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Service Bay
T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | A p r i l 2 0 1 6
By Lucas Deal, Editor
lucasdeal@randallreilly.com
Getting
S
elling premium, high-quality
products is a common differentia-
tor in the aftermarket.
Premium products not only provide
customers total cost of ownership ben-
efi ts, they also offer peace of mind.
But what makes a product "premium"?
Product design and manufactur-
ing process are undeniably important,
but to most manufacturers operating
in the aftermarket today, the defi ning
characteristic to a premium product is
quality raw materials. Even the best en-
gineering can't make up for low-quality
componentry.
As such, North American manufactur-
ers go to great lengths to develop acquisi-
tion strategies that allow them to procure
the best raw materials possible for their
production lines.
In an industry like commercial truck-
ing, there's no substitute for the best.
"We're in an industry where so many
of the parts we buy [and assemble] are
truly safety critical," says James Koller,
purchasing manager of commodities at
Navistar. "We have to take the purchasing
of those materials very seriously, because
we know everything we put into a truck
affects its fi nal quality and performance."
Any conversation on raw material
sourcing begins with engineering, says
Owen Smith, global director of supply
chain management at STEMCO.
STEMCO engineers determine
"exactly what materials they need" dur-
ing the design and development of new
products, then task Smith's team with
How industry manufacturers
fi nd new raw material suppliers
Getting
to the
source
