Here's the update to my previous post...

I posted about a message I got from a former employer and had a lot of responses. Now I have an update.

He says they are getting busier and he could use someone PART TIME to keep inventory up and put stuff away. He probably expected me to remember the complicated computer system too. It could MAYBE work into full time... Now here's the kicker;

He wanted to give me the first chance at the job. I asked him if he still had the same salesman there. Yes, he's still there BUT he's leaving for Egypt tonight for 2 weeks! It sure sounds eerily similar to just before I got laid off last time. He seemed surprised that I said I'd have to think about it. I don't really have much to think about but was being polite. Even Dr. Phil says the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. He might keep me on long enough to do the inventory but who knows after that. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. Dave

take the job, if youve got time to listen to what doctor phil says you need something to do. jk good luck with whatever you choose.

Just read your other post.It's sounds to me like you should sit down and have a long talk about his way of doing things and your's.

Explain to him that YOU and the CUSTOMERS would be happyier to have there parts in 3 min instead of 10.
Be nice and courtios and tell him how you feel when you have to hunt for parts.Explain how much nicer it would be to go to a bin with the corect # in NUMERICAL ORDER instead of hunting for it.

tell him you would be happy to organize the #'s to be in order and change the parts list to match in order during your regular days when it is not busy.

coffe cans with #'s works just fine.I would even put like products with say the #5426-#5436 in the same can.This way you know that part #5429 is also in that can.

JUst remember you have to be able to explain this in a non hostile way and figure out how to do it so it is his idea.

I have dun this in 2 businesses that I worked for and it worked out great for me.Only problem was I worked my way out of a job.
Remember if you get a system in place that is very fast and easy he may soon find himself doing it or a kid that he pays half what he pays you.And your out the door again.

Turnip truck? Are you sure you didnt just fall outta a truck that is famos on the Red Green show? Geez Dave. Give it a rest would ya? You are your own worst enemy it seems.

I saw that on Dr. Phil years ago. I kind of figured what the message was about and was correct. I thought there might be a chance he'd offer a different position than filling in while the sales guy was away. I thought it was rather amusing that someone who I hadn't heard from in over a year and a half suddenly calls and seems concerned about how I'm doing. He didn't seem too concerned when he abruptly laid me off about 2 days after he got back from vacation. In fact, I think he had it planned because when he got back all he did was complain. If I would have known I was getting laid off, I would have left before he returned. It was pretty bad the way he handled it. Other than his dumb salesman, I lasted there longer than anyone else before me. Lots of unrealized potential there because the boss is too set in his ways. He's not the only business owner like that though. Dave

I think falling off the turnip truck might actually knock some sense in him. It's no wonder the guy is clueless as to why he has a problem as a employee.

I think you need to find a welding job somewhere.
If you are watching Dr Phil you need a job.You need a job where you are happy doing it,and not a bunch more stress,which sounds just like what that one will be.
I dont know why somebody who talks about welding like you do would want to do anything else.
Actually why dont you put an ad in the paper or something and get a job for you and that red face Lincoln and dont look back.Seems like some of those shows like Ice Road Truckers show where a lot of stuff breaks up in the cold,so there you go.Find a truck shop someplace that needs a welder and go for it.

Which poses a Question Dr. Phil. Should he tighten or loosen the toriquette around his skull?

I thought about putting the welder in the back of my 3/4 ton. Things are picking up some up here. It has been really slow for portable rigs though. I also want to see if there's any local welding jobs. I'm still running my MX track till it snows. A lot of people are taking my post way too serious. I thought the whole thing was rather humorous. A guy that was kind of a poor boss who abruptly lays me off right after coming back from holidays, calls me out of the blue after 1 1/2 years and acts all buddy buddy. I was very skeptical from the beginning. It was more frustrating than stressful working there. If the boss was willing to change, would make a world of difference. I can't see that happening any time soon or in the future. He's the kind of person who doesn't see a problem until it's too late to do anything about it. I know he got stiffed out of several thousands of dollars from a couple places that went under. They were a couple month's behind and kept saying they were going to pay and he kept giving them credit. Well, guess what? Do the people that think I'm the problem, think that's a smart way to run a business? Sad thing is the business has so much more potential. Dave

At least I can spell.

What's Framallfan, someone who uses only Fram filters?

What's a toriquette, a torque wrench for women?

If you guys think he's such a great boss, go work for him. LoL Dave

(quoted from post at 21:57:17 09/03/10) At least I can spell.

What's Framallfan, someone who uses only Fram filters?

What's a toriquette, a torque wrench for women?

If you guys think he's such a great boss, go work for him. LoL Dave

Click to expand...

I believe a Framallfan would be a fan of all Fram filters.......we gotta keep things correct around here or people might get confused. :lol:

(quoted from post at 19:57:17 09/03/10) If you guys think he's such a great boss, go work for him. LoL Dave

Click to expand...

We aren't the ones whining about it.

Just an observation I had.

Just saw something on the news about how employers was hurting for skilled workers???? Hard to tell where it is though. Prolly just something the chosen one had a couple companies say in order to receive bailout money.

Dave

Dave, a couple of ideas. If you know more about his business than he does offer to buy him out. If that dosen't work go to work for the competation and drive him out of business. Still no good ? Put your welder in the back of your truck, hook it to a camper and go to Williston North Dakota (or anyplace in a energy boom)start welding, work hard , become the boss, and get rich in 5 years.

Only one l. I know he could be more profitable and efficient if he did a little thinking outside his little box. Dave

I went back and read the first post and all the responses before I replied. So I'm gonna spell out some things that may or may not make sense to you. I'm about to turn 56 years old this month, and I've been working parts counters since I was 8 years old at my family's Farmall garage [we weren't officially an IH dealership, but the franchised dealer used us as a "sub-dealer" for the southern half of the county].

First, the boss is the boss. He can be a jerk if he wants, he can be a crook if he wants, and he can give it all away if he wants...because he's the boss. It's his business, and he can (mis)manage it any way he chooses...because he's the boss. Never forget that.

Second...one dealership I went to work for in '83 had Lincoln-Mercury, Saab, Isuzu, Alfa Romeo, and AMC/Jeep/Renault. Except for "generics" like heater hose and hose clamps and antifreeze, EACH manufacturer's parts had a separate set of bins. No FoMoCo parts were located in the AMC/JEEP bins even if the parts were identical other than the part number. To simplify things even further, each of the shelves in each bin had a separate location on the computer. The first shelf in bin 101 was 101A; the second shelf was 101B, and so on. Each part had ONE bin location.

For generic parts such as 1157 bulbs, we had a chart that listed each manufacturer's part number for each bulb. Since our highest volume for warranty parts was under Ford, all our bulbs were receipted into the system as Ford part numbers...on customer-pay tickets, it didn't matter if we billed out the Ford part number; on warranty tickets, we would fill out a "draw-out" slip for our parts clerk, doing a "minus" for the Ford part number and a "plus" for the other manufacturer part number that was actually billed. That way, our inventory stayed accurate.

All of our parts had a separate bin tray or bin box. That way #194 bulbs and #9004 bulbs weren't in the same box. Made it easier to inventory, easier to sell, and easier to track "shrinkage"...because once in awhile someone would forget to bill a part,and once in awhile someone would steal a part.

If it takes you a month to do inventory, and you don't have $50 million dollars in inventory, then something is wrong with your system. We were running about $5 million in inventory, and our crew could inventory the entire place in a single weekend...including running down variances in the counts...and that was with each bin being counted TWICE by separate teams. Inventory was done by two-person teams, with one person counting and the other person writing down the quantity next to the part number that printed out on the bin sheets. Parts that didn't come up on the bin sheets but that were physically in that bin were added to "write-in" sheets. Any part location errors were usually found by running a multiple bin location report.

I left the multi-line dealership after a few years to pursue another opportunity, and about 5 years later I was back as the parts manager for their then-new Hyundai franchise. Knowing how these people were about giving raises--they usually didn't--I negotiated my best deal going in the door. I didn't get all I wanted for the first six months, but after that I got a raise to what I'd originally asked for, because I was able to produce the results I'd promised. If you have trust issues with the guy, the time to lay them out on the table is BEFORE you agree to go to work for him. Maybe if you sit down and air your grievances--and he might have some grievances with you over your previous tenure there--then you'll each know where the other person stands. If you can work through the grievances and come to an agreement, GET IT IN WRITING...'cause a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's NOT written on. And if you can't reach a mutually agreeable employment arrangement, then you can both walk away from the table knowing you'd at least been honest and up-front with one another. You might not get the job, but you might end up with his respect. And you might just walk away with a different perspective on why he does things the way he does.

I worked for a man who was the most brilliant parts department manager I've ever met. He just sucked at being a boss. He was a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and if UK lost a football or basketball game on Saturday, it was a certainty that there'd be hell to pay at work on Monday. This man would throw parts and throw tantrums over the slightest little thing...but usually only on Mondays when UK lost on Saturday, and back then UK's football team was a perennial doormat. After having quit smoking for 5 years, while working for this man I started smoking again. Sometimes I'd have to take a smoke break and walk away, or I'd have probably ended up in a fistfight with him. I finally decided that, despite his mentoring, I was better off working for someone else. He and I have remained professional acquaintances, and I still call and ask him for advice occasionally...but I would never work for him again, because I don't need that level of stress in my life.

That's MY story, and MY advice. Now think about it and do whatever makes YOU happy.

:

"If it takes you a month to do inventory, and you don't have $50 million dollars in inventory, then something is wrong with your system. We were running about $5 million in inventory, and our crew could inventory the entire place in a single weekend...including running down variances in the counts...and that was with each bin being counted TWICE by separate teams. Inventory was done by two-person teams, with one person counting and the other person writing down the quantity next to the part number that printed out on the bin sheets. Parts that didn't come up on the bin sheets but that were physically in that bin were added to "write-in" sheets. Any part location errors were usually found by running a multiple bin location report".

I agree that if it takes a month to do a small inventory, it is a bad system. In this case it was way beyond bad. I also agree that doing it with groups of 2 people is the fastest way. You'd do one item on a shelf in the warehouse, the next item on the list was in the showroom, the next one was upstairs, the next one was on a different shelf in the warehouse but the number listed was higher so you had to check if there were any in the showroom or hiding somewhere else. Someone stuff just wasn't there but the list showed there was some, so you had to hunt around for 15 minutes looking for it. Then when the boss came back from a sales call, he remembers that he doesn't them it anymore because he gave some samples out a year earlier and never took them off the inventory list.

Could you imagine doing inventory with 5 million in parts, having to run around all over the place 1 item at a time on the inventory list because the list isn't in sync with the parts bins/shelves and you've got over 150 pages of inventory? That's what I had to deal with on a smaller scale and having a couple hundred coffee cans with the lids crammed together on the shelves made it even worse. I'm not exaggerating about how bad his inventory system was and his computer system wasn't much better. He expected you to learn the computer with about 15 minutes of training on and off when he had a couple minutes at a time to show you. His dad even said it was too complicated and he did the books. I think he knows that no one else would want to work under those conditions and that's why he called me. His one employee is going away for 2 weeks and the boss doesn't look into getting some help until 2 days before the guy leaves? That's not too smart if you ask me but that's how he does most things. No advance planning or forward thinking at all. Dave

Tell the guy to kiss your aspirn bottle and change the oil on your truck....

that will be 50 bucks please...