Dead on the Shelf

The Report Nobody Wants to Run

Every dealer management system can produce a last-sale-date report. It takes ninety seconds and is one of the least-used reports in the building. The reason is not technical: most owners already have a rough idea of what it says.

I have worked with dealerships where more than twenty-five percent of the parts inventory at cost had not sold a unit in twelve months. Not slow-moving. Not seasonal. Zero movement across four quarters, and in a few cases north of forty percent — profitable dealerships whose parts managers had never seen the number in dollars.
Published guidance is consistent about what good looks like. Obsolescence — no sale in twelve months or more — is rated excellent below five percent, acceptable at five to ten, a problem above fifteen. Compare your numbers to that scale. («== Click here)

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