PSA is creating a ‘hub and spoke’ network of dealer group managed parts suppliers.
The change has been brought about by an acknowledgement of a lack of adequate service by the manufacturer from its current single warehouse in Coventry. It supplies 500 locations with parts once a day.
Richard Dyson, PSA director of parts and service, said this was not delivering adequate customer service or the profitability expected.
There are six pilot hubs. There are three operated by PSA dealer groups in West Midlands, East Midlands and the North West, plus another operated by Hawkins in Cornwall, and Truscotts and Vospers in Devon.
By the end of March a planned total of 30 regional hubs will be supplied by Coventry, Dyson said.
“Rather than only being able to supply 500 locations once a day with too many people simply dabbling at parts, we plan to have 30 centres of excellence delivering three times a day. They will provide a better service to the franchised and independent suppliers and therefore to customers and also improve business profitability, which we will invest back into the network.”
He expects existing PSA dealers to constitute the hub network.
Jeremy has been a journalist for 30 years, 20 of which have been in business-to-business automotive. He was a writer and news editor on AM-sister brand Fleet News for three years before setting up the AM website. For the last five years he has been Bauer B2B’s head of digital helping to manage the digital assets of AM, together with Fleet News, Commercial Fleet, Rail and Smart Transport.
Jake White - 01/12/2015 16:47
I think that this is a good change. I think that it's a good strategy to have 30 centres that deliver three times a day. Hopefully this will make things more efficient. Thanks for sharing this information.