In order to have a successful inventory management system, you need to understand how your inventory is suited to the needs of your customers. You also need to understand the quantity of the parts that are kept in the shop, and how to minimize inventory that is not being sold.
Having a process in place to ensure that the inventory parts coming in from the parts vendors match with the count on the invoice will be crucial for reconciling your purchase orders properly. This is done by making sure that each part is stored in its own designated area, such as a shelf or cabinet, and is properly labeled. This will help your team be organized and make it easier for techs to look for needed parts. Once you organize your inventory, you should implement a process to require purchase orders for all parts added to inventory and repair orders within Tekmetric. This will allow you to have a record of purchase within your shop management system, and to allow for easier reconciling by using our parts reports. In addition, we recommend you perform a standard inventory count every month or even weekly to be certain that everything is in order and accurate.
A simple example of what would happen if you didn’t have a system or process in place for inventory would be when a vehicle is in for an oil change and the customer is waiting. The advisor or technician looks up the part and shows that there is one in stock. However, he proceeds to look on the shelf and there is no part. As a result, the vehicle is now delayed getting serviced and the customer will have to wait longer than expected for the service to be completed. When inventories are accurate, workflow will be more efficient, customers and service advisors will be happy, and technicians will be able to provide the most effective service.
Tekmetric allows you to manage all your OEM parts and inventory. You can do mass editing, track quantities, BIN numbers, and more. This article will show ways to manage your inventory in Tekmetric.
Inventory Cost Reporting
Tekmetric reports the cost of your inventory directly within the Inventory experience.
Inventory cost is consolidated into a single summary card that shows Total Inventory Cost.
Clicking View Breakdown & History opens a detailed modal view, giving you a breakdown per item type. You can also view what your inventory was worth on a specific past date.
Using the date selector, Tekmetric will calculate the total inventory cost exactly as it existed on that day. This is especially useful for:
Restocking Suggestions
Restocking Suggestions help remove the guesswork from deciding what to reorder. Instead of manually reviewing reports or scanning your inventory list, Tekmetric surfaces items based on your on-hand quantities and minimum stocking levels.
At the top of the Inventory page, you’ll see an Items Ready to Restock card. This card consolidates key restocking information into a single view, including:
Clicking View in the table automatically filters the inventory list to show only parts that need attention. This allows you to quickly review what’s below min.
From there, you can move directly into Parts Hub to place restock orders.
Filter Inventory
You can now filter your inventory based on part type or status.
- Part Type - you can filter your inventory between parts, tires, and batteries.
- Part Status - you can filter your inventory list to focus on the following part statuses.
- Below Min Stock - filter your inventory list and focus only on parts that are below the set minimum quantity number.
- Above Max Stock - filter your inventory list and focus only on parts that are above the set maximum quantity number.
- Out-of-stock - filter your inventory list and focus only on parts that are out of stock and need to be ordered.
- Primary Vendor - you can filter your inventory list to focus on specific vendors you order parts from.
Primary Vendor
Tekmetric allows you to track who your primary vendor is for inventory items. This will help you and your team manage where to purchase any parts that are below minimum stock.
Bulk Deleting
Instead of deleting each part line individually, you can bulk delete inventory parts. To bulk delete, you would check the box to the very right of each part you'd like to delete, then click Delete Items.
Search Inventory
In order to quickly find inventory parts inside Tekmetric, you can use the search bar to query these parts by the following:
- Part Number
- Part Brand
- Part Name
- Alternate Part Number
- Bin Number
- Additional Details
Note: Tires can also be searched for by tire size and model.
Quick Edit Sidebar
Instead of clicking into each part's profile, then editing, you can now edit straight from the inventory list using the Quick Edit Sidebar.
To edit a part's information (such as quantity, BIN location, unit cost, etc.), click the part row. The sidebar will pop-up so you can edit the part information.
Note: You can update your part unit cost to show the average unit cost over the last 12 months. You can do this by clicking Update under the unit cost within the edit sidebar.
Part Usage
Understanding how often a part gets used helps you stock with confidence. When you open any part in your inventory, the Usage tab shows you real activity data pulled from completed repair orders — no manual tracking required.
How to Access
- From the left navigation, go to Inventory.
- Click any part to open its detail page.
- Select the Usage tab on the right panel.
What You'll See
- Last used - The most recent date this part was used on a completed RO. Click View ROs to see the jobs.
- Units used in the last 30 days - How many units were consumed in the past month.
- Units used per month on average - Your rolling average monthly usage across 12 months.
- Jobs per month on average - How many repair orders this part typically appears on each month.
Putting It to Work
- Set smarter min/max levels: If a part averages 10 units per month but your minimum is set to 5, you're likely running short regularly. Use this data to right-size your stocking levels.
- Spot dead stock: A part with no recent last-used date and low averages is a candidate for reducing or clearing
- Catch fast movers before they run out: If units used in the last 30 days is notably higher than your monthly average, demand may be spiking — restock before you hit zero.
Note: Usage data reflects posted repair orders only. Open ROs and estimates are not included.
Downloading Inventory
Some shops prefer to filter and download their inventory into Excel. You can download your inventory by:
- Filtering for what you wish to be included in your inventory download.
- Clicking the download icon.
Returning a Part from Inventory
Sometimes shops need to return inventory parts, you can do this by:
- Clicking into the inventory item you wish to return within inventory.
- Scroll down to the order history, and find the specific order in which you want to return the inventory part and click the three dots, then click Return Part.
- You will then enter the quantity that you wish to return and any notes pertaining to the return.
- You will then complete the parts return process from the Return Orders tab of the Order History of the inventory item as shown in our Parts Returns video.
