OK – Exploris has issues .. but would be interesting in have some senior staff discuss this from their level.

1)    How many ‘bugs’ are as a result of programing errors with DC ADIS and the new ‘system’ that is coming ?

2)    How many are pricing issues that is separate from what Exploris take blame on

3)    There are other large systems ( in Canada there is Canadian Tire and Uni-Select ) – how do they merge their DC systems with Exploris to have fewer problems ( or do they have as many ?

 

 

I have been a ‘positive’ critic of Exploris for a long time.  For example 

I was their first to be fired from the Jobber counsel ( remember Joe Z ).  

 

I started a Exploris blog to point out some issues – with posts that started in 2012 ( we were one of the last jobbers to get Exploris in 2009 ) –I have nearly given this up now as time demands limit this …. Just google exploriscomputer to find this blog

 

In summary I can’t believe trashing the system is the right answer for this point in time and with the new DC systems coming ( as a Cdn we are always the last to know )

 

Lets chip away at the issues and focus on what a good system is.  Please do not think I am a ‘cheerleader’ for CQ ..I have known a few of these guys over the years …. Everything is prefect … OMG ….   Not me!!! … but you have to be a rational problem solver and ‘chucking the entire system’ doesn’t  seem to make sense.    

a new chapter starts today ....

PLEASE CLICK HERE ..... to see the new home for this blog .....

Blogspot has been good - but we need an excuse to learn Wordpress ...

click here for a NEW BLOG on Internet issues with CARQUEST ...

click here for the NEW BLOG for General Store issues with CARQUEST

Why Wordpress ... we keep hearing how Wordpress is a good solution for building a web presence so content can be updated ( unlike our existing web pages that are way out of date ) ...stay tuned --more stuff coming .... in the meantime --thank you bloodspot ...

where do we go with B2C stuff

B2C is Business to Consumer ...   just like B2B is like weblink ( bus to business )

Have posted this ...  http://www.cqhanover.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4155#4155  on CARQUEST Jobber forum (registration required to prove you are a CARQUEST jobber)

Some Q&A ( questions and answers )  from Raleigh on B2C and impact for us ...

Have you tried out the B2C web site yet from CARQUEST .... info in above link

How do other CARQUEST stores handle shrinkage & IC counts

Wouldn't it be a nice world if CARQUEST jobbers had the chance to talk with one another on issues effecting their profitability ??

Example - haw do multi-store jobbers handle WRONG COUNTS and possible shrinkage yet not impressing stupid rules that inhibit motivation of staff ( like we see at JV stores?)

Our 3 stores are 10 months into a test where we are tracking wrong counts .... any store want to trade data and effectiveness - drop us a line at info (at ) dtauto.ca.

We set up store use accounts for counts that need to be changed ... to LIMIT the amount of on hand corrections done to the QTY ON HAND ( this shows up in Parts Ledger as 'NEW PART' ... we also set that invoices are e-mailed to store manager so they know what has been changed ,... very telling when you compare the 3 stores ...

Mind you --one basic problem --is that the average CARQUEST jobber doesn't like to talk to another ... but that is best left for another blog entry.

Most UNDERUSED screen in EXPLORIS ... is ....

I think the most underused screen in EXPLORIS ( eBay nee WHI's Nexpart ) is the Multi-Store Creator-Editor ... assuming you are a multi-store jobber

It SUCKS big time -- to add a part to your store ... trust me -- it misses key items that makes the part stand out like an orphan ... BUT ...what it is good at .... by default ...since we have nothing else like it  .... is in LOOKING to see how you stores order point ( stock level at which the system re-orders ) ... does you store have ENOUGH ... if you try to stock just one --and you sell it often -- and you are always running out .... hmm ... time to INCREASE the stock level ....

One small point -- when you change the ORDER PNT ( order point ) -- from say 1 to 2 .... HIT the RETURN BUTTON ....you will see the cell turns a slight different colour of green --and the system will update the change ... try it both ways ... only one way works ... got to love the programmers at EXPLORIS WHI head office ....

Case in point --does Petes and Auto Barn have enough of PLB 194B2 ?????  How many other parts are like this ??  For this example I have collapsed some fields so you can see Qty Available ... Order Point ... and a few of the SALES Hist ( Hist1 is last month ...Hist24 is 2 years ago ... only months with data shows ... so no store sold 2 months ago -as there is no Hist2 showing )

A sign of a KEY STAFF MEMBER would ( and should be ) the ability top look at this screen and make a decision ,....

This is being cross posted to our Staff blog ...

DFIU -- what a pain in the ass

DFIU is the jobber program to load X lines -- and I have to tell you that DFIU is a pain in the ass .. for one big reason -- they programmed it to IGNORE decimals ....  so when we see 1.23 it IGNORES the decimal .... the real problem comes when you have a price like 10.00 and  you forget to format correctly and have the data as 10.  ...well DFIU sees this as ten cents ....

example ... this is properly formatted in EXCEL on the Mac --but when Excel on a PC gets this - it obviously looses the trailing ZERO  ...as in excel a training zero is no big deal.

BUT -- boy - does this make a HIGE problem in your prices ....

this is how one prices looks in POS Invoice -- using the PRICE LOOK UP -- and the ALL FIELDS button ... something we are finding our staff and mgmt rarely use ...

Imagine selling a part for one tenth the price you need to ... so how is your day going ??

Here are some youtube links on a pretty crude video on how to use DFIU to load parts .... maybe as I try more I can get better ... or maybe it wil be like my golf game ... damm ....

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpaId9mQNA
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZQN_OyQWqA

things Biz School told me -that are wrong ?

powered by Splicd.com
Nassim Nicholas Taleb - who wrote the Black Swan ...chats about his next issue - Fragility ....   downplays Synergy and the benefit of being BIG ( there goes another point held as true- 'Economies of Scale' ... and really likes to smack the IT dept when they get too big ...as ERRORS  outpace the Benefits on ever larger projects ... the embedded clip is approx 2 minutes from this 19 minute clip --worth watching ...click here for full clip

Can you say 'EXPLORIS ??

The future of SECOND LINES ?

So - what will happen to the second line in many areas ...looking at RIG ( second line to ECC for Ignition & emission ) ... in Canada we find the price difference just too SMALL to justify the line -and of course many parts are dropping off .... caps & rotors - that just means you are an old guy ....

BUT --wait ...maybe there is more to this storey ... a few years ago we grabbed USA Jobber cost and were surprised that Canada 'played' with the cost price  ... setting it as a percentage of the main line ( back then it was EC Blue Streak ) .... while the USA seems to left he price float in a natural  state ... got to love how Canada loved to PLAY ...

So ...I have a price file from Jan 2012 ..I took a look  and sure enough - an 'average' of 25% less in USA ...the currency exchange and some loose pocket change for Toronto DV that likes to skim a few extra dollars ( remember - our dollar is close to same as USA dollar on average ) .... but wait --some are LESS in Canada !! and some are MORE .... ... and the highest on the wrong way ... RIG 31240 ...at $79.33 --- compared that is USA jobber cost of $10.19 .... ( see image - CQ  sells retail for $18 on internet ) ...and I can't find the replaced ECC # 71-2613 anywhere  in USA ??????  a bogus  number ???

  This image shows ECC 71-2613 is NOT a good part # in USA

this image shows the USA sell RIG for $20 ... of one quarter of the Cdn Jobber cost

Canada -- PLEASE --stop playing games .....   in this internet age -- the days of 'games' are over ...

what you learn after you know it all--that counts

the title is a phrase we had used a while back -- reminding us to not get smug on what we think we know .... lately we have no visions of excessive knowledge ... so many things to keep up to date with ... anyways here is a twist we had not seen ... updating our Marine line of X Line parts and had a hard time figuring out what the simple 'REPLACE' would not work -- CC Marine adds commas's in their description -- a sure death for the data ...since we use CSV format and the system will think it is time to move to the next column  ... well ..answer --replace the ASTERISK  first ... google replacing wildcards ( which is what Excel thinks an * is )

New Marine prices - now ready to go --- all 22 thousand ....  and ps -it didn't take the 24 minutes the image says .... but was a few minutes ... and I started typing this to pass the time.

Ps - have more time to type -- forgot to flag the bottom question --to UPDATE all descriptions ( not just the new parts ) ...why do we do this ... EXPLORIS ( Nexpart by eBay ) doesn't have any mechanism to flag parts that DID NOT UPDATE .... ( search this blog -- we have written about this glaring hole ) ... so you need to somehow identify parts that the supplier had dropped from their price list --but we still have in our system .... JCon did a pretty good job ...we think we have found a work around --as the YEAR as part of the description ...and the next time you dump the data --sort on the description to see what parts don't start with a '12-' ..then you need to MOVE these to a 999 PN CODE ( we use 999 as a trash bin for junk data in any ( and every !! )_ line .... as we await that wonderful day we can delete parts.

Missing X Line e-cat data

Most CARQUEST stores don't know you can add X line e-cat data .... it comes with a price ... but the options  ( e.g.:setting hundreds of ALTERNATES ... without the ability to get an Alternate report ...doh !)

We have a handful of X lines - mostly on there secondary page ( the page that staff refuse to look at ? )  --what we are finding is the X lines are disappearing ...  we have started to keep a LOG on this problem - and will start calling the help desk - so we can track all occurrences ....

We need to call the X files team to figure out who is fu&king with this data .... hmmm .....

fun with numbers - sometimes

We recently saw a report that lists the lines we sell and our purchases from the CARQUEST DC ( Toronto ) and their 'average' sale .... cute ... some interest.  They are looking at what jobbers are under supporting some lines ( we guess ) ... but we can also see more data .... take the Warehouse sales and calculate the % sales by line ... then apply to the GROUPS ... groups is something we have been working with for a few years ... here is our first stab at groups

25 Group

accessories

battery

bearing-seals

belts +

brakes

chassis

chemicals

cores

dorman type

electrical

emmissions

engine

equipment

exhaust

filters

fuel

heat-cool

import

lighting

misc

oil

P B E

plugs

struts

tools

trailer

welding

wipers

zz-obsol

Then a few weeks back we started to talk with Vince in TOR DC about his support for a SAP report for group sales ) the USA has a report - but would need work to make it Cdn ) ... and suggested a slimmed down 10 groups ....

10 Group 25 Group Battery battery cores cores IIFM import IIFM trailer IIFM welding Liquids chemicals Liquids oil Misc misc Misc zz-obsol On Car accessories On Car dorman type On Car lighting On Car wipers P B E P B E Tools equipment Tools tools Under Car bearing-seals Under Car brakes Under Car chassis Under Car exhaust Under Car struts Under Hood belts + Under Hood electrical Under Hood emmissions Under Hood engine Under Hood filters Under Hood fuel Under Hood heat-cool Under Hood plugs

Here is sample chart for store ( or is it the Warehouse - buy me a beet and I will tell you ) ....

This kind of data seems to raise more questions than it  answers ...  but such is life

If you had a wish -- what would you want ?

A simple wish --so simple one rarely thinks to add this on your COMPUTER LIST ... would't it be NICE if various reports gave you somewhat CONSISTENT data ...

For example- REPORTS>INVENTORY>PN CODE REPORT ...compare that running 12 month report with this:  REPORTS>FINANCIAL>LINE SALES and PURCHASES

We have likes the first ( e.g.:we can see stocking depths for ALL sub lines - handy for us when we are doing Multi-Store move-up's ) -- another Jobber - Bob from Walker Rd ( who is nOT a multi-store ) likes the other ,,,,   well -we have written about this before but thought we would repeat ....

WHY doe these reports NOT match in data ... some lines are higher in one report -- and others are lower ...  some of the issues are explained as the Report>Fin report strips out Cores etc ... really obvious in lines like CAL CALIPERS where the REP>INV  is 40% overstated ... but that doesn't explain why BDR is 16% overstated ( brake rotors )  There are a few lines the reverse  - and bunch that are very close ( close enough to not worry )

WHY ????????????????  How do we learn to trust reports ???????

How long does it take to get these bug's fixed .... after all this is getting to be a system that is in it's mid-life ...

OLD BUGS drive you crazy .........

when can we DELETE ....we have a date

Heard from Ian and confirmed by Raleigh that version 53 ( due in August ) we will be able to delete junk part numbers .... what about that ....

The junk can finally go ....

More than a typewriter & adding machine ....

When Exploris first came out we worried that it might only be a 'typewriter' and a 'adding machine' ...as what does the JV ( company owed side of stores ) really need?   The JV side pulls the A/R out and pushes it thru Oracle ... what else they do -- who knows....

BUT -- what about us Independent Jobbers -- how do we plan and manager our business ....  here is a good example -- name me a report or screen that calls up a customer and gives us a good and SIMPLE scan of his purchases ... noting were he does above or BELOW average on purchases ....

One - lets work with product groups  .... group all BRAKES into one bucket ... and so on ... we use these buckets below for review on sales by LINES ... but they could also be grouped for sales analysis for specific customers ... helping us see what we need to work on ...


accessories Total
battery Total
belts + Total
brakes Total
buy outs Total
chassis Total
chemicals Total
dorman type Total
electrical Total
emmissions Total
engine Total
equipment Total
exhaust Total
farm Total
filters Total
fork lift Total
fuel Total
heat-cool Total
import Total
lighting Total
marine Total
misc Total
obsolete Total
oil Total
P B E Total
paint Total
plugs Total
special Total
struts Total
tools Total
trailer Total
welding Total
wipers Total
zz-obsol Total
Grand Total


If any of your readers have an idea --love to hear it  --- really need some more innovation in Exploris ( NexPart by eBay nee WHI )

Welcome back ?

Well - after a great 9 week vacation that took me across USA and back and an extended stay in Carlsbad, Ca ( what a town ! ) ... time to get back to work

Doing an updated data dump where we grab all the product into and import into excel - typically we separate the CQ and the X lines - but I forgot  ...on the 1st store --- nice to see the system didn't crash --and all 252,000 parts came out .... but had to go back and re-do it ---as it make the excel file just TOO BIG once we add in the remaining stores ( we have 3 in total ).

Grabbing all data and dumping into excel helps us spot many kinds of problems ....

ps - --just sorted all parts with a REPLACED BY data ... and all items with qty on hand -- hmm ...between 3 stores we have $23,000 in parts that are replaced by something else ( a lot is one recent line in brakes - but it does help us identify the few stragglers )

ps- how many parts do you have in your system with a BLANK sales class - we have 197 ...some are our fault - were the system allows us to make a BAD PART # .... others are mistakes of CARQUEST

ps- How many parts do you have with a sales class or 8 or 8.0 .... either way it is a mistake = that CARQUEST has MISSED in updating the sales movement codes  .... for our 3 stores -- we have a combined 20,402 ....holly cow ...   similarly we have 842 parts with 1 sales movement code of  X or x.0 ( e.g. 1 or 1.0 thru 7  or 7.0 ....all examples of sales movement codes been forgotten in the updating process )

ps - how many parts do you have with a sales movement class of LESS THAN ONE .... we have 4679 .... most are 0.0 which means obsolete ( of these we have 19 sku's with on hand stock .... hmmm ) but there this a variety of .9 or .1 sales movement codes that are also errors ( one assumes )

ps- ever wonder how many parts you have on hand with a 7.1 or slower movement code and no sales in 12 months and you have stock -- hope you don;t -- you will never sleep at night once you do --- damm

Limited Posts -- one more Month

Hi ... yeh ..I know ... no one is posting ... it surprised me that more jobbers with the knowledge just don't like to put their problems and issues down on paper for the world to see ....  hang in there ... this vacation to parade will be over ...one more month ... Carlsbad Ca ...ouch ... but I can handle this place ( big smile ) ...back to work March 17.

Greg H

How many years to FIX stupid bugs in Multi-Store

How many years will it take to fix STUPID bugs in Multi-Store in Exploris ( WHI Nex-Part )

Factors against prompt fixes
-few multi-store owners in CARQUEST
-feeling that Exploris is 'good enough' ...time to move on ...

Example - you have a new part - you add it from the non-sku file in store #1 ...then go to multi-store create-edit and ADD to the other stores ....  but wait --it adds and forgets to update the DESCRIPTION
----------- forgets to update the sales movement code
---------- forgets to update the PN Code ( sub line )

Nice programming ... from a system that is 5 years old ... and still has this many bugs awaiting fixing .... OMG

This part is the new anti-freeze required by Asian vehicles .....

Call # 208 8498

Delays on phone - waiting for help desk

Wondering if it just us - or are the waits for the help desk getting longer?  The image attached is from my iPhone --to take a screen shot of your iPhone ... well google it if you have forgotten  ....

That 12 minutes from from Dec 21 and a copy was sent to Debra(dot)Rosenbaum(at)gpi.com.

There are ways to reduce the number of calls to the help desk - for example - give us a video library of popular problems with solutions .... and let us check the most common problems to see ( also a great training aid ) ... but ... oh well ...   btw ....  click here and look at item #5 --- more video in enterprise ... hmm ... a trend everywhere ...  but still waiting for GPI CARQUEST ////

Smarter ways to help us get smarter on the Exploris ... a wish for 2012 ....

I had a 10 minute call while I was writing this blog entry ... on yet another question on how do you use EXPLORIS ... here is a good one .. if you are multi-store - you have to run salesman reports for EACH store separately .... not a consolidated ... do it once ... that would be too easy ?  Working on options ...  call # 2083542 - these fixes take years ( decades ? )

No Wildcard ... hmm ... are we wrong ... ?

A great comment was posted on the most recent post about missing wildcard searchers .....

From: Anonymous <noreply-comment@blogger.com>

Subject: [Exploris Computer - Tips & Tricks] New comment on Basic Omissions .... NO Wildcard Search in Part Nu....

Date: 20 December, 2011 7:08:44 PM EST

To: xxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Basic Omissions .... NO Wildcard Search in Part Nu...":


If in POS click on the PN/SKU/UPC. The '%' will work at the beginning, middle or end. The '*' can also be used instead of the '%'.


Also you can use the '_' character to wildcard a single character.
Ex. 8__0S I'm looking for 8660S seal but the 66 is missing.


Publish
Delete
Mark as spam 

Here are some screen images .... showing the points .... NOTE -- we can't figure out the 'beginning' wild card search ...  but the MIDDLE and ENDING wild card searches  -- thank you so much for that clarification .... it reminds us that sometimes we need a verification on some 'issues'  ..that the help desk are sometimes wrong ...

Here is the % in the middle  ... the * or % can be used ...go try it

Here are examples of the underscore to represent a single unknown digit ( used less often )

and the wild card search at the rear of the part

Now --how to make the wild card search work at the beginning of the part  ....

REMEMBER -- open the parts box for this search ... try it ... that is how you learn

Basic Omissions .... NO Wildcard Search in Part Numbers

Omissions - there might be none GREATER than the fact ...that ...there is no wildcard search for part numbers .... we know part of the number but are missing some part ...

Now --in EXPLORIS view--that missing part has t be at the first .... as the 'percentage sign (%) can only be used at the beginning --for other uses  ... get  %234 ... covers for 11234 and 1111234 etc etc.   Wildcards should be able to be used ANYWHERE ...

So -- Dane --  when do we get wildcard searched for the counterman ....  call # 206 9403

This was Gary's first call to the help desk - love that new staff training ... but what a weak reply.....

ps - anyone noticed the HUGE wait for the help desk these days .... thank goodness we can go on with other work while we wait and wait and wait ...