Take a proactive approach to combat
the perils of economic
uncertainty

1. Stock profiles

Businesses and individuals alike are well accustomed to the convenience of speedy delivery for anything from car parts to home appliances.

But as the cost of fuel increases and delivery costs rise with them, dealership and garage parts departments are turning to larger stock profiles that hold larger quantities of goods to help reduce costs and keep vehicle turnaround efficient. Having an agile parts storage solution that can adapt to varying stock profiles as required is a simple but solid future proofing measure that any parts department can take.

Paul Booth: “Efficient and effective storage all about how you configure and optimise it within your workshop footprint and that’s our expertise. That’s what sets us apart from everyone else. Anyone can fill a room with racking, but when they walk away from it, will it work efficiently? We have a formula of storage density per square metre, and once we calculate that, we can identify how much space a client will need to be efficient.”

Linco Automotive is a specialist partner with SSI Schaefer, one of the world’s leading storage manufacturers. Its shelving and racking systems are specifically designed for the automotive aftermarket sector, and benefit from galvanised steel components that are both strong and durable, thanks to a protective coating that stops corrosion. Critically, it is easily adjusted – there are no nuts, bolts or screws – and is totally scalable and adapts with your stock profile, making it completely user-friendly and future-proof.

Lee Satloka: “The ability to store a healthy stock of parts is essential for efficiency. Without it, technicians face costly delays and turnaround times are slow. It was once considered that a parts department was the poor relation in a dealership, but in actual fact, a well organised and well-run parts department is the second strongest profit centre behind the workshop, with sales coming in third.”

2. Electric vehicles

As we have already heard from the SMMT, sales of EVs are the one bright spot when it comes to the current car market. More than a fifth of new registrations in the first half of 2022 were EVs, and in an overall market that shrank by 12%, sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) grew by 56% to 115,250.

It’s evidence of how quickly British motorists are adopting EVs, even in the extremely distorted marketplace still suffering from all the aforementioned woes.

Paul Booth: “There’s a common misconception that you don’t need as many parts for electric vehicles because they don’t have a combustion engine with all its moving parts.

“However, to be EV-ready, parts departments need a dedicated area to store EV parts. Those vehicles still have to be serviced so parts departments need to find additional space for line items such as handles, switches, wheels, brakes and tyres, many of which have their own storage needs and which have to be kept separate to parts for the conventional combustion engine.”

At Linco automotive, our consultancy, design, supply and installation services are highly valued by our large and high-profile customer base. The specialist advice, designs and project management we provide optimises their storage space and helps them to operate efficiently and cost effectively. No two needs or solutions are identical, so we apply years of industry knowledge and experience to tailor bespoke solutions using anything from shelving and racking to mezzanine floors and partitions.

That experience and expertise is invaluable for a business configuring its storage needs to cater for EV and traditional vehicles within its existing footprint, and it could even remove the possibility of a costly relocation exercise of finding and adapting new premises.

And it should also be remembered, that even if a model is discontinued, parts have to be available for 12 years after, so the likelihood of replacing parts for older petrol and diesel cars with EV parts is minimal for the near future at least.

3. Changing business models

Linco Automotive is known for its exceptional track record for delivering projects of varying sizes across the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Europe.

During their extensive business travel, Paul and Lee have seen evidence that an older model of dealership structure once popular in the 1970s is making a revival, borne of economic necessity; and that is the multi-franchise site.

There are examples of this model dotted around the UK, where motor groups are consolidating brands under one roof to limit the costs of running multiple sites, making savings on property, rent, energy and staffing.

Lee Satloka: “Congestion charges may be another reason they are adopting this approach – relocating out of congestion charge zones to avoid the associated costs of not only their own vehicles coming and going, but those of their customers too.”

The concept of a multi-franchise site requires great care, especially the meticulous planning and design of its parts and service departments to cater for the variety of marques and vehicles sharing a single site.

Paul Booth: “Linco Automotive has all the solutions under one roof. We have extensive experience of working on projects from their inception to the grand opening. We attend site surveys and meetings, submit innovative, bespoke, competitively priced proposals and produce scaled drawings. Our expertise also means we can make quick, real-time revisions on-site should the need arise.

“We’re also exceptionally proud of our personable approach, which means we can integrate seamlessly with wider project teams, while our proactive and agile approach to project management ensures our installations are delivered on time, on budget and to our exceptional standards.”

Despite the fact that many car manufacturers share common components that are essentially identical except for serial numbers or logos, internal manufacturer auditing requires that stock purchased for one brand, even if identical, needs to be stored completely separately from other brand parts.