How PSH ownership has benefited Wood Auto Supplies
Wood Auto Supplies Sales Director, Mike Blissett, sheds light on the company’s evolution since becoming an independent business under PSH ownership. With substantial investments and strategic guidance from PSH, Wood Auto Supplies has undergone a significant transformation over the past two years.
Q. Can you tell us about Wood Auto Supplies’ journey into becoming an independent business under PSH ownership?
A. “Under new ownership and with guidance from our PSH colleagues, Wood Auto has transformed dramatically over the past two years, and we continue to integrate into the PSH family and ways of working.
“Significant investment has allowed us to update our office space. Our distribution centre has been completely reconfigured, new racking installed creating 300-plus new pallet locations, new conveyor layout and equipment, automated packaging, recycling and weighing machinery.
“Our inventory levels have been put under the microscope, and we have invested heavily in a much wider and deeper range of stock in starters, alternators, components and ancillaries for the LV, CV and specialist UK and export markets in which we operate.
“The UK distribution centre is supplied by our ‘mothership’ DC in Gdansk in Poland. We are receiving container deliveries from Gdansk bi-weekly now, as well as landing direct shipments from our manufacturing partners across the globe. We moved inline and online with the PSH central ERP system and web shop in the summer of 2023, a monumental task of course, but we were up and running and operational on the go-live date. It was a remarkable achievement by our UK and European IT teams.
“Finally, PSH has allowed me to invest in our people, adding new staff in key areas and keeping our long-term loyal employees happy in the workplace.”
Q. You previously said that the launch of Wood Auto Supplies’ air conditioning (AC) range was timely – could you elaborate on the decision-making process and how it aligns with the company’s overall strategy?
A. “Following the successful integration into PSH Group and the introduction of our aftermarket +Line brand of rotating electrics, we are now set to launch another significant product range: we are about to launch a range of AC compressors and condensers to the UK market.
“Again, following in the successful footsteps of our European colleagues, PSH group is already well-established in the AC market on the continent and further afield. Our range of OE and aftermarket (+Line branded) AC units is now available.”
Q. How does the introduction of the AC range contribute to enhancing the company’s product offerings, which obviously includes rotating electrics?
A. “The same simple but successful principles as our rotating range have been applied to our AC offering, providing a wide range of high-quality, brand new (surcharge free) units for passenger car and CV applications, often using our existing OE suppliers that we use on rotating electrics today.
“With our purchasing team having a global reach, and with PSH purchasing ‘boots on the ground’, we have identified new AC component and unit manufacturers, so this is a logical step and a relatively simple ‘bolt-on’ to our overall offering. We already have interest from our rotating stockists in the AC range, so I’m looking forward to being able to add another valuable string to our bow.”
Q. How do you see the demand evolving for rotating electrics and AC components, and how is Wood Auto Supplies positioned to meet these changing needs?
A. “While rotating electrics may seem an obvious product category of potential decline longer term, we still see our own demand increasing across the range within the existing UK vehicle parc.
“Our market research indicates the European vehicle parc is aging further still, as motorists hold on to their ICE powered cars longer, before making that sometimes alarming view of ‘inevitable’ change to EVs. Both starter and alternator volumes are still increasing at around 5% each annually, and by 2040 our studies suggest this market will actually double from where it stands today.
“Within the AC market, the growth is staggering with a forecasted growth of 250%-plus over the next 15 years. As someone who has been in the sector all my working life, I am confident that Wood Auto/PSH Group remain in a very healthy position. Even with long-distant forecasts suggesting eventual declines in our core product market, the launch of our AC offering makes us even more future-proof.”
Q. Can you discuss any innovative technologies or advancements incorporated into Wood Auto Supplies’ ranges that make them stand out to motor factors?
A. “Our offering is comprehensive, as we partner with OE suppliers as one tier of our offering, our +Line aftermarket range is essentially based on the same OE requirements; however, we offer differing unit specifications within the +Line range also, depending on the market demand and price point. We offer a three-tiered solution giving the factors a choice, an OE unit, a high-quality but value for money aftermarket unit complete with OE bearings and pulleys, as well as our +Line ‘Pro’ range with OE regulators for instance.”
