Kilen Springs explains the benefits of its bespoke re-profiling service and hits the point home with a case study from Autosupplies Chesterfield.
In today’s ultra-competitive market, motor factors know how crucial availability is when trying to win the sale. Therefore, every Kilen stockist is offered a bespoke, biannual re-profiling service to ensure their range of coil springs is continually updated with the very latest references, meaning the most popular springs are on the shelf and ready for that next ‘within the hour’ delivery.
The exercise starts with a copy of the customer’s annual sales or MAM 231a report, listing their coil spring sales for the previous twelve months, along with their current stock holdings. Customers set a minimum and maximum stock quantity for each part number they keep, and most implement a system to automatically reorder stock every day, according to the maximum level.
Kilen imports the customer’s sales report into a template based on their latest pareto, which is updated every quarter. The pareto compares data from the previous 12 months to see which springs are gaining popularity (climbers) and which are becoming less popular (fallers).
For example, Kilen reference 23117 – Skoda Octavia 2.0 RS (6/04 to 11/12)/VW Golf 2.0 Tdi GT (10/08 to 12)/VW Scirocco 2.0 TSI, Automatic, with DCC (9/08- onwards) – has climbed from 159th to 85th to 68th over the last three quarters – a jump of 91 places. This would be classified as a ‘fast climber.’
Once the customer’s sales data has been imported into the pareto template, Kilen can answer two very important questions:
1. What springs are selling but are not on the shelf?
2. What springs are on the shelf but are not selling?
Case study: Autosupplies Chesterfield
Autosupplies Chesterfield has a stock holding of 2,000 coil springs, covering the top 750 Kilen references, giving the factor 92% car parc coverage. This allows Autosupplies to offer instant availability direct from the shelf, and helps it remain one step ahead of any local competition.
The first step when re-profiling Autosupplies’ range is to find any references in the top 100 which are not on the shelf – these will be added to stock immediately or as quickly as possible, replacing the furthest falling springs on a like-for-like basis to ensure no increased stock holding.
Next, it’s up to Kilen to ensure Autosupplies has the top 750 part numbers in stock at all times. To achieve this, Kilen finds all the parts in the top 750 which are not in stock – these are springs which have climbed into the top 750 in the previous 6 to 12 months – and recommends that Autosupplies add a pair of each to its range.
To work out what springs these should replace, Kilen reviews all the references that have fallen out of the top 750 in the previous 6 to 12 months (so remain in Autosupplies’ stock) and check whether any are still being sold regularly. If Autosupplies has sold more than two or three units in the previous 12 months, Kilen will recommend keeping the spring, no matter where it now sits within the pareto.
Any springs which are on the shelf but are outside the top 750 and have not sold in the previous 12 months are recommended for cleanse.
Kilen tries to balance the stock coming out with the stock going in, by replacing all references which have fallen out of the top 750 with new references that have entered the top 750. However, the company will always try to ensure that any references coming out of the branch are not climbing the pareto, and that any spring that sits outside the top 750, but has climbed more than 50 places in the previous 12 months, is flagged for Autosupplies to decide whether or not to retain it.
Finally, any overstocks are identified – these are springs with more than two units in stock, but with sales of less than two per year, or any springs with more stock than Autosupplies’ set maximum – generally due to returns. Anything over the maximum level is cleansed, or the maximum level is changed according to future sales forecasts.
As Autosupplies Chesterfield has recently increased its storage space by building an extension, the factor was able to add 250 springs while removing only 150, further expanding its already extensive coverage. Cleansed springs were returned to the distributor, and new springs delivered directly to the branch the next day.
David Clarke, Managing Director of Autosupplies, said, “Kilen’s re-profiling service is incredibly useful, ensuring our coil spring range is bang up-to-date and that any springs which aren’t selling are quickly replaced. When it comes to quality and availability, Kilen is leading the way – we’ve never had a Kilen spring returned for quality reasons, and the huge range means we can fulfil nearly any order without delay.”
Regular range re-profiling benefits factors and their customers, allowing more orders to be fulfilled direct from the shelf, reducing waiting times for customers, and increasing car parc coverage at the branch. Range re-profiling is available for all Kilen stockists.
