increasing productivity and reducing space during transition

automated vertical lift module for automotive dealershipsA major automotive dealership needed to expand and move their facility into a new building. However, there wasn’t much room in the plans for the parts department, which was only allotted a 400 square footprint on the first floor of the new building. Most of their previous 2,300 square foot parts department was kept upstairs, requiring employees to constantly travel between the first and second floors every time they needed to access or store a part. With the installation of VLMs, or vertical lift modules, this dealership was able to increase productivity and reduce space in their automotive parts department.

the solution for increasing productivity & reducing space

The automotive dealership’s service department is dependent on the efficiency of the parts department for overall customer satisfaction and profits. To keep parts accessible, the dealership installed a dual access vertical lift module (VLM) in the parts department. The shuttle facilitates parts sharing with two access openings. The access opening on the first floor is located in the parts department directly behind the retail service counter, and the opening on the second floor is located near the elevator for convenient receiving and storage operations. Using this method, the dealership parts department was able to transition into their new facility while maintaining current labor requirements and increasing productivity by 70%. In addition, the new parts department only requires 384 square feet on the first floor, which amounts to 84% less space than the previous parts department.

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vertical lift modules increase productivity efficiency and customer satisfaction

increasing service & customer satisfaction with VLMs

With the vertical lift modules, the dealership is able to automatically and seamlessly process and retrieve parts for parts requests. If a part is located on the second floor in mezzanine bin storage, the bin and parts number is sent to the second floor shipping and receiving clerk for retrieval. The part is located and delivered to the first floor by using an open tray on the VLM. This system means that employees no longer have to move these parts between floors manually. This way, repeat customers such as service technicians are given the parts they need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In the old system, retail customers would have to wait for the counter person to search for a part located somewhere in rows of shelves. With the VLM, the parts are delivered automatically, so it only takes about 10 seconds for the operator to retrieve a part for a customer. Parts delivery and processing is almost three times faster. Without the VLM, searching for, retrieving, billing, and delivering a part took five to ten minutes on average. However, with the VLM implemented, this process now only takes one to two minutes.

automated vertical lift shuttles increase productivity and efficiency in automotive dealerships

contact us about increasing productivity & reducing floor space with VLMs

Thinking about implementing a vertical lift module or vertical shuttle system in your automotive dealership? Southwest Solutions Group® provides design and installation services to automotive dealerships looking to increase productivity and reduce floor space with vertical lift modules. SSG will even provide a free consultation to determine your dealership’s exact needs before the design process begins. To learn more or to speak with an automotive storage specialist, call us at 1-800-803-1083 or send us a message today.

Automotive Testimonials

crain buick gmc

“I just want to take a minute to let you know how good of a job your install crew did yesterday. They were quick, fast, courteous, and very consensus during the installation. They were awesome, to say the least. Being in the service business ourselves, we know that you can never hear the words “Good Job” often enough. Please pass this along to your crew.”

Crain Buick GMC
filing system and equipment relocation

“Thanks for getting our Compact Pallet Rack system completed on time with little disruptions to our operation. Jim did a great job of listening to understand our needs and was able to design a system that works well for us. Kerry and the installation group were great. They were well organized and left the area very clean every day and at the end of the project.”

Toyota
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“We are coming up on a year since we installed the file system here at Bill Heard Chevrolet, and we continue to be more than happy with the outcome. The barcode tracking software system tracks the documents for us and is easy to maintain and use. There is something to be said about keeping things simple. We really like the way it interfaces with our software and populates fields for us automatically on a daily basis. Your guidance in the project was the best deal of all though. Your help in the setup and advice on what would work and what might not work saved us a lot of time and money. Again, thanks so much for your help and count on us as another satisfied customer.”

Bill Heard Chevrolet

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