FORGING A NEW LINK IN THE A.D.C. CHAIN.
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An Important Service Depot in Birmingham.
HIT HER T 0, the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., and, the Daimler Co., Ltd., have had separate depots in many important centres for the repair of the commercial vehicles made and sold by them. On November 15th the first combined depot of the Associated Daimler Co., Ltd., was opened at 5-8, Caroline Street, Birmingham. These premises will be used as the principal service depot for Birmingham and district for A.E.C., A.D.C. and Daimler vehicles of all• ages, so that users of the different makes will benefit by the highly specialized organization made possible by the conjunction of interests in the Associated Daimler Co., Ltd.
Not only will repairs and service generally be handled.. from this address, but it will be the headquarters of the local sales organization. A purchaser of a vehicle, therefore, will be able to apply to the address with which he is familiar when he requires help to keep his vehicle in first-class running order. The ser
vice manager is Mr. C. A. Price, who has, for some years, been head of the spare parts department at IValthamstow and has supervised the service arrangements. in many other important depots. The manager is M. A. Gammon, who is already well known to Midland customers. .
Turning now to the premises themselves, these have an area of 8,000 sq. ft. approximately, there being a ground floor and basement. On the ground floor are the ..offices and a showroom, which latter is capable of .holding a large commercial chassis, facing CarolineStreet. In the window will be seen examples of various parts used in tha manufacture of the vehicles, and components will illustrate the class of workmanship employed.
In the showroom is a lift by means of which heavy spares can be raised from the basement, in which is situated the stores, thus saving much manual labour and expediting the execution of an order for urgent repairs. Behind the offices and show
room is the workshop, which is equipped with three inspection pits, the necessary battery of machine tools, an assembly bench, a washing bath for mechanical parts, blacksmith's forge and an engine bench on which power units can , be mounted, run in under belt power and then allowed to run under their own power until they are ready for delivery. The shop doors allow a covered double-deck bus to enter with ease.
In the workshop will be kept a_ breakdown lorry fitted with a complete " Ambulance " kit, which will enable it to deal with breakdowns and ditched vehicles, no matter into what quandary the victim may have fallen. This outfit will be available for service not only by day but also by night.
In the basement, carried in neatly arranged bins and racks, are spare parts and unit assemblies amounting to some £10,000 in value. These spare parts are not only for modern productions, but for chassis made several years before the war ; hence, the user of an old-type vehicle is assured service equally as efficient as the user of a 1926 machine. Loan units are kept in stock, so that while, say, an engine is being repaired, a substitute can be mounted in the chassis and the vehicle be thus kept In commission, with perhaps two days' delay instead of a fortnight. Nominal fees are charged for the use of any unit on loan, but the saying is considerable—a fact which is appreciated by all who have made use of similar service facilities.
In this way many large vehicle users have been able to reduce their stock of spare parts to one-third, thereby saving much of the capital locked up in the stores.