By Lynn Buck, MacKay & Company
I do a little home garage wrenching when I find the time. The other day I ordered a sensor online and when it arrived, I was dismayed to find the necessary o-ring did not come with it; I should have ordered a second part number. This delayed my repair and left me frustrated that the online site did not list the gasket as a complimentary part or simply include it in the box.
Granted, I should have studied the description a little more …
Coming from the parts business, I know why this happens. The distributor gets the sensor from one supplier and the o-ring from another. Parts come in separate shipments and are then placed in separate bin locations in their parts warehouse.
The computer doesn’t know they belong together unless someone tells it.
In this increasingly competitive market, distributors need to set themselves apart from the competition. One way is to implement parts kitting solutions for your customers. If you hand a customer a more convenient way to do something, chances are, if it is a good value, they’ll take it.
