Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016 - (Page 52)

FIXED OPS JOURNAL " "To really sell parts, it takes a large investment. You've got to be in it and committed, and it has to be run really well." JUSTIN GILLIAM, parts and service operations manager, Ford Motor Co.'s Houston region TEXAS-SIZED STORAGE ■ Houston dealership is Ford Motor's largest seller of new parts JEFF YIP foj@autonews.com H OUSTON - The colossal parts warehouse at Russell & Smith Ford here affirms the notion that everything is bigger in Texas. Russell & Smith was Ford Motor Co.'s largest U.S. dealership for parts sales in 2015, moving $60.7 million worth of new parts. About 86 percent of those sales were wholesale. The warehouse has a footprint bigger than a football field. Russell & Smith also is a clearinghouse for parts distribution to other Ford dealerships in its region. From 2012 through 2015, Russell & Smith's parts sales grew 54 percent. Its parts director, Max Gill, said the dealership is on track to repeat its 2015 performance this year, "and hopefully a little more." "You can't do without a car" in Texas, Gill told Fixed Ops Journal. "When your car is broken down, the first reaction of a lot of people is: 'I want it fixed as Gill: Dealership soon as possible.' There's is on track to more sense of urgency to match or better procure the part needed '15 performance. to fix the problem." In an office next to the dealership's twoperson parts counter, Russell & Smith's wholesale operation employs 11 specialists. They use phones, fax machines, email, social media and websites such as collisionlink. com to order and sell parts. Ryan Goodlett, Russell & Smith's parts manager, says the dealership maintains an inventory of more than 200,000 items. Although the dealership keeps in stock any part that sells at least three times a year, he said, 88 percent of the inventory is no more than 90 days old. The warehouse does a brisk business in bumpers, headlights and taillights. Bumpers alone fill row upon row of towering industrial shelves along both sides of an aisle that's the length of a city block. Windshields, door skins, pickup beds and other sheet metal also require a lot of storage space. The warehouse stocks an abundance of PAGE 52 AUGUST 2016 Russell & Smith Ford's parts warehouse is bigger than a football field, uses three conveyor belts, and employs 40 people. Parts plus Sales of new Ford parts by Russell & Smith Ford, in millions of dollars 2012 ........$39.5 2014 ........$56.4 2013 ........$48.9 2015 ........$60.7 Source: Russell & Smith Ford nuts, bolts, tubing, trim items and other smaller parts. Three conveyor belts help keep things moving. On weekdays, about 40 warehouse employees stock and fill orders. To get parts to customers quickly - often the same day - Russell & Smith relies on a logistics company and its contract drivers. Each weekday, 27 trucks that handle only Russell & Smith orders deliver parts to dealership and independent body shops, repair centers and fleet businesses in the Houston area. To respond to orders from elsewhere in Texas, as well as major cities in Louisiana Parts manager Ryan Goodlett pulls one of the 200,000-plus parts stored in the warehouse. and Oklahoma, Russell & Smith fills and sends out four 24-foot trailers each day to satellite hubs. These hubs add parts for other dealerships that also are distributed. At the same time, Russell & Smith receives SEE PARTS, NEXT PAGE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Service Counter
Legal Lane
Treading confidently
'Tis the season
Profit Builder
Valet service
Richard Truett
OEConnection
Changing oil:
Photo story
Trade-off
Toyota way
Feedback
Lone star
Airbag recall
Forging links
Top 50
5 Minutes With
Shop Talk
Fixed in Time

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016