Quality spares Atm invades OE markei
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VEHICLE builders tend to resent the independent manufacturers and regard their competition as unfair. But today there are some independents who supply an essential service by offering quality spare parts, one such being the highly respected Quinton Hazel! Automotive Ltd.
It manufactures some 80 per cent of its sales itself, and some 12 per cent of its domestic turnover comes from supplying ''original equipment" components. Many of its replacement sales are made through Partco, the group's own national wholesale distribution company.
Neil Estill, Quinton HazeII Automotive's commercial vehicle parts manager, told me that his company manufacture replacement parts for all the big names in the commercial vehicle world — Ford, Bedford, Seddon Atkinson, Commer. Dodge, ERF, Leyland, etc.
The parts comprises track rod ends, drag-link assemblies and drag-link ends, water pumps, universal joints, kingpin sets, shackle pins and bushes, clutches (a complete range for British and Continental trucks) and fan belts (a new range of cut-edge fan belts is to be launched in November).
Why don't the original equipment manufacturers keep the business for themselves, I asked Mr Estill.
"That's easy", he told me, "I can give you the answer in two words — service and availability.
"'Without companies like QH, those fleet operators running mixed fleets would have to go to a Bedford distributor, a Leyland distributor, a Ford distributor and so on to get all the parts for their different makes of vehicle."
However, luckily for them, the United Kingdom is blessed with some very good wholesalers who offer a complete range of commercial vehicle spares from companies like QH and other manufacturers involved in air-braking, trailer spares, friction linings etc.
''There are about 400 of these wholesalers in direct competition with the main manufac turers. They give the fleet operator a service across a complete range of vehicles and he can therefore do most of his shopping in the same place.
-These wholesalers come to QH because we are in a position to supply them with the type of spares that are not readily available from any other sources — steering, suspension and transmission lines for instance. in which QH is one of the biggest suppliers to the motor trade," he said.
Mr Estill said that companies like QH provide an essential service and actually benefit the original equipment manufacturer by helping to keep his product on the road.
QH has a wide distribution network in geographic terms 400 wholesalers covering the whole of the United Kingdom, some of them Partco depots, are served by two UK distribution centres. Annual turnover for the group is £125m, making QH one of the world's largest makers and suppliers of replacement parts.
Partco is becoming increasingly involved in the corn mercial vehicle field, as wa shown when the company took space for the first time in the recent Road Haulage Association's Tipper Convention at Harrogate, showing a full range of commercial components.
Partco has 113 branches and there are plans to step up the number specialising in commercial vehicle components to 30. Other national groups of factors are seeing the importance of the commercial vehicle market and are opening purely commercial vehicle depots.
To ensure exceptional availability. QH automotive components are distributed from the international distribution centre at Nuneaton in Warwickshire. From the 13-acre site which includes warehousing floor space of 139,000sqft, a weekly delivery service is provided to over 1,900 customers in the UK.
The centre has a sophisticated computerised stock control and conveyor belt handling system to keep orders on the move to home and export markets. It is not just a question of ivailability either — companies ike QH manufacture a quality ange of products designed .pecifically for the replacement narket. "Wherever possible, ve design our parts to ensure hat the replacement operation 5 as easy as possible and life is ,implified for the fitter,'' said Mr stil TO back up QH's desire coninually to improve its product • ange, there is a research and levelopment unit at the compaty's Colwyn Bay factory which nd erta kes the testing and deeeloprnent of all QH products ind engages in a continuous arogramme of technical mprovement and innovation.
Its prime purpose is to naintain high standards of luality engineering, to improve )rodruct performance, make life )asier for the garage mechanic n terms of case of fitting and )enerally to provide a better ornponent.
FJ1I-scale laboratory and tes:ing facilities are maintained for 311 the main product groupings, aach area being supervised by ts coin individual team of experts.
Significant technical innovajons include recent improved Jesign levels to many existing D.H products. including clutches, water pumps, drive couplings and steering and suspension components.
A measure of the confidence aH has in its research and dewelcpment expertise and the qua ity of its products, is its Increasing involvement in the Driginal equipment market, where previously there had been little activity. Already some 12 per cent of factory output is allocated to such customers as David Brown, Lansing Bagnall, Massey Ferguson and Ford Tractors. QH is also a supplier of con-ponents to companies like GKN and Leyland.
Recently QH launched its in ternationally acclaimed trailer underrider, which was a world first in vehicle safety, and has attracted a great deal of attention. When fitted to the rear of the trailers, this device absorbs the energy of rear impact collisior. . Tests have suggested that lives will be saved and accident damage to both trailer and the colliding car reduced. In fact one feature of the trailer underrider is that even after high impact collisions, it will return to its operating position with no need for expensive downtime of the trailer.
Manufactured at Colwyn Bay, the trailer underrider was developed by QH during an in
tensive two-year research and development programme with vehicle safety systems.
The company promoted its product at Europe's biggest Original equipment Show in Geneva during May this year, and it proved a great success. "We have been inundated with inquiries since the show and have been actively following up the interest during the last few months," said Mr Estill.
QH is fully committed to developing its ranges of products and enlarging its service to the market. -You will be seeing several new developments from QH over the next 12 months, which will further increase our penetration in the cv market."
The cv sector of the vehicle market is the one which will grow at a rapid rate in the corning years, and this will be apparent in all the major world markets. QH says it will not ignore this significant development.
• by Brian ChalmersHunt