How we treat our CUSTOMERS

The Web-Link2 roll out has been in USA for a year - but us up here in Canada are just getting it. One point worth noting --is the responsibility for WEB-LINK has gone from Marketing to IT Dept ( Business Tech - aka computer guys ) .... so what you say ...

HMM ...have you realized that your customers are finding WL2 more difficult than WL1 to work with? Well the call volume is WAY WAY up .... and the help desk staff have been reduced from 17 to 7 ... so ...the call times ( because why would be offer IMMEDIATE help for our BEST CUSTOMERS ?? ) have gone from hours to DAYS on a call back.

TRY THIS yourself -- log a call and see the delay. Then remind your BEST CUSTOMERS to ask you --and have you try to help - because such SLOW RESPONSE is no way to treat your BEST.

Questions on Importing Data into X lInes

There are various notes in here on IMPORTING X LIne data into EXPLORIS - but it is still interesting to see how many CARQUEST jobbers do NOT know you can import the data --and they are manually keying in the data ... OMG

A question came up - we were lead to believe that ORDER POINTS could be added to the template ( after all it is ON the template !! ) -- it now turns out that order points are NOT ADDED, so that answers a new question we had -- on a PRICE CHANGE - what would happen when you change prices -- and left the order point column blank -- moot question for now.

The curious problem comes up on what do you do when a part becomes obsolete in the price update - we ran into this on a Truper Lawn Equipment update --so we changed the description to reflect it was 'DISCONTINUED 9-2010'. We new this because we took the original file and updated cost prices - so any part that did NOT UPDATE we knew was not a currently valid part #.

Part 4 - missing Images - How long can we WAIT ?

Here is a good( albeit long ) story --- missing Images .... take a line like ECC by Wells - no better example of why images are SO IMPORTANT --does the switch you need have have a square or round 'widget' hole .... ????

So - follow me on this --- there are a HUGE amount of ECC images we are missing. In some cases if we

knew the WELLS number - believe it or not --some are in the system - but tagged to the wrong part # ...how do you get a Wells part #? They know they have a problem and we await the IT dept to re-load the images --but they are TOO BUSY on the new e-cat to spare any time to fix an old problem ... and they are NOT loading any more ECC corrected images until the old bad-linked ones get fixed ( can you spell catch-22 ?? )

So - Wells announced a new improved web site ... the trouble is in their INTERCHANGE they do NOT

have loaded the CARQUEST part number to find the equiv WELLS # .... see attached images to prove this

So --we are busy chasing our tail ( image for that one too ) --there are a few things that can be fixed --we just wonder who cares ???

Update - there is a new E-Cat on the internet for ECC - click here for the link- but the problem here is oyu have to RE-LOOK Up the part application one more time - if it had a direct link on the page for Images - or iwe could make the interchange work (some issues - and are told we need to put the dash in the right spot .....aaawwwhhhh )

CANADA -- BLAME CANADA ---

Here is yet another example of the ROADBLOCK the Cdn operations put on the Cdn CARQUEST jobbers ... to recap -when new parts are added to the USA data base they send Canada a lista nd ask for proper Cdn pricing - in theory the Cdn DC staff ( under Peter McNally ) completes the data and sends it back and it is added.

In FACT what happens the data request SITS on someone's desk and waits - and waits. The end result is that the Cdn Jobbers can NOT sell the part. Or we can sell it - but must source it from from one of the numerous other warehouses who have their act together and have the products.

Why does CQ Canada have to be the slowest to market ?? the Fastest to Market would be such a nice treat. Example DOR 748-172 window regulator for 2006-08 Chev Impala's - but have hundreds of others to show

Dumb & Dumber - Part #3 - Multi Store -add parts

The title is for Multi-store but there are impacts for just single store as well. Background ( yep -a long story ) -- in Jan Neil from Petes Paint was asking when will we get Quick Strut combo for late model Dodge mini-vans ... missing a LOT of sales to Monroe as we wait and wait and wait for KYB ...wrote Darren Tyo ( buyer ) in Raleigh to see - he replied back ... in 4-6 weeks. Wrote back in June and asked again. Going thru older e-mail from June and came across this - looked up the part to see if it was in yet ... hey -- it is on in!!!! and one of our stores ( Pete's - who originally asked for it ) was smart enough to add. ...so go to multi-store editor ...I have trouble and call help desk ( says adding part and sits there for ever - call # 1336913 - also missing fields )

Dave from help desk calls back and we discuss something really interesting points -- he tries to add KYB SR4038 ( and SR4039) to his test data base --- and it says part not found ( see image on this post that I got from another multi-store jobber that also shows the problem).

Now - lets stop and point this out -in the past when we have seen this box saying do you want to add --it had always meant it was was NOT in the system in either the active or the non-sku file - and we were M

AKING UP A PART. Well--what good does it do us to make up a part number ( apart from as a X line we buy outside of CARQUEST ) ?? A made up part won't get updated ... and it has one annoying feature - it gets added with a BLANK PN Code ( sub line ).

BUT --wait --he did it and guess what --the part was added from the non-sku file --with all the right data .... POINT .... when the box comes up saying do you want to add ... we need MORE INFO --we need to know a) is it in the non-sku file or b)do you went to make something up yourself and support it for the rest of your life.

This same box appears many other screens (your single store jobbers - take note). In fact we reported that in ONLY two areas - POS Invoice and the MAIN PAGE of the F-8 Inventory screen does the system look at the non-sku file .... WTF .....

Note to staff -- sometimes you need to say yes -- see if the part is in the non-sku file -- but if it NOT there and the system wants you to add data -- get the hell out and do not add ... damm.... what an awkward system.

Exploris ( Nexpart by WHI ) has a LONG WAY to go before it is ready for serious users ( and we are in year 5! of Exploris.

ps - we have asked Raleigh to FIX the mvt code from 7.1 to 5.9 on these -- if you do NOT have these parts --add now -- KYB SR4038 and SR4039 -late model mini-van.

Dumb Things EXPLORIS does ( or doesn't ) - Part 2

Instead of waiting for Bob Miller to 'get time' to write this ( since he has authoring rights for this blog ) - lets add part # 2 of DUMB & DUMBER things Exploris ( Whi Nexpart Computer system ) does ( and doesn't do )

Issue 0-- you order something from the Warehouse or another store thru SOURCE IT -- fine ...BUT ...they call back and say -- gee --sorry - I can't find it.

Now what ...

if you do nothing --the other location cancels the order but if yo

u think the EXPLORIS should be smart enough to go from their system ( having cancelled the order ) and go into our system and cancel our PO AND NOT ADD the QTY to our system ... well ..;. wouldn't that be far too easy?

If you go find the PO in our system -- still not really work ...gosh dawn - only knows why? The RIGHT WAY to to manually adjust qty on hand the day afterwards ... OH GREAT -- just what we are trying to promote our staff to do -

We NEVER want to have to manually adjust qty on hands ... of all the absolute stupid things to do in this system. To prove this point -- in our 3 stores we BILL a store use account for parts that we find have a wrong count - this is an idea we got from another jobber and loved the idea as it does a couple of things

a) it stops staff from manually adjusting counts ( except for the above STUPID issue)

b) it sends an e-mail to the manager with the invoice so he knows the count issue

c) we see a monthly total on the statement

To force us to manually adjust a count in Exploris is just absolutely plain STUPID and DYSFUNCTIONAL.

REALLY DUMB things that EXPLORIS can & can't do - part #1

Dumb things that EXPLORIS ( Whi's Nexpart ) can and can't do - lets see - let me count the ways ...:-)

How about call #1332595 placed today to start the long process to fix and make easier -some way -- any way !! -- to handle canceling OLD ORDERS. Issue -- we process orders thru Exploris - but after 60 days the ADIS warehouse system cancels any unfilled Back Order (B/O) -- but the systems are NOT SMART ENOUGH to talk with one another to co-ordinate the canceling. Gee- what is with this -- ADIS is a major player in DC warehouse systems - the systems can talk when we place the order - but not when we have to cancel orders ?

OK -- how about something easy in Exploris to remind stores when they have a lot ( or just one ) OLD order and ask if we want OLD ORDERS cancelled? Well - we have nothing.

Here is a LINK ( click here ) to see what dates are older than 60 days

For our stores we have added a goggle calendar note for mid-month to double check that store managers have remembered to have someone go in and trash older orders ... talk about a system that make work easier ... not ...not this Exploris ( Nexpart ) anyways. Cloud computing is supposed to be innovative and QUICK to adapt .... sees that WHI is more content to pocket the fees and be very slow at standard items one can only think should have been there 5 years ago when this system rolled out ...

FIRST to MARKET ----hhaaa

a lot of great questions come from Jeff Hackney = here is another - he ( and I ) are Cdn Jobbers -- boy do we get pissed off when the Cdn guys DRAGGG THEIRRRR FEEEETTTTT on adding new part numbers. CFI 84151 fits 2011 Fords -- they are selling -- too bad we do not have them in our system in Canada - but the USA has them in their system

We know when the part prices in Web-Link in USA and DOES NOT PRICE from a Cdn customer --that we are missing the data in the Cdn ADIS computer

DAMM

EXPLORIS in Multi-store -- now QUITE ready for prime time

CLICK HERE >>See this link - posted in April 2010

A simple thing in multi-store --is to look up one single part --and wonder WHAT ARE THE OTHER STORES DOING with this PART ?? In J-Con is was simple -- try the 2.2 screen.

In Exploris ( Nexpart by WHI ) it is anything but simple - in fact it really doesn't exist - as I can't really call the multi-store creator-edit screen a user friendly screen. Maybe after a re-think on this screen this could do -- but it sure was slapped together fast and without much care ( imho )
who cares about multi-store users ????

What would help?

- on line help - where you can 'mouse over' one of the many FIELD NAMES in Field Selection ( see 2nd image ) and know --what is the difference in things like DC POP and USER CLASS and

SALESS CLASS 1&2 ( hint sales class 1&2 is the way they handle the movement code 5.1 --they put into 2 buckets )

-any printed help for this screen -- call # 1318520 is a request for some printed help on field selection -so we are not wasting time in trying to GUESS what fields are important and need to be displayed - vs - what fields are junk or just BLANK data and are wasting valuable screen space.

-speaking of LIMITED SPACE available - please give us an option to have sales by the YEAR as an option--to avoid the MANY options for month and month-1 and month-2 -- what a waste and what a pain to not have the option for SALES this year and SALES last year ( or in some reports it is sales this year and sales for the last 2 years - I guess I can get used to this ? )

Damm is is aggravating !

MORE Errors in Exploris - waiting for WHI

While I have my 3 store managers ( and partners ) reviewing the Sales Analysis reports for various customers by - this reminds me of a much earlier bug reported to the help desk - that we await the speedy action of WHI ( ok - sorry for the sarcasm ---called in on April 13, 2010 and with NO ETA on if or when this bug will ever get fixed (call#1133029) - verified this today thru help desk).

The Sales Analysis report --when you export as DATA ONLY ( if you export as formated excel-there are merged cells that STO you from sorting data -- what good is that ) you will see an error in the data -- the excel image posted shows a pink line two rows down --that dat belongs to the RED area on line 7. So the report picked up an extra CR (carriage return) and two wrong LF ( line feeds)

In excel you can add a formula =A7 in the k4 cell. And you can drag this from K4 thru 4 to copy. Then you can drag down to copy formula to the bottom of the screen -- don;t worry -- we will sort and throw out the junk afterwards.

Then you COPY and PASTE SECIAL - just values into the area in red - columns K thru P

Now -- sort - I use column J - sort in ascending order and all your junk goes to the bottom and you can trash ...and you have a corrected data - again. Extra work courtesy of sloppy programing from WHI Nexpart

Model pricing plans - so ...

It seems that most CARQUEST jobbers have NOT taken the time and effort to switch form the mess that Exploris ( Nexpart by WHI ) gave us - back to the more organized J-Con concept of grouping similar customers into pools ( MODELS ) -

The Old Way that Exploris had -- meant that you would have to change EACH and EVERY customer when you wanted to adjust a price discount - hugely stupid.

Finally in v50 the J-Con way of models was finally released and our 3 stores eagerly went ahead and converted back to models - it was a bit easier for us as we only had a few months of working on v49 - so we basically coasted on any price discount change - knowing we would soon have models back. The conversion was a fair bit of time and effort and we discovered a tremendous amount of pricing exceptions by account that would then become obsolete - after a few months of asking we found that the Billing Schedule managers in the DC have the power to go into our system and DELETE these -- in our case we have hundreds of thousands of these and we knew these would be a slow down for our system - they have been gone. Good

Now --we are ready for looking at what customers go up ( or down ) based upon their buying patterns -- BUT --we are finding a problem when you change an account from one model to another - ....

The Model is 'linked' to a billing schedule ( called a pricing group in Exploris Main Account Entry and called Group plan in Sales Analysis Report - would have been way too easy to standardize names ?? ) You can NOT get a list of customers on your MODEL - but you can get a list of customers that are linked to the pricing group ( billing schedule ). So - this is basically the same thing -- fine - we can work with this. To see how this works --go to Reports>Financial>Sales Analysis --and see the box called 'group plan' ...a pull down box. Run a sample report for all in group plan #4 - to see.

So - if you want to change an account from one model to another --OK .... but ... wait two weeks and see if the account shows up in the new 'group plan-pricing group-billing schedule' report -- guess what --it doesn't ... yet another BUG in the EXLORIS ( Nexpart by WHI ) software.

We have logged this ( thanks to Greg Guyitt at Auto Barn - #1315298 9-2-10 ). But there is a work around - again thanks to Bob Miller from Walker Rd Auto who did most of the trail blazing in our part of the woods for models.

The problem is ... while the model is linked to the corresponding (billing schedule-pricing group) and when you change the model the grayed box of the billing schedule-pricing group also changes -- this change is somehow MISSED somewhere else - and that missing 'somewhere else' is what triggers the proper Sales Analysis report we talked about above. To solve this ( while we wait a couple of months to a couple of years for WHI to fix their bug in the software ) now you need to make separate steps:

1) unlink the customer from the model by EDIT and in model change to the SELECT option ( sort of a NONE option --then UpDATE and click EDIT to save changes and remove the EDIT flag from the bottom of the screen

2) click EDIT for the customer - and change the pRICING GROUp box (which is no longer grayed out - as there is no MODEL trumping this ) to the correct one -- click UpDATE and click EDIT to go back to normal to save changes

3) click EDIT and select the new MODEL you want -- save changes with UpDATE and EDIT

So you have 3 steps to get it right for future reports -- and we wait for WHI to fix yet another bug.

Jobbers that wait to use models - you like even more pain - eh? Models are such an elegant way to handle issues. IMHO

Common Sense on E-Cat issues ???

GPI & CARQUEST are really complex corporations to run -- but sometimes they need to listen to Jobbers MORE and we could simplify issues where it counts --at the Point of Sale ...

Issue -- E-Cat -- why show a SUPERSEDED PART if that store does not have any!!! Example in the images shown --the GOLD series is gone --stop showing it --it only complicates the purchase decision .... or at least do a SORT and put the old data at the BOTTOM of the data --way at the bottom

Issue -- E-Cat -- when you add a new line --the tough decision is HOW LONG to keep the OLD DATA ... Greg Guyitt mentioned this issue a few weeks ago ( and we hope he wrote about it to Raleigh ) ... the new RDP one price red pads .... fine -- but trash the older data since we have done a COMPLETE SWAP ...look at this data - the older red pad in this case where cheaper - do we need to remind our customer of this ? It undermines the effort to drop the higher priced pads ..... DROP the Red in FRI data ... and clean up the buying purchase decision making.

HELP in making e-cat better at the counter and shop level --where it really counts .... hello ....hear us ......

Trivia - how to learn the small things ?

Click here to see a trivia item that can cause some confusion.

Want to make a list of items we need to know --and that could become part of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire - CARQUEST Exploris ( Nexpart ) Version " ??

Question -- for $10,000 --- in MAIN PART ENTRY SCREEN - if you go to al the related screens linked at the bottom of the screen ( Part Pricing - Order/Cost - Part History - UPC Setup ) and look up a part - will it look up the part in the non-sku file if you don't stock it?

Answer .... see the link above ....

TIME to look for parts in EXLORIS

Staff complain on how SLOW Exploris ( nexpart by WHI ) can be. In this example we will look in a line that has approx 6400 sku's and see why the normal counterman finds the wait INTOLERABLE.

Also remember -- Exploris ( Nexpart _ doesn't allow us to delete any parts from the inventory file - won;'t that be interesting in 10 years !

Exploris ( Nexpart ) reports- why so bad ?

I appreciate CARQUEST is trying to LIMIT the requests to the top 20 fields to have ADDED to make a make shift universal report writer to cover for the many holes in existing reports within Exploris ( Nexpart ) .... but the fact still remains ... IF we can EDIT any filed in a data file -- we should have the ability to have that field on a report - FOR ALL RECORDS.

Example ( image should show Acct Class - Acct Group & Report Group

EXISTING -- you can run a REPORT with ONE of the above set as the filter ... but what you can NOT do is run ALL customers to look for the customers with an ERROR in the field --in this example we shown Acct Class as a 1 ...wait ...damm ...it is set as an I ( eye ) not a ONE ...damm .... how would you ever spot that without running all and sorting --by sorting the errors usually bubble to the top or bottom.

Look at the sloppy way that Exploris took the J-Con data for reporting groups - this example is '4-FARM &" - is there a space after the & -- or two spaces before ? How do we add new customers and keep the errors out - we need to see ALL customers and :
1) clean up this transitional mess from J-Con
2) look for new customers mis-applied ( or with BLANK data! !

While I see your push to add a select number of extra fields -- we can make the point that ANY field we edit -- needs to have a report for ALL entries --so we can sort for errors -- to just run that one field doesn't help us spot for errors in the field.

Video Training Test

this is posted on our staff blog .... Click here for staff blog article if oyu want to see more details

Trivia details that can kill us

A couple of unrelated facts - that seem to be a bit worrisome

Point - in April Toronto brought out a new competitive position sheet for eKeystone speed & Custom - we started asking when the prices in our system would get updated -- today I talked with a VP and was told they have to putt he data update in dribs and drabs -- they can't do it all at once ---so here we sit -- we have NO IDEA how much of the file in our system has been updated --this is Aug and the change happened in April. Our issue is -- if we have a request for a part # -our staff will believe the price the computer tells us to quote - but that could be wrong as they have gone to variable margins.

Point - we asked for a CFI price re-fresh ( see previous image of a CFI number with no price in store #3 ) --we were told by Raleigh that the CFI line was TOO BIG to refresh. In J-Con you could ask for as many refreshes as you wanted ... hmm ... more to this story than we are being told.

Love to know the real story on Exploris ( Nexpart )

Adding a MADE UP number in a non-X line

Hey --what are the chances that we need to MAKE UP a part number in a non-X line ? Slim to none ? The image shown here should WARN YOU about making up that part # ... jr. staff will think we are pulling from the non-sku table -- wrong --we are making this number.

So - eventually the part will be added the CORRECT way by the other stores -- and you will get the 2nd image one store has a blank part - the other 2 of our stores have the proper part # with data ( and with prices ! )

There is a time you need to make up a part # -- but staff should be warned that it is a part number that will-may never be maintained.

Like in the last post -- we need to make sure the non-active sku table is looked up -if the part is there --fine - pull it into the active table -- but if you CREATE a part for a CARQUEST line code - you are asking for trouble. You need to MAKE UP a part # for an X line - but rarely if ever do you make up a part for a CARQUEST LIne

How would you rate the Multi-Store Editor ???

The Multi-store editor - in Exploris ( WHI Nexpart ) is better than nothing - but is that saying much? Recently we requested a few bugs and gliches to be noted on a call list by the help desk
-if you update ANY FIELDl - you must click 'somewhere' else with your cursor or it will not update - or press 'enter' - and you will see the green box change to a slightly different shade of green ( not sure if I have seen that on any other screen in Exploris ( Nexpart ) ??
-the names for the history periods could NOT be more Cryptic ... if you saw PHist and LHist and Hist - what year might you think you had ?
-instead of wasting up to 36 boxes with individual sales history - how about an OPTION for just 3 - the SIMPLE way - give us YTD - Last Yr & 2 Yrs ago
-if you call a part # - and only some ( but not all of the stores ) have it -- the stores without it will be grey - and it will indicate it is ADDING the part - there is a BUG -and it doesn't pull pricing and other details - this has been confirmed as a bug and we wait for Nexpart WHI to add this to some future release. This explains how we can see parts without any prices ( see next blog post for a sample) *** Note -- we tried to duplicate this bug but the parts were added with pricing ? --needs more testing as to when this bug happens ***

This and lots of other screens show the clunky way Exploris ( Nexpart ) handles multi-store as of 2010. We can only hope it gets better - could it get any worse ? The image here is a YUGO --- Raleigh might call it a sports car ... but ....

Release 50.1 ( bug fixes )

The image shows the differences from the copy I grabbed from the USA side - to the one I grabbed today from the Cdn side. Someone obviously posted the JV ( Joint Venture) doc on the USA Independent side - but to have so many differences will make for some interesting reading

I wonder what the BEST fix in the release will be ? Bob from Walker Rd had mentioned tab stops - he will be happy to see that fixed - whereas almost no one in our 3 stores has ever used tab stops in the inventory screen --time for some background training. This is one more reason why we need small tips on a regular basis to remind us of features that we might not otherwise know is there.

More to follow