The partsman has probably got the most unforgiving job in the workshop

In my experience, the partsman is probably the most blamed and underappreciated person in the workshop.

There can be judgement in how people assess a repair. There is no such grey area when the supplied part does not fit. The partsman cannot get a part almost right.

It is either the correct part or it is not. There is no grey area.

Get every part right and nothing happens. That is your job.

Forget one bracket and you have pissed off four people. The technician cannot continue. The car might sit stripped or need to be temporarily put back together. Reception has to explain the delay. The customer goes ham at reception. The workshop controller wants to know what happened.

Somehow the entire chain leads back to one missing bracket.

That is why I think parts functionality inside garage management software needs more attention than it gets. The job is not just a choice between ordered and arrived.

The person handling parts needs context before the order, while waiting for it and when the box finally turns up.

A parts delay does not stay in the parts department. It changes the technician's plan, the workshop controller's plan, the promised handover and the conversation reception has with the customer.

If that context only exists in the partsman's head, everybody has to interrupt the person already dealing with the most unforgiving part of the job.

The parts department is not separate from workshop workflow. Parts are workshop workflow.

Give the partsman a system that keeps the request, vehicle and job together, then let the rest of the team see what they need without asking the same questions all day.