through the use of Smart eCat encourages them to do what they can on price to stay competitive, which helps us out tremendously."

The crew at the shop relies on Stone Wheel, Al's Automotive, Eagle Automotive, CARQUEST, and S&S Automotive for parts, Baumann said.

"Most of our suppliers are on the R.O. Writer system, which is a major convenience," he said.  "I usually shop at least two sources for every part I buy, and through the use of our pricing software, a lot of time is saved not having to call around to see who stocks the part and if they have it."

One thing you will not find at Combs are rows and rows of shop manuals and parts catalogs on the counter.

"We also use Alldata quite a bit to resource technical information, such as diagnostic codes and fluid specifications," Baumann said.  "As far as repairs go, in the last few months we started using Identifix through CARQUEST."

For example, if there is a groaning noise in a power steering rack, he said, and one of the techs is not sure what is causing it, Identifix can be queried to find out how other technicians fixed the same problem.

Combs attributes his management style to what he learned from his parents and how they treated people.  "He developed a phenomenal wealth of knowledge through his years in management," he said of his father. 

One management choice that Combs said he has made in the day-to-day running of his company is not relying totally on software tools to track employee efficiency.

"We don't use the software programs to track our technician's overall productivity," he said.  "We try to treat our technicians like family and we consider them family.  Some technicians are more experienced than others; if a more experienced technician takes the time to help out his fellow employee with a problem, that eats into his time and he shouldn't be punished for that.  We understand that there are other factors that determine what a technician is worth."

Another tremendous time saver that Combs said he recently added to the shop is a computer workstation.

"We installed a computer in the shop so the technicians can access the computer programs, such as Identifix or AllData, right there in the bay," he said. "This saves a lot of time, allowing the tech to stay in the shop to resolve most of the questions that he may have."

When determining what tools to buy, Combs said he consults his technicians.

"Patrick and I will sit down with our lead tech and discuss what tool is the next big purchase that we need to focus on in order to help with our customers' needs," he said, adding that they recently purchased GM's factory scan tool, the Tech II.