PMF talks to Joe Toakley, the marketing manager at Shaftec, about how a quality supplier can best support motor factors, making life easier for everyone and steering the market towards increased business opportunities:
Technology is developing so fast that it can’t even keep up with itself and thanks to the exponential rise in the use of the Internet and social media platforms, everyone knows exactly what’s happening in real time. All in all, the business landscape and channels to market now demand that one must be a master of all trades within their own business – an expert in IT, communication, HR, international trading, legal matters… the list goes on and on – and that’s before even getting to the product!
The world today offers so many more opportunities, but, at the same time, it can be extremely challenging.
If I had to sum up in one word what gives one supplier the edge over another in today’s market, it would be ‘knowledge’. To achieve long lasting successful working relationships with the motor factors that supplier has to partner with them. And to partner with them, it needs to know their world: what they want, when, how and why they want it, and then work out how that can be delivered.
The price is right – sometimes!
In business, price always has been and always will be a factor. Everyone wants the best quality, the best product and the best availability at the best price. The thing is that now our world is so transparent everyone knows how much things cost and will try to drive this down. This means a business needs something to differentiate itself and make it stand out in a crowded market.
Depth and breadth of range
In this faster, more technologically aware age the global car parc is growing, not only in terms of number but in terms of type. Vehicle manufacturers need to remain competitive and ahead of the game and so are introducing new models all the time. The aftermarket needs to keep pace with this – so constant NTR development is a must.
All this, combined with vehicles becoming greener, faster, lighter and more comfortable mean a greater demand for breadth of parts. As a quality supplier, one of the most important things to do is to ensure it offers the right parts at the right time. Storage space can be an issue for some motor factors, and they may not want more upfront investment than necessary, especially when it comes to bigger, more expensive items, such as steering racks and pumps, so a supplier needs to promote efficiency supply at source and operate a high service of logistics and delivery.
We help our customers by operating the entire Shaftec business from one centrally placed facility. Including outside storage space, we occupy an area almost the size of a standard football pitch! This means we can carry tens of thousands of parts as stock – equating to almost £5million worth – and with overnight delivery in most cases, our customers don’t have to use up valuable shelf space to ensure constant availability of fast-moving parts.
Operating from one facility means Shaftec has almost complete process control. This business model means that it can always guarantee constant availability, enabling its customers’ businesses to carry on, whatever the weather, health of the nation or political climate.
With an excellent team and outstanding support network in our logistics and supply partners, we are well-placed to offer our 500-plus distributors across the UK and Europe a fantastic service that will enable them to grow their sales and businesses.
Get your facts right!
Suppliers also have to commit to constant investment in data research & development and in making sure aftermarket parts for new vehicles get into the market as fast as possible. To do this, we work closely with TecAlliance, supplier of the TecDoc Catalogue.
Quality counts
For a supplier, reputation is everything! There’s little point in being able to provide cheap product if those goods are inferior or have a short lifespan. Most of the parts channelled through our sector are safety critical.
There are ways in which suppliers can offer the best of both worlds – the highest quality at the best price; for example, our electric powered steering (EPS) racks produced from remanufactured core – with new electric motors, making economic sense and offering a safe drive.
Steering is our biggest growth area, particularly EPS. With the number of vehicles with EPS now falling out of warranty and into the aftermarket this sector will only continue to grow. We make sure we are fully prepared in order to help our customers stay ahead of the game; for example, we’ve invested heavily in the skillset and ability of our research & development team and quality control processes, and every time we need to assess the remanufacturing specifications for a part, we invest in a brand-new unit for reverse engineering purposes.
At Shaftec, we truly believe that remanufacturing is the way forward where possible: efficient use of existing raw materials, energy and resources, top quality components, which perform to the same standard as new, a more affordable option – and in many cases the only way to keep older vehicles on the road.
With over 40 years’ experience, I believe we are well qualified to fly the flag – offering components that are as good as new, tested as new and perform in that way for the lifetime of the part.
