Product Feedback - finally back up

Product Feedback is finally back up --- well --the old clunky one anyways .... you click on the word feedback -- I missed it the first time I looked at it ...see image - have it circled

The new better product resolution system is OFF LINE for now --we will wait a month and ask for a time.

More details at next staff meeting ---which is again at Auto Barn next monday

what do you think of this ????

Mike Washington's stores use PO # for almost every sale .... and if a PO number is not required --they put customer info - like 'Harry picked up' .... so when the customer calls - we know who we sold it to.

For trade accounts you can put the vehicle or misc info in like who called it in ...

What do you think --worthwhile trying in your store ????

Aurora & Park Ave battery - group 101

Ken tells me that the error in e-cat for REAR SEAT GM cars ( Park Ave & Aurora ) is solved -- it is NOT the group 78 as shown --it is group 101... now we wait for CARQUEST to get the part into the system .... stay tuned

Swine Flu ?

Wash hands - cover mouth when coughing or sneezing and ...oh yeh -- do not date Miss piggy

Petes Paint suggests these sku's to consider stocking .... GOJ 9652-12 CAN00 Purell hand sanitizer and and MMM 07048 mask -- it has the rating that is required ( or you may also have cheaper masks when a rating is not required )

new Battery price labels

We have changed the way we do price labels for batteries on display - instead of doing a custom label for each sku - we are doing a mail merge to a label layout - in this case the 2" x 4".

Your store's stock level is shown in small print ( ignore labels with zero for your store ).

On deep cycle we have listed the amp hour rating instead of the CCA & CA ratings. If the word ROAD is on the warranty field -- this unit has free road side assistance ... sorry - the grey labels can;t be done - you will need to pick it up from the warranty field. ALL 24 month no charge replacement units are FREE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

Should you notice the labels are out of date --tell Greg H asap --new labels can be run.

Pig Donations

Here's a list of infractions that will cost you money for the pig. More may be added at later date.


Failure to run off POS $5.00

Failure to change your EOD status after a holiday $20.00

Failure to start EOD $20.00 (applies to D&T only)

Failure to complete the above actions causes me more work and puts me behind for that day. If you have an issue with these amounts come complain to me.

Complaints cost $2.00

what is new in VEHICLE Technology

The recent CTI class focused on new vehicle technology

Ford 6.4 Diesel trying to be cleaner -- capturing the 'soot' in a particulate filter by the cat ... then BURNS the soot with extra fuel - getting to 1100 degrees F ( 550 C ) ... search youtube for '2008 ford diesel flame' to see a couple of video's showing a flame over a foot l;ong coming out the tail pipe -- whoops -- lets write some new code to limit that ...:-) So one more thing to look up on exhaust (Active Diesel Particulate Filter = DPF )

Overview on Mercedes BlueTec Diesel that has a special 'liquid' that is injected into the exhaust - by adding Ammonia to exhaust you covert NO2 to Nitrogen and Water - only problem- if you let the liquid container run out - the computer shuts toe motor off and will not start.

Variable Displacement Engines ( Like Greg's Honda ) - look for many more of these. The new GM 5300 is a good example in new Camaro and Impala. Very sensitive to oil grades - some will trip a computer code when the WRONG oil weight is used ... These engines use noise canceling technology to cover the rougher operation on partial cylinders. Honda uses a complex AIR CUSHION motor mount as well.

Some discussion on CVT ( Constantly Variable Transmissions ) with a ever growing list of vehicles now using this. Now -- when do we get the tranny fluid to sell --keep putting in the product feedback requests.

Product Feedback - closed for a day ( or two ? )

Hold your feedback items -- there is a technical glitch - that will be corrected soon -- you will not be able to log into the Product Resolution System for a day or two = is being worked on by the IT dept ( so lets see how quickly they can get this handled )

Ryan first noticed this. If you can;t wait - there are other ways ( or call Greg Henderson as his log-in still seems to be working ( or might have been the first to be turned back on )

Keystone prices -- Spring Flyer

Well - guess what -the flyer (Seasonal Savings - runs April 21 thru May 30 ) that you got last week-- it s US pricing .... they are re-printing more flyers -- Cdn flyers will have FRENCH on them

You can use -- but you need to get USA currency exchange

Cylinder Head Center

Did you know they have a website now.

www.chcentre.com

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Tuesday, April 28th. Please have timesheets and vacation/sick days reported before then.

Thanks.

ONLINE MEDICAL CLAIMS

Just to let everyone know, the online claim form from MANULIFE is not as difficult as previously reported. I submitted one online after last weeks staff meeting. I received the money direct deposit into my account in less than 1 week.

https://wwwec7.manulife.com/GBPlanMemberUI/Login.aspx?language=English

If anyone needs help setting this up, let me know.

Dorman AC line repair kit

Has anyone told you that CARQUEST has added DOR 800-600 Air Conditioning line repair kit?

Well - apart from me ...:-)

Here are some details ...The Dorman OE Solutions A/C Line Repair Kit saves the time and expense associated with complete A/C Line Assembly replacement by giving you the ability to repair only the damaged section of the A/C line. This 64-piece repair kit allows A/C line repairs to be performed “on-the-vehicle,” as an alternative to removing the entire line. It provides a solution to replacing costly OE lines, that are often difficult to install and time consuming.

Benefits of the A/C Line Repair Kit:
Offers solutions for a wide variety of repairs, reducing the need to order A/C lines as the sole form of repair.
49 fittings and all corresponding O-rings (where needed), all completely replenishable.
The compact “close quarters” tool has been specifically designed to make it easy to perform repairs on-the-car.
Ratcheting Tubing Cutter design allows A/C line to be cut while still on the vehicle, eliminating the need to remove entire line during repair. 

Repairs: Leaks, Cracks, Twisted lines, Crushed lines 

Contents: Flexible rubber tubes, GM condenser repair lines (upper and lower), Rigid tubes, Unions, Female external O-Ring repair ends, Male internal O-Ring repair ends, Male external O-Ring repair ends, Sealant, High and low side service port unions, Clamp yokes, 900 elbow unions, Compressing clamp




The USA Jobbers have a deal with a iPod -- we as Cdn's wait quietly to hear what we get .....

Red Tek

I updated Red Tek pricing. I lowered a few to reflect the changing of the product since CTC now carries it and tends to low ball it in summer. We should have a fair and consistent price. Also remember when a customer tells you CTC is selling their install kit $39.95 it does not include the pro seal that our kit has

MTM 47099

Greg Guyitt had this as an extra "what is NEW" at the staff meeting yesterday - but you know what --Greg did NOT post on BLOG ... hmmm ...  he told us about MTM 487099 --- see image - in a pac of 5 --the dealer ( part # OE#: F5RZ 9F955-AB )  sells EACH for the price of our pac of 5 ( or MORE!!) --fits a ton of fords ....   google the ford # and see other message boards talking about this part - google is a great tool.

Does your store stock ?

Fits on end of the intake manifold runner control rod

Head Gasket Repair

Barry at last nights staff meeting had a RISLONE Head Gasket repair chemical he was positive on ... so I went digging to see ....

- Rislone is now part of Bars Leak

- guess what --the part # BAR 1111 is in stock in Cleveland .... but guess what it is NOT in our system in Toronto ( yet ! )

Keep the new parts coming and when we don't have the part soon enough -- post it on the feedback form

Keystone prices --to believe to not ?

We are in a Catch 22 situation for Line KST ( Keystone )

We hear of parts that price in the J-Con but are vastly different from Keystone.

 One person from Toronto wrote this back to me when I asked the QUESTION --HOW often is Keystone prices updated in the Warehouse system .... and therefore in our system ...

"Greg, J-Con is up-dated every 4 weeks and keystone price up-dates run

usually 6 weeks behind and therefore the only accurate price available is
from the Keystone web site which all the stores have access to or to the
800-line.

For more pricing information please contact Glenn."

He is talking about the Parts Source CD that we get every 4 weeks ...he is not answering my question on how often is Keystone UPDATED in the warehouse computer ...

When I wrote back asking why the last price change date was Feb 5 2009 (see image) I get another person replying ....  "My suggestion would be check the keystone web site as they change their

pricing frequently and are reluctant to send us an updated price file as it
will be obsolete be the time we get it.
The web price is the most current and accurate ."

BUT --the problem is --HOW OFTEN is the master file ( MIF) at the warehouse updated ....  kind of my original question ... because if the master file is not updated often enough it will cause us to :

a)  NOT BELIEVE what our computer system tells us -

b) shake our heads in disbelief

How can we stock something if we have doubts on the accuracy of pricing ....

We will need to VERIFY the pricing of everything we sell in the line KST??

I have asked Jason McDonald at Keystone if some standardization of pricing can be set with Toronto.  The KST file is HUGE ...  we need to know that it is being reviewed and updated every so often....

OK --given the above might happen --we  still need to be aware of USA Currency swings .. and that is in addition to all factors mentioned above.  Especially for special order parts.

THINK --when we are dealing with KST ...   but lets at least get the stocked parts updated often enough we have some trust in the accuracy on pricing.  If in doubt --double check--and let  me know what you find.  (Greg)

-

Hot Wheelz training cancelled

the Meguiars and Keystone training set for Wed April 15th is CANCELLED -- we may get a date in May - stay tuned

Staff Meeting

Please remember that the staff meeting on Monday will be at Auto Barn.

have you read a good book lately ?

Just wondering - how many have read a good book lately. I find myself having to force me to look for one - in this busy life it is easy to make excuses ( like I don't like to read - someone actually told me that one - an ex manager from years ago ) - but we have to keep a door open in head to continue to learn.

Carter Smith ( one of the classogram guys ) shared this book suggestion with me ... so I am a FAN of going to Amazon.com ( not the Cdn site - why the cdn site is weaker is beyond me ) and skimming some of the reader feedbacks - a great many feedbacks are works of art themselves - quite a few are so well written and concise that I feel I have the best part of the summary for the book )

Try his book for a minute -- click this link and skim some feedback
--then ask yourself - what have I read lately that is GOOD and helpful to make us as a company better.

Got another good book to share - leave a comment.

Greenhouse Scissor Cart batteries - now available

Cute story -it shows you that CARQUEST has more than one door to try -- if you want to get a part added so we can sell them ...

Ken at D&T had customers asking for a particular battery - at first they asked for "Chorlide' batteries --this turns out to be a brand name of Exide - once we had the spec sheet --East Penn identified as a 8KFS Scrubber-Sweeper battery. A phone call to Toronto purchasing goes unanswered ..then a follow up e-mail -- but Greg Guytt from Auto Barn walks by and hears the story -- he goes back to his store and submits a FEEDBACK FORM on the NEW Beta test form his store is using --and within one hour Mike Deal from Raleigh calls them and it is handled .... it took weeks for one order as a special order --now with the warehouse stocking we can get overnight

*** click here for pdf flyer ***

ps --what is the application --a scissor cart used in Greenhouses to pick fruit .... another market we can serve by "proudly serving a world in motion'

Battery Sale - on NOW

Battery sale - on now until end of May

Typical U1 and Marine items -- many have $5.00 or $7.50 in rebate that customer can mail in for

Signs printed 3-31-09 ( don;t get me started about being late - that is a whole subject onto itself )

Additional signs posted on CARQUEST Jobber message board (including rebate coupons) --the rebate coupons we are still waiting to see from Toronto - they are coming - but in the mean time - print what you need for the next few days

Pig $$$

I still need pig money from the following staff. Please have it for the April meeting at Auto Barn. If there's any issues please let me know. After April it will be $12 instead of $10.

Ryan
Amanda
Brian
Debbie
Jake
Greg G
Jason
Steve M


Thanks.

POS

I have placed POS schedules in your mail slots at D&T for March and April for month end. Make sure that these get followed. If you have any questions let me know.

Thanks.

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Monday, March 30th. Please make sure all timesheets and vacation/sick days are sent in before Monday.

Engines

The Plaxo address book has been updated with engine supplier details. Wr are still working on finishing ATK details

Advance (Factory Engine) and Repower Auto ( old Ont ReMan Engine) updated---search for ENGINE in plaxo and read the notes

Watch for more details on ATK --- ask your store manager for more details

RPR --missing cores

look at your sales on RPR --the core prices where set to zero as a mistake by Toronto --we are requesting an update tonight -- check sales and make sure you GOT any units sold BACK ...or we are burning for $50

Price Stickers

The price sticker (or lack of) problem should be fixed by the end of this week. All stores will have to check or recheck the date on your stickers in the showrooms.

ECC rush freight shipments

There has been some confusion on the OVERNIGHT airfreight UPS shipments from USA to Toronto for ECC parts -- if you find that you are refused this service -- please tell Greg H ...

I am assured by Peter McNally that they will indeed continue to provide this service until the Cdn warehouse is added.

Please make sure your co-workers remember this as well

Time Change

Don't forget to spring forward this weekend.

Staff Meeting

The staff meeting is this coming Monday, please get me a head count for who will be attending by Friday this week. Ryan please have someone from D&T take care of beverages, I will handle food.

Thanks.

Right to Repair

The Parliment will be debating the pending Right to Repair legislation on March 5th, 2009. This is very important to our industry. Please go to www.righttorepair.ca and on the left hand side click "Take Action" and "Contact your MP". Follow the instructions listed and get everyone you know to fill it out too. We need all the support we can get .

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Wednesday, Feb 25th. Make sure timesheets and vacation/sick days are handed in before then.

are we seeing the DEATH of PAPER CATALOGUE'S ?

The DEATH of PAPER CATALOGUE'S ?? Well - it seems one by one -the suppliers are stopping the general release of paper cat's. And of the many that still release them --some how the cat dept in Toronto CARQUEST never seems to have them. Do not get me wrong -I do not blame Kim ( the sole worker in this unloved dept ) - she gets no co-operations from many others at CQ.

With the new change in doing non-application lines on a more regular basis (managers - see message board for this ) we are looking up the lines - and making sure we have the lines - linked - to our Plaxo multi-user address book.

I have just added the following so we have access to the web sites for -- TRI - TRA - STL - BLB - AGD and maybe a few others - we had missed quite a few --and these are ONLY the lines being updated in Jan.

PLEASE make sure your staff are knowledgeable in looking up web based catalogues -- the death of paper catalogues might not exactly in 2009 -- but it is coming ... soon ....

Tool and Equipment Flyer - part # corrections

You can download from the link -- I have and printed one copy for each store ( copy as required ) the MANY part numbers that are corrected --so If you type in a part # and it doesn't work --see the corrected list.

Over achievers might also take a MASTER copy of the flyer - and mark as your copy (hands off) and manually update the corrections

Tool & Equipment Flyer

OK --skill testing question that we will ASK at the staff meeting on Monday ... what percentage of parts are NEW to the flyer ( that is existing parts but not on last flyer PLUS new lines to CARQUEST )

The facts might surprise you ....

New line - part of WDG -- Uniweld

New 'partial' supplier for WDG --sharing space ( for a temp time ?? since it is for Canada only so far ) with the poor line of welding parts from Dorman -- is Uniweld

Have added data into Plaxo for contact info. Have cat's on the way - wondering how many sku;s they added to the MIF data base ( you know our stance on this --we EXPECT all sku;s to be added to make it easier for special ordering & quoting prices )

Watch for more details. Andrew Rennert is our rep - he will be stopping by in the near future - give him the time and attention this lines deserves. Lets grow our welding business.

new line - MTP

new line of instruments coming soon -- -MTP --click here for their web site--- . This is rep'd by the steinel heat gun person

Note - to J-Con users --we had to manually add the MTP line - it was missing in our system. Once in we will check to see if we have the billing schedule (smile)

These numbers are on page 32 of the new tool & equipment flyer ...
MTP 190-CBI
MTP 414-042
MTP Autokit
MTP CO-180
MTP MT-702
MTP RT-01
MTP TES1326

Poor Pricing AFTER the Sale

I was chatting with Auto Barn staff yesterday on quick visit. It came up on items that AFTER the sale is over -the regular price is WAY TOO HIGH ...

Background: The product manager will set the price fields and the billing schedule manager then takes these and adds or subtracts to make the final price. So with TWO people partially involved in the price setting it can be dis-functional at times. Lucky of us that BOTH people report to Peter McNally and we can get a common sense review ...IF ... we report it.

STEPS:
1) yeh - you know I was going to say this --- make a FEEDBACK report ...this will go thru Raleigh and usual gets to the right person -- but as I mentioned above it steps on TWO area's you can get lost --( hint --so do LOTS )
2) tell me (Greg H) & your store manager
3) make a list - date it and repeat step #2 in 30 days or the next time it happens after a sale ...

At the next staff meeting I will ask you for an example of a poor pricing AFTER the sale -- start watching and thinking ---thank you

Jeep 3.0l diesel oil

The Jeep Grand Cherokee diesels take a 84062 CFI filter which all stores stock. The oil is special, Chrysler spec MS11106 or Mercedes Benz 299.51. Valvoline 505682 covers it as it the same as VW 505.01 spec. They take 9.5 litres so make sure you have stock levels to cover.

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Tuesday, January 27th. Make sure all time sheets and vacation/sick days are reported before then. I will also need all TD1 forms returned by then as well.

Thanks.

Ecc 53-39610

Look up 2004 caravan blower resistor and pay attention to the links. It is not catalogued properly for manual models but we have put in a patch

REDLINE universal connector

The Redline smoke machine has proven to be very popular ( RED - 95001 ) but a problem has been finding the schrader port ( with the green cap ) that is often time hidden ... How do you find an access point to test the EVAP ( fuel return line ) system ... see attached pdf.

---- click here ------

The sealing gasket # is RED 96-0017 ( not 0017-12 ) and the connecter is RED 95-0011 ...they are in the Toronto warehouse - waiting in total SECRET ... since the process to announce such details is so cumbersome - that no one tries any more --yep - this is an issue on my radar for 2009 --stop the banning of product managers from posting on CQ-link ...

D&T has one of each on order ( can you share with Petes & A Barn for salesmen samples ... )

ps - yeh - a bit pricey - -but when the tech wastes an hour on a problem that he can solve fast --the price gets to be less of an issue...

How many errors can you spot in ONE picture - WALKER

Click on the image to make larger

1) Note --the catalog pages are now scanned -they appear a bit SMALL on my screen but readable - try it --- see the BLUE part # for the cat diagram -that BLUE means it is hyper-linked to the image


2) we are FLUSHING all existing descriptions for WALKER .... we need to find HOW MANY mufflers we had linked that need to be re-added ...we don't want to LINK something that is NOT required --as it DUPLICATES the listing and makes it more complex for our customer ... but if we are missing the proper 18 series muffler -- we need to a) tell one of the Greg's and it will be linked using the @ int he description ...and b) write up a FEEDBACK form to get the missing data into the e-cat. The links to ROL will also go

3) notice the e-cat shows the 35 series clamp --we have asked if we can get the 32 series clamp to show instead. If that is too much of a problem --we can LINK the 35 series to use the 32 series using the @ in description ...

4) I have a NEW cross reference for the lifetime ( series 22 ) muffler to the 18 series muffler-- your manager can get a copy from the new message board by searching 'walker muffler x-ref'

Brake Cleaner - as a FLAME THROWER ??

This link - click here - talks of Princess Auto having to recall Brake Cleaner as the flame from the can exceeds federal limits ... gee -- brake cleaner as a flame thrower ...

Canada Post

There will be a rate change on Monday, January 12th. The rate to mail a standard under 30g letter will be going from $0.52 to $0.54.

Staff Meeting

I will be collecting pig money on Monday night. It's $10 for the year or a $1 a month. I will not be at the February meeting so please try and remember to bring it for Monday.

Thanks.

VIN information

I overheard a couple of times in the last month"check for a sticker under the hood" when a customer did not know engine size of their vehicle. This worked in 1975 but is totally useless in modern vehicles. It is embarrassing seeing a customer in the parking lot looking for a "sticker" that we told him he would find under the hood. The proper way is get the 10th character of the VIN on the door or on the dash. The info is available in our e cat ,Weblink,indentifix and if you must use paper it available from most spark plug cat's. Call me and I will show you if you cannot find on your own. Let's look more professional in 2009.

How do we know what CQ has ?

while we wait ( and wait ) for the non-application e-cat which we are hoping will solve some problems of knowing what CARQUEST has in many lines -- we struggle to know

Case in point - IDR Sheet Metal - a line everyone hates due to the nature of the product - hard to ship - rusts too easily - etc etc

We wondered what was in sub line 1 -the satin coat product. IDR SC4896-22 sells fairly well (note - I added for D&T ) in 2 stores --so we added EVERY PART by changing the stocking depth to 8 in the 3-9 update sub line page --then forcing all parts in NOW using the 8-15 3 'asterisk' 21 that is a secret only for BTM ( computer guys ) ...but who has a day to wait for the overnight update ?? want to get the darn thing solved and get on with life ....

Now - we have both IDR SC4896-22 and SC3672-24 set to stock in Petes & AB ... gee ..there has to be a better way ... howmany more parts are the warehouse HIDING that we could sell..... Joanne ? is there any help ??

Friday, January 2nd

Make sure your end of day status gets changed on Friday or no EOD will run. If you need instructions let me know.

POS

Make sure POS gets run off tonight!!!!

what is the difference in GEL or AGM battery ??

do you the difference in a GEL or AGM battery ?

Click on the links below to download a pdf in training ... thanks to Moe in Sudbury for sharing.

*** click here for AGM-GEL training pdf flyer ***


*** click here for all battery spec sheet as pdf flyer *** . Note - the parts in YELLOW are new units. Some units appear to not be in our system - Greg H has written Peter McNally 12-23-08 for clarification.

special markets for Stabius Lift Struts

Stabilus - the OEM maker that supplies our LFT line of hatch lift struts ( and hood and other applications ) also makes two interesting special use markets

1) add a lift strut to your mondo tool box ... techs have to love this --the flyer doesn't seem to list the tool boxes we might need but it is a start and we have written them to see if we can improve the flyer to list the tool boxes that we at CARQUEST sell


*** click here for pdf flyer ***

2) add a lift strut to your tail gate on pick up trucks -- wow - this has to be a great upgrade for SERIOUS TRUCK owners (see image ). See Matt at D&T - he has done some price checking and tells us that we are in the ballpark on pricing for these. Note --only ONE strut is needed for this application

*** click here for pdf flyer ***

sometimes there is GOOD info on CARQUEST web site

sometimes we forget about the two web sites -- www.carquest.com and www.carquest.ca as a source of good info. The image shows the .com web site with links to promo flyers for batteries --it is a little complex to find - but give it a try -- the more time you spend on the web site - the more you will learn.

We have written several ( Peter McNally etc ) to see if we can get the flyers to be 'updated' for Canada to use - another example of someone forgot about the Cdn's ... :-(

Learn the new lines

The new line LFT - is by Stabilus Click some of the links shown and learn more about this line. The SMARTER you get -the more you can sell this quality OEM supplier line.

kind of a fun site to see what one guy did who loves his CAR and made something fit using Lift Struts - what can you make ??

Stabilus web page of uses - kind of dry

ZF Trading e-cat page -watch for more ZF items to come

2008 Stabilus Lift cat in PDF

missed the Nov Parts Source CD ??

I was doing work on a line and noticed in the F-9 screen the date was 10/03 .... I look at this F-9 screen a lot-- and I just notice the wrong date now --on Dec 16th ... gee ... I noticed we had the NOV parts source CD in the file as been done ... so I asked Matt to update (again? ) --that solved the problem ---the date now shows 11/something --see image

Point--if you where looking for data it might have appeared as CQ didn't have it -- try again now that we have more up to date data (and any day we should get the DEC CD )

TO BE SURE if CQ has the part -- since our system can be 30 days behind -due to lag in waiting for the next CD -- you have TWO OPTIONS -- 1) try any store with EXPLORIS --like the super store in windsor - you can use WEB-LINK or call them --or you can try to order the part on F-10 --there you are using the warehouse data base ( called MIF) which is also up to date --once you order it from the warehouse it will automatically add the part when it tries to post the part to our inventory.

We need you smarter --you make better decisions when you are smarter --and you help increase our profit sharing for all (including yourself)

Dec 27th

Please, please make a BIG NOTE to change the EOD status on Saturday, Dec 27th. If you need instructions on how to do it, let me know and I will fax you a copy. I do not want to come in Monday morning and find out that EOD did not run. If EOD doesn't run the offending store will be charged $20.00 for the pig.(I will know which store caused it)

what is the difference

as far as I can tell ( and I called them to verify - call 800-635-8423 - on pacific time zone ) there is no major difference in these two CHEAP ice melters -- some Potassium Chloride but mostly Rock Salt (Sodium Chloride)


** click here for FAQ's from supplier web site **

Fenco

Called Fenco to see if we could get a power steering pump rebuilt. The answer I got was if you want to send it to Mexico. The are no longer doing any rebuilding in Toronto and sounds like they are down to small unhappy staff.

new Temro catalogue ??

if you don't have the new ( 2008 ) Temro catalog --you can click on the link here and you will download the pdf version.

Why can't CARQUEST keep on top of current catalogues ????????

Where will you keep your pdf version ???

*** Click here for the 2008 pdf version ***

Catalytic Coverters Have Moved in e-cat

Catalytic converters are no longer listed under their own field in e-cat. They are now grouped with "Exhaust Sytem Parts".

NEW PLUG

Autolite now has a one piece plug to replace the OE two piece version for the Ford Triton engines. Part number FRA-HT15. I have set a level for Store 1.

Redline tech video's

click here for video training for redline smoke machine - time to update our knowledge ?

EWe first Blogged about Redline in summer of 2007 - do a search on the blog to see that article ( and to prove to you that the search works )

AC DELCO WD's

We now have THREE WD's to buy AC Delco parts from

All 3 are in Plaxo ( note to managers -I asked you to add the latest one -- hmm --I just did it ) and you can find by typing AC DELCO in the search

Of interest is the fact that the older two (Cochrane & Avenue ) had Petes Paint in WRONG and therefore sloppy HI prices - I also corrected this ( did I hear an 'ataboy' yet

Avenue is also charging us 10% extra on overnight special order parts - the others are at 5%

The lowest price option ( looking at just ONE PART - so could change - is Northwest )

Neil --you could have done better on that Distributor --now have it solved...

Pegisys scan tool training

Here is link to main web page


Here is link to eLearning site -it is easy to register & free

Champion has ONE PIECE ford plug

Champion has #7989 - a one piece plug that won't break like the OEM 2 piece - set levels for all stores

STL 65600

we are still waiting for stock on STL 65600 for Toronto warehouse - ( Montreal & St John has )

Neil mentioned it in Oct staff meeting - we found out that Canada did not but USA stocked ( yet again !! ) --now awaiting for it to get good ( better ) levels

It was mentioned at CTI on Thur night --this is a HUGE issue -- will someone get the TSB thru CARQUEST DirectHit and post?


**** important **** do you want 65600 or 65900 the more expense drill out set ??????? --

Party

Reminder for those of you attending the party on Saturday at Colasantis. Cocktails are at 6pm and dinner is to be served at 7pm. Each person attending will receive 2 drink tickets, these tickets can be used for whatever beverage you prefer. The reservation is under D&T Auto Parts. See you there!

Vacation Pay

I will not be doing separate vacation pay cheques for the staff meeting in December. The vacation pay that is owing to you will be paid out with the month end cheques in December. From now on any vacation pay release requests will only be paid out on month end cheques, I will no longer be doing separate cheques for them. There is too much work involved to do them separately. If you really need it for next month have your store manager talk to me about it.

Control Costs

I have a quote from GK Services ( towel man )

Old price NEW Price
6.05 4.31 4x6 control mat
7.70 4.52 3x10 control mat

I hope you are looking at your costs and comparing to the other stores --to see how you can cut costs and boost profit sharing

I do NOT know if these NEW prices are the best out there - but they are better than what ( in this case ) D&T is paying

Double Wildcard Searches

Do you know the middle part of a part #? How do you find the full part #? Try this - use a DOUBLE WILDCARD search. How many batteries do you stock in the group 31 series ...use *31*

Try it. Very handy for the Canadian jobbers who sell Keystone and forget some prefix or suffix's

This is also available in Exploris --but since that system has such a bloated data base - the searches take longer. They don't use the Parts Source CD to keep track of 'all available parts'

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Wednesday, November 26th. Please make sure that all time sheets and vacation/sick days are reported before then. I WILL NOT BE CALLING AND REMINDING YOU. IF I DON'T HAVE YOUR STUFF YOU DON'T GET PAID.

A Fond Farewell

One of ours is leaving from Pete's. Andrew has been accepted to a troop in the RCMP and is leaving for Regina, Sask late in December. We wish to give him a fond farewell. Please join us at Jose's for drinks or whatever on Friday December 12th to bid him best wishes at 6:00 pm. See you there.

Dorman consolidation for e-cat

watch for new data on Dorman -- they are CONSOLIDATING many smaller e-cat into a few much larger e-cat sections ...watch for any problems and reply back to Greg or post on the feedback link on CARQUEST-Link. NEW E-cat data will be updated tonight ( MOnday Nov 17th )

Broken Window

We learned today that our broken window is caused by cling on signs. They trap the summer heat and on double pane windows break the inside glass.

Canada Post FYI

Back to Story - Help

Picket lines go up as Canada Post administrative workers begin strike
1 hour, 8 minutes ago
By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Picket lines have appeared outside several Canada Post buildings across the country due to a walkout by non-delivery personnel.

The walkout involves about 2,100 administrative and technical workers represented by the Union of Postal Communications Employees.

A handful of strikers are allowing vehicles to enter the Canada Post headquarters in Ottawa at five minute intervals.

Picket lines are also up in Halifax, Antigonish and Sydney in Nova Scotia, in St. John's, N.L. and in Fredericton and Saint John, N.B.

The strike began after Canada Post made a final four-year-offer of a 2.5 per cent raise in the first two years and 2.75 in the final two years.

Canada Post says employees who collect and deliver mail are members of a separate union and not involved in this work stoppage. But there are reports that some members of other unions are refusing to cross picket lines.

Party

I need RSVPs by Wednesday this week regarding the party. If you have staff that do not read the blog make sure you let them know.

Thanks.

self reflection time ?

I get quite a few 'helpful' e-mails - but I kind of like this one - how is your life?

25 TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is
the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a clock if you
have to.
3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,
'My purpose is to __________ today.'
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants.
5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan
salmon, broccoli, and almonds.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of
the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest
your energy in the positive present moment.
8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper.
9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will
this matter?'
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. GOD heals everything.
20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.
22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished _________.
24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
25. Please Forward this to everyone you care about. I did.

Spray Nine bought by Permatex

Spray Nine line code ( SPN ) will disappear and the product will move to sub line #2 in PER - Permatex bought the company - watch for details

know more about all BATTERY types

I think we need to continue to know MORE about all battery types --so I was surprised and pleased to see the recent battery line move-up ( a move-up is where Carter Smith or Mike Deal in Raleigh review movement codes ) and guess --what -- a 12v-7 battery has made it to a 6. It wasn't that long ago there where NO universal industrial batteries in the MIF data base in Toronto. We asked to have them added as we wanted to look at how we could sell them ( and so fair D&T has done a fair job - a Petes less so --and Auto Barn needs to push harder )

Review the industrial side of batteries with Gary - our east-penn rep the next time he is in --lets look at how we can grow this business.

IT'S A GIRL!

Matt and Jenn are proud to introduce us to the new addition to their family.

Tessa Rene Meloche was born at 11:58 am

October 30th, 2008.

7 lbs .05 oz.

Both Mom and Baby are doing fine.

Time Change

Remember to turn your clocks back one hour on Saturday night.

Platinum Prices

At the recent staff meeting we discussed how Auto Barn has a CORE price part # for WALKER ( and other ) cat converters ... Look at the recent price chart for Platinum ... stay tuned ... the world is changing - then changing back ... :-)

Still a GREAT IDEA by Auto Barn for the Core part number

top 20 tool list out

For years we have been impressed with the USA Magazine MOTOR that you can get now on the internet. ) We would get it at times on paper )

The TOP 20 tool list is out -- click here to down load the pdf

Payroll

I will be doing payroll on Tuesday, October 28th. Please have all time sheets and sick/vacation days reported before then. Thanks.

Effect of US-Cdn dollar changes

Hello

PLEASE make sure that all stuff who may quote some part that is either in US dollars or from a warehouse that was giving us a FAIR DEAL on prices --that these staff know the recent change in the US-Cdn dollar --click on the image to see it larger

We expect LESS price increases from CARQUEST -simply because they were not giving us the fair exchange. Managers have the Feb 2008 list of all lines from CARQUEST and their percentage difference with USA CARQUEST. Lines from Fed Mog are the poster child for PIGS keeping the US exchange --- other lines like Valley or Grote or even Standard Ignition where fair --and these lines will see the impact of having to raise prices ( short term ) to cover the US dollar that has become a temporary strong currency. If managers need a new copy - just ask Greg H

Other warehouses like Auto Sense has issued a memo on the urgent price change they will need to cover the rapid change.

Watch the price of oil --when it goes up -our Cdn dollar will usually go up.

Top Picks for new delivery vehicles

Fleet Manager at Raleigh sent us his pick's for the best delivery vehicles

In no order -- Nissan Versa
Yahoo USA for Nissan Versa
the Yahoo Cdn site

-- or Chev Aveo ( is it available in an automatic ?? )
Yahoo USA for Aveo
The Yahoo Cdn site
-- or the Toyota Yaris
Yahoo USA for Yaris (overview page)
the Yahoo Cdn site

-- or the Hundai Accent
Yahoo USA for Hundai Accent 3 door (overview page) . Do you think a 3 door is better than a 4 door for our operations?

Note -- Gas Mileage is only one part of the TOTAL COST TO OPERATE

EASTPENN IN DEALFOR NEWBATTERYTECHNOLOGY

The East Penn Manufacturing Co.(Lyon Station, PA) has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Furukawa Battery Co.
of Japan to introduce new battery technology in North America. This technology, called UltraBattery, will be manufactured by
East Penn. It combines an enhanced power negative electrode in a lead-acid battery. East Penn claims that this enhances the ability of the battery to accept and deliver high levels of power with low levels of electrical resistance, similar to a supercapacitor. The company says that UltraBattery is ideal for hybrid electric vehicles.

new SERVICE LINES catalogue now available

Have a look at the new service lines cat -- at the next staff meeting ( note - on the 3rd Monday for Oct and being held at Petes) bring a couple of examples in hand or on the page that you have gotten your store manager to add.

Please use the feedback form on the CQ-link for any parts that are not in our Toronto DC system and we can see if we can get them added