In delivery terms, it meant that more than 96 per cent of orders were fulfilled immediately from existing stock - and Ford is, naturally, delighted with its performance.

"This is great news for Ford dealers and independent garages, as first-time fills help ensure efficient workshop throughput as well as minimising vehicle downtime for private and fleet customers," says Simon Psaila, director of Ford's customer service division.

The parts centre houses 100,000 different product lines, including components for Ford vehicles up to 10 years after model run-out. The top 500 fast-moving parts - a mere 0.5 per cent of all product lines - account for 25 per cent of the centre's businesses. The first-time order fill level for these is 98 per cent.

"These are the best results in the centre's 30-year history and we aim to perform even better in 2003," says centre manager Andrew Blaber.