Spare parts inventory management means knowing the quantity, cost and turnover of every part on the shelf. Stock carries two costs in a motorcycle workshop: cash tied up on the shelf, and jobs held up because a part was not there when it was needed. Good inventory management lowers both.
What dead stock is and how to spot it
Dead stock is any part that has not moved in the last 12 months. It sits on the shelf, takes space, ties up cash, and often never sells because the model has aged out.
There is only one way to see it: the last outbound date for each part. Without that figure you cannot spot dead stock, because a full shelf looks normal.
A simple classification is enough:
| Class | In the last 12 months | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Fast | 12+ movements | Raise the critical level, never run out |
| Normal | 3–11 movements | Keep the current level |
| Slow | 1–2 movements | Stop ordering, run down what you have |
| Dead | 0 movements | Discount it out or return it |
Producing this table requires part lines on your work orders. If parts are not written onto work orders, the stock data never forms.
Setting critical levels
The critical level is the threshold at which you reorder. The arithmetic is simple:
Critical level = (average daily consumption × lead time) + safety margin
Example: 30 units a month means 1 a day. If the supplier takes 5 days, that is 5 units. Add 3 days of safety margin and the critical level is 8.
Tune the safety margin to how reliable the supplier is. An unreliable supplier needs a bigger margin — which is that supplier's hidden cost to you.
What is specific to motorcycles
Motorcycle stock differs from car stock in two places:
Parts that move as a set. A chain and sprocket kit is three pieces and all three change together. Stock them individually and you cannot sell a set when one runs out. Stock the set.
Seasonal movement. Tyres, pads and batteries move in spring and go quiet in winter. Order against the yearly average and you will be out of parts in April. Look at the same month across the last three years, not the annual mean.
Per-part profitability
Stock is a margin question, not just a quantity question. Every part line needs two prices: purchase and sale. Without the purchase price there is no profit calculation.
When thinking about margin, look at turnover × margin, not at revenue:
- A part moving 40 units a month at ₺50 each: ₺2,000
- A part moving 2 units a month at ₺400 each: ₺800
The second sounds more profitable but the first brings in two and a half times the money. We ran that calculation across the whole workshop in the profitability post.
Counting
An annual full count is not enough on its own. Combine two methods:
Cycle counting. Count the 20–30 fastest-moving items once a month. It takes half an hour and catches most of the error.
Annual full count. Once a year, ideally in the quiet season.
A discrepancy found during a count is not random, it is a sign of leakage: a part fitted without being written on a work order, an unrecorded return, or a bad entry. Do not just correct the number — find where it came from.
What the software has to do
On the inventory side, service software needs to do four things:
- Deduct automatically from the work order. Stock drops when the mechanic writes the part. If there is a manual deduction step, nobody will do it.
- Alert at the critical level. Warn when the threshold is hit.
- Keep movement history. Every in and out: who, when, which work order.
- Hold purchase and sale prices. Both, for the margin calculation.
Without all four, a stock record is no better than a spreadsheet — we covered where spreadsheets break down separately.
In Ridebase Garage parts come off stock automatically from the work order, critical levels raise alerts, and parts matching covers 131 brands and 10,000+ models. Details on the motorcycle service software page.