Iveco delivers enhanced parts support around the clock
Watford, 4 July 2012
Iveco has enhanced the level of parts support available to customers in the UK and Ireland, delivering what Parts and Services Director David Power believes is a “truly world-class aftersales service”.
Local market parts stock
Iveco and its dealer network collectively hold more than £20 million of original equipment Iveco Origin parts within the UK – £10 million worth held centrally at Iveco’s customer services hub in Winsford, and a further £10 million spread across its 96 franchised dealers. Iveco Origin stocks in the Republic of Ireland total approximately €500,000, with full access to Winsford supplies on a next-day basis.
An innovative stock replenishment system, Ramses, monitors parts sales to enable Iveco to constantly review local stock levels. This allows staff in Winsford to be increasingly smarter and more sophisticated in selecting the range and quantity of parts it holds. As a result, a greater spread of part numbers can be carried locally, but with less depth of stock – albeit with stringent procedures in place to ensure stock is replenished more frequently.
“Offering a broader range of parts means we can reduce the occasions when a specific part or component is not available,” says David Power.
“Some parts have a limited shelf-life as they incorporate components such as rubber seals, which lose condition over time. This means you can’t simply pile stocks high in warehouses – components need to be fresh; just as they are when fitted on the production line. Ramses helps us to constantly optimise the mix of parts we stock by adjusting volumes to suit local market demand.”
Currently more than 98 per cent of all replacement parts for European-spec Iveco Group vehicles are available from the Winsford warehouse for delivery to dealers on a next-day, pre-8am basis. Of the less than 2 per cent not currently available from Winsford, the majority are non-urgent, less frequently required parts, such as pieces of vehicle trim, which can be quickly sourced from the Continent.
Power explains: “No automotive manufacturer would claim to have 100 per cent of parts available 100 per cent of the time; there will always be issues to contend with which are beyond normal control – such as the Japanese Tsunami in 2011, which impacted on component supply worldwide. That’s why it’s important to have robust procedures in place in the case of a part not being available immediately.
“Iveco has taken significant steps over the last two years to optimise its aftermarket parts support. We’re confident our systems today are amongst the very best in the industry.”
Out-of-hours parts supply
Iveco operates an out-of-hours ‘Latecall’ service enabling parts to be ordered remotely after 6pm, and still be delivered to the dealership ready for fitment or onward delivery to customers by 8am the next day.
Latecall orders can be taken and processed until the parts ordering cut-off time for next day delivery, which varies depending on each dealer’s geographic location in relation to Winsford. For dealers furthest away (i.e. Scotland or the South West), the order cut-off time is 9pm. After 9pm, Iveco’s 24/7 ‘Niteline’ service is activated (see below).
“Our parts cut off times are amongst the best in the industry,” says Power. “We’ve focused on optimising everything from our picking and packing speed, to all elements of the logistical chain. This ensures we can process orders even late at night and still deliver to dealers by 8am the following morning.”
The Niteline service supplements Latecall, allowing dealers to order parts by telephone and pick them up directly in Winsford 24/7, 365 days a year. For dealers which cannot send a driver to Winsford, Iveco has a team of couriers on standby throughout the night to deliver Niteline orders, delivering time-critical parts direct to dealers or customers across the UK – including on weekends and Bank Holidays.
Dealer stock database
In the unlikely event an Iveco part is not available from a dealer’s own stock, or centrally from Winsford, the dealer can check availability with other local Iveco dealers.
Staff at Winsford can also see which dealer last ordered a specific part, and will proactively check to see whether it is still available on the shelf. If it is, Iveco can arrange to courier the component from one dealer to the next.
Iveco dealers and staff can also access an internal system referred to as the ‘goldfish bowl’. This allows them to search the parts inventory of every European Iveco dealer – literally hundreds of different dealerships. If a part is available within the network, no matter where in Europe, it can be ordered and express couriered to the UK.
Windelivery
Operational since 1997, Iveco Windelivery was created to improve customer service in the event of an urgent part not being directly available in-country, or from the European dealer network. The service has continued to be refined, and today allows Iveco UK to escalate critical parts orders via the Turin head office.
In the event of a part not being available from UK or dealer stocks, the Windelivery system allows the Winsford team to check Iveco’s central parts warehouses in Italy, Germany, France and Spain (which collectively hold more than £100 million of Iveco Origin parts). If the part is still not available, the Windelivery system will check with the original supplier, whether in-house or external (i.e. Fiat Powertrain or Allison). If the part is still unavailable, Iveco will arrange to source the part from its own production lines.
“Windelivery ensures we benefit from one of the largest commercial vehicle parts stocks in the world. As soon as we locate the part, we have carte blanche to use rapid air freight delivery to get that item into the UK and to our dealer, or the dealer’s customer, as quickly as possible.
“Once we have located the component required, this can usually be achieved on an overnight basis,” concludes Power.
Iveco
Iveco, a Fiat Industrial company, designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, city and intercity buses and coaches as well as special vehicles for applications such as fire fighting, off-road missions, defence and civil protection.
Iveco employs almost 25,000 people and runs in 11 Countries in the world using excellent technologies. Besides Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, Australia and Latin America. Around 5,000 sales and service outlets in over 160 Countries guarantee technical support wherever in the world an Iveco vehicle is at work.
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ref: IVECO 12021
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