Parts software should control thousands of part numbers, equivalents across brands, stock per warehouse, and purchasing tied to the workshop and the invoice. If you currently fill orders with Excel or a generic system, here you’ll see what to ask of it, how to evaluate demos, and why SITIC Software, an ERP for heavy equipment distributors and parts distributors, fits that operation.
Why isn’t heavy equipment parts inventory controlled like a regular store’s?
Because each part has a part number, a possible equivalent, and often depends on the serial number of the machine it goes on. A regular store sells interchangeable products. A truck or agricultural machinery parts distributor handles a huge catalog where the wrong part stops a unit.
Three traits complicate the operation:
- Large catalog: thousands of part numbers, with different codes by manufacturer and by unit year.
- Equivalents across brands: the same part can be filled with alternates, and the system needs to know which ones.
- Slow movers: some parts are ordered twice a year but stop a machine if they’re missing.
An illustrative example: if your inventory is worth 4 million pesos and 30% doesn’t move in 12 months, you have 1.2 million tied up. With a cost of capital of 12% a year, that comes to about 144,000 pesos a year that you don’t see in any report.
What should parts inventory software control?
It should give you reliable stock per warehouse, replenishment rules, turnover per part, equivalents, average cost, and a complete stock ledger (kardex) of every movement. If any of these is missing, you go back to Excel to fill the gap.
- Stock per warehouse and branch: with recorded transfers and cycle counts, without waiting for the annual count.
- Minimums and maximums: calculated from actual turnover, not from a fixed number nobody updates.
- Turnover and obsolete stock: to spot in time what has stopped selling.
- Equivalents: so that searching for a part brings up the available alternates.
- Average cost: recalculated with each purchase, including freight and import expenses.
- Stock ledger: receipts, issues, and adjustments with date, user, and source document.
With this, the question “do we have that part, and what did it cost us?” gets answered in seconds and with the same data at every branch.
How do you control supplier purchasing?
You control it with a continuous flow: requisition, purchase order, receiving against the invoice, and account payable, all tied to stock and cost. When each step lives in a different file, orders get lost and invoices get paid without being checked.
From the order to the account payable
- Requisition: comes from a turnover-based suggestion or a workshop need.
- Purchase order: with supplier, price, and promised date.
- Receiving against the invoice: compares what was ordered, received, and invoiced.
- Accounts payable: visible due dates and reconciled payments.
Imports and urgent orders
Many heavy equipment parts are imported. The system should record the exchange rate and customs expenses so the real cost stays with the part. For urgent orders, you need to see status and arrival date, so the parts counter and the workshop know when the supplier has promised delivery.
How do you connect workshop, sales, and inventory?
By connecting them in a single system, so the part used on a work order deducts stock, is charged on the invoice, and triggers replenishment when it drops below the minimum. That’s how you keep parts from leaving the shelf without being recorded.
Picture a work order for a truck. The technician requests a filter and a brake kit. When they’re issued, the warehouse deducts the stock and the cost is added to the unit’s log. If the filter falls below the minimum, it shows up in the purchase suggestion. When the order closes, the charge includes labor and parts.
When workshop, parts counter, and inventory are separate systems, someone enters things twice and parts slip through without being charged. With an integrated ERP, every issue has an order, a customer, and a cost.
What criteria should you use to choose?
Choose the system that covers your industry end to end: inventory, purchasing, workshop, CFDI (Mexico’s electronic invoice), and accounting, with direct support and a clear migration. Use this 10-point list to evaluate each demo:
- Search for a part by part number and by equivalent.
- Show stock per warehouse and branch.
- Calculate purchase suggestions by turnover.
- Generate the requisition, order, and receiving against the invoice.
- Record imports with the exchange rate.
- Deduct parts from a work order.
- Issue CFDI 4.0 from the operation.
- Integrate accounting with no re-entry.
- Import your current catalog from Excel.
- Offer direct support and export your data.
How does SITIC Software solve it?
SITIC Software handles the complete cycle in an ERP built for heavy equipment: it suggests the purchase, receives the goods, maintains the cost, and connects the sale with the workshop and invoicing. It’s designed for parts distributors, with inventory, purchasing, and sales connected.
This is how the flow runs at a parts distributor:
- The system suggests purchases based on each part’s turnover and flags obsolete stock.
- The order to the supplier is generated; if it’s an import, the exchange rate and customs expenses are recorded.
- Receiving updates stock and cost in real time.
- The sale or work order deducts the part and feeds the next replenishment.
- At close, the system generates the CFDI with labor and parts, with Carta Porte also integrated.
Migrating your catalog, training, and adjustments are part of the implementation, which averages 12 weeks. Your data is yours and you can export it to Excel. If you want to see your operation in the system, schedule a no-cost review call or message us on WhatsApp at +52 871 277 7271.
Frequently asked questions
Does SITIC work for a parts distributor without a workshop?
Yes. It connects inventory, purchasing, and sales, with purchase suggestions and obsolete stock control, even if you don’t have a service area.
Can my Excel catalog be migrated?
Yes. The implementation includes data migration. The practical step is to clean up duplicate part numbers, define equivalents, load stock and costs, and validate a count before go-live.
Does it work with several branches?
Yes, with no limit on branches. Each one operates with its own access and configuration, and management sees consolidated information.
How much does SITIC Software cost?
It depends on users, modules, and branches. After the review call, you receive a personalized, no-commitment proposal.
Can you invoice from the system?
Yes. CFDI 4.0 and Carta Porte are integrated, and the invoice is generated when a work order closes.