As our name implies, Express Autobody is committed to repairing vehicles in the shortest time possible. We intend to do this without compromising the quality of our work, while still charging a fair and reasonable price to our customers. In order for Express Autobody to fulfill this commitment, we’ve had to take a hard look at every aspect of the collision repair business. We’ve determined that one of the biggest areas in need of improvement is the parts department, and the way in which it works with its vendors. Our Preferred Vendor Program is a key ingredient to the solutions we have created to remedy the problems presently facing most body shop parts departments.

Our Preferred Vendor Program is a way for us to partner with the companies who supply us with the parts and materials we need to repair our customer’s vehicles. Simply put, companies who are willing to agree to one or more of the criteria that we’ve created will have a competitive advantage to us over companies who are not willing to accept any of these criteria. The more criteria a given company agrees to, the more preferred it will be. Any company who agrees to all of our criteria will become a "Preferred Vendor," and as such it will get a lock on all of our business. A Preferred Vendor will be guaranteed 100% of our business for the items they supply. No other company will be allowed to fulfill any of our needs in that niche so long as the Preferred Vendor maintains its status. Failure to comply with the agreed to criteria will result in a criteria violation, and may eventually result in that company losing its Preferred Vendor Status.

The criteria for our Preferred Vendor Program are as follows;

1. A competitive discount on the parts and materials. Please note that this is only the first of a list of criteria. Often the only determining factor a company uses to decide whether or not to buy from a given supplier is the discount offered. With the Preferred Vendor Program a company offering a lesser discount and agreeing to more of these criteria will get our business. If two or more vendors agree to the same number of criteria, the one with the greater discount will get our business.

 

2. A line of credit and favorable account terms. The principals at Express Autobody have excellent credit and a long history of paying their debts promptly. Trade references and bank references will be provided to any vendor establishing an account. The amount of credit extended should reflect the anticipated volume of business done. If all other things are equal between two or more vendors, and one vendor offers better terms on the account, (example, 2% net 10 day pay,) that vendor will get our business.

 

3. The ability to accept parts and materials orders electronically. Parts and materials will be ordered via e-mail, or instant messaging. Parts e-mails will include all of the necessary information required to provide us with the correct parts, including the VIN number, the production date, any applicable trim codes, the color code, and digital pictures of the damaged vehicle.
   

 

4. The ability to provide us with correct, undamaged parts, and/ or material that is fresh, in date, and completely able to perform the tasks required of it. Sheet metal should be inspected for damage before any delivery attempt is made. Express Autobody prefers not to repair replacement parts, so every effort should be made to avoid attempting delivery of any parts that will require any kind of repair. Any materials sold us should also be of the expected quality and should not have any shelf life limitations unless cleared first by Express Autobody management.

 

5. Experience in parts handling and the application of that knowledge toward making our parts procurement as efficient as possible. A good counter man knows when someone goofs up on an order long before the people at the body shop are aware of it. Often these personnel are unwilling to use their knowledge, or are under the impression that it is not appropriate for them to question a parts order. A quick e-mail or telephone call can go a long way toward making this whole operation more efficient.

 

6. Delivery of parts and materials by appointment. Express Autobody personnel are busy people. Unscheduled interruptions dramatically affect their ability to perform the tasks required of them. By scheduling deliveries our people will have the time to perform all of the diligence necessary for a parts or materials check in. It should be noted that companies not agreeing to this criteria will not have their deliveries checked in on a first come- first serve basis. Deliveries with appointments will be given priority.

 

7. The ability to inform us about the availability of needed parts or materials. A good parts man should know what’s in stock and what needs to get ordered. If not, they should be able to contact their suppliers or warehouse and find out what is available. At Express Autobody we write comprehensive damage reports on every vehicle we repair. When this report is complete we electronically send a list of the necessary parts to our vendor and ask for the availability status of these parts. We require a prompt response to this query so that we can schedule the repair accurately. Any parts that cannot be delivered overnight will be pre-ordered so as to eliminate any unnecessary down time for the vehicle being repaired. It is imperative that parts and materials be delivered when they are promised. Unlike many of our competitors, AWOP (automobile waiting on parts) is a dirty word at Express Autobody.

 

8. Invoicing that copies the parts order. This may be one of the most difficult criteria for new car dealerships to provide. In order to expedite parts and materials check in we ask that the invoices be billed in the same order as the electronic order submitted. If the first line item on the order is a bumper, the first line item on the invoice should also be that bumper, if the second line item on the order is a bumper bracket, the second line item on the invoice should also be that same bumper bracket, and so on and so forth.

 

9. Invoicing language that copies the parts order. Oftentimes the same item has numerous different names to describe it. For example, a bumper bracket could also be called a stay, or a support, or an isolator, or an attachment. If our parts order calls for a bumper bracket, the invoice for that item should also be described as a bumper bracket.

 

10. Prompt handling of returns and credits. It is our goal to have as few parts returns as possible, however there will be times when we order parts that we end up not using or the wrong parts are delivered and the mistake is not caught when they’re checked in. When this happens these parts need to be returned immediately and the credit for these items needs to be applied to our account at that time.