Blog – Digital Wrench Blog

Well, it’s been a while since we have sent out a newsletter, so it’s about time. We have many new features we’ve added to Digital Wrench, and are planning many more.

First, if you have version 5.1 or earlier, you should really get an upgrade, especially if you’re on a subscription. The codes that we send out for subscriptions will soon end if you have 5.1 or earlier. We show that you have version **FUM:U5**. Please call or email us if this is not correct.

We will be happy to help you upgrade, especially if you’re on a network and do not know how… just give us a call.

There is a web page documenting the upgrades to Digital Wrench by clicking File, Check for new updates. Here is where you can click on the new versions and see what was added. To update, click on the ‘Get Newest Update to Digital Wrench’ button. Make sure you know what you’re doing if you’re on a local area network sharing computers. It’s important all computers are on the same version. Again, call if you have any doubts or questions.

So, lately we’ve added some more marketing features that allow you to send bulk custom emails to your customers. The built in reminder feature now has HTML to make the letters really stand out. While you can use it for automatic reminder creation, you can now select and query customers by work orders/invoices or vehicles. The Letter Editor only allows you to select customers by a customer query, so this is an advancement. You can still use the letter editor to create email lists.

We just talked a customer that uses Digital Wrench for his marine repair shop. He sent out a newsletter using the Letter Editor and got 42 new appointments. Last winter he did the same thing and had the best Winter ever. So, it looks like taking a little time to send a newsletter actually worked. (Yes, we need to learn this lesson as well!)

One of the long term things we are working on is to create a labor guide from your previous labor. This will be done using the components that are ‘hooked up’ to the vehicles. We’ve had parts linked to the components for quite a while, and we just added labor. The idea is to use your past work orders to create a master vehicle list along with labor that you’ve done on those vehicles. That way you’ll be able to use your own history as a guide. The more you do, the more data will be created that you can use. The only caveat, you’ll need to originally pick the labor items from the labor list. And you’ll need the current version of the software as the labor was just added to components in version 5.3.04.

Now, when sending an invoice as a PDF attachment in an email, you can customize the email. You can use HTML or just plain text, and you can tell the program to automatically use a particular email you’ve selected in the company setup. You can always select another email to use. It uses mail merge so you can put in tokens for the vehicle, the invoice information, and of course customer info. This makes a very professional email that gets sent with your invoice.

We have created a message board for your use. You’ll need to sign up to use it. Nobody is on it yet, so it will be boring at first, but hopefully folks will begin to use it and share information about how you or they use Digital Wrench.

Click here for Forum

Click here for Update Page

We’d like to thank all of our customers for their feedback. This is what makes Digital Wrench a functional program with the right stuff. Please feel free to make suggestions in the Digital Wrench Forum above. If you see a suggestion and you would like it as well, please reply to that suggestion so we can see how many people want a certain feature.

Our company VMT Software is going well because of you and all of our other customers. We appreciate that. If you would like to write a review and haven’t done so, please click on our review link.

Remember, if there is something you need in the program, it might already be there. So give us a call and ask. If it’s not there, we just might add it.

To the average non-business owner the term “inventory control” must sound rather dull and uninteresting. However, for anyone who runs a business efficient inventory control is a concept that contains all kinds of meaning. Effective inventory control can make or break a business. It can keep it from descending into disarray and unprofitability. So, let’s take a look at what inventory control is and why it matters so much to businesses like yours.

What is Inventory Control

Basically, inventory control is the process of keeping track of the supplies and equipment that are needed to run your business effectively. This is important so that customer demand is met and is helpful in controlling the cost of any business. Moreover, businesses use a number of ways to track inventory from counting items by hand, outsourcing the task to others and of course through the use of technology. The use of technology is the most efficient and flexible mean of keeping track of inventory.

Why Inventory Control Matters

In a nutshell, inventory control gives you insight into how your business is doing, how it is serving the customers and where it is going. Few businesses where physical or even digital stock is needed could survive without this kind of information. Let’s take a look at specifically how inventory control helps businesses.

Helps to Avoid Stockouts: You never want to be in a position of turning away paying customers. Stockouts costs you potential customers and can ruin the reputation of your business. Knowing how much of a given part is on hand helps you avoid this by telling you when it is time to reorder.
Helps to avoid frequent backorders: This is another situation that can drive customers to other shops and cause them never to return to yours. Our software helps you to avoid backorders and helps you to lower costs, speed up fulfillment, and prevent fraud.
Helps to avoid excess inventory: Inventory that is not well managed can quickly turn into an overstocked item. Overstocked items can take up needed room in your shop and cause you to have to write them off or discount them. This can in turn cause you to lose money.

After all is said and done, effective control matters because it makes your business more efficient. Having a more efficient business is good for your bottom line and for your customers. Our auto repair shop software helps you to build and maintain an efficient business by keeping track of things such as income, work done by technicians, customer repair order history, vehicle history, mo22thly/yearly reports and of course inventory. If you own a small shop in particular you will find that the right automotive repair shop software will help keep you competitive with larger chain shops.