Pictured above: Passionate about parts… that's
Alex Mills, of Roger Dyson Group
Leading vehicle recovery systems specialist Roger Dyson Group is
making new investments to take what is already the industry's
finest parts service to an even higher level.
The company is poised to install a new computer system that will
give its parts team speedier access to detailed information about
vehicle conversions completed at its factory in Droitwich,
Worcestershire. Some were built years ago but are still on the
road.
Parts Manager Alex Mills explains: "Roger Dyson has been
building recovery vehicles for four decades and, because they are
of such high quality, a surprisingly high proportion of them are
still in service today.
"For older products we've been using traditional line drawings
to identify the parts that our customers require but, of course,
this can be quite time-consuming.
"So while the increased functionality of the new system will
enable us to improve our parts stocking and picking performance
across the board, it will be particularly beneficial when it comes
to older recovery systems because for the first time these will be
on the computer too."
Alex and his team keep more than 2,000 lines on the shelves at
Roger Dyson's purpose-built, two-storey parts facility. Since it
opened a couple of years ago parts turnover has increased by some
40 per cent - evidence of the company's impressive sales success
and the fact that more Dyson-built conversions are out in the
field, doing the job.
"We're now handling upwards of 250 orders per month," continues
Alex. "And because we understand that when a vehicle is off the
road it's not earning its owner money, we treat every one with the
utmost urgency. In fact, all but a tiny handful of the orders we
receive, go straight out on a next-day delivery service."
Roger Dyson has parts supply contracts with major customers such
as the RAC and, as well as its own comprehensive product range,
also stocks components for NRC heavy vehicle recovery systems and
Landoll travelling axle trailers - it is the sole UK distributor
for both companies, which are based, respectively, in Canada and
the United States.
Orders come in from all over the world including, over the last
few weeks:
Barbados, where a customer required parts for his Dyson
Hydraloader slideback, and Dubai, where an operator still
running a spectacle lift that dated back to the early 1990s wanted
replacements for some worn pins and bushes.
Alex and his team regularly receive plaudits from customers for
their high standard of service - the assistance provided recently
to Essex Police in supplying and configuring a new remote
transmitter, for example, prompted a written acknowledgement
thanking them for "excellent service" that "proved invaluable and
allowed us to get the vehicle back on the road in one day".
For Alex, the job remains every bit as interesting and enjoyable
as it was when he first took it on six years ago. "We're always
looking to improve our service and I still get a real kick out of
solving a difficult problem for a customer," he says.