Keep the Overview With a Vehicle Inventory List

What Is a Vehicle Inventory List?

A vehicle inventory list in the form of a checklist helps you keep a overview of all the vehicles in your dealership/logistics company/car rental company/etc. This is important for the clientele and for the company's own specialized staff.

If the vehicle inventory is not done properly, then the company is not aware of their own inventory and the condition of the vehicles. This makes it difficult for the company to operate and provide customer service.

Various vehicle inventory checklists make it easier to add new vehicles, inspect them before delivery, and always keep track of all the vehicles in the company's inventory. The information required in each case can be recorded more easily and can be retrieved at any time. This improves reliability and quality for customer orders.

This article is about:

1. The importance of vehicle inventory lists

2. The process of a vehicle inventory with checklist

3. Advantages of a digital vehicle inventory list

The Importance of Vehicle Inventories

Generally, vehicle inventory should be taken at regular intervals to minimize the economic consequences of inaccurate inventory numbers and information for the company. Using checklists to maintain proper vehicle inventory records offer three key benefits for car dealerships, logistics providers and car rental companies:

1. Knowing exactly what is in inventory

When you know exactly how many vehicles you own and what condition they are in, you can better plan your vehicle management. You'll also know what's still missing, meaning what you may need to order. This includes, for example, any vehicle components.

If you don't have a vehicle list, or don't have a good vehicle list, it can quickly happen that you order too much or don't order something important and then miss it.

2. Higher profitability

Keep a vehicle inventory list to avoid both destocking and overstocking. Your vehicles will lose their value more slowly as a result. Logistics and car rental companies can also use a vehicle list to identify which vehicles to remove from inventory more quickly because they no longer meet corporate standards.

3. Better customer experience

If you know what you have, you know exactly what you can sell. Don't inadvertently overpromise your customers by selling them vehicles or services you don't have in inventory. Rather, conduct a vehicle inventory regularly and refer back to the data you've collected for a customer discussion.

Procedure of a Vehicle Inventory With Checklist

A vehicle inventory checklist can be structured differently depending on the company. But for a proper inventory, there are certain basic rules to follow, which are also reflected in the checklist. If you follow them, the vehicle inventory should go off without a hitch, and you'll end up with an error-free vehicle inventory list:

1. Accompanying each vehicle inventory checklist is an inventory instruction.
2. The location of the inventory must be indicated in the checklist.
3. The groups for taking inventory should each consist of one counting and one writing. If possible, these should not come exclusively from the department concerned.
4. The employees who perform the inventory must receive appropriate training.
5. The responsible inventory manager is to be indicated in the checklist.
6. In the vehicle inventory checklist templates, the following must be observed:
• The templates must be pre-numbered.
• No lines may be omitted during the inventory.
• No pencil may be used for paper lists.
• The entries must be made on the spot.
• Each completed template must be signed by the person counting and writing.
7. Vehicles shall be inventoried in the order of their location.
8. The inventories taken must be recognizable as such and are therefore to be singled out in a suitable form (e.g. sticky notes, signs, etc.).
9. The parking spaces are to be divided according to areas. For car dealerships, for example, these are the areas: New, demonstration and used vehicles. For each area, a responsible employee is to be determined.
10. Damaged vehicles are to be marked separately.
11. Movements of goods are to be omitted during the vehicle inventory.
12. The inventory personnel must not know the target stocks according to stock accounting.

Following the vehicle inventory, the completed checklists are evaluated. For this, you must first compare the actual stocks according to inventory lists with the target stocks according to stock accounting. You can disregard vehicles that are not owned by the company, such as consignment goods from manufacturers, vehicles under repair and vehicles owned by personnel.

In addition, you add vehicles to the inventory list that belong to the inventory according to the vehicle inventory list, but were not physically present during the inventory, such as rental and demonstration vehicles. Vehicles and vehicle parts that have already been ordered but not yet delivered are also part of the inventory.

Take Advantage of a Digital Vehicle List

Keeping a vehicle list, as listed above, has many benefits for your business. Keeping vehicle inventory lists and vehicle inventory lists digital with Lumiform has many other benefits for your company's vehicle management:

• No more paper mountains! Digitize your previous paper lists in no time with the flexible form builder and adapt your individual checklists to new standards at any time.
• Get real-time data about your vehicle inventory. This makes quality, service and safety measurable and you can use the data to constantly optimize your processes.
• Use one of the numerous templates from Lumiform's library for your vehicle inventory and start immediately with your vehicle inventory list!
• Get an overview of everything that happens during the on-site inventory.
• Generate your vehicle inventory list automatically from now on - this saves the complete follow-up.
• Save time by simplifying analysis of all vehicle and inventory data and more quickly identifying areas that need your attention.
• Complete inventories and inspections approximately 30%-50% faster overall, depending on the use case.
• Increase the efficiency of your internal processes through more efficient communication within the team, with third-party vendors and management, and faster incident reporting.