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GUY
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see British Leyland
LEYLAND
see British Leyland
MAGIRUS DEUTZ
Operators can go direct to the Winsford headquarters of Magirus Deutz for spares, but the customer's distributor will be contacted to ensure that the order is a genuine emergency and the invOice will be sent to the distributor. The proper method, however, is to try the–dis-tributor first.
Parts are sent by the quickest available method such as Red Star or Securicor or they can be picked up by customer's own messenger. Parts for Ireland and Scotland are airfreighted from Manchester.
If the part is not available from Winsford then telex will be sent to Germany. If this is done before 3 pm. the part will be dispatched from Stuttgart on the following day. The problem is that there is a flight from Stuttgart to Manchester three times a week only, so urgently needed spares may take 24 hours, or 48 hours. In exceptional circum stances new vehicles w ill be "robbed".
MAN
Sales of MAN vehicles only really got going in February — but already there are 21 dealers appointed, and conditional on these appointments is a requirement for them to carry at least £10,000 of stock.
There is no regular stock order system yet, but from next January a monthly stock order will be pro vided from MAN's new headquarters at Bradford with a twice monthly facility later if required.
Emergency orders can be phoned, or for preference, telexed. These will be handled immediately and il received before 2.30 pm and under 19 kg (421b) will be dispatched same day by Securicor. The company has its own countep at Bradford and will deal direct with operators ii required.
For any items not immediately in stock an order placed by telex tc Munich by 2.30 pm will be air freighted to London the same day and with luck cleared by a forwarding agent the following day.
MAZDA
The only Mazda commercial vehicle sold in the UK at present is the B1600 pick-up. There are 180 dealers in the UK, drawing routine spares monthly from the main parts centre at Tunbridge Wells. There is also a more frequent "rush order system for stock replenishment.
VOR orders are accepted from dealers by phone or answer phone and provided the order is received by 10am it will be ready for dispatch by 4pm for Securicor delivery nexi morning.
Mazda runs a weekly parts collection vehicle to the main European centre at Brussels from which also draws its montly stock orders for Tunbridge Wells.
The first-time pick rate in the UK is generally 85 to 87 per cent, sometimes better.
The Tunbridge Wells centre wit not deal directly with operators, bui will allow parts to be picked up by prior arrangement with the dealer.
MERCEDES-BENZ
Mercedes-Benz will be moving its spares operation for both commercial vehicles and cars to new premises in Hayes in early December.
Stock orders will be delivered to dealers twice each month. Emergency orders are dealt with in two different ways depending on locality. For the South, Midlands and part of the North, spares are delivered by the company's own vehicles. For the rest of the country the Red Star service is used with express delivery and collection door to door at each end. In either event orders received before I I am will be shipped out the same day and should be delivered to a dealer by Warn the following day.
At the moment availability for stock orders is better than 95 per cent, and for emergency orders about 95 per cent. If the part is not in stock in the UK then it will be airfreighted from Germany. There are regular flights with consolidateu goods from the 10 Mercedes-Benz plants in Germany to Heathrow. Parts coming from Germany will normally take about three days from receipt of telex or phone order from England. Parts can be delivered direct to customer if required, and if really desperate new vehicles being held at Wakefield will be cannibalized.
SAVIEM
Saviem trucks are imported by Nickerson Commercial Vehicles Ltd, which has set up a dealership network that draws its spares from a main parts centre at Leeds. Nickerson has set itself the target of trying to get urgently needed spares to any operator within five hours, the regular method being by the company's own vans.
Direct van delivery is also used for urgent VOR, and when items are out of stock in the UK they are airfreighted from France, the process being handled by a public freight forwarder.
The volume of spares handled to date has not yet justified setting up a regular stock order arrangement for dealers.
SCAMMELL
see British Leyland
SCAN IA
A different system of parts delivery is operated by Scania compared with other vehicle importers. Each of the eight main Scania distributors deals direct with the main factor y in Sweden. There is no plan at the moment to organize a central parts depot in this country.
Each distributor has a monthly stock order from Sweden. Any parts not stocked by a distributor will be airfreighted the same day if order is received in Sweden by 12 noon, and should be available at the distributor within 24 hours of order.
Scania claims that parts availability at the moment is about 86 per cent from distributors for stock items, and nearly 100 per cent if ordered VOR from Sweden.
SEDDON ATKINSON
Distributors receive stock orders from Seddon Atkinson's main spares operation at Bamber Bridge every month.
Seddon Atkinson are very flexible in their attitude towards emergency orders, but the normal procedure is for the distributor to contact one of five "zone men" at Bamber Bridge who then progresses the order. Provided there are no problems, such as identification, the parts will be dispatched the same day the order is received.
The quickest means of transport is used, such as BR's Red Star service, express parcels or by the company's own vans. If the part is not immediately available the component manufacturer is chased or the part will be obtained from SA's own production factories at Oldham and Preston.
Operators can go direct to SA for parts, but only if they have an order number from their usual distributor. The spares department tries to safeguard against fictitious VOR orders by insisting on the chassis number of the vehicle concerned. A very few large operators deal for all their spares requirements with SA direct, but this is a practice that is no longer encouraged and the number of such operators is much less now than in the past.
TOYOTA
The only commercial vehicle at present available here from Toyota is the Hiace range. There are 220 dealers and 38 distributors at the moment with the spares headquarters being located at Crawley. VOR orders are sent by telex or phone to Crawley, if unobtainable from dealer or distributor and these should be with distributors within 21/2 days.
Customer can •contact Crawley direct, but spares are invoiced and delivered to distributor or dealer. By prior arrangement with the dealer parts can be 'collected or delivered direct to the customer. In the UK a 93 per cent first-time pick is the norm. For a really urgent order Toyota in Europe or Japan can be contacted, but delivery from Japan, depending on part, would normally take three weeks to the customer.
VOLKSWAGEN
Normal stock orders are 'delivered to dealers every month, with all ordering being carried out centrally by VW on behalf of the dealer, Ramsgate is the location of the main warehouse, and there are three other warehouses supplying dealers in their particular territory.
Orders for VOR items are taken by phone and answer phone. In normal circumstances orders will be delivered within 24 hours of the order being received with Securicor, Red Star and express parcels services being the normal means of transport.
There is no facility for customers to go direct to any of the VW depots, all orders having to go through a dealer.
VOLVO
Thirty-four outlets handle Volvo trucks although this number is soon to be increased to 40. The headquarters for this network is at the Irvine parts division of Ailsa, the Volvo truck concessionaire. Parts availability at Irvine is generally 100 per cent.
Distributors are required to carry a level of spares which represents 80 per cent availability and which covers all known fast-moving items. The remaining 20 per cent are regarded as VOR items, and these are normally available from Irvine within 24 hours. To meet the highestpriority VOR calls, vehicles will be can iba lized.
Operators cannot approach directly but must go through a distributor first. If the part is not available at Irvine then it should still be in the distributor's hands within 24 hours, since Ailsa will have it flown from Sweden, at no extra cost to operator. A check is made every Friday by Ailsa service engineers who phone every' distributor and dealer to find out how many vehicles are off the road because of lack of parts. The figure is consolidated and telexed to Irvine and to Gothenburg, and any pattern of outstanding parts is noted and rectified.
The F89 is dealt with rather differently from others in the Volvo range because of this model's relative scarcity at the moment. Parts are stocked at strategic points and all distributors and dealers are aware of their situation and holdings.