Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!
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As Daf has grown, it's imported more vehicles via Harwich. An HQ in Marlow made less and less sense. So what did it do? Bill Brock has the answer
THIS WEEK Sir Terence Beckett, director general of the CBI, opened Oaf's £3m truck and bus centre at Colchester.
The buildings were designed in 1979 to accommodate the dizzy volumes of vehicles then being imported from Eindhoven through Harwich 16 miles away. Although the road connections with the rest of the country leave much to be desired, the route from the port is very good.
Now two years old, the building and surrounding site extending to 61/4 acres with 3,720sqm (40,000sqft} under cover has until just recently been used to store vehicles.
From last February all engineering work formerly carried out at Oaf's HQ in Marlow has been attended to at Colchester. This allows the company to maintain direct control over its transport safety inspection which is made prior to each vehicle being delivered to the 23-strong main dealer network. This task was formerly undertaken by contractors at the port of entry.
Pre-delivery inspections have always been the responsibilty of the dealer but Daf now plans to undertake about 25 per cent and obtain early feedback on any faults which may develop at the production stage.
An engineering staff of 35 will handle a wide range of engineering work including chassis specification changes such as altering a wheelbase dimension and converting standard chassis to spine back distribution vehicles.
From August modifications needed to prepare mid-engined coach chassis from British coach builders will also become a major operation at Colchester with around 300 rear and midengined vehicles to provide for the 1984 season. Last year, Daf claimed 11.3 per cent of new
Above: Six two-ton overhead cranes and exhaust extractor equipment cover the whole of the 3,720sqm (40,000sqft) undercover working area, large enough to house 60 vehicles at any one time.
Right: tan Lowe, Dal's general manager of Colchester Truck and Bus Centre, runs his operation like a commercial garage but he has only one customer — Daf's sales department.
Below right: Daf Truck (GB) Ltd orders three months in advance so sometimes it may be quicker to change a wheelbase of a stock vehicle to satisfy the customer's requirements. This 6X2 has a lifting rear axle, heavy duty springs and draw-bar coupling at the rear.
coach registrations.
The UK is the largest export market for Daf and the company is currently placed in the number two slot among heavy truck importers.
Although the centre will carry around E150,000 worth of parts solely for its own use, the parts centre at Marlow is being increased in size to accommodate E2.5m of stock of which about £3/4m worth are British sourced each year. Next year the c.itre plans to diversify with pet reg vehicles bringing the operation in house.