DST Asks: Can Your Business Measure Return on Customer Investment?
Although most businesses have the means for measuring their Return On Investment, DST has coined the term Return on Customer Investment as a more accurate method of determining profitability of the customer base. Many firms believe that their largest customers, or the ones they have been supplying for the longest time, are the most profitable ones, but access to pertinent data can contradict those assumptions.
Technology Outpaces Would-be Technicians
Help Wanted: Automotive technician. Starting salary: $30,000. Benefits include medical insurance, plus two weeks paid vacation and two long weekends off — that’s Thursday through Sunday — a year. How difficult is it to fill a job like that in Michigan’s lackluster economy? Plenty, according to Stan Shephard, owner of Shephard’s Hi Tech Automotive in Detroit. Shephard posted his help-wanted sign 18 months ago, and today the position remains unfilled. He’s had only 15 applicants for the job.
Advance Auto Parts Unveils New “2010” Format in Orlando
Advance Auto Parts has announced its grand re-opening in the Orlando, Fla., market, bringing 49 retail stores and 525 employees under the newly branded name, “Advance Discount Auto Parts.” Advance Auto Parts has invested approximately $4 million to remodel the 49 stores to the new “2010” format, which is currently being rolled out across the company’s chain. The new format features a new floor layout with improved product adjacencies, enhanced systems to offer more convenience to customers and high-impact signage.
Herman Trend Alert: Outsourcing, Insourcing, Resourcing, Flexsourcing
Worker-employer relationships are changing. In addition to full-time, part-time and job-sharing options, employers are developing and enhancing alternative relationships with other employers and individuals in contingent arrangements. Over the next few years, outsourcing will increase. For-profit corporations, not-for-profits, government agencies and school systems will all distribute work to outside contractors. As more small companies are formed to meet the exploding need, expect an increase in the number of outsourced service providers.
Delphi Debuts New Ad Campaign; Aims to Bring Automotive Technology to Other Markets
Delphi has debuted a new television ad campaign aimed at showing how the company is taking automotive technology to other markets. The new campaign, created by McCann Erickson’s Detroit office, depicts how Delphi technologies can be used to benefit other industries outside the automotive arena, including medical, homeland security and computers.
Pep Boys Reports Fourth Quarter, Full Year Results
The Pep Boys has posted results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year, which ended January 31. Sales for the thirteen weeks were $529,639,000, 13.6 percent higher than the $466,192,000 recorded last year. Comparable merchandise sales increased 15.9 percent and comparable service revenue increased 5.1 percent.
SCO Files Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against AutoZone
The SCO Group, which owns the UNIX operating system, has filed suit against AutoZone, alleging violations of SCO’s UNIX copyrights through its use of Linux. SCO’s lawsuit alleges that AutoZone violated SCO’s UNIX copyrights by running versions of the Linux operating system that contain code, structure, sequence and/or organization from SCO’s proprietary UNIX System V code in violation of SCO’s copyrights.
TI Automotive to Build New Plant in Mexico
TI Automotive, a supplier of fully integrated fluid storage and delivery systems, plans to build its seventh manufacturing plant in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The new 60,000-square-foot facility will employ 400 people and will produce brake and fuel lines for automotive assembly plants in North America. The plant is expected to open this summer.
Parts Distributor Leverages Technology to Achieve Growth Profitability
Georgia parts distributor, Powertrain Inc. of Savannah, has reported a 25 percent growth in the company’s billed labor time since it began using DST Inc.’s DSTWare Service module to manage both its parts distribution and service business. With 33 percent of its business mix consisting of service, the Durrence’s have said they attribute this growth to the software’s ease of use.
Restructuring Charges Drive Midas to a Net Loss of $76.2 Million in 2003
Midas reported a net loss of $76.2 million — or $4.93 per diluted share — for fiscal 2003, which ended Jan. 3. Midas said the loss is primarily the result $102.6 million in charges related to its restructuring, completed in April. As part of the restructuring, Midas exited its wholesale distribution business and refocused its resources on retail franchising and real estate businesses.