Assessing the quality and deliverability of aftermarket parts can be a challenge for fleets. Aaron Bickford, senior director for brake and wheel end at Meritor, discusses criteria to consider when selecting an aftermarket replacement part, and the importance of response time to deliver that part to the shop in a timely manner.
Transcription of interview:
Erica Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Welcome to VSP News: Uptime Update. I am your host Erica Schueller, Editor-in-Chief of Fleet Maintenance magazine, covering all maintenance, all management, all vehicle classes, all the time.
Quality aftermarket parts can provide a more cost-effective alternative to original equipment components, while still offering similar quality and performance. But, there are considerations to keep in mind when determining the best part to use.
We talked with Aaron Bickford, senior director for brake and wheel end at Meritor on criteria to consider when selecting an aftermarket replacement part.
Aaron Bickford, Meritor: When you’re making a trade-off between an OE genuine part and an aftermarket part, you have to understand what trade-offs you’re making in cost, durability and performance.
We’ve been doing a lot of benchmarking as we develop the MACH product line and what we’re finding is a tremendous amount of variability in the aftermarket parts.
You have to ensure that the company engineering the aftermarket part that you’re intending to buy knows what they’re doing, and is making the right trade-offs.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: It’s not just enough to have a suitable replacement part, timing is also critical to maximize vehicle uptime. Bickford shares what’s being done to assist fleets with receiving parts in a timely manner.
Bickford, Meritor: At Meritor, we’re putting the parts closer to the customer. With a new west coast distribution center, Canadian distribution center and our existing Edmonton and Kentucky distribution centers.
We’re also shortening the response time by shipping the customers out of the west coast distribution center same-day if the order is received by 4 PM.
And, we’re improving the fill rate, consistently hitting 94 percent and at times exceeding a 97 percent fill rate for the customers.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Also as it relates to response time, Meritor recently launched a program called Driveshaft on Demand. Bickford shares more information on how this program may be beneficial to fleets.
Bickford, Meritor: Today when a fleet needs a driveshaft they order it from any number of people based on their location. The product quality, the component quality can be variable.
With Meritor Driveshaft on Demand, you get a consistent product built with Meritor components for all makes of vehicles, and it’s built to the Meritor production specifications. We can get that to you in 24 hours. So no matter where you are in the country, you can get a consistent product quickly, and you know the quality.
It’s also a program that’s easy to work with because MeritorPartsExpress.com is the entry point to ordering these driveshafts.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Speaking of aftermarket parts trends, Meritor recently launched a new lineup of aftermarket brands to address the needs of a truck’s lifecycle. For more information on those brands, check out the link below.
Thank you for tuning in to VSP News Uptime Update, I’m your host Erica Schueller.
Until our next broadcast, keep up with this, and other industry topics, by visiting us online at VehicleServicePros.com.
Find out more about Meritor's new lineup of aftermarket brands.
