To Bob Crete, Operations Manager and Parts Manager at Boston Volvo Village, it’s all about the “flow.” “When you’re running a huge volume automotive dealership parts department with over 9,000 different parts, you can’t have anything that’s going to disrupt the flow," says Crete. "You never want to put a stick in the wheel.”

Boston Volvo Village sells and services Volvos, but a substantial portion of their business is a parts operation that’s in the top three nationwide — to the tune of about $9 million a year. However, Crete doesn’t take any great satisfaction in the size of this department. It’s his parts department’s ability to meet customer needs that gratifies him.

“Our customers expect the parts shop to produce, and so do we,” he said. “But we’re not producing if a customer or a technician comes to the counter to get a part and that part is not immediately available or accessible. We try to have everything that anybody wants every single time they come to the counter. It’s easier said than done, but with the combination of the right computer system and the right storage system that we have now, we’ve been keeping things flowing to everyone’s satisfaction.”

This wasn’t always the case. In fact, until the department upgraded its parts storage system about a year ago, Boston Volvo’s Parts Department was only partly organized and efficient. Back then, some of the department’s parts were stored in an organized manner in Lista modular drawer cabinets. However, a large percentage of their parts were stored in basic bins, racks and shelving commonly used within the industry. “These storage products were inflexible, unattractive and wasted space,” said Crete. “They weren’t up to our quality standards, and I knew we needed a change.”

Crete was already familiar with Lista International Corporation of Holliston, Mass. “We had, for a number of years, been reaping the benefits of using some of Lista’s modular drawer cabinets. So we were very familiar with their quality, both in terms of product and company. We just needed to bring the rest of our department up to the level of the Lista cabinets.”

The new storage solution that Crete purchased from Lista through distributor Kaarl Waalewyn of Deluxe Systems consisted of 24 Storage Wall® units. It’s the Storage Wall system that has had the greatest positive impact on the “flow” of parts at Boston Volvo, at least a 25 percent increase in efficiency in Crete’s estimation. “What would once take two and half days to restock now takes as short as six hours,” Crete offers as an example.

By combining a wide array of different modular components, which can include drawers, roll-out trays, shelves and wide-span beams, Lista’s Storage Wall systems allow companies like Boston Volvo to store small, medium and large sized parts together and have easy access to all of them. In Bob Crete’s parts department, Storage Wall systems are home to a vast array of parts, including air filters, headlights, lamps, lenses, gaskets and brake components, all in the drawers and on the shelves, and heavier items like bulk brake fluid, antifreeze and heater motors on the roll-out trays.

“We definitely take advantage of Lista’s 400 lb. capacity and full extension capabilities with these bulkier items,” Crete explained. “And because of the Storage Wall system’s use of maximum cubic feet, we actually have 30 percent to 35 percent capacity available for expansion. Not only does this system offer floor to ceiling storage, it’s extremely efficient storage. Like when you take a clothes closet at home and add those wire racks, you’re maximizing your space and making everything more accessible.”