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The Partmaster
18th Edition
28th July 2017
Survey results A big thank you to those who took part in my internal online survey. In this issue I will be sharing all the good positive suggestions that came from it. The Partmaster newsletter was designed by my predecessor Richard Casey as a tool to interact and share things with you, and my goal will be to continue getting you the information going forward. If you have news to share we will do that and help celebrate the great company that we are all part of. Email it in or call me. Editor Karla Farrar | karla.farrar@partmaster.kiwi
Update from head office
Clear the clutter Health and safety is no longer just the responsibility of head office. Health & Safety is everyone’s responsibility! Reminder to de-clutter your branch floors and aisles to prevent a trip and fall injury. It is important to keep aisles clear for both your employees and your visitors. Each work area needs to be assessed for possible trip hazards. This would include putting away your new stock orders on your shelves in a timely manner. In many cases, these items should be put in a designated area and you should keep these areas well organised. Please ensure that walkways and aisles are clear and free from trip hazards. So with that being said, don’t forget to have your monthly Tool Box Meetings with your team and send your SWP reports in! Savio Steves National Operations Manager
Hi team, It’s been a hectic 2 months post our IT system cut-over and move to 3PL warehousing. This has been the biggest challenge ever undertaken by Partmaster, and although there has been some pain the worst is behind us now. The two main reasons for the changes are as follows. 1. We had out grown our warehouse and were unable to take on any more exciting product categories. As you are now aware our own exclusive Mixtech batteries are first cab off the rank. 2. E-parts was a bespoke system built by us but it was at the end of the road from a coding perspective and the language now unsupported. NAV has many improvements over E-parts with the main one being that it is fully integrated from our POS (point of sale) to web catalogue, CRM (customer relationship management), advanced forecasting and procurement and general ledger, so far better transparency and accuracy. This will allow the business to connect with other modern systems seamlessly to allow for more efficient and less laborious business processes. We will continue to invest in IT and we should all be proud to have the most up to date IT infrastructure in our Automotive sector. We look forward to our continued growth and thank everyone for their patience and commitment over the last 2 months.
John Cook CEO
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The Partmaster July 2017
Our very own
COVER BOY! When he’s not fighting fires at head office with NAV, our super hero Catalogue Manager - Mike Hutchins finds time to fight the real thing. Mike is a member of the Kumeu Volunteer Fire Brigade. He has been doing this for over 10 years. Super proud to see him on the front cover of his local community magazine. He has been involved in many fires and road accidents, cutting people free, getting people out and saving peoples lives.
Head Office team from left to right : John Cook, Nicky Covic, Sallyanne Hedges, Alice Wang.
Mikes community work also extends to showing children around the station and hosting birthday parties.
Farewell Nicky!
We say “Job well done Mike. Keep up the good work both here at Partmaster and out there in Kumeu”.
On the 26th June, our lovely Nicky has finally departed Partmaster to enjoy her retirement. Nicky Covic has been in the accounts department for an impressive 15 years! For those of you who are new to Partmaster, Nicky is married to Steve Covic one of the Partmaster directors.
kumeu
Courier FREE monthly community magazine for Kumeu & districts
Mike
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nicky for her 15 years tenure, and would personally like to thank her for all the extra hours of hard work she put in. We are extremely sorry to lose you and wish you a happy future ahead in your well earned retirement.
John Cook CEO
Staff Performance Reviews
events and updates
Local Board Update Pet tips & advice Food & beverage Home & garden Property market report
Kumeu fire brigade adds to response Circulation is 10,000 print copies and 3371 opened and read email copies. Editorial contributions are free from cost. Advertising starts at $75 plus gst for a business card size. Contact Sarah Brightwell on 021 250 7324 or sarahbrightwell022@gmail.com June 2017
By now you should have received your letter of increase which will outline your current salary vs your new salary based on your performance for the 2017 fiscal year. These letters were sent via email in PDF form. Let me know if you did not receive this. Please remember that: • Your new salary will take effect from Thursday the 20th July 2017. • This reviewed amount (new salary) will be back paid to 1st April 2017. • If you have been with the company for less than 6 months, you may not be included as part of the FY17 review. • If you have not completed the FY17 review process, you will have been excluded from the FY17 review. • FY18 Goals and Objectives will be launched towards the end of the July. We are finalising these now. In October 2017 I will also be undertaking our 6th month informal staff reviews.
Savio Steves National Operations Manager
The Partmaster July 2017
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TAURANGA’S NEW CREW meet the team
Mark Driver
The 26th June was a busy day, with one long-time team member leaving and another old crew coming back. The team at Partmaster Tauranga are all new and raring to go! Well not all new, Veronica and Sam used to manage our Hawkes Bay branch for
Dennis
Senior Parts Advisor
Veronica
Branch Manager
many years. Welcome back Veronica and Sam! The team comprises of Veronica - Branch Manager, Sam - Sales Rep, Dennis - Senior Parts Advisor and Mark our driver (with over 78 years combined experience - cough
Sam
Sales Rep
cough!). We hope you are settling in nicely, and appreciate you have started in the middle of a few company changes! Team, please make them feel welcome and help them adjust to our new systems where you can!
Sales Blitz success in Tauranga The early July sales Blitz in Tauranga went very smoothly. Steve Laus (BDM), Karla Farrar (Marketing), Sam Bradnock (our new Tauranga Sales Rep) and myself, all hit the streets last Monday. There were 2 teams with 30 customers to visit each. These were Tauranga’s best customers based in Te Puke, Mt Maunganui and Tauranga. The objective of the Blitz was ‘to connect with our customers, offer them an update, reassurance about all the Partmaster changes and a goodie bag’. The Tauranga team has recently changed its line-up (see above) and the company has changed the way we do some parts of our business, which was necessary for future growth.
Sales Report July 2017
The Blitz went very well, the feedback was extremely positive and the issues discussed fruitful. It was well worth it.
Sales Solid
Each customer received a bag containing a Partmaster Beanie, a chocolate bar, a Woking keyring and a July Trade Parts Flyer.
Sales are holding up well vs budget and vs last year, as we go through the half way mark of July 2017. There are 8 branches who showed good growth on last year in Q1 (April, May, June).
We also invited all customers to drinks on Friday July 21st, for a further meet and greet of the team, with an added incentive of a giveaway on the night - a Toptul Toolbox.
This is extremely encouraging and the number growing is sure to increase as July comes to an end.
The Blitz idea is evolving but the first attempt gives us a great base to work on. Any teams interested in doing this idea for your branch, please contact me.
Keep up those sales. The key ingredients are all the same = 1. More customers 2. Bigger orders.
Richard Casey National Sales Manager
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The Partmaster July 2017
SITUATIONS VACANT Retail Sales Assistants x 3 REQUIRED AT: TAKANINI, TAURANGA, MANUKAU, CHRISTCHURCH We are looking for an energetic retail sales assistants to join our team. You will be responsible for: • Providing excellent customer service • Have an excellent telephone manner • Follow procedures as instructed • Effectively communicate with team members and team leaders • Maintain cleanliness of the store and front counter • Source and obtain parts for our clients from instore stock, as well as organising parts from our distribution centre in a timely manner. • Nuture our existing customer base of retail and trade clients • Assist the branch manager and sales representatives by helping to grow the store sales by supporting their new business leads • Maintain proper and safe use of all equipment and tools • Operate POS register • Collect payment, make change, and handle exchanges • The above are general requirements for this position and if you require further information please contact us. Our ideal candidate: • Able to serve customers with professionalism and enthusiasm • Be a reliable team member • The ability to work on your feet all day • Basic computer skills • Ability to perform basic math calculations. • Is experienced in automotive parts or ‘knows’ parts. In return we offer: • A competitive salary with market leading bonus structure • An environment to help you thrive and with lots of room to grow your career If you love selling, can build strong relationships, are hungry to earn and enjoy working with a wide variety of people, then we want to hear from you. Please send you CV and covering letter: careers@partmaster.co.nz Trademe Listing #: Christchurch 1360479791, Manukau 1359997155, Takanini 1359996075, Tauranga 1358378229
Junior Counter Sales/ Delivery Driver REQUIRED AT: NORTH SHORE We are looking for a “Junior Counter Sales/Delivery Driver” member to join our team on the Grey Lynn who will learn the skills and acquire the knowledge in supplying and procuring parts for clients, assist in development and growth of our existing customer base plus developing and nurturing new business, work and support a team that excels, engaging with team members and supporting the branch manager. In conjunction with this, you will also be required to deliver parts to our clients as part of the training process. Our ideal candidate: • Is ambitious and motivated • Is a team player • Exhibits good time management qualities • Demonstrates an ability to multi task and communicate at all levels • Adapts to change and is fluid in approach • Is a solution finder • Excels at customer service • Has a clean full/restricted New Zealand licence. • Has some form of automotive knowledge or simply ‘likes’ cars In return we offer: • A competitive salary with market leading bonus structure • An environment to help you thrive and excel in your career If you love selling, can build strong relationships, are hungry to earn and enjoy working with a wide variety of people, then we want to hear from you. Please send you CV and covering letter: careers@partmaster.co.nz Trademe Listing #: Grey Lynn 1365805586
The Partmaster July 2017
Business Development Manager - Key Accounts AUCKLAND BASED ROLE / GREY LYNN You will be the primary contact between Partmaster and its largest customers, growing existing Key Account sales and finding and developing new Key Accounts.
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• Regularly review Key Accounts’ customer history to determine current needs and opportunities. • Maintain a current and comprehensive knowledge of Partmasters products and services. • Keep abreast of competitors’ offerings to identify and understand Partmasters point of difference. • Network externally and internally to contribute to Partmasters market visibility and keep aware of trends and related customer needs.
Reporting to the National Sales Manager you will be an energetic selfstarter who has the relationship building ability and the tenacity required to develop this business unit in to a strong positive contributor.
• Be responsible for price quotations and where required price
You will need to: • Maintain customer base with a structured call cycle. • New opportunities / leads / cold calls identified and acted on.
If you think this is you then We are looking for you so please apply:
negotiations. But above all else you will need to be hungry for success. CV plus cover letter to : Richard Casey | richard.casey@partmaster. co.nz | 0274 818 222
Inventory update We have analysed branch stock-onhand and as of today, there is an average inventory difference of 1% between NAV and what we were stocking at branch level in Eparts. This is fantastic news and a great sign that we are on the right path!
monthly average.
To explain how your replenishment orders are calculated, here is a quick summary:
Showroom Stock
Fast moving items To be considered fast moving, you need to have some sales of this item in a minimum 8 months out of 12. NAV will try to keep between 15-45 days’ worth of stock on your shelf of these items. Sporadic items These are less frequent moving items with fewer hits during the year. You will need sales of this item to happen in 4-7 months out of 12 to be considered sporadic. NAV calculates an average sale quantity and sends you a enough stock to cover a
Indent Items If an item selling in less than 3 months out of 12, it is considered indent and will not be automatically replenished. This utilises a min/max system, and only applies to showroom stock where it’s not considered fast moving. How to report an error Please continue to report inventory bugs and errors. We have been getting some great examples coming through that really help us improve the system. BUT before raising the alarm with us there are some key points that you can do to help us speed up finding the solution: • Double check your inventory, both physically and in NAV. If NAV thinks you have stock, you wont be replenished.
• Many of the reported issues are because Eparts data was incorrect at branch, and these stock errors were copied into NAV, therefore not a NAV issue. • Check your sales history. Is it a slow mover? If so, then chances are the system wont be wanting to fill your shelves with it in a hurry. • Is there zero SOH, but stock is on order and expected at bulk? Not necessarily a NAV issue as the bulk of these orders were raised in Eparts, but we are working hard on the inwards side of the system to get these zero stocks available for sale asap. If you can help support us by doing some homework and filtering the non-issues we can focus on the critical fixes, and speed up the problem solving process. Steve Thompson Group Product Manager
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The Partmaster July 2017
Product team introductions Who to contact for what...
MIKE HUTCHINS Catalogue Manager Contact for queries on: •C atalogue and online content change requests • NAV issues
FABIAN UKICH Inventory Manager Contact for queries on: • Stock Availability • Purchase orders & ETA’s • Branch Replenishment • Shipping
STEVE THOMPSON Group Product Manager Contact Steve for any product, inventory, or strategy related issues, and if first point of contact above is unavailable.
JAMIE ENGEL Product Manager Contact for queries on: • Product Range available to the group. • Tech/Warranty • New Product info • Market Pricing on products (not pricing on special setups deals or arrangements for customers & customer groups. That is a sales function – see Richard) • Trade Parts Monthly Flyer pricing issues
DENNY WILLIAMS Assistant Online Sales and Catalogue Contact for queries on: • Trademe sales • Business to consumer sales (B2C)
other new head office team memebers GLEN MARSHALL New Business Development Stored Energy
e Welco m back ! Regan
Glen has worked for both Century and Exide so has a thorough working knowledge of the automotive battery industry. Contact for queries on: • Automotive batteries • Marine batteries • All battery enquiries!
KARLA FARRAR Marketing Manager
Last year New Plymouth came 2nd in the ‘Branch Of The Year’ competition, which culminated at the Hampton Downs Sales Conference. The New Plymouth leader back then was Regan Davies. He is a hard man to slow down. Since the conference he has changed jobs, got married and built his house! (They say big change usually comes in 3’s!) Regan has just recently rejoined Partmaster in New Plymouth and we look forward to his impact on improving the results.
Contact for queries on: • Advertising/Marketing • Graphic Design • Website content - excluding the online catalogue • Email marketing • Branding/signage • Uniforms • Promotions • Social Media - Facebook or Google • Market research / customer surveys
The Partmaster July 2017
MISTY’S DAD
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MISTY
Pet of the month Whangarei branch - meet Izzy’s fur baby
MISTY
Sorry to hear about your loss of your special friend Izzy! Unfortunately Izzy’s loyal mate Ash (bottom right) passed away earlier this year. His family were at a loss without him, as it was too quiet without their big idiot running around, so they bought a new little pup. Meet Misty, featured here at just 7 weeks old – so cute! Misty’s dad is quite a big chap, so this cute little pup is expected to be around 30kgs at 6 months old. She is currently only 16 weeks old and already weighing in at 17kgs.
Thank you for sharing Izzy
New Product
DISCOVER® MIXTECH BATTERIES
DISCOVER® innovative batteries are based in Canada, they began operating in 1997. They specialise in Lead-Acid and Advanced Energy Solutions. Their products work to eliminate user related issues, reduce maintenance costs, and provide measurable productivity and performance gains. Their aim is to meet the world demand for quality power with lower economic and environmental footprints.
KEY BENEFITS
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The #1 cause of battery failure is acid stratification. When a vehicle moves and vibrates, the acid settles to the bottom and destroys the plates. MIXTECH 360 degree electrolyte mixing technology eliminates stratification.
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DISCOVER® MIXTECH uses the kinetic energy of the vehicle to continuously mix electrolyte inside the battery through 360 degrees resulting in uniform acid density, longer plate life, and higher sustained performance throughout the life of the battery.
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In 2017 MIXTECH wins the prestigious Greentec award in the mobility category for innovation in sustainability and environmental protection, a first for an automotive battery.
MIXTECH EMX batteries are designed to last up to twice as long as normal batteries, which provides the lowest total cost of ownership versus all other conventional batteries in the industry.
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The technology in MIXTECH batteries is the most significant improvement in a battery for 50 years.
- RIP ASH -
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The Partmaster July 2017
The Partmaster July 2017
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PIMP MY RIDE
At the last Partmaster Conference 2016, Savio’s ride only managed to take all but one passenger until 2nd gear decided to shear off and exit the housing. His heart was broken. After sometime pondering of what to do next, the box was put back together with a mix of Evo 2/3/GSR gears and is now ready for Conference 2017 which he will hopefully get to take more than just one person around. SPEC OF THE CAR: 1992 Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 2.2lt – Stroker kit 360kw @ 1.7 bar (ATW)
Branch of the Year
2017
Many of you have been asking about the Partmaster Branch Of The Year competition and if it will be happening again in 2017. I can confirm that a new and improved version will be announced at the sales conference Oct 13/14th.
Commit to 5
E M M A R G O PR
s to be EW customer N 5 f o t lis g in The on-go 3! now in month this focused on is sterling job in a g in o d e ar s he Some branc at they can area. LL to show th A r fo e tim w It is no contribute!
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