We are all familiar with the problem – as the economy heats up demand is outpacing supply. Today, supply chain shortages are impacting every industry across the United States, including the automotive and transportation industries. Vehicles, tires, and literally everything in-between are in high demand but short supply. These shortages are not only preventing maintenance teams from repairing downed vehicles but on the opposite side, are also preventing the replacement of older vehicles with new ones. Fleet operators are experiencing delays, paying a high premium for much needed parts, and dedicating more resource to parts purchasing than ever before.
Repair and Maintenance partners across the country are facing the same challenges, but at Amerit, we’re actively working on solutions that provide relief to our clients. We are streamlining our parts procurement processes and finding new options that allow our clients to continue to move their business forward.
The Amerit Solution: An Internal Sourcing Team Securing Parts, Full-Time
One of the many things that set us apart as a maintenance partner is our internal sourcing team. Prior to 2019, Amerit invested in a central purchasing team to allow us to leverage our nationwide footprint and purchasing power to bring bottom-line cost savings and efficiency to our clients. We built this team to ensure that we, as a true partner to our customers, are securing the best parts for the best price.
Simple Solution: The Amerit central purchasing team is a team of professionals dedicated to strategically securing parts and rapidly distributing them out to the field so we can get vehicles up and running. Amerit’s solution is simply this: Our purchasing team is focused on strategies that place the right parts in the hands of our technicians at the right time, and the best price. By getting parts to the technicians quickly, our purchasing team is driving uptime and reducing downtime for our clients.
Adding Value: In the past four years, Amerit has increase parts purchasing by over 300%. This growth confirms that we’re making the right decisions for our clients and our strategic buying decisions are driving our clients’ success.
The Results: Parts from OEMs and Trusted Vendors
When you work with Amerit, you’re working with top OEMs and trusted suppliers which include, but are not limited to, Mack, Hino, Freightliner, Ford, Fiat Chrysler of Americas, Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet, Navistar, PACCAR, Kenworth, Volvo, and Isuzu.
Working with OEMs and national vendors allows us to purchase parts at a discounted rate. In addition to securing the best prices for our clients, these partnerships allow us to leverage our national buying power and move to the front of the line on back-ordered parts, ensuring our customers receive the fastest supply of the parts their fleets need.
Quality and Communication
Amerit’s internal team is relentlessly focused on quality. Our approved product pipeline has been impacted by supply shortages, but one thing we will not do is compromise on the parts we secure.
Because we understand your business depends on your fleet operating safely and reliably, all parts Amerit purchases are from Tier 1 suppliers. If Tier 1 parts are not available in our preferred vendor list, we work with our clients to secure suitable alternate parts from our network of suppliers. Working with our customers, we openly discuss the risks and benefits of all options upfront. Establishing open communication throughout the process makes these decisions easier, and more productive for everyone.
Conclusion
These are challenging times for fleets across the country, but with Amerit’s centralized procurement team working in partnership with our technicians and our clients, we are helping fleet operators overcome supply chain challenges, return downed units to service quickly, and keep the whole fleet running in peak condition.
When there is no time for downtime, you count on Amerit to keep you rolling.
