Ask a workshop owner where their money goes and most will say rent, salaries and parts. Ask them how much stock is on the shelf right now, and many won’t know. That gap is expensive.
Spare-parts inventory management means knowing what parts you have, what each job uses and what to reorder, so you never run out of fast-moving items or tie up cash in slow ones. For a garage, the key is linking stock directly to job cards.
The four ways workshops lose money on parts
- Parts fitted but never billed. A technician grabs a filter, fits it and moves on. If it isn’t recorded, it isn’t invoiced.
- Emergency buying. Running out of brake pads mid-job means sending someone to a supplier at retail price while the car blocks a bay.
- Over-stocking. Boxes of parts for models you rarely see sit on shelves for years, tying up cash.
- Shrinkage. Without regular counts, small losses go unnoticed until the year-end figures don’t add up.
Link every part to a job card
This single habit fixes most problems. When a part is added to a digital job card, the system should deduct it from stock and add it to the invoice at the same time. No separate stock sheet, no double entry, no forgotten items.
Set minimum stock levels that make sense
A simple rule of thumb: for each fast-moving part, look at how many you use in a typical week and how many days your supplier takes to deliver. Your minimum level should cover usage during the delivery time, plus a small buffer. For example, if you use 20 oil filters a week and your supplier delivers in two days, a minimum of around 8 to 10 makes sense. When stock drops below that number, a low-stock alert tells you to reorder.
Group parts by how fast they move
- Fast movers: oil, oil and air filters, brake pads, wiper blades, AC gas. Never run out.
- Medium movers: belts, spark plugs, batteries, common sensors. Keep modest stock.
- Slow movers: model-specific parts. Order per job where possible.
In Gulf workshops, AC-related parts and batteries usually move much faster in summer, so review your minimums before the hot months.
Keep supplier records and purchase orders together
Record which supplier provides each part, the last price paid and typical delivery time. Raising purchase orders from the same system lets you compare prices over time and spot when a supplier quietly increases rates.
Count regularly, not just at year end
Pick ten to twenty high-value or fast-moving items and count them every month. If the physical count doesn’t match the system, find out why straight away. Small, frequent checks are far easier than one painful annual stock-take.
Read the numbers
Good garage software will show you stock value, low-stock items, parts used per month and your top-selling parts. Use those reports to cut slow stock and negotiate better prices on what you buy most. You can see how this looks in the Solve Garage features.
Quick checklist
- Every part used is added to a job card.
- Minimum levels set for all fast movers.
- Supplier, price and lead time recorded for each part.
- Monthly spot count of high-value items.
- Quarterly review of slow-moving stock.
Frequently asked questions
How do garages track spare parts?
The most reliable way is to link parts to job cards in garage management software, so stock is deducted and billed automatically whenever a part is used.
What is a minimum stock level?
It is the quantity at which you reorder a part. It should cover what you use while waiting for delivery, plus a small safety buffer.
How often should a workshop count its stock?
Spot-count high-value and fast-moving parts monthly, and do a full count at least once or twice a year.
See it in your own workshop
Book a free 20-minute demo of Solve Garage and we’ll show you how this works with your own jobs, parts and customers.
Book a Free Demo