Aftermarket Parts
Are Aftermarket Parts Right for Your Equipment?
If you have invested in heavy construction machinery you know the cost of maintaining and replacing parts for everything from backhoes to large excavators can be extremely costly when purchasing from your local dealer.
For small to mid-sized companies, the dealer price tag on something like main pumps or final drives can be so significant sometimes machine owners must run up debt or worse, let the machine sit idle when they need repairs.
Customers are often left feeling as if they have sold their soul to the dealer devil once they have entered into the relationship. Surprisingly, construction professionals don't always realize they have great, cost effective options available to them in the parts industry. Those options include:
- Aftermarket parts.
- Buying parts off machines being dismantled.
- Using reliable parts brokers such as ConEquip Parts to help facilitate the best options available.
Aftermarket Parts
Once considered a cheap imitation when it came to important products like hydraulic pumps and cylinders, have dramatically improved over the past decade. Companies have spent millions in an effort to meet and even exceed industry standards on parts.
Although many do still originate from China, many other aftermarket parts are now manufactured in countries like Italy, the United Kingdom, and here in the United States. While the quality difference is virtually the same, the bottom line cost is usually significant, sometimes as much as a 70% savings off the dealer cost!
Buying parts off machines being dismantled
Another way many equipment owners try to cut costs is to purchase parts off machines being dismantled. However, many avoid this option out of fear they will get stuck with a hunk of metal they can't use. There is a way to take most of the risk out of this option, which will be discussed below.
The general rule for the cost of a is 50% of the dealer list price. The most important step a machine owner needs to take before purchasing a used part is to be sure to provide all pertinent information from the machine so the parts supplier can match the part needed.
One of the top complaints people in the parts industry have is customers who call completely unprepared when searching for parts. Machine owners need to provide, at the very least, a serial number of their machine before they can start looking for the part they need to replace. When it comes to engines, numbers off the tag are required including the model number of the engine, the serial number, and in the case of some equipment makes, the CPL number.
Using reliable parts brokers
One of the best ways companies save time and money is using parts companies often considered parts brokers. In reality, everyone in the construction industry can be considered a parts broker regardless if they have inventory or not. Thanks to the internet, inventories can be shared from one company to another. Some companies, like ConEquip Parts, have taken this option to another level. ConEquip Parts president Al Alexander started the company in 2008. He had a vision to not only provide parts, but build relationships.
"I started working on the sales side of the business and saw what the construction industry was lacking. I took that knowledge, my desire to provide parts solutions to customers, and started ConEquip Parts."
Al Alexander
ConEquip President
Alexander has built relationships with hundreds of parts suppliers with the goal to provide parts for all makes and models across the industry, to include discontinued parts.
"When a customer calls us, they get more than just a sales person ready to sell them a part. They get complete attention, to make sure the part is right, and that it will get to them in a timely manner. Our goal is to set expectations and then exceed them when possible."
Alexander says when a transaction doesn't go smoothly, that's when his company is at its best.
"Things don't always work out perfectly as this is an imperfect world. But when things go south, we aren't like other companies who disappear, we stick with our customers to work out a solution. It's a big reason why we have so many returning customers."
For a company looking to save time and money, a company like ConEquip Parts is a perfect option as they can provide the aftermarket parts, used parts, discontinued parts, and even OEM parts while saving their customer's time and money.
