Repair shop owners! Software help

[AJ1978]

I have been running my own automotive repair shop for about 6 years! We have grown and and progressing!

Looking for other shop owners or counter guys for input on software!
I am mainly looking for work orders/ invoices
Parts inventory we keep quite a bit
Easy to use

I have a couple demos but they seem too time consuming

 

[racintj]

Are you looking for Software that creates these invoices and WO or are you looking for a document management system?

 

[AJ1978]

Creates them to print
Able to track inventory

 

[WhiffySpark]

http://www.mamsoftware.com/usa/vast-enterprise

Best I've used. I had shopkey in one shop. Have fun with that lol

 

[Anarius]

I'll second a vote for VAST - Its quite popular even with franchise chains. My current shop is a larger family owned company and our POS is developed in house, but I've used just about everyone out there. I'd avoid the mitchell/all data programs and definitely anything web based! There is another one that REALLY ***** my last shop used but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it.

 

[AJ1978]

I looked at a few but I want this to simplify my process not complicate it!
Biggest is easy to use
Inventory look up because I recently bought a lot of inventory from a closing part store

 

[Iroc-Z]

Mitchel manager is the only program I would recommend. I have used a handful of different ones and Mitchel is hands down the easiest to use. Not a huge fan of there repair software though.

 

[articsilber323]

i use automotive expert i believe you can get a free trial to see how it works

http://www.laborguide.net/automotiveexpert.html

 

[Iroc-Z]

Rowriter was probably the worst software I have ever used. Multiple windows in Windows it's frustrating.

 

[Iroc-Z]

I'll second a vote for VAST - Its quite popular even with franchise chains. My current shop is a larger family owned company and our POS is developed in house, but I've used just about everyone out there. I'd avoid the mitchell/all data programs and definitely anything web based! There is another one that REALLY ***** my last shop used but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it.

What didn't you like about mitchel?

 

[WhiffySpark]

I looked at a few but I want this to simplify my process not complicate it!
Biggest is easy to use
Inventory look up because I recently bought a lot of inventory from a closing part store

Once vast is set up and running it is very easy to use. You can track inventory and everythinG. Labor times are integrated into it. Hell you can even get a car fax subscription and only have to put the license plate number in - after that it fills out the vin automatically.

Daily sales, inventory reports, etc

 

[Dragfluid]

When I had my own shops, I used Master Repair 8000. I loved it! Very complete, fast, and user friendly. You can download a demo and try it out.
http://www.mstrrepair.com/

 

[AJ1978]

Thanks so far, I am going to have to look at Master Repair as well. I know any program takes some time to set up but we are a 2-3 person shop and have grown, but I don't want to spend a lot of time on the computer especially the times we are busy.
I like the master repair, but I am cautious with the fact of a 24 month commitment, and 99 a month. I will have to discuss this more with them.
DRAGFLUID, did this software really seem to help you?

 

[jimindm]

It sounds like you are to the point of needing a person for shop support. You know some one that does no wrenching, but is needed to keep the shop flowing.

That is the problem with most systems I have looked at. It is only as good as the operator. It is almost a full time job to make a system work to its potential.

Look into what you are using now. I am sure any management software such as alldata, mitchell, etc, can integrate what you want.

If you are buying it just for you shop close out purchase think a little about doing it. If it is something that you have thought about before the close out then OK

I have purchased my share of close out deals. It seems like you quickly sell the fast moving, popular part of the inventory. Which seem to be about 25% of product. About 50% of it will sell, but will take a lot longer. The last 25% you will have a hard time ever selling and eventually throw away.

I would be interested in hearing what kind of shop you have and what kind of inventory you keep on hand, that you want to track. Years ago you could have just a few items and catch a vast majority of vehicles. Not long ago you could catch many with a little more inventory. Now it just seems like most items are vehicle specific.

 

[AJ1978]

Great points brought up here
I want to emphasize, the things I keep are known fast movers or things that repeatedly caught me off guard or allowed a fast sale/repair like Idler and tensioner pulleys

I did not go crazy with my purchase but was able to buy about 3500 of parts which were 45% below cost, they just wanted to pay off what they owed.
I went through from memory and bought the following

Brake Pads
Belts: (Based on customers vehicles)
Hoses: (based on customers vehicles)
Pulleys
Tensioners
entire light bulb stock
brake line fittings and adapters
Edelman fitting cabinets and fittings
Spark Plugs again based on the Vehicles I see and know are coming up
Throttle body gaskets for the common vehicles that require cleaning
Relays
Fuses


I also keep a full stock line of
Oil Filters with bulk packs I have over 250 filters
Brake Pads
Brake hardware for pads that I move a lot
I have Some: Wheel cylinders, rad caps, seals, brake hoses etc that I have accumulated along the way.

A lot of guys will chime in and say this may be crazy, but if I have a walk in customer that needs an oil filter and I have to wait or send someone out there goes my profit.
I also take advantage of my NAPA GOLD filter sales, some of prices are unbeatable and allow me for that extra margin of profit.
That being said, my main parts room is running out of space so I have expanded it to another section of the building and at Times I forget all what I have.

The other side of the software that I like is the fact I can track things, and I know on some it shows a profit margin as well.

I keep Drums of 5w20, 5w30 on stock as well as quarts of others, 10w30, 10w40, synthetics, 15W40 Antifreeze etc etc.
I have a pretty organized system for the filters and pads but

 

[bosanci28]

Not sure how much the above software costs, you can also use a php backend script to keep the inventory, like this one here:

[URL="http://codecanyon.net/item/invento-simple-inventory-sytem/10074410?s_phrase=price&s_rank=13"]http://codecanyon.net/item/invento-simple-inventory-sytem/10074410?s_phrase=price&s_rank=13[/URL]

Here is few features:
Invento is an Inventory Sytem that will allow you to keep tracking of the quantity and price of the items existing in your warehouse or business.
When creating a new item, you can set a quantity, and then everything is controlled by check-in/out and every movement is logged!. Also, here are some features:
Statistics about your warehouse
4 different user roles (Administrator, General Supervisor, Supervisor and Employee)
Responsive design
Order items by categories
Have tracking of the place where your categories are located
Logs of each movement made in the system

Of course you need to have a domain and hosting for this to use it, where is around $30-100 a year.
Good luck.

 

[WhiffySpark]

Call vast and check their prices. I never have but you can keep track of everything you added. You can input how much fluid you have on stock and when you create in oil change ticket it will automatically pull the filter and fluid out

 

[Phil B.]

Hi, guys! Are there any software updates? Maybe something new?

 

[PWC Repair]

.....

I would love to see some more screenshots if possible. My wife runs my office and I think is scared/unsure of trying to use software........looks up everything off memory and the file cabinet LOL!! This sounds like something we can use and give feedback on.

 

[PCustoms]

I would love to see some more screenshots if possible. My wife runs my office and I think is scared/unsure of trying to use software........looks up everything off memory and the file cabinet LOL!! This sounds like something we can use and give feedback on.

That's clearly a spammer.

 

[Chipm]

http://www.mamsoftware.com/usa/vast-enterprise

Best I've used. I had shopkey in one shop. Have fun with that lol

Does this, or any other software, have parts interchange capability? Every parts website in the world has it, I need a shop software that does it too. It drives me crazy to order a Brand A part and then find out I had Brand B sitting on the shelf already.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That's clearly a spammer.

A banned spammer and a now closed 8 year old thread.