Imexpart runs a parts bypass operations getting MAN spares into
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the hands of British truckers cheaper than anyone else. The idea behind the cost-cutting is simplicity itself.
secondhand parts list, which Pinkney says he did not do as a parts manager in the official dealer network. "You buy as seen with our second-hand stock," he says. "We don't offer any guarantees." The new parts, however, do come with 12-month unlimited distance warranties, which includes radiators and gearboxes.
The dubious are won over by the guarantee and Pinkney's honest admission that unlike ZF, which reconditions the MAN boxes, Imexpart's local reconditioncry only puts in new components where necessary. "ZF puts in a new component whether it needs replacing or not," claims Pinkney.
The secondhand parts are proving very attractive to Imexpart's customers, 60% of whom are owner drivers_ It was a sense of frustration which led to the creation of Pinkney's operation: "I think, looking back," he says, "I just got bloody annoyed working in the system. I would see people regularly bodging jobs and putting false or spurious parts on their MANs because they could not afford to buy the real thing."
He has few criticisms of the MAN product itself, in fact he is a fan of the marque. He is also knowledgable about it: "We always put the official MAN retail price on our invoices alongside our price so that the customers know what they are saving," he says.
Being a maverick means you can wander where you like too. Imexpart, according to Pinkney, "sells all over the country. When I worked for a dealership, we were only allowed to sell within a 45 to 50Iun radius. Imexpart also offers 24-hour availability, seven days a week and there is a guaranteed 24-hour delivery service to any point on the UK mainland if needed in an emergency", provided he has the part. in stock in the first place.
TAKING A RISK
One of the biggest problems Pinkney faced in starting up on his own was getting the money together and deciding on initial stock levels.
He got a National Coal Board Enterprise allowance loan to help him set things up in an area of high unemployment and pit closures and looked into options such as extended credit from his continental suppliers, provided he guaranteed payment at a specified time: "I buy a lot through export houses," he says. When I started, I just took a straight risk. I sent out all the parts people wanted and hoped that they would pay me as quickly as possible. Fortunately, more than half of them paid by return of post and we started out with 150 good customers. We have kept on doing better than envisaged."
It has not all been plain sailing however: "The local MAN dealers were very concerned when I started out," he says. "I know that their sales went down, but now we are doing more and more business out of this area. I honestly think that there is plenty of room for both us and the official network to co-exist. In fact, I know quite a few operators we have kept In the MAN net. There were several firms who were considering selling their MANs because spares prices were making their running costs far too high Using us they have decided to keep their MANs on." He took a lot of flak from former colleagues initially however.
Imexpart's sales technique is idiosyncratic. "If any of us see a MAN on the road, we write down the operator's address and send him a mail shot," says Pinkney. "I usually get one out of every two corning back to me,"
ON TARGET
Imexpart is on target to hit the £400,000 turnover mark this year. Pinkney is not sure that he wants to grow much further than that at present. Fast moving lines include shackle pins and bushes, swinging shackles, anti-roll bar kits, wheel studs and nuts, and seats.
Pinkney will not stop growing, however. Irrepressible ambition will see to that.
He would be the first to admit he does not stock everything, but he is confident he can cope with the majority of requests. So confident, in fact, he now sells Mercedes spares like brake drums, wheel studs, parabolic springs, shackle pin kits and steering components alongside the MAN lines.
He also has his eye on Volvo and Daf spares. "We've done well," he says, "and I think that's probably because we're doing something that I have not seen anyone else doing . ." yet.
by Geoff Hadwick