Challenge
The company's rapid growth through acquisitions created significant operational challenges in their parts procurement processes, which were highly manual and increasingly fragmented across locations:
- Complex buying decisions involving multiple layers of work provider rules and site-specific requirements that varied by location. This led parts advisors to default to familiar but suboptimal options rather than navigating complex spreadsheet-based reference systems.
- Fractured supplier ordering with procurement happening through multiple channels including email, PDFs, supplier portals, Teams messages, and manual quote requests.
These challenges resulted in increased key-to-key times, inconsistent estimations across sites, and significant margin loss due to suboptimal parts sourcing. The majority of parts teams' valuable time was consumed by administrative tasks rather than strategic, value-add activities that could drive business growth.
The MSO recognized they needed a consolidated, standardized process and system to unlock their next stage of growth.
Building with Infrastructure
After extensive research into buy-versus-build options, the MSO determined that building custom systems in-house would provide the flexibility and control needed for their unique operational requirements. They wanted the ability to expand systems and modules as their business evolved, requiring a solid foundation rather than point solutions.
Partly's infrastructure-first approach offered robust, enterprise-grade capabilities that could support their immediate procurement needs while enabling future use cases and modules that weren't yet scoped. With Partly, they could build parts systems tailored to their specific needs without starting from scratch or reinventing parts technology. This infrastructure foundation meant they could focus their development resources on business-specific functionality rather than building basic platform capabilities.
Solution - Partly Repair
Workflow Integration ensured seamless transition with existing estimation processes, automating parts handling to eliminate double-entry while maintaining familiar workflows.
Determining Parts Eligibility was enabled by Partly's PerfectPart algorithm, which addressed complex rule requirements through intelligent automation. PerfectPart configured work provider rules and site-specific exceptions while incorporating business policies around shipping times, pricing, and supplier quality to automatically recommend optimal parts baskets for each job.
Network & Suppliers integration connected the pilot with their key suppliers via UKCRN, enabling consistent procurement processes across different supplier relationships. This infrastructure eliminated the need to manage multiple disconnected communication channels while maintaining existing supplier partnerships.
Outcome
- Successful Implementation: The project achieved its ambitious timeline through a structured two-phase approach. Configuration was completed within the first month, incorporating all business rules, supplier integrations, and workflow requirements. The second month focused on site rollout and testing across their pilot locations, ensuring smooth adoption and validating system performance under real-world conditions.
- Validated Business Case: The pilot successfully demonstrated measurable improvements across key performance indicators:
- Reduced key-to-key times through automated parts identification and procurement
- Increased margins through intelligent sourcing recommendations
- Freed-up parts teams who could now focus on strategic activities rather than manual administrative work
Partly's team of world-class engineers and automotive veterans is on a mission to connect the world's parts. Partly provides the neutral infrastructure that connects the entire automotive supply chain, reducing friction and costs while improving operational efficiency for everyone in the ecosystem.
