GUARANTIED . . .
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• I read, with interest, the comment on 6 August which expressed surprise at the fact that so few vehicle bodybuilders in this country have subscribed to the SMMT code of bodybuilding. Perhaps I can make a few relevant comments on the subject.
The Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association has a membership of two and half thousand, some 219 of which are bodybuilders subscribing to the VBRA Guarantee Scheme. Based on your figures of 450 bodybuilders, this represents almost 49% of bodybuilders known to be engaged in building commercial vehicle bodies. The VBRA Guarantee gives "recognition of excellence" and "peace of mind" and in the case of a bodywork dispute under the guarantee, the Freight Transport Association will examine the vehicle and the bodybuilder will be bound by the report.
Both the VBRA and SMMT have been examining ways of providing customers in the bodybuilding industry with better assurance of good working practices for several years, Many VBRA members have not subscribed to the SMMT Scheme because it is too expensive for them as smaller businesses and we know of several individual cases to confirm this view.
The VBRA members do respect the SMMT code but, as I say, cost is a major factor. Under the VBRA guarantee, the customer has all the benefits of the VBRA backing.
Finally, your readers may be interested to know that the VBRA Guarantee will be officially launched at our "Bodybuilder Exhibition and Conference" to be held at St. Johns Hotel, Solihull on 28th October.
DC Hudson Membership Services Controller Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association
. . BODIES
• I was very interested in your editorial comment on 6 August and in Mr Oldroyd's letter published on 20 August.
Yes, there is a cost involved in registering under the SMMT Quality Code — nothing that's worthwhile is free. However, the initial application fee covers BSI's costs in checking a bodybuilder's Quality Assurance manual, while the annual renewal fee brings with it inclusion in BSI's "Buyer's Guide" and the DTI's "Register of Assessed Firms". There is, too, some additional administration, though experience has shown that the extent of this is often over-estimated by companies interested in the Code.
Initially, someone has to review existing Quality Assurance systems and, where this has not already been done, codify them. This work can be done in-house or by (grantaided) use of consultants.
A properly documented and tested Quality Assurance system should not need extra staff to administer it. (In my experience, large bodybuilders are at least as keen as small/ medium sized ones to avoid taking on extra administrative staff.) The system must, however, be regularly reviewed and there must be someone with clearly defined responsibility for its operation and review. Regular visits by BSI staff help this process.
The "Customer Care Package" included in the Quality Code goes further than simply requiring the bodybuilder to give a warranty. Bodybuilders have to certify that they pass on the benefits of proprietory warranties, have proper product liability insurance, and insure customers' vehicles while they are under the bodybuilders' control. There is also a need for conciliation and arbitration procedures to resolve any disputes between a bodybuilder and his customers.
Opinions about the value of the Code are tending to become more favorable as the implications of the Product Liability Legislation are realised — for instance, the code already addresses such issues as record keeping and traceability of components. Nonetheless, I expect that debate will continue to be as vigorous in future as it has been in the past!
Information about the Code is freely available from my office. Written requests for copies of the Code should be sent to SMMT's Administration Department at Forbes House, Halkin Street, London, SW1X
THE UCENCE HUNT
• Having recently purchased four new replacement HGV vehicles I have taken on what has become the frustrating task of applying for exchange vehicle 0 licence identity discs. Having waited several weeks for them to be processed (meanwhile having the annoyance of vehicles being stopped by police and ministry enquiring why the discs are not displayed) you can imagine my anger when having finally received the discs — two of them had been printed with an incorrect registration number. I have now had to return these 7DS. My telephone number is 01-235 7000 extn. 235. Bodybuilders interested in the Code are more than welcome to ring me.
R Davis Secretary, SMMT Bodybuilders Quality Code for correction (more hassle from police etc) As if this isn't enough to bear, I have just received one plating certificate from The Department of Transport, Swansea with, yes, you guessed it, an incorrect registration number!
If only we could fine the Department of Transport for its errors as it is quick enough to do so for ours (drivers hours, overloading etc), but no. In the eyes of the Department of Transport and the police we hauliers are supposed to be immune to human error.
Name and address supplied iii Arthur Pinkney has come up with a novel way of making money by cutting operators' costs — he sells what he claims are genuine MAN spares for 35% below their normal retail prices by cutting out the middle men.
Imexpart, Pinlaity's maverick parts company from Castleford in West Yorkshire, buys spares direct from the continental manufacturers which supply MAN Munich itself, thus reaching the parts that official MAN dealers cannot reach.
Like most good ideas, it is perfectly simple: "It all started when I identified a problem in MAN's spare parts prices," says Pinkney. "I was parts manager for a MAN dealer at the time and I thought that MAN's importers were really cashing in. I realised that if I set up on my own I could supply 99% of all MAN's spare part lines at considerably lower prices". He stocks 1,500 different product lines.
He decided to go it alone and became a specialist component importer at the beginning of 1986. The firm has been more successful than Finkney's most ambitious plans and in its first year it turned over £300,000 worth of MAN spares.
He has £60,000 worth of parts in stock at any one time and supplies only heavy truck spares. He reckons this is more than the average MAN dealer, though he has no central back up like MAN Milton Keynes to call upon in an emergency.
About 70% of a typical MAN truck is built from parts supplied by outside contractors, says Pinkney, and he goes to the French, German and Italian factories of those contractors to buy their brake shoes, engines, filters, lights, bumpers, batteries and the like direct, at source. How did he know who and where they are? "I knew a lot of the names from my days with MAN," he says, "and some of the others I've tracked down at continental motor shows like Frankfurt".
THE REAL THING
Pinkney stresses that his spares are the real thing: "We are definitely not into spurious parts," he says. Imexpart goes to a lot of trouble to make sure it finds the original part as supplied to MAN's production lines in Germany. "The normal chain of events is that the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sells his part to MAN in Germany so that it can be built into the truck," says Pinkney. "MAN then sells the spares it has bought to the importer and the importer will sell those parts on again to the UK dealer. The dealer at the end of the chain sells the parts on again to the end user."
He has also taken the concept one stage further by making his own parts. Glass-reinforced plastic cab body panels, for example, are made for Pinkney by a local West Yorkshire plastics company. The firm made the moulds for the panels from the original MAN steel panels. The GRP versions sell well, and colour matching is excellent. He has become a smalltime rival manufacturer. "I just make sure that operators don't have to pay through the nose — it is as simple as that," says Pinkney.
Imexpart also offers a comprehensive