Centralized Stock Management: the heart of automotive efficiency in the agency model

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Centralized Stock Management: the heart of automotive efficiency in the agency model

Adam Wardach

CEO

In a well-oiled machine, each component works in sync to deliver peak performance.

For the automotive industry, the agency model has transformed the way stock management and sales processes function. Stock Locator plays a pivotal role in this transformation, acting as the control system that ensures smooth operations between OEMs, dealers, and importers. As the agency model grows more commonplace, centralized stock management becomes more critical. This kind of solution makes inventory more visible, accessible, and optimized across multiple regions, ensuring that sales and distribution happen seamlessly in a more connected network.

This orchestration is crucial for maintaining efficiency and effectiveness when managing vehicle inventories, particularly when integrating the new sales and stock processes enabled by the agency model. At the same time, the automotive industry is far from uniform and the transition to agency-based operations hasn’t taken place everywhere. While many companies in the EU have embraced this approach, in other countries, the traditional franchise model is still far more common.

Given this, automotive companies around the world need a solution that supports both working models on both a global and regional level, and sometimes both in the same country. Fortunately, Stock Locator is just such an option.

The challenges of modern stock management

As automotive companies have increasingly worked across borders, balancing company-wide and local needs has become far more complex. With different regions presenting unique customer, cultural, and regulatory demands that often defy comprehensive solutions, modern businesses face a new set of challenges when managing stock.

Multinational coordination

When an automotive company spreads itself across different geographies, its stock must follow suit. And while in an ideal world, every regional branch would possess a complete set of vehicles for sale, the reality is rarely so simple. Customers from different countries will have different interests and that will alter their preferences, meaning that stock will sell at different rates and a business can quickly find itself unable to fulfill certain requests without effective management.

In response, some automotive companies implement region-specific solutions. But this approach risks making coordination difficult for a multinational organization while increasing the likelihood for stock management redundancy.

Stock location and management

Part of supporting customers on a multinational scale means having the right product in the right location at the right time. But the nature of international business is that this becomes far more difficult. If a company doesn’t have a centralized solution for tracking and managing its stock, local branches cannot reliably ensure that interested customers have access to the vehicle models they want.

So, if an automotive company has international aspirations, it’s absolutely essential to find a platform that will enable a higher level of tracking to ensure that the stock can be correctly distributed quickly as needed.

Ensuring high-quality customer experiences across different locations

At the end of the day, virtually every project boils down to the customer experience. A successful company makes sure that it delivers an ideal buying journey for shoppers everywhere. And while some degree of customization will be needed (in some countries, car buyers will prefer a purely online experience while others will want a more hands-on process), success is often determined by centralization.

When operating across borders, you’ll need to make sure that you can back up sales representatives and online portals with effective management that will see stock positioned correctly and the proper tools in place to ensure that customers proceed along the buying journey smoothly. This takes coordination and a solution that facilitates the kind of communication needed to operate in a multinational environment.

Making informed decisions

Of course, identifying challenges is critical, but it’s one thing to recognize the issues and another entirely to take action effectively. After all, if it was so easy, everyone would do it!

No, you’ll also need to have the correct tools in place to guide effective decision-making. Today, that means having the means to utilize data. And while it might not seem so complicated to collect and analyze essential information, you’ll need the right solution to ensure that these processes are centralized. Without such a platform, a company can have access to all the data in the world but be pulled in separate directions by the needs of distinct regions.

Not to mention that with an effective approach to data management, the trends coming from one country can benefit a sister location across the border by indicating when a car model will be available in greater numbers or when a stock transfer might be necessary.

Centralized Stock Management: the backbone of the agency model

This ability to centralize inventory across a national or regional scale helps reduce redundancy, avoid stock shortages, and optimize sales, even when the logistics network experiences disruptions. For example, if supply chain issues or production slowdowns affect vehicle availability, having access to a centralized stock can ensure that inventory is still available across multiple locations. Dealers can sell a car in one city while the vehicle is stored in another, with the system maintaining visibility and enabling effortless transfer logistics effortlessly.

transitional automotive stock management

Multi-level permission structures and the vehicle journey

A standout feature of Stock Locator is its ability to support multi-level permission structures that streamline the management of vehicle stock across regions and retailers. Stock Locator ensures that OEMs, importers, and dealerships have the appropriate levels of visibility and control over inventory, regardless of where the vehicle is physically located.

The journey of a vehicle in this system begins once it becomes part of the available inventory. Stock Locator tracks its visibility across various regions and dealerships, ensuring that cars can be accessed from multiple locations simultaneously through centralized stock management. Whether a vehicle is part of a central stock, an importer’s inventory, or at a dealership, Stock Locator ensures that each party has the access they need, without needing to physically transfer the vehicle until a sale is made.

The multi-level permission structure is highly customizable, allowing for different levels of access depending on the stakeholder’s role, —whether it’s a dealership that requiresing local stock visibility over local stock or an OEM overseeing inventory distribution across multiple regions.

This system not only allows for real-time stock availability tracking of stock availability across regions but also facilitates cross-dealer transfers, enabling seamless vehicle movement within dealer groups. This flexibility and centralized visibility allow managers within the organization to monitor and coordinate stock levels across the network, ensuring that vehicle availability is optimized and all stakeholders have real-time access to inventory across the entire sales and distribution process.

Streamlined vehicle transfers and approvals across dealer groups

When used by dealer groups, Stock Locator streamlines the process of managing vehicle transfers and approvals. For example, if a particular car isn’t selling well at one dealership, the system facilitates an easy transfer to another dealer within the group, much like redistributing resources in a high-efficiency engine. This capability ensures that inventory levels are optimized across the network, preventing one dealer from holding excess stock while another dealership runs short.

Additionally, Stock Locator supports the management of consignment stock, vehicles that are centrally stored but made available across multiple dealerships. This is especially relevant in the agency model, where the importer or OEM retains ownership of the stock until it is sold. Dealers can access the central stock without holding the vehicles physically, enhancing sales flexibility.

Global reach: managing vehicles across borders

For automotive organizations operating in multiple countries, Stock Locator offers centralized visibility, like howakin to a global positioning system (GPS) that tracks vehicle movements across large regions. This is particularly beneficial for regions that manage inventory across borders, such as a European division overseeing several countries. Stock Locator allows vehicles to be sold in one country while being physically stored in another, with the transaction handled seamlessly through the centralized system.

This cross-border functionality enhances the efficiency of vehicle inventory management and also improves customer satisfaction. This occurs by ensuring that orders can be filled more easily because a vehicle located in a central warehouse in one country can be sold and shipped to a customer in another country without the complications of managing separate inventories.

The Impact of logistics disruptions on car sales

Disruptions in the logistics network, such as supply chain bottlenecks or slowed production, can have a significant impact on vehicle availability. These disruptions can lead to stock shortages, leaving dealers unable to sell cars to customers even though the vehicle may be available at another location. Stock Locator’s central stock management mitigates this risk by providing visibility across all locations, enabling transfers, and ensuring that sales aren’t lost due to local stock issues.

For instance, if a client visits a showroom in one city but the desired vehicle is only available in a showroom in another city, Stock Locator ensures the dealer can access and transfer that car without delay. This centralized visibility prevents empty showrooms from losing sales and enhances the overall customer experience.

Data-driven decision making: precision control

Another significant benefit of permission management in Stock Locator is the enhanced ability to make data-driven decisions, much like precision control in automotive engineering. With all vehicle data centralized, managers and analysts can access comprehensive reports and dashboards, offering insights into inventory levels, sales trends, and other critical metrics. This data allows for better decision-making at all levels of the organization, from the OEM down to individual dealers.

For example, an organization’s headquarters can use these insights to identify high-performing dealers, optimize inventory distribution, and forecast demand with greater accuracy. The availability of normalized data across the entire network reduces the likelihood of errors and gives all stakeholders access to the same information, similar to how an onboard diagnostic system ensures that all components of a vehicle are functioning together effectively.

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