Before the proverbial fan was dumped upon, economically speaking, the aftermarket was facing much different problems. Two came to mind when researching and writing this month’s cover story: the shortage of service technicians and the logjams many end users experienced when trying to get trucks serviced or repaired.
While those problems, given the more immediate concerns of the day, seem almost quaint, just about everything in this industry is cyclical and it won’t be long before we find ourselves once again in need of technicians and service bays.
Most aftermarket businesses have weathered the downturn by tightening operations and increasing efficiencies. With year-over-year revenues down in 2009 by 12 to 20 percent for most distributors and repair facilities, that led to a lot of internal scouring over business procedures, inventory management and personnel. Though fortunately, regarding the latter, according to a recent Truck Parts & Service reader survey, just 10 percent reported laying off employees last year.
With this strong inner focus, few distributors and service providers were looking at new business opportunities and expansion. But now that there are signs of life – a little more sales and quoting activity, anyway – it may be time to start thinking about what to do to build a stronger foundation before the economic cycle comes full circle once again.
It never hurts to insulate yourself from the next recession.
Last month’s cover story explored the emerging and lucrative service opportunities in cleaning diesel particulate filters (DPF), as well as supporting other emissions-compliance technologies through parts and service. That opportunity comes up again in this month’s feature article that takes a broader look at the benefits for parts distributors who branch out into the service arena. And those opportunities are many and varied.
Obviously, of those who take a serious look at adding service to their business portfolio, those willing or in a position to open up a multi-bay, drive-in facility will be in the minority. But just as in the case of the DPF service opportunities, securing a toehold in the service industry does not necessarily require a huge investment of money and infrastructure. It can be, as several of our interviewees pointed out, a limited-liability venture of getting into bench or mobile service.
