When it comes to selling truck and trailer parts, Parts Distributing Company finds itself going farther so that its customers don't have to.
The company, based in Grapevine, Texas, has been growing significantly in recent years. In business since 1976, Parts Distributing Company has extended its reach by supplementing its original Dallas-area location with three other parts distribution centers that place parts closer to the customer.
The company now serves aftermarket and trailer manufacturer customers from locations in Sparks, Nevada; Louisville, Kentucky; and Garner, North Carolina (Raleigh area); in addition to its flagship warehouse near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Louisville is the company's newest branch, opening five years ago.
To keep pace with increased demand, Parts Distributing Company virtually doubled the size of its Texas location earlier this year. The facility is now 200,000 square feet. The company also has added 10,000 square feet to its Sparks location and expanded the Louisville location by 15,000 square feet. All expansions have been completed within the past 12 months.
One of the advantages the Dallas area expansion provides is space for a new assembly line for OEM and service axle production.
“We wanted the capability to produce 2,500 axles per month,” says Robert Lindley, general manager. He says the line routinely produces 1,500 axles per month already and is pleased that the line has the additional capacity to meet growing market demand.
The expansion also created more room for the company's packaging department — another growth area. The department packages the growing line of truck and trailer parts that PDC markets under its “Power Products” brand.
The Power Products line consists of a wide range of products manufactured for Parts Distributing Company by manufacturing plants from a variety of countries.
“We source products from almost 20 countries, from every industrialized continent in the world,” Lindley says.
Lindley says the company has a staff of five inspectors, including four engineers, to monitor the quality of its overseas suppliers that produce the products sold under the Power Products brand.
“They perform plant inspections, examine the quality of parts as they are produced, and evaluate the quality of the materials from which the parts are made,” Lindley says. “These inspectors provide a valuable service to us. We have to make sure the quality is there. It's our name on the parts.”
Lindley says the inspectors protect the company and its customers from inferior products.
“Products are coming into this country that shouldn't,” he says. “But on the other hand, we here in the United States do not have a monopoly on quality. Engineering and manufacturing expertise is now global.”
Of all the products the company sells, the Power Products line represents 65% of sales. The balance comes from new parts from major truck and trailer component manufacturers such as Firestone, Gabriel, Baldwin, and Truck-Lite.
The company strives to offer OEM quality at competitive costs. For manufacturing plants producing parts for the Power Products brand, this means meeting the company's product specifications for quality and performance.
Parts Distributing Company handles more than 200 product lines and almost 20,000 part numbers. That includes the Power Products line, which the company says consists of seven broad categories: air brake and wheel ends, electrical, exhaust systems, lighting, load control, power train, and tools and shop equipment.
Making the sale
PDC relies on a variety of methods for making the sale. They include a Web site through which customers can place orders and a growing staff of field service representatives. The company also does a brisk business from customers who phone in their orders.
Parts Distributing Company recently completed a major upgrade to its call center. The 20 sales people who field incoming phone calls from customers now benefit from custom call management software that routes incoming calls to the next available representative.
“Our call center allows us to expedite orders quickly, provide effective follow-up, and process special requests the same day,” Lindley says. “This custom software routes calls with no waiting. It's more customer friendly. Plus, it helps us identify trends regarding the types of calls we receive, when we receive them, and how well we respond.”