ALL Ford Truck Specialist dealers, and there are 141 of
Page 110
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
them in Britain, carry a large stock of parts—typically around £250,000 worth— and the majority of most parts are available on demand.
However, inevitably there are some parts which are not stocked or are temporarily out of stock when you want them. How do you go about getting them?
Ford says the simple answer is to order them through the dealer there and then.
Far too many operators choose not to order, but go on to try other dealers in the area. Sometimes this works, but as often as not the part is in short supply and is out of stock at a number of dealers.
Naturally, the operator is annoyed at having wasted a lot of time and effort. He would have been far better off to have ordered the part in the first place. The parts man knowing the model type and chassis number can refer to a microfilm parts list for the part number and if he puts the order through the normal ordering channel it would come within seven to ten days.
This is fine if the part is not vital—a trim part, for example—but obviously a quicker turn-round is needed' if the vehicle is off road waiting for the part.
In this instance the parts man can order the part on a VOR (vehicle off road) status. If a VOR order is phoned or telexed by 11.00am, the Ford Parts Centre at Daventry guarantees to dispatch it the same day, ensuring delivery by the next day at the latest. Parts are transported to one of nine break-bulk depots where they are sorted overnight ready for dispatch early the following day to dealers in the area.
In even more urgent cases the parts man can order the part on "will call" basis and the operator can pick up the part himself from Daventry within about three hours of it being ordered.
Ford emphasises that these parts services are obtainable only through Truck Specialist Dealers; operators cannot contact Daventry direct.
Most TSDs operate a daily parts delivery service and in most cases the operator need only phone the dealer for a part and it will be delivered the following day. For fleets who carry out their own
servicing and maintenance TSDs will sometimes arrange a stock of fast-moVing parts, The inventory is replenished on a daily basis from the dealer's stock. In this way operators can cover themselves for most eventualities barring breakdowns on the road or, accidents.
Buying in bulk is always advantageous and it is possible for big fleet users to negotiate rates centrally and yet have the parts supplied regionally through a number of dealers. Also an increasing number of Motorcraft "all makes" parts are becoming available for heavy commercial vehicles. Motorcraft parts already include hoses, wiper blades and arms, electrics, antifreeze and filters.
Those operators who take their D-Series abroad should also rely on the TSDs in the countries they are visiting. There are some 450 TSDs throughout the Continent, virtually one in every major city, and they work along similar lines to the dealers in the UK. The VOR system works in just the same way drawing in the main from company parts warehouses in the country concerned.
Any orders which cannot be filled from these national warehouses are automatically referred by telex to Ford's massive Parts complex at Daventry. In the case of a VOR request the parts would be air freighted to the nearest point to the dealer.
Daventry which appears in the Guiness Book of Records as the largest single-story building in the UK—holds £35 million worth of parts and handles orders at the rate of 43,000 per day or some 300 tons of parts per day. • Stephen Gray