John Haedt has been the parts manager at the store for the past 10 years and has another 12 years parts experience at other dealerships, he said. With a staff of 10, Haedt said the parts inventory is kept on two levels, both 5,000 square feet.

"We have a staff of 10 with one person, Arlene Robison, dedicated strictly to wholesale," Haedt said. "In 1999 we joined the Wholesale Parts People (WPP) group and we doubled our parts sales. Being part of the group allows us to be in markets we would be unable to deliver to otherwise. It's been a good bang for the buck."

Haedt said the WPP group works well for his store as it incorporates multiple dealers each representing their brand but co-mingling parts deliveries to independent collision and repair facilities.

"The coordination of the dispatchers and hub drivers really works well and we're able to service accounts from South Tacoma to Bellingham, as well as the Olympic Peninsula," he said, adding that his store provides a truck and driver to WPP delivery system.

About 65 percent of the parts the Toyota store sells to shops represents collision parts, Haedt said, adding that his gross sales are up over last year.

"We concentrate on collision shops, but we also call on mechanical shops in the region we serve," said Gregg Opsal, the WPP coordinator who was visiting Toyota of Kirkland during Parts & People's interview.

With a $450,000 inventory, Haedt said he and his staff are able to order daily and receive overnight deliveries from the Toyota distribution center in Portland. The daily ordering helps maintain a more manageable parts inventory and helps control issues with parts proliferation, he said.

"With the daily deliveries from Portland, it allows us to better control our inventory of parts and professionally manage the parts our service center and wholesale customers need," Haedt said. He said the store uses a Reynolds & Reynolds dealer management systems integrated with Toyota for parts inventory control and ordering.

The Toyota of Kirkland shop receives parts from a back counter near the service area, Haedt said. "We have at least two people at all times at that counter, and more when needed. Our service department is growing so internally that is our focus to serve their needs," he said. "Often we are able to deliver parts to technicians from the picking ticket, so they don't even have to go to the shop parts counter."

Over the years, Haedt said that parts have changed, but many things remain the same. "Body parts have changed, especially bumper covers. We see less sheet-metal and more plastic on body parts," he said.

Parts are now bar-coded, he said, and more wholesale customers send in orders electronically, but many aspects of the parts flow are the similar to how they have been for years.

"In the future, we'll see more hybrid part sales, and the overall population of Toyota parts will increase," Haedt said. "But more information is now available, and we'll be able to manage parts even better."

Haedt said most of his parts staff has been at the store for seven or more years. "Rick Griffith, our assistant parts manager, has been here for 10 years and oversees the back counter."

Adam Powell, the Toyota of Kirkland service manager, said he has been with the store for a year and a half but has been with the O'Brien group for more than 10 years. "We have 24 service bays that operate 12 hours a day," he said, adding that 100-125 vehicles a day are serviced in his department.

With increasing business in the service department, Powell said that scheduling the vehicles is always a challenge, and having the right people with the right skills to provide quality service is paramount.

"We have a good staff of people with little turnover, including 18 flat-rate and 11 hourly techs," Powell said. There are also 11 service advisers and variety of support staff, he said. "Many of our techs are Toyota Master Technicians and 15 or more are ASE certified. We promote ASE testing and reimburse our staff for passing ASE tests."

Training is an important issue for shop personnel, he said. "We get most of our training at Shoreline (Community College), where the Toyota T-TEN program is taught. We support that program and have two T-TEN student techs on staff. We also support the automotive program at Lake Washington Technical College." He said the staff is trained online through Toyota University.

Powell said there is a service department person in charge of training. "Keeping up with technology changes is important, especially with the increasing number of hybrids we service here. We have five techs that are hybrid specialists, and they keep busy."

While the service department is a busy place, Powell said the systems in place allow for efficient service work. "From the flow of parts to getting vehicles processed, it all works well for us."