Dealers

Jethro · Oct 20, 2006

I am amazed at some of the posts I read here about dealers. Some never seen to stock Kubota parts. Many seem to be clueless as to things as simple as fluid recomendations and capacities.

Maybe I am luckier than I realized. I can't' say that the sales department impressed me much, but parts and service are great. I have a 1990 B1550 and have never had a problem getting a part. Sure they have to order some of them, but I don't expect them to keep hood moldings and return springs in stock for a 16 year old tractor. The service manager has taken the time to go over my tractor and advise me on repairs that I have then performed myself, at no charge. He even sent his shop manual home with me yesterday for be to borrow!

alchemysa · Oct 20, 2006

Jethro said:
I am amazed at some of the posts I read here about dealers. Some never seen to stock Kubota parts. Many seem to be clueless as to things as simple as fluid recomendations and capacities.

Maybe I am luckier than I realized. I can't' say that the sales department impressed me much, but parts and service are great. I have a 1990 B1550 and have never had a problem getting a part. Sure they have to order some of them, but I don't expect them to keep hood moldings and return springs in stock for a 16 year old tractor. The service manager has taken the time to go over my tractor and advise me on repairs that I have then performed myself, at no charge. He even sent his shop manual home with me yesterday for be to borrow!

Local Kubota dealer here (quite a big outfit) didnt even have 5 litre drums of hydraulic oil. "Gee we normally have plenty". (How can you not notice you're running out of something like that!). Well how about some new springs ($2)and shims ($1) for the hydraulic block? (You'd think that would be a stock part, common to a few models). 10 minutes later on the computer - "No we'll have to order them in". (I'm still waiting). But they did have 17 of the wire mesh filters that bolt into the side of the transmission. $20 each. (Must still be at the 1980 price - probably the last time they sold one). The only thing they did have that I wanted was a spin-on oil filter and it took 10 minutes on the computer to locate that and work out a price. ($18). I probably could have got one of those at the local autoparts shop anyway.

I think these guys now rely too much on their computers. They don't seem to use their eyes anymore to tell them when the shelves are looking a bit bare.

Thomas · Oct 21, 2006

Morning Jethro.
Sounds kinda like my Kubota dealer,and maybe that's one of the reason there doors been open for 25+ plus years.

ByronBob · Oct 21, 2006

Everyone is going to Just in time (JIT) ordering. Companies are not allowed to stock too much inventory anymore because it's looked at as a liability to the bottom line.

We have customers call all the time looking for product in short order. When I need auto parts I see the same thing. It's just understood unless it's a simple part that you need to wait 3 days until they can ship it in.

AndyM · Oct 21, 2006

ByronBob said:
Everyone is going to Just in time (JIT) ordering. Companies are not allowed to stock too much inventory anymore because it's looked at as a liability to the bottom line.

We have customers call all the time looking for product in short order. When I need auto parts I see the same thing. It's just understood unless it's a simple part that you need to wait 3 days until they can ship it in.

Stocking zero inventory is not "Just in Time", that's more like "Almost in Time".

For JIT to work correctly, they should stock only enough to support current requirements, with the replenishment stock arriving just as it's needed.

alchemysa · Oct 21, 2006

I understand the original rationale behind 'Just In Time' (JIT) management but I wonder if these days its hasn't become Just Another Exuse (JAE) to explain away all sorts of slack storeroom practices and what ultimately amounts to a lousy commitment to customer service. I don't expect my dealer to carry a hydostatic transmission in stock, but a few bucks worth of shims and springs! Bottom line is, in future, I'll probably order my parts online from someone else. I'll get them cheaper and almost as quick even if I have to order from the US.

David (Australia)

Jethro · Oct 22, 2006

My shock with some of the dealers mentioned here is not the lack of stock, it's the lack of knowledge and motivation to find the answer to some of these questions. How can a service guy say "I don't know", and leave it at that when you ask him for the oil capacity for a particular model? He doesn't have to know off of the top of his head, but he should find an answer for you.

alchemysa · Oct 22, 2006

Jethro said:
My shock with some of the dealers mentioned here is not the lack of stock, it's the lack of knowledge and motivation to find the answer to some of these questions. How can a service guy say "I don't know", and leave it at that when you ask him for the oil capacity for a particular model? He doesn't have to know off of the top of his head, but he should find an answer for you.

That's partly my point about 'Just in time' and similar practices. They all lead to a de-personalization of the customer/dealer relationship so, ultimately, the staff can get away with knowing stuff-all about the product. I went to my local dealer the other day to get a spin-on oil filter (a very common part you'd think). After 10 minutes of fumbling on the computer he returned with the wire mesh strainer that bolts into the side of the transmission. A 'switched on' parts guy would have known immediatly that that probably wasn't what I wanted. Years ago, as a very young teen, I worked in a suburban petrol station. In a storeroom not much bigger than a bathroom we kept enough parts to keep most common cars on the road - including dozens of gaskets, fuel and ignition parts, belts, hoses, etc etc. Everything was kept in long cardboard boxes. To find a part we had to look through the most likely boxes, but we invariably looked in the wrong boxes too. This constant viewing of all the bits and pieces meant we usually had a good idea of what we had and, if you were vaguely interested, you soon leaned 'what did what'. Nowdays it seems that many parts guys are totally reliant on their computers and don't have a clue what most of the parts actually 'DO'. In those days everything had a descriptive name. Nowadays parts are just numbers. Theres little embarrassment or guilt in saying "We don't have an 872946", as compared to having to say something like "We don't have that absolutely basic part".